Einat Korman, deputy director general of the Legal Forum for Israel, on Wednesday spoke to Arutz Sheva about the Nationality Law, after a special Knesset committee approved the bill and paved the way for a vote on its second and third readings in the full Knesset.
The Nationality Law aims to codify Israel’s status as the nation-state of the Jewish people into Israel’s Basic Laws, and establish Hebrew as its sole official language.
"The Nationality Law is an important law that strengthens the Jewish dimension of the state, alongside the democratic dimension. The existing legislation relies mainly on the democratic part, while the Jewish part is dropped. The Nationality Law strengthens the hold on the Jewish part and declares that the State of Israel is a Jewish state and redefines the values of the state as a nation-state," said Korman.
Would you liked to have seen members of the opposition vote in favor of the bill?
"If the members of the opposition were given the freedom to vote, we would have seen broader support in the committee than the majority that was obtained in today’s vote. It’s disturbing that a Zionist MK like Nachman Shai said yesterday that Jewish settlement is an irrelevant term. We must strengthen the values of Zionism and this law anchors values such as Jewish settlement, the Hebrew language, the flag and the symbol of the state."
Are not you worried that the Supreme Court will interpret the law differently?
"This is the real test of the justices of the Supreme Court when they have to interpret the law: Do they strengthen the hold of the Jewish hand, not just the democratic one, or do they lose the hold on Jewish values and Zionism and continue to walk the plank with the democratic hand bearing the flag and the rights of the individual being superior to the rights of the nation?”