The Washington Post: Jewish or Democratic?

The Israeli parliament's approval of a legislation on the nation's identiy is sparking controversy “over the foundations of democracy in the country and what it means to be Israeli, with critics saying it will deny equal rights to non-Jewish citizens.” Proposed by members of the ruling right-wing Likud party, the bill identifies Israel as the “national home for the Jewish people.” The bill downgrades Arabic to “special status” as opposed to an official language alongside Hebrew. Arabic is spoken by 20 percent of the total population. As Ruth Eglash notes for the Washington Post, the bill “includes a particularly controversial clause enabling the creation of homogenous communities based on religion and nationality.” This clause in particular has been condemned as racist and anti-democratic by a number of opposition groups and some aligned with the Israeli leadership. Yousef Jabareen, an Israeli Arab representative in the Knesset, has identified parallels with tense race relations in the US South and called the legislation an “apartheid law” akin to the racial system in Apartheid South Africa. –YaleGlobal