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Under nationality law, Israeli court favors Jews

The resolution handed down recently by the Jerusalem District Court demonstrates the true ramifications of the nationality law and how Jews would be favored in courts.
Israeli Arabs and their supporters take part in a rally to protest against Jewish nation-state law in Rabin square in Tel Aviv, Israel  August 11, 2018. REUTERS/Ammar Awad - RC1DEE0EF780
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The Knesset adopted the controversial nationality law on July 19, anchoring the Jewish nature of the State of Israel. In response to the public uproar in Israel and around the world following the passage of the law in the Knesset, its authors and supporters have claimed that it does not change the current reality and does not hurt the equal rights of minorities. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu surpassed himself and, as his custom, attacked the left and demanded that it check itself. In his opening remarks at the Cabinet meeting following the passage of the law on July 29, Netanyahu said: “Does determining that our flag bears the Star of David somehow abrogate the individual right of anyone among Israel's citizens? Nonsense, but determining this ensures that there will not be another flag. Does determining that Hatikvah is our national anthem detract from the personal rights of any person in Israel? Nonsense, but it does determine that there will not be another anthem. … We are not ashamed of Zionism. We are proud of our state, that it is a national home for the Jewish people, which strictly upholds — in a manner that is without peer — the individual rights of all its citizens.’’

Not even two months later and the district court in Jerusalem proved the impact of the nationality law when Judge Moshe Drori relied on the nationality law to decide on compensation for victims of a terror attack.

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