The Knesset, Israel’s parliament, has passed a law that allows the state to deny funding to institutions that question the Jewish state’s right to exist. The controversial law brought in by the Yisrael Beiteinu party was passed by a vote of 37 to 25. The new law has been nick-named ‘Nakba’ law, the Arabic word for ‘catastrophe’, a term which many Arabs still use for Israel’s foundation in 1948.
Under the new law, groups involved in activities that "undermine the foundations of the state and contradict its values," including undermining the Jewish or democratic nature of Israel, can be excluded from receiving funding by public bodies. Those activities include marking Israel's Independence Day as a day of mourning.
Arab Knesset member Afu Aghbaria said the Arab population would persist in marking the Nakba without the use of government funds, adding: "We will continue activities marking Nakba Day with the aim of presenting the historical facts, which are not subject to interpretation when it comes to a people uprooted from its land, many of whose members were made refugees."