Two organizations are printing opposing position papers as Kadima MK Avi
Dichter’s “Basic Law: Israel as the Nation State of the Jewish People” gains
momentum.
Dichter’s bill gives constitutional status to the declaration
that “the State of Israel is the national home of the Jewish people for its
self-determination according to its cultural and historical
tradition.”
In addition, the bill says “the State of Israel has a
democratic government.” It would also require the state to “act to preserve the
cultural and historical tradition of the Jewish people,” by protecting holy
sites, using the Hebrew calendar, and having Saturday and holidays as official
days of rest, as well as using Jewish law as “a source of inspiration for the
legislator.”
Following controversy over a line in the bill that defines
Arabic as a language with “special status” as opposed to an official language,
The Institute for Zionist Strategies gave
The Jerusalem Post exclusive access to
a position paper explaining that this would not change the current legal
situation.
According to Dr. Aviad Bakshi, a lecturer on constitutional
law at Bar-Ilan University, the official status Arabic was given during the
British Mandate is not legally valid in the State of Israel. However, it has a
special legal status, in that it is used in official situations in order to help
a minority.
Bakshi claims that Arabic is given equal status to Hebrew in
certain cases in order to “provide linguistic accessibility to government
information,” but not “as a symbolic or cultural statement.”
According to
Bakshi, an official language is one that is required in all government
activities, such as courts, government offices and official publications, which
is not always the case in Israel.
However, Hebrew is called the sole
official language in other Israeli legislation. British Mandatory law is
only applicable in cases when it does not contradict newer
legislation. Since Arabic is not required in all instances according to
Israeli law, the Mandatory law is no longer valid.
Essentially, Bakshi
explained, Dichter’s bill would anchor an existing situation in
legislation.
“Countries that have more than one official language are
dual- or multi-national countries, which Israel is not,” Bakshi wrote. “The
proposed law, which includes a legal right to linguistic accessibility in Arabic
and a ‘special status,’ is far more than that which is granted to minorities in
Western countries such as the US, France, Germany, Italy and other Western
countries.”
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel also plans to
release a position paper on Dichter’s bill, from a different point of
view.
“This bill has a number of serious problems,” ACRI Director of
Policy Advocacy Debbie Gild-Hayo explained to the
Post on
Thursday.
“First, the it separates ‘Jewish’ and ‘democratic’ in its
definition of the State of Israel, putting Jewish first,” Gild-Hayo said. “First
it says that Jewish law should inspire legislators, and then it says there
should be a democratic government.”
ACRI also protested what Gild-Hayo
said the bill implies about Israel Arabs.
“Twenty percent of the state’s
residents are becoming secondclass citizens. This bill highlights the low status
of Arabs in Israel. Reducing Arabic from an official language to ‘special
status’ is, by definition, lowering Israeli Arabs’ status,” she
stated. Other problems with Dichter’s bill, according to Gild-Hayo, are
that it allows towns to be separated by nationality, which would “annul all of
the legislation on acceptance committees for closed communities.”
“This
bill symbolizes that Arabs are in Israel because we’re doing them a favor, not
because they deserve to be here,” she said. “This is a very problematic piece of
legislation.”
Gild-Hayo also posited that Basic Laws, which serve as
Israel’s constitution, should be proposed by the government, and not as private
initiatives, which “are based on political reasons, and not on statewide
consensus.”
However, Dichter’s bill has already been approved by the
Ministerial Committee on Legislation, and is expected to be put to a vote in the
Knesset this month.
Dichter has repeatedly announced his intention to
face off against Kadima leader Tzipi Livni in the party’s next
primary.
Kadima sources say Livni opposes Dichter’s bill, but will allow
party MKs to vote according their conscience. The bill has supporters in Kadima,
as well as in the coalition.
The position paper can be found on the
Institute for Zionist Strategies website.