A new crisis gripped the governing coalition of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday following the passage Sunday evening by the cabinet of a bill legally defining Israel as “the Jewish State.” Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, leader of the Hatnua faction, strongly objected to the bill in a heated cabinet debate and Finance Minister Yair Lapid of Yesh Atid said that “Yesh Atid is not against a ‘Jewish State bill,’ just not this ‘Jewish State bill’…this is a bill that puts the Jewish state before democracy and separates the two. It is an anti-democratic bill and neither I nor Yesh Atid will vote for it as submitted.” However, Netanyahu said ahead of the weekly cabinet meeting Sunday that “Israel is a Jewish democratic state. There are those who want democracy to take precedence over Judaism, and those who want Judaism to take precedence over democracy. In the law that I am bringing, both principles are equal and must be given equal consideration.” Read More
