Jewish studies researcher sees nation-state law as turning point in Israel’s history


LAWRENCE – If Israel wants to regain the loyalty of its crucial Arab Druze minority, it will have to scrap the controversial 2018 nation-state law and recommit to the democratic principles of its Declaration of Independence.

That tall order is laid out in a recent scholarly article by an Israeli Druze assistant professor of Jewish studies at the University of Kansas. But Rami Zeedan said even strongly Zionistic Jewish audiences are open to hearing his critique these days.

They understand that the new, quasi-constitutional law enshrining Israel as the national home of the Jews alone threatens the social contract between Israel’s Jewish majority and its model Arab minority, he said.

In “Knesset Basic Law: Israel as the Nation State of the Jewish People,” Zeedan recounts the history of that social contract from the Druze point of view and the way it was broken in 2018 by the passage of what Israel terms a Basic Law.

The Druze are a non-Muslim religious minority in the Arab world, stateless and spread across several Middle Eastern countries, including Syria and Lebanon. Within Israel, and unlike Arabs who identify as Palestinian, the Druze have traditionally been supportive of the Jewish state as such, serving in its armed forces.

But they are a small minority, even within Israel’s Arab minority. The Israel Central Bureau of Statistics shows its population – including Jerusalem and the Golan Heights but omitting the West Bank and Gaza Strip — is 74% Jewish and 21% Arab. There are nearly 2 million Arabs living in Israel, of whom just 143,000 are Druze.

Yet despite their small numbers, the Druze have always played a crucial role in Israel’s socio-politico-religious bargain.

That is because, Zeedan wrote, “Druze accept the ‘Jewishness’ of the state and do not challenge it. Moreover, unlike (other) Israeli Arabs, they accept the symbols of the state. In both respects, the Druze perspective contradicts that of the Arabs, who oppose the Jewishness of the state and its symbols. However, the Druze ask to be compensated for this compromise by retaining the democratic component of the definition of the state alongside the Jewish component in order to ensure equality for all citizens.”

The Nation State Law enacted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition shifted this delicate balance away from democracy and toward Judaism, according to Zeedan.

“Despite evident discrimination against them and other Arabs, they had continued to hope,” he wrote, “but the new legislation left no room for the hope of a more equal and inclusive Israel. On these grounds, the Druze outcry after the approval of the law should come as no surprise.”

Indeed, he wrote, “It was perceived by the Druze as a blow to their dignity and sense of identity as Israelis ... it destroys the very basis of the Israeli Druze consensus, which has, in fact, collapsed.”

The Jewish studies researcher asks rhetorically: What then?

“The suggested solution to this situation is made up of two steps,” Zeedan wrote. “In the first, as a confidence-building measure, the Nation-State Law must be rescinded. In its place, the ‘Declaration of Independence’ must be enacted as a basic law. The advantage of the ‘Declaration of Independence’ is that it secures a primary demand for each side, the Jewish character of the state ... and the democratic character of the state, as it promises individual and collective rights to Arabs.

“However, in order to solve the more complex issue of identity along with the other contradictory demands, a second step is necessary, the revitalization of a social contract for the state of Israel achieved through negotiations between all segments of society through a consideration of their demands and by making compromises to reach an agreement that will secure a long-lasting peaceful co-existence between Jews and Arabs in Israel.”

Zeedan said many people seem to understand this legal milestone as something important and are open to his critique.

“There is a growing interest to hear me. I've been invited to many places to talk about this,” he said. “I sense that, even with among people who do know a little bit more — maybe Jewish Americans, maybe Jewish Israelis — they are struggling to understand.”

As a scholar, a Druze and a veteran of the Israel Defense Forces, Zeedan said, he is able to “connect that to my experiences and my expertise on the Zionist movement and on Israel's history and society. I can say that the Nation-State Law is a turning point in Israel's history. It’s unprecedented.”

Image: The Druze flag (left) hangs next to the Israeli one at a school in Israel. The Druze flag is a religious symbol and not a national one. Credit: Lihi Marom, Wikimedia Commons

Tue, 03/16/2021

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Rick Hellman

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Rick Hellman

KU News Service

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