Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People

Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People
20th Knesset
Long title חוק יסוד: ישראל – מדינת הלאום של העם היהודי
Territorial extent	Israel
Enacted by	Knesset
Enacted	19 July 2018
Legislative history
Introduced by	Avi Dichter Avraham Neguise Tali Ploskov Moti Yogev Yoav Kish Nava Boker Bezalel Smotrich Orly Levy Robert Ilatov Dudi Amsalem David Bitan Yinon Magal Sponsorship automatically withdrawn; ceased to be an MK Eli Cohen Sponsorship automatically withdrawn; became a minister Hamad Amar Withdrew sponsorship
Preliminary reading	10 May 2017
First reading	1 May 2018
Second reading	18 July 2018
Third reading	18 July 2018
Voting summary	62 voted for 55 voted against 2 abstained
Related legislation
Basic Laws of Israel
Summary
Defines Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people
Status: Current legislation

Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People (Hebrew: חוֹק יְסוֹד: יִשְׂרָאֵל—מְדִינַת הַלְּאוֹם שֶׁל הָעַם הַיְּהוּדִי), informally known as the Nation-State Bill (חוֹק הַלְּאוֹם‎) or the Nationality Bill,^[1] is an Israeli Basic Law that specifies the country's significance to the Jewish people. It was passed by the Knesset—with 62 in favour, 55 against, and two abstentions—on 19 July 2018 (7 Av 5778)^[2][3] and is largely symbolic and declarative in nature.^{[4][5][6][7][8][9]} The law outlines a number of roles and responsibilities by which Israel is bound in order to fulfill the purpose of serving as the Jews' nation-state. However, it was met with sharp backlash internationally and has been characterized as racist and undemocratic by some critics.^[10][11] After it was passed, several groups in the Jewish diaspora expressed concern that it was actively violating Israel's self-defined legal status as a "Jewish and democratic state" in exchange for adopting an exclusively Jewish identity.^{[12][13][14][15]} The European Union stated that the Nation-State Bill had complicated the Israeli–Palestinian peace process,^[16] while the Arab League, the Palestine Liberation Organization, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the Muslim World League condemned it as a manifestation of apartheid.^[17][18]

Petitions were filed with the Supreme Court of Israel challenging the constitutionality of the law. In January 2019, the Supreme Court announced that such challenges would be heard by an 11-justice panel and would decide if the law, in whole or in part, violates Israel's Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty, which was passed by the Knesset with super-legal status in 1992. Additionally, the hearing would also be the first time that the Supreme Court addressed the question of whether it had the authority to strike down another Basic Law on the basis of threats to constitutionality.^[19][20]

In July 2021, the Supreme Court ruled that the law was constitutional and did not negate Israel's democratic character. Writing the opinion for the majority, Esther Hayut, the erstwhile President of the Supreme Court, stated that this "Basic Law is but one chapter in our constitution taking shape and it does not negate Israel's character as a democratic state." The court's majority opinion concurred with arguments that the law merely declares the obvious—that Israel is a Jewish state—and that this does not detract from the individual rights of non-Jewish citizens, especially in light of other laws that ensure equal rights to all.^[21]