Justice official says nation-state law should not be used to harm rights

A state representative tells the Knesset that the nation-state law is not supposed to hurt any of the individual rights of citizens, a Justice Ministry official tells the Knesset, after a judge used the controversial 2018 nation-state law to justify dismissing a lawsuit by Arab residents of Carmiel.

The lawsuit charged that the northern city was violating its obligation to provide transportation for Arab Israeli children to local schools. But it was dismissed by the Krayot Magistrate’s Court, which said providing services to Arabs would encourage Arabs to live in the city while changing its Jewish character.

Eyal Zandberg, head of Public Law in the Consulting and Legislation Department of the ministry, tells the Knesset’s Special Committee for the Rights of the Child it is clear from the law’s wording that “it should not diminish the rights of the children.”

He adds that, as the case is currently being appealed by the plaintiffs, he does not want to go into specifics. He stresses that the state was not party to the case at the Krayot Magistrate’s Court.

Committee chief Yousef Jabareen of the Joint List says the law that defined Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people is “racist” and there is a need “to fight any attempt to translate it into harmful policy.”