Israel's Cabinet approved a bill to officially define it as the nation-state of the Jewish people, a move that looks to further inflame tensions with Arab Israelis and Palestinians, reports AP.
The bill, which still needs to be passed in parliament to become a law, ostensibly looks to define Israel's existing Jewish nature into law.
Finance Minister Yair Lapid, who heads the centrist Yesh Atid party, called it "a bad law, which is badly worded." After voting against the bill, his faction was holding an emergency meeting to discuss further steps. Justice Minister Tzipi Livni of the Hatnuah movement also opposed the bill.
In its current form, the bill calls for recognizing Israel's Jewish character, institutionalizing Jewish law as an inspiration for legislation and delisting Arabic as an official language.
Arabs make up about 20 percent of Israel's population and strongly oppose the bill.
So much for minorities in Israel. I wonder what Rand Paul and Al Sharpton have to say about this.
-RW
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