With a 48-41 vote in the 120-seat Knesset Wednesday, lawmakers gave initial approval to a bill to redefine Israel as "the national home of the Jewish people." Authors called the bill, which would enshrine Hebrew as Israel's official language, "especially crucial in times like these, when there are those who seek to undermine the Jewish people's right to a national home in their land." [...]
Activists have raised concerns that the bill would lead to further discrimination. Many in Israel view Netanyahu's government, which supports the bill, as the most right-wing in the country's history, and Arab Israelis, generally the descendants of Palestinians who remained within newly drawn borders when the state arose in 1948, allege widespread discrimination. Not counting the more than 4.4 million people who live in the Palestinian territories, Arabs make up 17.5 percent of Israel's population, and road signs and government services are often bilingual. [...]
Nevertheless, Jamal Zahalka, of the left-wing Balad party, was removed from the Knesset on Wednesday afternoon after tearing up a copy of the bill and calling Dichter a "fascist" and a "racist." And Zehava Gal-On, the leader of the pacifist Meretz party, said the legislation was "a declaration of war against the Arab citizens of the country and contrary to Israel as a society governed in a democratic manner."
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