MK Yael German (Yesh Atid) caused a stir during the Knesset debate on Nationality Law after comparing world silence in the face of the Holocaust with what she perceives to be silence surrounding injustice in the Nationality Law.
"When we stood in front of Majdanek in Poland, we couldn't help thinking about the Poles who were silent in the face of injustice. Our lesson as Jews is not to remain silent in the face of injustice," she said.
MK Avi Dichter replied, "It's legitimate for everyone to express themselves on sharp differences, but to try to make an analogy to the silence of the Poles at the extermination of Jews in Majdanek is unfair and unjust and I suggest that you retract. To compare the Law to the slaughter of Jews in the Holocaust means you have no basic understanding. These are despicable words that are offensive to Israel and are not appropriate for a Knesset member to say in the context of the Nationality Law."
The Nationality Law would establish the status of the State of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people and the right of the Jewish people to self-determination in its homeland as a unique right of the Jewish people. It would also anchor the symbols of state, Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, the Jewish calendar as the country's official calendar, and the Hebrew language as the official language.
Several MKs, as well as Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit and President Reuven Rivlin, have opposed Section 7 of the law, which allows Jewish communal settlements to refuse to accept non-Jewish residents.
For her part, German replied, "I say that during the trip to Poland we learned two things, and the important thing is that we learned not to remain silent in the face of injustice, discrimination against Ethiopians, women, Arabs, and more. The injustice mustn't be allowed to continue in silence and any other interpretation is yours.
"You should be ashamed for bringing this divisive and hate-producing law. You insist on hearing what I haven't said. All I say is that I learned not to remain silent in the face of injustice."