If I were a Palestinian, I'd *love* for Israel to make a new law saying Israel is the Jewish people's national home

Submitted by Anon. (Israel), Feb 26, 2014 at 15:21

First of all, making it a "law", reeks of weakness and suggests it's debatable (try to imagine Italy making a similar law).

Second of all, and more importantly, it would suggest that Israel hadn't really been the Jewish state up to now, making it difficult to argue that Palestinians should recognize something which didn't quite exist up until now.

Israel is the Jewish state. That has never even been questioned. Trying to enshrine it in law makes absolutely no sense and it only useful for those who wish to posture.

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Daniel Pipes replies:

Why is this a sign of weakness? As I documented elsewhere, it's a common enough step around the world:

Not only do 56 states and the PLO belong to the Organization of the Islamic Conference, but most of them, including the PLO, make the Shari'a (Islamic law) their main or only source of legislation. Saudi Arabia even requires that every subject be a Muslim.

Further, the religious-national nexus extends well beyond Muslim countries. Argentinean law,Jeff Jacoby of the Boston Globe points out, "mandates government support for the Roman Catholic faith. Queen Elizabeth II is the supreme governor of the Church of England. In the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, the constitution proclaims Buddhism the nation's 'spiritual heritage.' … 'The prevailing religion in Greece,' declares Section II of the Greek Constitution, 'is that of the Eastern Orthodox Church of Christ'."

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