"The formulators of the (Israeli) Declaration of Independence, with much wisdom, insisted the Arab communities in Israel, as well as other groups, should not feel as the Jews had felt in exile," President Reuven Rivlin said in a speech on Tuesday.
The declaration of 1948, while proclaiming the creation of a Jewish state, also emphasized its democratic nature and promised "complete equality" of social, religious and cultural rights for all, said Rivlin.
While the new bill won cabinet approval on Sunday, despite the opposition of centrist ministers, several versions must still be combined and parliamentary approval is not imminent, as reported by Reuters.
Netanyahu's draft pledges to "uphold the individual rights of all of Israel's citizens". But it also says that only Jewish people have "national rights", included the right to self-determination in Israel and to a flag, an anthem and free immigration.
Critics say the bill is anti-democratic and legislators from the Arab community, which makes up 20 percent of Israel's population of 8.2 million, have described the bill as racist, reports Reuters.
On being elected by parliament to the presidency in June, Rivlin, a veteran right-wing politician, who has had a rocky relationship with Netanyahu, said he would speak out on domestic issues. He ended his acceptance speech by proclaiming "Long live Israeli democracy".
http://sputniknews.com/politics/20141126/1015203893.html
26/11/14
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Netanyahu: There is an effort to undermine the Jews' right to their own state ...
ReplyDeletePrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the "Jewish state bill," which seeks to cement the Jewish nature of Israel in law on Wednesday.
Speaking during a Knesset plenum discussion in which he was forced to yell to be heard above the shouts of MKs who oppose the bill, Netanyahu said that there were those "challenging and seeking to undermine the rights of the Jewish people in Israel from abroad and from within."
Netanyahu said that the bill was needed in order to fix a historical imbalance by which civil rights had gained supremacy over the rights of Jews to their own nation-state in Israel.
He said that he could understand how Hamas would oppose the bill, because they don't recognize the right of the Jews to their own state. He, said, however, that he was baffled as to why "his friends" within Israel were against the bill.
http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Netanyahu-There-is-an-effort-to-undermine-the-Jews-right-to-their-own-state-382894
26/11/14