Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday attacked protesters against a law recognizing Israel as the “nation-state of the Jewish people”.
Thousands of people, mostly Israeli-Arabs, demonstrated in Tel Aviv on Saturday against the controversial law, which was passed by Knesset (Israel’s parliament) last month.
Speaking at the opening of a Cabinet meeting on Sunday, Netanyahu said protesters who were waving Palestinian flags during Saturday’s rally were seeking to destroy Israel.
“We have [here] conclusive evidence of the defiance against Israel and the necessity of the nation-state law,” he said.
“Many of the protesters want to abolish the Law of Return, the anthem and the flag, and turn Israel into a Palestinian state,” Netanyahu said. “It’s clearer now more than ever that the nation-state law is needed to ensure the future of Israel as a Jewish state.”
On Saturday, Netanyahu criticized the protesters, defiantly saying on Twitter “We will continue waving the Israeli flag and singing [the national anthem] Hatikva with great pride”.
The Nation-State law defines Israel as a Jewish state with a “united Jerusalem” as its capital. It has also promoted Hebrew as the only official language, stripping Arabic as an official language while recognising its “special status”.
The legislation risks further alienating the Arab minority who argue they already face discrimination from Israeli Jews and the government and already feel as though they are second-class citizens.
Palestinians, who have Israeli citizenship make up 21 percent of the population, are known as Israeli Arabs and have members in the Knesset.
The Palestinian minister of Awqaf and religious affairs has condemned Israel’s closure of the Ibrahim Mosque in the West Bank city of Hebron for Jewish holidays.“Israeli authorities have ordered the closure of the Ibrahimi Mosque to Muslims on Wednesday and Thursday,” Yousef Adeis said in a statement on Wednesday.He called on UNESCO and human rights groups to stand up to their obligations to protect the heritage, culture and civilization of the Palestinian people.Video: Israel banned call to prayer 298 times at key mosqueThe Ibrahimi Mosque is located in Hebron’s Old City district, which is home to some 160,000 Palestinians and about 500 Jewish settlers, with the latter living in a series of Jewish-only enclaves heavily guarded by Israeli troops. Israel rejects EU plan to link Gaza and West BankRevered by both Muslims and Jews, the mosque complex is believed to mark the burial sites of the prophets Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.In 1994, Baruch Goldstein, an Israeli-American Jewish settler, gunned down 29 Palestinian Muslims as they prayed at the mosque before being killed himself.Since then, the mosque has been divided into a Muslim section (45 percent) and a Jewish section (55 percent).
Palestine decries Israel’s closure of West Bank mosque
An Israeli minister said his government has rejected an EU plan to link the Gaza Strip with the West Bank, according to Israeli media on Wednesday."I made it clear that Gaza will not be linked to Judea and Samaria (the Jewish designation of the West Bank),” Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz told Israel Broadcasting Corporation.“Their plan will remain on paper and they are completely rejected," he said.Israeli media said the EU had prepared a plan for transportation in the West Bank, including Area C, which constitutes about 60 percent of the occupied territory, which is under full Israeli civil and security control.The plan includes “the establishment of an airport, a port and a railway to link the Gaza Strip with the West Bank", the media said.The EU did not officially inform the Israeli government of the plan.Katz, meanwhile, proposed “shifting the full responsibility over the Gaza Strip to the international community, while keeping Israel's security control on port”.Katz has been talking for years now about creating an artificial island off Gaza coast to allow imports and exports to reach the besieged Palestinian territory.Palestinians insist on linking the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in any final peace agreement with Israel that leads to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
Israel rejects EU plan to link Gaza and West Bank
A member of Knesset (Israel’s parliament) said Monday that Israel has turned into a “police state”, according to Israeli daily Haaretz on Monday.Israel “has become a police state in which any person whose opinion opposes the government will be held and questioned,” Mossi Raz of the left-wing Meretz party said.On Sunday, Israel’s internal security agency Shin Bet questioned two Jewish activists for alleged support for the Palestinians and their opposition to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Israeli police detain 5 Palestinians in JerusalemSimone Zammerman, an American Jewish activist, was held by at the border between Israel and Egypt for at least three hours on Sunday evening.Shin Bet agents asked Zimmerman which places she had visited in the West Bank and what she thought of Netanyahu, Haaretz reported.Israel seizes aid ship bound for blockaded GazaZimmerman is a founding member of IfNotNow, a movement that seeks to end the American Jewish community's support for the Israeli occupation.Jewish activist Abby Kirschbaum was also held and questioned about which protests against Israeli policy she had attended in the Palestinian territories and with which organizations.Palestinians converge along Gaza-Israel buffer zoneIn 2017, Zimmerman, who resides in Israel and has a work visa, published a video criticizing an Israeli law barring entry to foreigners who support boycotting Israel or its West Bank settlements.
Israel turning into ‘police state’: Lawmaker