Its Declaration of Independence, which provides the guiding principles for the state, makes clear that the country was established as a homeland for the Jews and guarantees complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex.
That is why it is heartbreaking to see the Israeli cabinet approve a contentious bill that would officially define Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people, reserving national rights only for Jews.
A nationalities bill has long been sought by Israels right wing, and the initial draft they produced downgraded Arabic from an official language to one with special status. That and other antagonistic elements are likely to be dropped from the version that reaches Parliament.
But in this time of high tensions and violence between Jews and Arabs, incited by competing claims to the sacred site in the heart of Jerusalem called the Temple Mount by Jews and Noble Sanctuary by Muslims any measure that claims a pre-eminent status for Jews can only add fuel to the fire.
Mr. Netanyahu says that the nationality bill is necessary because there were so many challenges to Israels existence. But it is hard to see how a law would put a stop to that. There is also speculation in the Israeli press that the prime minister has been pushing the bill as a political sop to right-wing members of his fractious coalition indeed, the cabinet vote was split 14 to 6 along ideological lines, with two centrist parties opposing it.
