JUDY WOODRUFF: A controversial new law enacted by the Knesset, Israel's parliament, has again
stirred deep emotions about the identity of the Jewish state, and how Israelis seek to
define themselves and the others who shared the land of Israel.
Nick Schifrin is back with that.
NICK SCHIFRIN: For years, Israel's rowdy politics have balanced constitutional promises to be
Jewish and democratic.
Today, lawmakers gave Jews the exclusive right to self-determination and passed a law that
supporters called the culmination of Zionism.
It was praised by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, Israeli Prime Minister (through translator): This is a historic moment
in the history of Zionism and the history of the state of Israel.
We have made into law the basic principle of our existence: Israel is the national state
of the Jewish people.
NICK SCHIFRIN: But what Netanyahu called historic, critics called cruel.
On the Knesset floor, Arab lawmakers ripped up the bill.
At one point, parliament member Jamal Zahalka was forcibly removed from the debate.
Coalition leader Ayman Odeh pulled out a black flag, and, as the parliament speaker objected,
Odeh called the law evil.
AYMAN ODEH, Knesset Member (through translator): This evil law, a black flag hovers over it.
This is a law.
That hovers over it, a black flag.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Israel has promised the law won't impede minorities' rights.
But in mixed towns like Haifa, with the Bahai World Center up the hill, near a 100-year-old
mosque and a nearby church, opponents criticized the law for reducing Arabic to a secondary
language.
Kayed Balan is a shopkeeper.
KAYED BALAN, Shopkeeper (through translator): This new law, that this is a Jewish state
and not a state for all its citizens, this is something that we are ashamed of, and we
don't accept it.
NICK SCHIFRIN: But the bill's supporters argue they are just acknowledging reality: that
Israel is 80 percent Jewish, guarantees Jewish immigration, and needs to defend its status
as the Jewish homeland.
Amir Ohana is a member of the ruling Likud Party.
Amir Ohana, Likud Party (through translator): This is not a binational state.
This is not a bilingual state.
This is not a double-capital state.
This is a state of a single nationality of the Jewish people.
Its language is Hebrew, and its capital is Jerusalem.
DAVID MAKOVSKY, Senior Fellow, Washington Institute for Near East Policy: Basically,
Israel has moved to the right politically because it believes that the Palestinians
don't want peace.
And that has created kind of a crowded competition on the right.
NICK SCHIFRIN: David Makovsky is a distinguished fellow at the Washington Institute for Near
East Policy.
He's not in favor of the bill, but says lawmakers recently removed some of its most controversial
clauses.
DAVID MAKOVSKY: They have excised discriminatory elements of this bill, so there's nothing
about segregation or that the parliament can override the courts.
NICK SCHIFRIN: The law is a basic law, akin to a constitutional amendment.
And that means critics will have a hard time challenging it, says Yousef Munayyer, the
executive director of the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights.
YOUSEF MUNAYYER, Executive Director, U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights: This now
becomes a tool through which various discriminatory policies can be supported in the legal system.
And thus it enshrines, in a constitutional way, a constitutional defense for discrimination
against non-Jews in Israel that did not exist in this way before.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Arab Israelis are more than 20 percent of Israeli citizens.
They often complain of housing, education, and language discrimination.
The law's critics say that discrimination could get worse.
YOUSEF MUNAYYER: A lot of those policies have preexisted this law.
What will happen now is that they will be, of course, enshrined into law constitutionally,
making legal challenges against them far more difficult, and thus embolden proponents of
those laws to advance those policies in ways and in places that they have not done so before.
NICK SCHIFRIN: The Trump administration has largely given the Israeli government a green
light to do what it wants.
The ruling party wasn't united, and the debate was close.
But Netanyahu said it was a turning point.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU (through translator): There are people who are trying to destabilize this
state.
So, today, we have made a law in stone.
This is our country.
This is our language.
This is our anthem.
And this is our flag.
Long live the state of Israel.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
NICK SCHIFRIN: Israel's debate between being Jewish and democratic is not over.
But this government believes it has tipped the balance, and promises to move forward
embracing Israel as the Jewish state.
For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Nick Schifrin.