Bill Aims to Make Israeli MPs Swear Loyalty to ‘Jewish State’

Bill's Author Aims to Tie It to Existing Jewish State Bill

A bill aiming to define Israel as a Jewish state first and foremost could soon have company, if Likud MP Miri Regev gets his way, as she tries to tie her own bill into it.

The Regev bill aims to require all members of the Israeli parliament to swear allegiance to the “Jewish state of Israel” as a condition for holding office. Currently the swearing in requires them to only to promise “uphold the principles of the State of Israel.”

Regev insisted that the bill would prevent MPs from “taking action against the state,” and particularly criticisms of the Israeli military, saying all MPs have to be “committed to the state of Israel.”

The primary aim of this loyalty oath bill, like most, is to prevent the Israeli Arab minority from serving in parliament. Regev has made a career out of trying to expel Arabs from the Israeli parliament for actions she sees as “anti-Israel.”

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.