Israel rejects proposal for ‘loyalty law’
The Israeli government has thrown out a proposal that would have required minority Arabs to take an oath of loyalty to Israel or risk losing their citizenship.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman made the proposal a central plank of his election campaign last February. The message, which sought to play on the perceived disloyalty of Israel’s Arab citizens, helped propel his Yisrael Beitenu Party to a strong third- place finish in the parliamentary vote.
The draft would have allowed the Interior Ministry to strip even native Israelis of their nationality if they refused to swear allegiance to the Jewish state and “its symbols and values” and profess their willingness to perform military service.
On May 31 the proposal was rejected 8-3 by a ministerial committee on legislation. With the exception of Yisrael Beitenu, all parties in the government, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud, opposed it. — ap
Rabbis urge soldiers to disobey
A group of rabbis in Israel has called on Israeli soldiers and police to refuse orders to evacuate West Bank outposts.
“We call on the government to call off its intention to raze communities in the country in violation of the Torah, while abusing the pioneers who are laying their lives on the line,” the rabbis said in a statement released May 27. “It’s inconceivable that a soldier or police officer would take part in the immoral and impossible act of razing any of these communities.” — jta
Antiquity back in Jerusalem
A 46-pound fragment of a 1,200-year-old marble column, which disappeared from an excavation south of the Temple Mount in 1997, has been returned.
Israel learned of the antiquity’s whereabouts after receiving an e-mail from a clergyman in New York saying that a member of his congregation confessed to stealing it from the site while an archeology student on an organized trip to Israel. The piece was returned to Jerusalem in a specially constructed wooden crate. — jta
Lieberman: Israel not planning to bomb Iran
Israel is not planning to bomb Iran, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told reporters during a visit to Russia this week.
“This is not an Israeli problem,” Lieberman said June 3 after meetings in Moscow. “But the world should understand that Iran’s entrance into the nuclear club would prompt a whole arms race, a crazy race of unconventional weaponry across the Mideast that is a threat to the entire world order, a challenge to the whole international community. So we do not want a global problem to be solved with our hands.”
Statements from the Netanyahu government have intimated that if diplomatic talks with Iran fail, Israel might be forced to attack its nuclear sites.
During Lieberman’s meetings in Russia, Russian leaders pledged to ask Iran to use its nuclear program only for civilian purposes. — jta
More West Bank roadblocks removed
Israel’s army removed two roadblocks in the Ramallah area on June 2. The removal was undertaken “in accordance with decisions made by the Israeli government to take various steps which would significantly improve the daily life of Palestinian civilians in the Judea and Samaria region,” according to the Israel Defense Forces.
A checkpoint near Nablus will now operate 24 hours a day, as well.
Meanwhile, Israeli security forces also evacuated for the second time an illegal West Bank outpost. Maoz Esther was dismantled two weeks ago, but young activists rebuilt several structures on the hilltop. Two structures were destroyed during the June 2 evacuation. — jta
P.A. facing large budget shortfall
The Palestinian Authority has had to take out $350 million in loans to meet its 2009 budget, the Israeli daily Ha’aretz reported, adding that foreign countries have not made good on promised donations to the P.A.
P.A. Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said in a statement June 1 that the loans would enable the Palestinian Authority to pay public workers. But according to reports, the P.A. has nearly reached its credit limit.
The Palestinian Authority has received only a small amount of the $1.5 billion pledged by donor countries, mostly Arab states, for 2009, according to the International Monetary Fund. European countries and the United States have mostly fulfilled their pledges, Ha’aretz reported. — jta