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Israel: Politics and Government

Question for Foreign and Commonwealth Office

UIN 166059, tabled on 19 July 2018

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Israeli Government on the (a) passage of the Nation State Law by the Israeli Knesset and (b) implications of that law on the rights and status of minority groups.

Answered on

24 July 2018

​The Nation-State Bill has passed through the Knesset into law. The final wording of the legislation did not contain the clause which would have explicitly allowed a community composed of people of the same faith or nationality to maintain an exclusive community. As part of their regular diplomatic work with Israeli authorities and legislators, British diplomats in Israel discussed the (Nation-State Bill) alongside other legislation and developments. Israel's long standing commitment to equality for all its citizens is one of its great strengths as a fellow democracy. As friends of Israel we would be concerned about any development that would undermine this commitment

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