Israel's ministerial committee on legislation Sunday issued a resounding no to a bill that requires a loyalty oath and service to the Jewish state for citizenship.
The committee voted down the controversial bill sponsored by the right-wing Israel Beiteinu (Israel Is Our Home), with Likud, Labor, Shas and Habayit Hayehudi (Jewish Home) ministers voting against while Israel Beiteinu ministers voting for.
According to the loyalty oath bill, anyone seeking citizenship, including people moving to Israel and 16-year-olds obtaining their first identity cards, would have to make the following vow, "I pledge to be loyal to the State of Israel as a Jewish, Zionist and democratic state, to its symbols and values, and to serve the state in any way asked of me in military service as required by law."
The bill, initiated by Knesset (parliament) Law Committee chairman David Rotem of Israel Beiteinu, would also empower the interior minister to cancel the citizenship of Israelis who do not fulfill their compulsory military or alternative national service.
"I welcome the responsible acts of cabinet members," said Salam Diab, an Israeli Arab artist and respected thinker on political and social affairs.
"Arabs living in Israel are always loyal, good citizens and they aspire to live for a good future with all humankind," said Diab.
There was broad support in Israel for the rejection of the bill, with the country's Arab and dovish Jewish parties saying it was a stinging defeat for Israel Beiteinu, the party that made the idea of loyalty to the state the key element of its election campaign earlier this year.
The platform of the party, headed by Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, played on the fears of Israeli Jews that Arab citizens are a potential fifth column.
The move saw Israel Beiteinu returning to Knesset as the third- largest party, leading a lurch to the political right, which adopts a hawkish stance when it comes to the peace process with the Palestinians and broader Arab world.
The bill was described as "racist" by Labor Party member of Knesset (MK) Ophir Paz-Pines on Sunday.
"Not only would Israeli citizens have to recognize Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, but also as a Zionist state. What are you meant to do if you are not Jewish, not Zionist and you've lived here since before the creation of the state?" he asked.
While many on the political right support this and similar bills, the speaker of the Knesset, Reuven Rivlin of the ruling Likud party, objected to the idea, saying it was unnecessary and a sign of Israeli "weakness."
Despite these criticisms, including the claim that there would be very little in the way of enforcement, Rotem maintained the law would have been for the good of the state and not too dissimilar to the loyalty demanded by the United States of its citizens.
"A great proportion of Israeli Arabs are loyal citizens and I don't know why people are making out as though they are all disloyal," Rotem told Israel Radio on Sunday, adding that "This law will apply to my child the same way it applies to Arab citizens."
Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov of Israel Beiteinu blasted the rejection of the bill.
"Instead of fixing the problem and solving the absurd situation whereby people who assist terror attacks targeting Israel continue to receive welfare payments and salaries from the state, the government has decided to continue to bury its head in the sand," he said.
"In the Knesset, Israel Beiteinu will continue its efforts to remove funding for terrorists," said Misezhnikov.
While the loyalty oath bill was rejected, other similar pieces of legislation are likely to appear during the current government' s term in office. For Israeli Arabs, these moves are symptomatic of a wider malaise.
The full cabinet had been expected to vote on another Israel Beiteinu bill that would make it illegal to mark Independence Day as a day of mourning, said The Jerusalem Post, adding that the legislation would outlaw ceremonies for what Arabs call the Nakba (catastrophe).
The bill, approved by the ministerial committee on legislation last week, was appealed by Labor and Likud ministers who oppose it. Israel Beiteinu lawmakers delayed the vote to make changes that they believed would help it pass.
Arab MKs expressed outrage that the bills were even being considered by the government, warning that if one of them became law, a "civil rebellion" of Arab citizens would break out.
"We are ready to go to jail," Balad MK Jamal Zahalka said.
(Xinhua News Agency June 1, 2009)
