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US calls on Israel to treat all its citizens equally

November 25, 2014 at 4:50 pm

“Israel is a Jewish and democratic state in which all citizens should enjoy equal rights,” US State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said during a press conference yesterday.

Rathke said: “This is the beginning of a process, and so I don’t want to speculate on the outcome. It would be our general view, though, that we would expect any final legislation to continue Israel’s commitment to democratic principles.”

The Israeli government decided to postpone the decision on the nation-state law to next week. The decision had been expected tomorrow.

Fourteen Israeli ministers initially supported the coalition’s vote while six opposed it, including Justice Minister Tzipi Livni. Minister Limor Livnat did not participate in the vote.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he is determined to pass the Likud party’s vision for the Jewish nation-state law because it will serve as “the basis for the Jewish state and the land of the Jewish people. This law will reflect the reality that Israel is the only nation-state for the Jewish people”.