Druze ‘betrayed’ by Israel’s ‘Jewish nation state bill’

Leaders of the Druze community in Israel have voiced their anger with the Israeli Jewish-nation state law which was voted into law last week, describing it as “betrayal” following the sacrifices they made for Israel, Safa news agency reported yesterday.

In a letter, retired Israeli Druze army officer Amal Asaad said that what happened was a “stab in the back and betrayal for the sacrifices made by Druze since 1948. They fought side by side with the Jews against the Arab enemy.”

He added: “The Jewish nationality law, which considers Israel a nation state for Jews without considering the Druze, means the Druze are an unrecognised group and deals with them as an emergent entity; however, their roots in this land dates back hundreds of years.”

Asaad said that the Druze are to file a petition to the High Court to appeal against the legality of this law.

Read: Thousands protest Israel’s ‘racist’ nation-state law 

Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett has said that the Druze are an important part of Israeli society. “There is an alliance built with blood between the Druze and Israel. It is the right thing to modify the law to make it keep up with the ambitions and aspirations of this loyal sect.”

Last week Israel approved the “Jewish nation state bill” which considers  that only Jews have the right of self-determination in the country, it also strips Arabic of its designation as an official language alongside Hebrew, downgrading it to a “special status” that enables its continued use within Israeli institutions.