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Coalition says it will advance Basic Law to recognize status of Druze community

18 November 2023, 11:11 pm 5 Edit
Family and friends of Lt. Col. Salman Habaka mourn at his funeral at the Druze village of Yanuh-Jat, northern Israel, on November 3, 2023. (Flash90)
Family and friends of Lt. Col. Salman Habaka mourn at his funeral at the Druze village of Yanuh-Jat, northern Israel, on November 3, 2023. (Flash90)

The coalition announces it will put forward legislation with the status of a Basic Law to recognize the unique contribution of the Druze community in Israel, as the IDF death toll among Druze in the Israel-Hamas war continues to rise.

Coalition chief Ofir Katz and Foreign Minister Eli Cohen announce the legislation, saying that it is aimed at anchoring the status of the Druze community under the law.

Druze were among some of the most vocal opponents of the 2018 nation-state law, which declared Israel the nation-state of the Jewish people. In recent weeks they have resumed calls to repeal it.

At least six members of the Druze community have fallen in battle since the start of the war, including Lt. Col. Salman Habaka and Lt. Col. Alim Abdallah, and two more announced this evening.

Asked about changing the controversial nation-state law at a press conference earlier this evening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Druze community was central to the State of Israel and that it deserved to be recognized as such, but stopped short of endorsing repealing the law.

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