2 Major Funders Of Israel Join Growing Criticism Of New Nation-State Law
(JTA) — The Jewish Federations of North America and The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, two organizations that provide major funding to projects in Israel, joined the criticism of Israel’s new nation-state law.
Jewish Federations, which annually donates many millions of dollars to Israel and the Jewish Agency for Israel, focused its criticism on dissatisfaction with the law among some members of the Druze minority, an Arabic-speaking community where most men serve in the Israeli army.
In a statement Thursday that a spokesperson posted on Facebook, the umbrella group for federations across North America said it stands “shoulder to shoulder with the Druze community” and urges Israeli legislators “to work with the community as soon as possible to address their very real concerns.”
The law, which enshrines Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people and has quasi-constitutional status, identifies Arabic as a language with “special status.” It says that “the realization of the right to national self-determination is unique to the Jewish People” and “the state will work to ensure the wellbeing of the members of the Jewish People and of its citizens who are in trouble and captivity for their Judaism or citizenship.”
Amal Asad, a Druze leader, and several other prominent members of the community have objected to the new law along with Israel’s Arab lawmakers and many Jewish opposition lawmakers. Asad said it reduces Druze Israelis to “second-class citizens.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly ended a meeting Thursday with Asad and other Druze leaders, reportedly over Asad’s allegation on Facebook that Netanyahu was turning Israel into an “apartheid” state.
Advocates of the law say it merely states de facto realities in Israel — including its purpose, flag and national anthem — without replacing or undermining other laws with the same status that guarantee equality for all Israelis.
Also Thursday, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews in a statement urged Israel’s government to amend the new law “so that it includes ‘equality’ for Druze and other minorities.”
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.
If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.
Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO