Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People

Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People (Hebrew: חוק יסוד: ישראל - מדינת הלאום של העם היהודי), informally known as the Nation-State Bill or the Nationality Bill, is an Israeli Basic Law which specifies the nature of the State of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish People. The Law was adopted by Knesset 62 in favor, 55 against and two abstentions on 19 July 2018 (7th Av, 5778). The law is largely symbolic and declarative.

The first version of the bill was submitted by MK Avi Dichter of the Kadima party and received the support of 39 other Knesset members, from both the coalition and the opposition. An alternative, broader version, of the original bill has been written and submitted by MKs Ayelet Shaked, Yariv Levin and Robert Ilatov.

Overview

On 3 August 2011, Dichter filed, together with another 39 Knesset members, the proposed Basic Law proposal: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People which seeks to determine the nature of the state of Israel as the Jewish people, and as such it interprets the term "Jewish and democratic state" which appears in the Israeli basic laws Basic Law: Freedom of Occupation and Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty. According to the proposal, Israel will be defined as the nation state of the Jewish people, the proposal says that the right to self-determination in Israel would be unique to the Jewish people. The proposal also states that the state of Israel should establish ethnic communities where every resident can preserve their culture and heritage, that the Hebrew language would be considered the official language of the state of Israel (while the Arabic language would be of a special status), that the Hebrew calendar would become the official calendar of the state of Israel, and that the Hebrew law would serve as an inspiration to Israeli legislators.

Content of the Basic Law

The Basic Law comprises eleven clauses, as follows:

Basic Principles

This section enumerates three basic principles, namely, that the Land of Israel is the historical homeland of the Jewish people, in which the State of Israel was established; the State of Israel is the national home of the Jewish people, in which it fulfills its natural, cultural, religious and historical right to self-determination; and that the right to exercise national self-determination in the State of Israel is unique to the Jewish people.

Symbols of the State

This section defines the name of the state as “Israel” and the various symbols of the State, with further details regarding the state symbols determined by specific laws:

• the flag of the state is white with two blue stripes near the edges and a blue Star of David in the center.
• the emblem of the state is a seven-branched menorah with olive leaves on both sides and the word “Israel” beneath it.
• the anthem of the state is Hatikvah.

Capital of the State

This section declares that Jerusalem, "complete and united", is the capital of Israel.

Language

This section defines Hebrew as the official language of the State; it gives the Arabic language a special status in the state and specifies that regulations for the use of Arabic in state institutions or by them will be determined by specific law and that the status given to the Arabic language before this law came into effect will not be harmed.

Ingathering of the Exiles

This section declares that the State "will be open for Jewish immigration and the ingathering of exiles."

Connection to the Jewish people

This section enumerates three principles that the State of Israel will strive for with regards to the Jewish people:

• ensure the safety of the members of the Jewish people in trouble or in captivity due to their Jewishness or their citizenship.
• act within the Diaspora to strengthen the affinity between the State and members of the Jewish people.
• act to preserve the cultural, historical and religious heritage of the Jewish people among Jews in the Diaspora.

Jewish Settlement

This section declares that the State views the development of Jewish settlement as a national value and will act to encourage and promote its establishment and consolidation of such settlement.

Official Calendar

This sections declares that the Hebrew calendar is the official calendar of the State and that the Gregorian calendar will be used along with the Hebrew calendar as an official calendar; use of the calendars will be determined further by law.

Independence Day and Memorial Days

This section defines the official holidays of the State, namely, Independence Day as the official national holiday and the Memorial Day for the Fallen in Israel’s Wars and Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day as official memorial days of the State.

Days of Rest and Sabbath

This section defines the Sabbath and the Jewish holidays as the established days of rest in the state; it ensures the right of non-Jews to maintain days of rest on their Sabbaths and festivals; and further details to be determined by applicable law.

Immutability

This section provides that this Basic Law will not be amended, unless by another Basic Law passed by a majority of Knesset members.

Purpose of the law

According to Avi Dichter, the purpose of the law was to block any attempt to transform Israel into a country of all of its citizens. On the passing of the bill he commented that:

We are enshrining this important bill into a law today to prevent even the slightest thought, let alone attempt, to transform Israel to a country of all its citizen (sic).

Responding to Arab legislators who objected to the proposed basic law, Dichter said that "The most you can do is to live among us as a national minority that enjoys equal individual rights, but not equality as a national minority."

