Israeli Druze feel abandoned over new Nationality Law
The Israeli Druze community feels that the Nationality Law turns them into second-class citizens, ignoring their loyalty and contribution to the state.
In the week when hundreds of people from the Druze community were massacred in Syria by Islamic State terrorists on July 25, their Israeli peers are struggling for their status in the state following the passage of the Nationality Law. According to the Druze, the Nationality Law, anchoring the Jewish character of the state, hurts them. And they feel particularly hurt because many members of the community are loyal citizens who serve in the army.
The Nationality Law that passed in the Knesset July 19 is a basic law. It has greater legal standing than a regular law, as Israel has no constitution, and it enshrines the State of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people. The legislation was intended, among other things, to act as a counterweight to the basic law of Human Dignity and Liberty, which is the main basis for the defense of the rights of citizens, including minorities.
"Israel is the best country in the world for the Druze. It's best to be Druze here, but the Nationality Law turns us into second-class citizens. However, I love the country as a Jewish and democratic state, and despite the law, I'll continue to be a loyal citizen," former member of Knesset Shachiv Shnaan (Labor) told Al-Monitor. Shnaan lost his son, border policeman Sgt. Maj. Kamil Shnaan, in a terrorist attack at the Temple Mount in July 2017.
When the Nationality Law was being written, Druze representatives were angry at the discrimination it would create against them. In September 2017, Shnaan participated in a debate of a special Knesset committee that formulated the law and called on members of the Knesset to “not accept the Nationality Law without including the word 'equality' in it."
