BICOM

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that the criticism of the Nation-State Law by “left wing circles” is “absurd” and reflects the “nadir” to which it has fallen.

Speaking at the weekly Cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said: “Does stating that our flag has a Star of David cancel, in any way, an Israeli citizen’s individual rights? That’s absurd, but it does ensure that there will be no other flag…. The attacks from left wing circles that call themselves Zionist are preposterous and reveal the nadir to which the left wing has sunk.”

Netanyahu said that full civil rights of all the country’s citizens have been enshrined in a series of Knesset laws, including the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty. But “what has not been enshrined into law until now is the national rights of the Jewish people in its land,” he said.

He added: “For decades, the opposition has been preaching to us that we must withdraw to the 1967 borders to ensure that Israel be the nation-state of the Jewish people with a majority of Jews. Now, suddenly, when we pass the nation-state law that guarantees this precisely, the left wing raises an outcry? That’s hypocrisy.”

Netanyahu yesterday met with Druze leaders who oppose the new law. He said a team headed by his Chief of Staff, Yoav Horowitz, would be formed to “swiftly come up with recommendations for steps that will strengthen the important bond with the Druze community”. Senior coalition officials said that the intent was to pass legislation that will establish the status of the Druze community.

According to reports, the Druze leaders were not satisfied with the proposal. “The nation-state law is a law that discriminates, that does not give expression to our citizenship, to the fact that we belong. We want civil equality for all residents and we came here to express our pain and our distress,” they said.

Rafik Halabi, chairperson of the Druze Dalit el-Carmel Council, met Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and asked him not to sign the law. President Rivlin responded: “Our partnership goes back to the establishment of this state. I have no doubt that you are legally equal and we must ensure that you feel equal.”

On Saturday, Zouheir Bahloul, an Arab-Israeli Member of Knesset from the Zionist Union, announced his resignation from the Knesset in protest at the Nation-State Law. “The drastic act was the legislation of the nation-state law that makes the Arab population officially, constitutionally outside the realms of equality in Israel,” Bahloul said.