(BESA Center for Strategic Studies-Bar-Ilan University) Col. (res.) Dr. Raphael G. Bouchnik-Chen - On April 20, 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte prepared a proclamation known as the "Letter to the Jewish Nation," making the Land of Israel an independent Jewish state and characterizing the Jews as the "rightful heirs of Palestine." In June 1922, when he was Secretary of State for the Colonies, Winston Churchill wrote in a British White Paper: "The Jewish people...is in Palestine as of right and not on sufferance. That is the reason why it is necessary that the existence of a Jewish National Home in Palestine should be internationally guaranteed, and that it should be formally recognized to rest upon ancient historic connection." The public debate that has emerged after the approval by the Knesset of the Nation-State Law is a clear indicator of Israel's vibrant democracy and an extreme illustration of the freedom of expression that characterizes the Israeli state of mind. The writer served as a senior analyst in IDF Military Intelligence.
2018-08-17 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive