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Netanyahu, unscathed by peace talks collapse, finds new agenda

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launches a bill defining Israel as the Jewish homeland, composing a new public agenda after the collapse of diplomatic talks and the fading away of the Iranian issue.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gestures as he arrives for a ceremony marking Memorial Day in Jerusalem May 4, 2014. Israel commemorates its fallen soldiers on Memorial Day, which begins Sunday night. REUTERS/Nir Elias (JERUSALEM - Tags: ANNIVERSARY POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTR3NQKA
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On May 1, during a visit to Independence Hall in Tel Aviv, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dropped a new political bombshell. He declared that in the upcoming Knesset session, which begins May 11, he is planning to promote a new basic law defining Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people. Made a few days after Holocaust Remembrance Day and a few days before Israel's 66th Independence Day, his declaration would seem to have come at a perfect time, at least on the face of it.

Netanyahu's declaration caught the Israeli political establishment completely by surprise. The Israeli parliament has already seen similar initiatives to pass such a basic law. In the previous Knesset, it was Avi Dichter, the former Shin Bet director, who submitted a similar bill. However, due to the controversy that ensued, it was shelved. And now, it is none other than the prime minister who plans to give it a go. And by doing so, he forced Tzipi Livni, the justice minister — the one who stands to lose the most from the breakdown of the negotiations with the Palestinians — to immediately announce that she would oppose the premier's initiative and take advantage of her position as justice minister to curb it.

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