Tzipi Livni's error proves why Israel's nation-state law is necessary

The passage of a new 'Nation-State Law' in Israel on July 19, 2018 created an uproar. This new Law is called, "Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish people". It lays out  what is Jewish about Israel. Apparently, that's a problem.

christiansciencemonitor captured the essence of the uproar  over this new Law by asking, "Does new law tilt Israel away from its democratic values?" (here). The concern is, this new law says, in essence, that Israel is the Jewish nation--for the Jewish people. That's the key problem--Israel's 'Jewishness'.

This is offensive to Liberals everywhere. For some, this new Law means that Israel's democracy will be sacrificed in order to promote 'Jewish' over 'democracy' (here). For others, the new Law means simply that Israel has given up on democracy--to embrace fascism (here). 

In Israel, Leftist Tzipi Livni summed up this concern for the new Law's negative effect on Israel's democracy with this statement, "What the hell has Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu got against the Declaration of Independence, which includes a specific commitment to full equality" (here).

Her concern was that the new Law harms Israel's commitment to 'equality'. It makes Arabs 'less equal'.

The problem with this argument is that it suggests two things, neither of which are true. First, Livni suggests that the Declaration of Independence is really what she calls a 'covenant of equals' (ibid); and second, she suggests that the Declaration is about equality first, 'Jewish' second.

In fact, the reverse is true. Israel's Declaration of Independence is all about what's Jewish about Israel. Its commitment to equality appears more to be an addendum to the Jewishness of Israel, rather than the 'main thing'.

You can see this dramatic focus on 'Jewish first-not democracy' by simply looking at how often certain words appear in the text of Israel's "Declaration of Independence" (text here).

As you look at the list below of words taken from that text, ask yourself a question. Is Israel's Declaration of Independence about 'democratic values' or 'full equality'--or is it about the Jewish nature of Israel?

This list of Declaration words answers the question:

-birthplace of the Jewish people;

-Here their [the Jews'] spiritual, religious and political identity was shaped;

-gave to the world the eternal Book of Books;

-never ceased to pray and hope for their return;

-Jews strove in every successive generation to re-establish themselves in their ancient homeland; 

-they made the desert bloom, revived the Hebrew language;

-the spiritual father of the Jewish [not democratic] state, Theodore Herzl;

-proclaimed the right of the Jewish people to national rebirth in its own country;

All these words appear in the opening four paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence. There is no mention of democracy or equality--or of any other democratic value--in those opening paragraphs. Instead, what you see is a series of statements that spell out how the state of Israel is the fulfillment of a Jewish dream held and cherished by the Jewish people for generations. There is nothing at all in these opening paragraphs about democratic, secular ideals or 'equality'. 

After these opening four paragraphs, you'll find the following additional words in the next eight paragraphs:

-Jewish people 

-Jewish people;


-Jewish people;

-Jews;

-Jewish state;

-Jew;

-Jewish people;


-Jews;

-national [Jewish] homeland;


-Jewish community;

-Jewish state;

-Jewish people;

-Jewish people;

-Jewish community';

-Zionist;

-Jewish state;

-Shabbat;

-Jewish state.


The words above appear in the first 63% pf the Declaration--that is, they appear in the first 12-of-a-total-of-19 paragraphs. The focus of these first 12 paragraphs has nothing to do with democratic values. They are all about what is Jewish about the state of Israel.

Finally, in the 13th paragraph, you see a reference to such democratic values as freedom, justice and peace. But then, take a closer look at the explicit context of these words:

-After using the words, Jewish and Ingathering of exiles (a religious reference) at the beginning of paragraph 13, the text continues by stating, "it [the new state of Israel] will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel [emphasis mine]".

Note that in Israel's founding document, the ideas of freedom, justice and peace will not be brought to Israel 'as envisaged by the founders of the American Declaration of Independence'--or as 'envisaged by the writers of the United Nations Charter'. Israel's ideas of freedom, justice and peace will be created in Israel as envisaged by the prophets of Israel--a decidedly Jewish, religious and Biblical reference.

You can argue over what 'as envisaged by the prophets of Israel' means. But you simply cannot interpret this reference as being associated exclusively with non-Jewish secular 'values of democracy'. The reference is Jewish.

 It is only after this Biblical link that we finally see a reference to secular democratic values. In the 13th paragraph, the Declaration finally adds  that Israel will 'ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its citizens". In fact, it is only after linking freedom, justice and peace to the Jewish Bible that the Declaration says that Israel "will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations"--not the other way around.

Altogether, the Declaration refers to Jewish matters (including religion) some 34 times. The Declaration, by contrast, mentions secular political ideas only 3 times--and in one of those three clauses, the association is with the Jewish Bible (as stated above), not secular political ideals. 

Livni is only 3/34ths right. Israel's Declaration of Independence does express a specific commitment to democratic values. But it also express a far greater commitment to Jewish history, the Jewish people and the Jewish religion--something Livni chooses to ignore.

Livni's outburst against what's Jewish about the 'Declaration' proves the need for a Nation-State Law. She and her Leftist friends consciously choose to deny the ascendancy of 'Jewish' in Israel's Declaration of Independence. They choose deliberately to overturn the Declaration's Jewish nature to present that Document, as Livni has suggested, as a 'covenant of equals' when in fact it is instead a 'covenant of what will be Jewish about the state of Israel'  (here).

Look at Livni's misrepresentation this way: Israel's Declaration of Independence talks about Jewish before it talks about 'equality'. I's primary focus is Jewish, not equality.

 Livni and her Leftist friends see the Declaration of Independence as demanding that every Israeli citizen have equal rights (ibid). That's fine. But that's only the smallest part of the Declaration. 

Livni denies the fact that, in Israel's Declaration of Independence, equality is not defined as a secular idea. It's defined as an idea derived from Jewish Torah, not a secular source. This Biblical link suggests that there is a clear mandate to define 'equality'  in Israel as a Jewish value. 

Leftists talk about the 'citizens of the state'. That includes Arabs. But the Declaration talks about the Jewish people of this state--and all the inhabitants [not citizens] of this state. There's a huge difference between 'citizens' and 'inhabitants'--a difference which Israel's Leftists prefer not to discuss. 

Livni's misrepresentation is why the Nation-State Law is needed. Too many politicians (and news outlets) in Israel seek to deny what's fundamentally Jewish about Israel. They look at this Jewish state with their own secular political agendas. They reject what's Jewish. They embrace what's not Jewish.

The new Law simply clarifies that Israel really is the Jewish state.