Netanyahu: Israel is the Nation State of the Jewish People only

by Shlomo Cesana, Yoni Hirsch, Nitzi Yaakov and Eli Leon

 

Gilad Erdan: We must define Israel as a Jewish state in our own laws before demanding it from others • Officials in Ramallah confirm Palestinian Authority accepted as nonmember state party to five U.N. conventions dealing with human rights.

 

                

"The State of Israel is a Jewish and democratic state," says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu | Photo credit: AP

The firestorm sparked by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's pledge last week  to promote legislation that would define Israel as the national home of the Jewish people has not yet abated.

On Sunday, Netanyahu explained to his cabinet the motivation behind the legislation effort. "The State of Israel is a Jewish and democratic state. The democratic aspect of our state is fully manifested in our basic laws. We do this by granting equal rights to every citizen in Israel. However," he said, "Israel's status as the nation state of the Jewish people is not represented enough in our basic laws, and that is what this proposed basic law seeks to change. It will define the national right of the Jewish people to the State of Israel, without harming the individual rights of any of Israel's citizens."

"Of course there are those who don't want Israel to be defined as the nation state of the Jewish people. They just want a Palestinian state to be established alongside us, and for Israel to gradually become a binational state, Arab and Jewish, inside its tiny borders. But I am saying one simple thing: You can't hold the national stick at both national ends. You can't say that you want to separate from the Palestinians to prevent a binational state, which makes sense to a certain degree, while simultaneously sanctifying the idea of a binational state," the prime minister went on to say.

"The State of Israel grants equal rights, individual rights, in full to all its citizens, but it is the nation state of one people only -- the Jewish people -- and no other people."

On Saturday, Homefront Defense Minister Gilad Erdan also remarked on the new initiative, telling Channel 2's "Meet the Press" that "we realize that before we demand that others recognize us as a nation state of the Jewish people, we first need to anchor this principle in Israel's own basic laws."

According to Erdan, the prime minister's decision to promote this basic law was driven by "a deep desire to safeguard the values of democracy and equality more than ever, now that the [peace] talks have collapsed in large part due to Palestinian refusal to recognize Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people."

This refusal was echoed in Italy last week when Imam Raed al-Danna of Jerusalem's al-Aqsa Mosque spoke at an Islamic conference, saying that Israel will soon "disappear," which will allow the Palestinians to return to cities within the Green Line, such as Haifa. Agriculture Minister Yair Shamir addressed the imam's comments at a cultural event in Kfar Saba, saying, "We are building a country for people who want to throw us into the sea."

Meanwhile, officials in Ramallah confirmed that the Palestinian Authority has been accepted as a nonmember state party to five U.N. conventions dealing with human rights.

At the same time, according to Hamas Deputy Chairman Moussa Abu Marzouk, the possibility of Hamas dismantling its military wing following reconciliation with the PA has not been raised.

Finance Minister Yair Lapid hinted to The Wall Street Journal on Friday that he was not necessarily opposed to talks with Hamas. "It's not like it didn't happen before," he told the paper. "The PLO used to be a terror organization." Lapid later said he was misquoted, adding, "I am against any negotiations with Hamas as long as they refuse to accept the Quartet principles."

Shlomo Cesana, Yoni Hirsch, Nitzi Yaakov and Eli Leon

Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=17287

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