In first, Israel judge bases verdict on new Jewish nation state law

In the first ruling of its kind, an Israeli judge has issued a verdict based on the recently-passed Jewish nation-state law, reported Haaretz.

At Jerusalem District Court on Monday, Judge Moshe Drori ruled that Hamas must pay 5.4 million shekels ($1.5 million) to an Israeli injured in a 1998 bombing in Tel Aviv.

In his decision, Drori cited clause 6(a) of the Jewish nation-state law, which states: “The state will strive to ensure the safety of the members of the Jewish people in trouble or in captivity due to the fact of their Jewishness or their citizenship.”

According to Drori, “since the attack on the plaintiff was carried out by Hamas, whether the Jewish people or the citizens of the state are in trouble due to this organisation must be scrutinised.”

Poll: 58% of Israelis support the Jewish ‘nation state law’

He added that this clause of the nation-state law can be “a kind of alternative relief in ensuring – and certainly not obstructing – a Jew injured in a terror attack by Hamas from receiving the highest possible compensation according to Israeli law.”

Drori also noted in his ruling that the nation-state law was not declarative, and when the Knesset passed it as a Basic Law, it intended it to be used in court.

“We, the judges, as part of the government authorities in Israel, must apply and invoke the Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People, including clause 6(a).”