Israeli MP resigns over controversial ‘nation-state’ bill

An Israeli Arab politician has resigned in opposition to a controversial new law that declares Israel to be the nation state of the Jewish people

Zouheir Bahloul labelled the law as
Zouheir Bahloul labelled the law as "racist" and "destructive" (Photo: BBC)

Former MP Zouheir Bahloul had branded parliament as "racist" and "destructive" for passing a piece of legislation that relegates Arabic to a language of special status, leaving Hebrew as the country’s official language.

The bill was passed on 19 July, angering Israel’s Arab minority, who Bahloul described were being "remov[ed]… from the path of equality in Israel". Arab members of the Knesset shouted in protest and ripped up copies of the bill before some were removed from the chamber.

On Saturday, Bahloul declared his resignation from the Knesset.

"Should I sit on the fence? Should I give legitimacy to this destructive, racist, extremist parliament?"

The passing of the law was described by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a “defining moment” in the country’s history.

"A hundred and twenty-two years after [the founder of modern Zionism Theodore] Herzl made his vision known, with this law we determined the founding principle of our existence," he said.

Titled ‘The Basic Law: Israel as the Nation State of the Jewish People’, the legislation fundamentally defines Israel first and foremost as a Jewish state.

The bill was drafted under the auspices of Israeli Jewish politicians who considered the founding ideology for Israel’s creation as the reclamation of the ancient Jewish homeland to be under threat.

However, Israeli Arabs, who make up approximately 20% of the population, tend to believe that this is a law made for Jews by Jews to the prejudice of all other occupants, and is a codification of their status as second-class citizens.

"The new law threatens to drive a wedge between Israel and the diaspora and fuel the campaign to delegitimize Israel," warned Amir Fuchs, head of the Defending Democratic Values Programme at the Israel Democracy Institute. "It will fall to future leaders to rectify the damage and return Israel to the Zionist vision that for 70 years has guided Israel's vitality, dynamism, and international reputation."