NGO lodges petition against Israel’s ‘nation-state’ law

Controversial legislation describes Israel as ‘nation-state’ of the Jewish people

JERUSALEM

An NGO that represents Israel’s Arab minority petitioned Israel’s Supreme Court on Tuesday against a controversial “Jewish Nation-State” law approved last month by Israel’s parliament. 

“The petition was submitted on behalf of the Arab political leadership in Israel,” the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights, also known as Adalah, said in a statement. 

“In a nearly 60-page document, the petitioners call on the Israeli Supreme Court to annul the Jewish Nation-State Basic Law, which is racist legislation that contradicts all norms of international law,” the statement reads. 

According to the same statement, the assertion that Israel is the “nation state” of the Jewish people totally excludes Israel’s Palestinian citizens, who account for roughly 20 percent of the country’s total population. 

“This law has all the characteristics of apartheid,” the statement asserts. “It guarantees Israel’s ethnic-religious character as exclusively Jewish and entrenches the privileges enjoyed by Jewish citizens.” 

Israel has come under international criticism since passing the Basic Law, which has also come to be known as the “Jewish Nation-State” law. 

The legislation defines Israel as a “Jewish nation-state” with a “united Jerusalem” as its capital. It also makes Hebrew the country’s only official language.