Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked said that the Nationality Law will remain unchanged but suggested passing alternative legislation in order to assuage concerns by the Druze sector.
Shaked's remarks came during a sit-down with senior members of the Druze communities who oppose the law, including Brigadier-General (Reserve) Amal Assad and former MK Sakib Snaan, whose son was killed in a 2017 terror attack on the Temple Mount.
Shaked noted that during her last term, she worked hard for full civic equality for members of the Druze, including the appointment of a Druze judge, the appointment of Druze religious officials to the Druze Shari'a court, and increasing the community's budgets.
"The Druze are brothers and flesh of the State of Israel, and the Nationality Law does not violate the equality of Jews and Druze in Israel," said Shaked. "It is an interpretive tool for the court to balance the problematic interpretation given in light of the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty."
"It is clear that the sense of the community is real and can not be argued with. In the next government we will have to find a way to correct the feeling, without changing the law of nationality, "emphasized the Minister of Justice.
MK Sa'ad (Labor) called on Minister Shaked to immediately resign from her post. "Shaked is responsible for enacting the racist and despicable national law that makes us, the Druze and the minorities in Israel, second class citizens," said the lawmaker.
Sa'ad added that he was "ashamed of Minister Shaked's attitude toward the Druze community and minorities in Israel."
Israel passed the law, which was sponsored by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, in July. It drew criticism for relegating Arabic to non-official language status, expressing support for increased Jewish settlement and promoting the status of Jewish religion in legal matters. Others have defended it as a codification of longstanding agreed-upon facts about Israel’s identity.