Home Frontlines “The land of Israel is the historical homeland of the Jewish people, in which the State of Israel was established.”

“The land of Israel is the historical homeland of the Jewish people, in which the State of Israel was established.”

by Orit ben Tzvi

Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke about the Nation-State Law in today’s cabinet meeting:

“The State of Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people, with full equal rights for all of its citizens. This is the meaning of the words ‘a Jewish and democratic state’.”

We have determined the personal equal rights of Israeli citizens in a series of laws including Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty, laws that ensure full equality before the law, beginning with the right to vote and be elected to the Knesset and ending with all other personal rights in the State of Israel.

However, we have never determined the national rights of the Jewish People in its land in a basic law – until now, when we passed the Nation-State Law. What is the meaning of national rights? They define the flag, the national anthem, the language and, of course, the fact that one of the basic goals of the state is the ingathering of exiles of our people and their absorption here in the land of Israel. This is the meaning of the Zionist vision.

Does determining that our flag bears the Star of David somehow abrogate the individual right of anyone among Israel’s citizens? Nonsense, but determining this ensures that there will not be another flag. Does determining that Hatikvah is our national anthem detract from the personal rights of any person in Israel? Nonsense, but it does determine that there will not be another anthem. Already there are proposals to replace the flag and the anthem in the name of equality, as it were. There is opposition to the idea of a nation-state in many countries, but first of all in the State of Israel, something that undermines the foundation of our existence, and therefore, the attacks emanating from left-wing circles that define themselves as Zionist are absurd and expose the nadir to which the left has sunk.

Now, I would like to quote from the basic principles of the Nation-State Law. The first clause: ‘The land of Israel is the historical homeland of the Jewish people, in which the State of Israel was established.’ The second clause: ‘The State of Israel is the national home of the Jewish people, in which it fulfills its natural, cultural, religious and historical right to self-determination.’ The third clause: ‘The right to exercise national self-determination in the State of Israel is unique to the Jewish people.’ The Nation-State law goes on to anchor in basic legislation our flag, our national anthem, the symbols of the state and that Jerusalem is our eternal capital. Would the fathers of Zionism not sign it?

Over decades the opposition has preached to us that we must withdraw to the 1967 lines in order to ensure that Israel remains the national state of the Jewish people in which there is a Jewish majority in the state. Then suddenly when we pass a basic law to ensure exactly this, the left cries out in protest? What hypocrisy.

The Israeli left must search within itself. It needs to ask itself why the basic term of Zionism, ‘a Jewish national state of the Jewish people in its land’, has become a rude term for it, a rude word, a principle that one should be ashamed of. We are not ashamed of Zionism. We are proud of our state, that it is a national home for the Jewish people, which strictly upholds – in a manner that is without peer – the individual rights of all its citizens.

As opposed to the infuriating words that we hear from left-wing spokespersons, the result of which is the taunting of the Jewish state, the feelings of our Druze brothers and sisters touch my heart. I want to tell them: There is nothing in this law that infringes on your rights as equal citizens of the State of Israel, and there is nothing in it that harms the special status of the Druze community in Israel. The people of Israel, and I among them, love and appreciate you. We very much esteem the partnership and the covenant between us.

I am aware of the feelings coming from the community. Therefore, I met with the head of the community and I will continue this dialogue today as well, in order to find solutions that will meet the concerns and give expression to the special partnership between us. I promise you that this partnership of fate will only strengthen.”

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1 comment

Oren Wysocki July 29, 2018 - 6:54 PM

Strong words and declarations, which I want to support, but clearly, he is lying about being oblivious to the point the left is making. A right for the Jewish people uniquely for self determination that inhibits the lefts right to establish A multicultural nation in Israel based on equality or muslims of Israel from installing an islamic theocracy or ethnic nationalist arab muslim nation is an infringement on their rights. I support the infringement of their rights, I oppose A multicultural nation based on equality, it infringes on my right to support A theocratic nationalist secular democratic nation of Israel. Until we can evolve into something more coherent and consistent, then we are preferencing representation for the Jewish people. Many secular left wingers and right wingers as well support representation, religious freedom and lifestyle choices for the arab muslims as they choose for them to be, excluding there right to pursue violence and conquest of the Jews. A reasonable request that arab muslims will deny as the Torah predicts because the sight of happy Jews with different standards of living than arab muslims, with Jewish women who refuse to date arab muslims offends muslims. The only solution is to stand up to the orthodox multiculturalists of America, Europe and Israel and state we assert our right to reject multiculturalism. You can in your weakness point out that in the world there are many ethnic and theocratic nations, point out that all forms of measurement conclude that arab muslims are at war with the Jewish people, they simply lack the means to fight that war or the influence over their own governments to pursue that goal. Unfortunately for Jews desiring to balance the demands of the left, the left does not fight wars against poor mullato muslims therefore Israel would be violating leftist law by fighting any war against arab muslims including defensive wars, especially if they result in even A temporary reduction of rights among arab muslims during or after the war, or if they include any expulsion of muslims despite the fact that the united nations has declared it legal under specific circumstances, or if it includes any collective punishment of arab muslims by Jews, but not the other way around, because the left is willingly on the side of Satan you see, you will not escape confronting its evil. There is a high probability that they will censor any argument you have in America and Europe (as they are currently doing), guaranteeing their ability to paint the Jews of Israel as violent aggressors regardless of the unending attacks of the arab muslims surrounding Israel, and their clear majority of support among arab muslims. Netanyahu may not want to fight evil, he may prefer to talk about high tech all day, but events in Europe and America will most certainly force Israel to fight or be overwhelmed by open borders, preferring ‘palestinian’ descendants right of return and various degrees of autonomy including from A security perspective, as the leftist consensus believes in, which will reduce Israeli borders into swiss cheese and immediately begin A stage of terrorism the likes of which has not been seen in 100 years. It will match the precursors of mass murders where Jews are attacked everywhere, and Jewish dead bodies are found all over. All because the Jewish people or leaders of Israel could not accept that the time of peacefully managing the left was over, they will either be dominated or they will impose death and chaos. In G-d I trust.

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