Israeli government introduces oath of allegiance to Jewish state
Note right away that new repatriates, including non-Jewish family members, do not have to take the oath, as they all become citizens automatically under the current Law of Return. As for the 'Loyalty Law', it relates almost exclusively to Arab guest workers hoping to obtain coveted Israeli citizenship.
Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman, to avoid accusations of racism, recommended extending the Loyalty Law to repatriates as well, but his proposal, supported incidentally by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman (a native of Moldova), did not find support among other ministers.
Interestingly, the 'Russian street', which today constitutes the majority of repatriates, supported the new legislative initiative with enthusiasm. To the question posed on various websites: 'Are you personally ready to state under oath in writing: "I pledge to be faithful to Israel as a Jewish, Zionist, and democratic state, its symbols and values, and I pledge to perform mandatory military or alternative service"?', nearly 89% of 'Russians' answered affirmatively.
Mikhail Fedorchuk, an activist of Lieberman's party 'Yisrael Beiteinu', told a correspondent of 'NI' that he sees 'nothing racist in defining Israel as a Jewish state; after all, the names Italian Republic or French Republic do not imply discrimination against non-Italians and non-French'. He also cited the example of Arab states, most of which are designated as such in their official names. Palestinians, in his opinion, already call their yet-unproclaimed state 'Arab', and wish to make Israel 'Arab-Jewish'.
Jamal Zahalka, a Knesset member from the Arab party 'Balad', immediately after the adoption of the Loyalty Law stated: 'These amendments have no meaning, because Arabs are already not given the opportunity to obtain Israeli citizenship through family reunification.' Strangely, members of the ruling party 'Likud' Dan Meridor, Silvan Shalom (former foreign minister), and Benny Begin also opposed the adoption of the amendments to the Loyalty Law. Thus, Meridor noted: 'There is no need to insert the word "Jewish" into every clause of the law, because then Israeli Arabs might think this is not their country.'
Tzipi Livni, now the leader of the parliamentary opposition, also sharply opposed the Loyalty Law. She is confident that the government's amendments to the Citizenship Law will only exacerbate the conflict between Jews and Arabs in Israel.
Immediately after the adoption of the amendment, left-radical forces held a demonstration in Tel Aviv against the approval of the amendment to the Citizenship Law. The final decision on the matter now rests with the Knesset.
Valentin BOYNIK.
