JERUSALEM (JTA) — A bill that would require a loyalty oath to Israel as a Jewish state in order to retain citizenship was rejected by the ministerial committee on legislation.
The committee Sunday rejected the bill, which would have been an amendment to Israel’s Citizenship Act and was proposed by the controversial Yisrael Beiteinu party. The bill required a loyalty oath to Israel as a Jewish, Zionist and democratic state. It also required service to the state through military service or national service.
Other legislation that appears to target the Arab-Israeli community includes a bill that would make it illegal to mark Israel’s Independence Day as a public day of mourning known as the Nakba, or Catastrophe,.
Another bill, already approved on first reading, would make it a crime to deny publicly Israel’s right to be a Jewish state.
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