JERUSALEM: Two key ministers have called for changes to a deeply controversial law declaring Israel the nation state of the Jewish people after a backlash and a court challenge from the Druze minority.
Opponents have called the law “racist” as it makes no mention of equality and Israel’s democratic character, implying that the country’s Jewish nature comes first.
Members of Israel’s 130,000-strong Druze community — many of whom willingly serve in the police and military — have been among those strongly denouncing the law.
Community leaders have filed a court challenge to the law, given final passage in the middle of the night on July 19. It becomes part of Israel’s so-called basic laws, a de facto constitution.
On Thursday, Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon called for changes in response to the concerns of Druze, saying the law had been “passed in haste.”
“The last thing that we want is to harm the Druze community,” Kahlon, whose Kulanu party is the second largest in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, told army radio.
His comments followed similar ones on Wednesday by Education Minister Naftali Bennett of the religious nationalist Jewish Home party.
Bennett, who was a prominent advocate for the law, said he had now realized damage was done, adding that the Druze were “our brothers who stand shoulder to shoulder with us on the battlefield.”
“We, the government of Israel, have a responsibility to find a way to heal the rift,” he said.
Druze lawmakers were expected to meet Netanyahu, Kahlon and Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman on the issue later Thursday.
Druze leaders are also planning a demonstration against the law in central Tel Aviv on August 4.
The Druze are an offshoot of Shiite Islam. Officials say there are 110,000 of them in northern Israel and another 20,000 in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
The legislation makes Hebrew the country’s national language and defines the establishment of Jewish communities as being in the national interest.
Arabic, previously considered an official language, was granted only special status.
Arab Israelis have also denounced the law, saying it encourages discrimination and racism.
Arab citizens make up some 17.5 percent of Israel’s more than eight million population.
Israel ministers seek changes after Jewish nation law outcry
Israel ministers seek changes after Jewish nation law outcry
- Two key ministers have called for changes to a deeply controversial law declaring Israel the nation state of the Jewish people after a backlash and a court challenge from the Druze minority.
- Members of Israel’s 130,000-strong Druze community — many of whom willingly serve in the police and military — have been among those strongly denouncing the law.
Indonesia ‘strongly rejects’ Trump’s Gaza plan
Jakarta also called on the international community to respect international law
JAKARTA: Indonesia “strongly rejects” the proposal made by President Donald Trump for the United States to assume control of Gaza and resettle Palestinians elsewhere, the Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.
Trump announced the stunning proposal Tuesday, without detailing his plans on how to move out nearly two million Palestinians from the enclave, claiming that the US will rebuild the territory and turn it into the “the Riviera of the Middle East.”
Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, has consistently called for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“Indonesia strongly rejects any attempt to forcibly displace Palestinians or alter the demographic composition of the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on social media X, formerly Twitter.
Jakarta also called on the international community to respect international law, “particularly the right to self-determination of the Palestinians as well as their inalienable right to return to their homeland,” the ministry added.
Trump claimed there was support from the “highest leadership” in the Middle East and upped pressure on Egypt and Jordan to take displaced Palestinians — despite both countries flatly rejecting the idea.
Jakarta said addressing the “root cause” of the conflict, namely “the illegal and prolonged Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territory,” was the only path to achieve a lasting peace in the region, the statement added.
Kuwaiti emir appoints new defense minister
- Sheikh Abdullah Ali Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah took the oath as minister of defense
LONDON: Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Meshaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah appointed a new defense minister to succeed Sheikh Fahad Youssef Saud Al-Sabah.
During the swearing-in ceremony at Bayan Palace on Tuesday, Sheikh Abdullah Ali Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah took the oath as minister of defense.
Sheikh Fahad has assumed the position of first deputy prime minister and minister of interior following an emiri decree, according to the Kuwait News Agency.
Crown Prince Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah and other senior Kuwaiti officials attended the ceremony.
Deportation from occupied territory ‘strictly prohibited’: UN on Gaza
- “The right to self-determination is a fundamental principle of international law and must be protected by all states,” Turk said
GENEVA: UN rights chief Volker Turk insisted Wednesday that deporting people from occupied territory was strictly prohibited, after US President Donald Trump’s shock proposal for the United States to take over Gaza and resettle its people.
“The right to self-determination is a fundamental principle of international law and must be protected by all states, as the International Court of Justice recently underlined afresh. Any forcible transfer in or deportation of people from occupied territory is strictly prohibited,” Turk said in a statement.
Iraq restoration work brought back Mosul’s ‘identity’: UNESCO chief
- The director-general of United Nations heritage body UNESCO hailed the completion of their restoration work in the Iraqi city of Mosul, saying on Wednesday it had allowed it to recover its “identity”
MOSUL: The director-general of United Nations heritage body UNESCO hailed the completion of their restoration work in the Iraqi city of Mosul, saying on Wednesday it had allowed it to recover its “identity” after destruction inflicted by the Daesh group.
Mosul’s historic Al-Nuri Mosque with its famed leaning minaret, nicknamed Al-Hadba or “hunchback,” has been restored using its original brickwork, years after it was reduced to rubble under Daesh group rule.
“I am very happy to stand before you and before the minaret over 850 years old... and the fact to have it here behind me in front of you is like history coming back... is like the identity of the city coming back,” Audrey Azoulay said.
The mosque and minaret were destroyed in June 2017 during the battle to oust IS from Mosul, and Iraq’s authorities accused the jihadists of planting explosives before their withdrawal.
They are the latest landmarks in Mosul to be restored by UNESCO, whose teams have worked for five years to revive several sites.
“The reconstruction of this minaret needed to reuse nearly 45,000 original bricks,” the UNESCO chief said, adding that traditional techniques were used to rebuild the iconic structure.
Azouley said residents had wanted the rebuilt minaret to resemble the original. “The people of Mosul wanted it tilted,” she said.
Eighty percent of Mosul’s old city was destroyed in the fight against IS.
UNESCO restoration project also include Al-Tahira and Our Lady of the Hour churches and 124 heritage houses.
Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani will inaugurate the restored landmarks in the coming weeks.
Egypt wants Palestinian Authority to ‘assume its duties’ in Gaza: FM
CAIRO: Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty called on Wednesday for the Palestinian Authority to govern the Gaza Strip, hours after President Donald Trump announced a proposal for the United States to take over the territory.
In a meeting with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa, Abdelatty said Egypt was eager for the Palestinian Authority to “assume its duties in the Gaza Strip as part of the occupied Palestinian territories,” according to a foreign ministry statement.
Abdelatty called for swift reconstruction of Gaza without the displacement of Palestinians from the territory after Trump’s proposal to take it over.
The two men agreed on “the importance of moving forward with early recovery projects... at an accelerated pace... without the Palestinians leaving the Gaza Strip, especially with their commitment to their land and refusal to leave it,” the Egyptian foreign ministry said.