Public debate

Controversy has surrounded the law since it was first proposed in 2011. A Haaretz editorial asserted that the measure would cause severe harm to Israel's democracy and the rights of its minorities. A number of prominent Israeli political and academic figures, especially from the left of the political spectrum, such as Professor Amnon Rubinstein, were also critical.

The proposal has been criticized even by people affiliated with the Israeli Right, such as the Minister and Likud Party MK Benny Begin. Critics have argued that the proposed law raises difficult questions concerning the definition of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, and it may upset the delicate balance between the state's Jewish character and state's democratic character.

On 20 November 2011, a special discussion was held on the matter at the "Roundtable Forum in memory of George P. Shultz" (פורום השולחן העגול ע"ש ג'ורג' שולץ) which was sponsored by the Israeli Democracy Institute, and was attended by Avi Dichter and various Israeli public figures and prominent academic figures.

On the other hand, the Israeli researchers Dovi Hellman and Adi Arbel from the Institute for Zionist Strategies research institution published a position paper in which they expressed their support in the proposal. Professor Abraham Diskin also expressed a similar opinion.

Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, ardently defended his draft of the Nation-State bill on 26 November 2014. Netanyahu declared Israel to be “The nation-state of the Jewish people and the Jewish people alone.” He also clarified “I want a state of one nation: the Jewish nation-state, which includes non-Jews with equal rights.” Being the land of the Jewish people, the PM is of the opinion that Israel is thus entitled to principles that combine the nation and the state of the Jewish people and grant “equal rights for all its citizens, without discrimination against religion, race or sex.”

Dr. Aviad Bakshi, who was also a member in the IZS constitution team, published an article in which he stated that in practice Arabic is not the official language in Israel nowadays, and therefore the argument that the proposal would harm the status of the Arabic language is not valid.

Israeli MK Dr. Einat Wilf from the Independence party published an article supporting the proposal which argued the advantages as a "correct and balanced" proposal because the state of Israel was established for one purpose only and that is - to be the national home of the Jewish people. This is the essence and raison d'être.

Senior Fellow at Kohelet Policy Forum, Professor Eugene Kontorovich, published an article on the legitimacy of Israel’s nation-state bill' in which he compares the bill proposition to that of other EU states, and declares Israel’s bill to have “nothing racist, or even unusual, about having national or religious character reflected in constitutional commitments.” Professor Kontorovich proves that “Seven EU states have constitutional ‘nationhood’ provisions, which typically speak of the state as being the national home and locus of self-determination for the country’s majority ethnic group.” To that end, he muses, “it is hard to understand why what works for them should be so widely denounced when it comes to Israel.”

In response to the criticism, Dichter stated that "the law proposal was created and designed for a year and a half, and that from the start the Jewish and democratic character of the state were balanced appropriately, and for this reason the proposal has gained the support from the entire political spectrum in Israel. 40 MKs have so far expressed their support in the bill proposal. Taking into account that 40 other MKs are ministers and deputy ministers can not express at this point their support of the bill proposal, this means that half of the Knesset members support the proposal. Moreover, after the bill proposal was submitted to the Knesset yesterday, additional lawmakers sought to express their support of the bill proposal".

In the response raised by MK Benjamin Ben-Eliezer and various other political regarding the declaration of the Hebrew language as the sole official language of the state, Dichter stated that the law enshrines the existing situation. Israel's official languages were defined by the British in 1922 - back then the official languages were English, Arabic and Hebrew, in that order. Court rulings deal constantly with the permanent status of the language: the Hebrew language is defined as a language with a higher status than the Arabic language, and as the state's official language. Arabic on the other hand suffers from constant blurring of its status and lack of clarity about its accessibility to the native speakers of the language. According to the bill proposal the Arabic language would receive a special status which would require the state to enable accessibility to all native speakers of the language".

Knesset member Avi Dichter, the law's sponsor, stated that "we were here before you, and we will be here after you" in a comment targeted at Arab Knesset members.

See also

• Basic Laws of Israel
• Constitution of Israel
• Homeland for the Jewish people
• History of Israeli nationality
• Israeli Nationality Law of 1952
• Jewish and democratic state

External links

• Basic Law: Israel as the Nation State of the Jewish People, Knesset website Template:En icon
• Basic Law: Israel – The Nation-State of the Jewish people, translated by the proposer MK Avi Dichter Template:En icon
• Israel’s proposed Nation-State law: FAQ