How one law exposes what Israel has always tried to hide

Thousands of young Jewish boys wave Israeli flags as they celebrate Jerusalem Day

Orly Noy writes in +972, “Years ago, American journalist Ted Koppel hosted a fascinating televised debate between Rabbi Meir Kahane, the far-right anti-Arab leader, and Ehud Olmert, then a fresh-faced Knesset member from the Likud party. As the Israeli parliament is set to approve the Nation-State Law, which would enshrine discrimination against non-Jews in Israel, it is worth going back and paying close attention to the debate.

“Kahane laid out his political vision without qualms. “Israelis, and especially those in power, are afraid that I will ask them the following question,” he says calmly. “Do the Arabs in Israel have the democratic right to sit quietly, democratically, and give birth to enough children to become the majority? They are afraid that I’ll ask the question. In Israel, currently, without Kahane in power, there is a law that allows Jews to receive citizenship from the mere fact that they ask for it, and that does not allow non-Jews to lease state land. Kahane did not legislate these laws. These are laws that were originally passed by the Labor Party.”

“Olmert, an exceptional rhetorician, found himself stumbling to respond, retorting instead to an embarrassing discussion of chance and probability. And for good reason. Free of the shackles of political correctness and democratic veneers, Kahane was able to reveal the true face of Zionism in Israel: an inherent, perpetual demographic war against its Palestinian citizens. If Israel seeks to be Jewish and democratic, it needs to actively ensure a Jewish majority.”…

1957, Mizrhim children in Mamila, Jeruslem, which was emptied of
Palestinians in 1948

“Over the years we learned to treat “Jewish and democratic” as axiomatic, to the point that undermining it is seen as an attempt to destroy the state. But there’s an alternative, and its name is a state of all its citizens. The Jewish public has hardly heard of it, since those gatekeepers make sure to silencer every real attempt to discuss the option. Recently, the Knesset chairman disqualified a discussion of a bill put forth by Balad MK Jamal Zahalka to recognize Israel as a state of all its citizens.” (more…)