JERUSALEM // Plans to introduce an oath of loyalty to Israel as a "Jewish and democratic state" for anyone wanting to become a citizen were welcomed by rightwing ministers today.
The controversial move would amend the current citizenship law and incorporate the phrase: "I swear to respect the laws of the state of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state", a statement from the office of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said late yesterday.
The proposal, which is being backed by Mr Netanyahu, is to be put to a vote in the cabinet on Sunday. Israeli newspapers said the change was aimed at Palestinians looking to gain Israeli citizenship after marrying Arab Israelis. The ultra-nationalist Israeli foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, told public radio: "I praise the prime minister for the decision to go along with this legislation. Everyone who wants to receive Israeli citizenship must swear loyalty to the state of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state," he said.
Mr Lieberman's Yisrael Beitenu party had made the oath the centrepiece of its campaign in elections in 2009 which eventually led to it becoming the second largest member of the governing coalition after Mr Netanyahu's Likud. Recognition of Israel as a Jewish state is one of Mr Netanyahu's key demands in any eventual peace deal with the Palestinians.
The Palestinians have agreed to recognise Israel as a state but have rejected the further demand to recognise its Jewish character because it would amount to an effective renunciation of their cherished demand for the right of return of refugees from the 1948 Arab-Israeli war
Peace talks are currently facing collapse because of the unresolved dispute over Jewish settlement building on occupied Palestinian land.
