Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that the so-called Israeli Arabs do not need another state.
Speaking to Likud-TV, hosting a live event on its Facebook page, Netanyahu responded to a question from an Israeli citizen about the controversial Jewish Nation-StateLaw.
This kind of talk is dangerous. Whether it was Netanyahu's intention or not, it provides a tailwind to transfer/expulsion discourse, since it suggests that Arab citizens of Israel could just as well be citizens of any other majority-Arab country. https://t.co/B5StY5UCfJ
— Ron Skolnik (@Ron_Skolnik) March 13, 2019
He said:
“The Arab citizens [in Israel] have 22 nation states around them and they do not need another. We define Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, the nation-state of the Jewish people.”
He made his remarks just two days after he responded to Israeli celebrity Rotem Sela, who tweeted,
“When the hell will someone in this government tell the public that Israel is a country of all its citizens?”
“The Arab citizens have 22 nation states around them & they do not need another. We define Israel as a Jewish & democratic state, the nation-state of the Jewish people, with equal rights for all,”—@Netanyahu@UNSCO_MEPP, Palestine can't be a nation–state?https://t.co/nE58GUpZr9 pic.twitter.com/IvhcuRmNjQ
— Handmate's tail (@Handm8stail) March 13, 2019
The Prime Minister told her:
“Israel is not a state of all its citizens… According to the basic nationality law, we passed, Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people – and only it.”
Netanyahu claimed that the controversial legislation does not relate to the rights of the individual because there are equal rights for all.
Israeli Arabs have 22 nation states, no need for another one, claims Netanyahu | RTNews24 Read more https://t.co/fNVzib6mXM pic.twitter.com/oKbimE6Fnz
— RTNews24 (@rtnews24en) March 13, 2019
He said:
“The Basic Law deals only with fundamental questions of the rights of the Jewish people, a blue-and-white flag, the Hatikva [national anthem] and so on.”
However, legislation in Israel and the state’s policies on the ground suggest otherwise. Palestinian citizens of the state complain bitterly of what they believe is entrenched discrimination within Israel, official and unofficial.
(MEMO, PC, Social Media)
