Likud Puts Jewish State Bill First

At the behest of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, the “Jewish state” bill will be given priority status in the Knesset legislative agenda, with voting on it to be held next week.

The bill which passed a preliminary reading in May, declares the State of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people and seeks to enshrine state symbols, Hebrew as the first official language, and Yerushalayim as the capital.

Likud MK Avi Dichter, chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee said that coalition parties must pass his “Jewish state” bill before any other proposed laws can be voted on. He welcomed PM Netanyahu’s support and said further in a tweet on Sunday:

“This is the flagship legislation of the Likud and a very important law for the State of Israel and the Jewish people. The coalition factions are aware that the path to passing their laws depends upon the Jewish state bill passing first.

Netanyahu gave Tourism Minister Yariv Levin (Likud) the job of seeing the bill through the Knesset. He promised to have a viable, broadly acceptable, draft ready in time for next week’s voting.