Israel in turmoil over bill allowing Jews and Arabs to be segregated

[oberliner]

1. Controversial 'segregation' clause dropped from Jewish nation-state bill

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Education Minister Naftali Bennett reached an agreement Sunday on a key change to the nation-state bill that will remove a controversial clause sanctioning housing discrimination on the basis of ethnicity or religion, and replace it with a new one celebrating “Jewish settlement” in general terms.

Clause 7B of the Likud-sponsored legislation, which the government hopes to have approved by the end of the month, previously would have allowed the state to “authorize a community composed of people having the same faith and nationality to maintain the exclusive character of that community.”

Politicians, legal advisers and others have warned that that version of the so-called Jewish State bill is discriminatory and could cast a dark shadow over Israel in the international arena.

In a bid to gain wider support for the bill and quiet its vociferous critics, Bennett had proposed language removing the clause and replace it with a call for strengthening the Jewish presence in predominantly Arab Israeli areas.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-bennett-agree-on-softened-jewish-nation-state-bill-language/