Top 10 worst errors Israel is about to make - Bradley Burston [View All]

[shaayecanaan]

"1. The Loyalty Oath.

What it is: A proposed amendment to Israel's Law of Citizenship, which, if approved by the Knesset, would require non-Jews seeking citizenship to pledge allegiance to Israel as a "Jewish and democratic state." The bill does not require Jews to make the same declaration.

Why it matters: A watershed measure which has been widely condemned as formally racist, passage of the bill, a key demand of Avigdor Lieberman's Israel Beiteinu party, could also fuel Lieberman's drive to head the Israeli right, and eventually, run for the premiership."

http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/a-special-place-in-hell/a-special-place-in-hell-top-10-worst-errors-israel-is-about-to-make-1.318659

Apparently Jews will not be required to sign a loyalty oath, probably because of reservations that ultra-Orthodox Jews have about swearing loyalty to a state (let alone a democratic state). I must admit I was mistaken about this earlier.

In any event this explains Shas' support for the bill - they have no problems supporting it because it doesnt apply to Jews.

Presumably then, it will only apply to foreign workers who manage to get citizenship, and East Jerusalem residents who apply for same, and there are not huge numbers of either.