Israel Matzav

Israel to drop Arabic and English as official languages?

Shaviua tov, a good week to everyone.

This post is being written on Friday afternoon. Posting may be sporadic again tonight as I am spending the night as the companion to my friend's son and son-in-law (two different friends have a son and a daughter who married each other), who is in isolation in Hadassah Hospital after having a bone marrow transplant this past week.

Please pray for Moshe Aharon ben Leah Tzipora.

Please pray also for Feige Reizel bat Sara, another friend's mother who had an appendicitis attack on Thursday and is now unconscious and on a respirator.

A bill has been introduced in the Knesset to remove Arabic's status as an official language of Israel. And that's the least significant part of the bill.

Forty lawmakers from both the coalition and opposition Wednesday submitted a proposal to the Knesset for a new Basic Law that would change the accepted definition of Israel as a "Jewish and democratic state."

The bill, initiated by MKs Avi Dichter (Kadima ), Zeev Elkin (Likud ) and David Rotem (Yisrael Beiteinu ), and supported by 20 of the 28 Kadima MKs, would make democratic rule subservient to the state's definition as "the national home for the Jewish people." [Keep in mind that this is Haaretz and they likely make the bill sound as ominous as possible. CiJ].

The legislation, a private member's bill, won support from Labor, Atzamaut, Yisrael Beiteinu and National Union lawmakers.

Sources at the Knesset say the law currently has broad support, and they believe it will be passed during the Knesset's winter session.

According to Elkin, the law is intended to give the courts reasoning that supports "the state as the Jewish nation state in ruling in situations in which the Jewish character of the state clashes with its democratic character."

Elkin said: "The courts deal with this issue quite a lot, such as with the Law of Return as a discriminatory law."

The bill redefines basic consensus regarding the character of the state. For example, it also proposes that Hebrew would be the only official language in Israel, as opposed to the present situation - based on current mandatory law, Arabic and English are also recognized as official languages.

The bill accords Arabic "special status," and states that Arabic speakers "have the right to linguistic access to the services of the state, as determined by law."

Read the whole thing. I look at this as a reaction to the overreaching by our uber-Leftist Supreme Court. All in all, I think it's a good thing - it's long since time for Israel to promote its Jewish character. By the way, most Western countries have only one official language.

Labels: Arabic, English, Israel's Jewish character

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:19 PM