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Everything You've Heard about Israel's Nation State Bill Is Wrong

(Forward) David Hazony - Critics went ballistic over Israel's new Nation State Law, which passed last week with the aim of affirming the country's Jewish character. The New York Times published four different pieces, each more critical than the last. But the truth is, the Nation State bill reaffirms some of the key ideas that always lay at the heart of the Zionist project, bringing about the correct balance of "Jewish" and "democratic" that makes Israel work. Critics have said that in the new bill, Arabic has been "demoted." Yet the law is careful to clarify that the Arabic language will not only be granted "special status," but also that "this clause does not harm the status given to the Arabic language before this law came into effect." Similarly offensive to critics was the clause according to which "The right to exercise national self-determination in the State of Israel is unique to the Jewish people." This clause is not a violation of democratic principles, much less "racist," so long as individual rights continue to be guaranteed. And they are, through the other Basic Laws that make up Israel's constitutional reality. Similarly baffling were objections to the law's determination that "Jerusalem, complete and united, is the capital of Israel." There is nothing at all new in it. Eastern Jerusalem was effectively annexed in 1980. Israel declared Jerusalem its capital within two years of its independence, and has insisted on it ever since. At the same time, the law does not define Jerusalem's municipal boundaries. Finally, critics were angered by the bill's declaration that "Jewish settlement" be "a national value" that the state will continue to promote. The word being translated as "settlement" is hityashvut, which to any Israeli ear refers more to the Galilee and the Negev and the history of building new Jewish communities a century ago across the country. There is nothing in the phrasing that even hints at the West Bank. Building a Jewish homeland - through sovereignty, culture, and settlement - has always been the core purpose of the country. Should it really not appear in its Basic Laws? Nor does anything in the law make Israel unusual for a European-style democracy. France has a single national language. The United Kingdom has an established church, as well as a hereditary monarchy. Even democracies have a right to enshrine in law the things that make them unique. To suggest that Israel alone shouldn't be allowed to is self-evidently absurd. The writer is executive director of the Israel Innovation Fund.
2018-07-26 00:00:00
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