Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has given his backing to a proposal which would require any non-Jew taking Israeli citizenship to swear allegiance to Israel as a "Jewish and democratic state". The proposal has angered Israel's Arab minority, which makes up a fifth of Israel's population. The new law will mainly apply to Palestinians married to Israelis who seek citizenship on the basis of family reunification, foreign workers, and a few other special cases. It will not affect those who seek citizenship under the law of return which gives people of Jewish ancestry the right to settle in Israel and gain citizenship.
The Cabinet is expected to back the proposal on Sunday. It then goes before the Knesset, the Israeli parliament. The proposed wording of the oath of allegiance is: "I swear that I will be a loyal citizen to the state of Israel, as a Jewish and democratic state, and will uphold its laws."
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, the Yisrael Beiteinu leader, said on public radio: "Everyone who wants to receive Israeli citizenship must swear loyalty to the state of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. Lieberman’s party made the oath the center piece of its campaign in the 2009 election, which eventually led to it becoming the second largest member of the governing coalition after the Likud.
Ministers of the Labor Party, who oppose the bill, said they expected a new freeze on settlement building in the West Bank as a payoff. "I hope that Mr. Netanyahu's support is a payoff to Mr. Lieberman, so that the prime minister will be able to extend the freeze without breaking apart his coalition," an unnamed minister told the ‘Yedioth Ahronot’ newspaper. Both Netanyahu and Yisrael Beitenu have denied any deal involving an extension of the partial settlement freeze on Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
Labor leader and Defense Minister Ehud Barak distanced himself from the plans. A statement released by his office said that "the defense minister and his bureau were not partners in the forming of the legislation and are not included among those proposing this bill."
