One of the big news items exciting the media is the prime minister's announcement that he will submit a law to include the Jewish nature of the State in the law books. Israel will officially be a Jewish State by law, assuming he submits it and garners enough votes to pass it.
Some are in favor, some are against. all the regular blabber all over the radio about Judaism, halachic state, democracy, etc.
I am in favor, because Israel was established not just to be a democracy but also to be Jewish - to have some sort of unique charcter connected to Judaism.
The problem is that while the law might say, if it passes, that Israel is a Jewish State, there will not be any definition of what that means in the law. Will halacha rule? Will mishpat ivri be in effect?
Such a law should really require more than just a general statement of "Jewish State", but it should delineate how the laws will be affected to reflect the jewishness of the State. Without that, the law is just a farce, only for show, and maybe to upset some people (whether on the Left, on the Palestinian side, or maybe even further out).
And for all those afraid that such a law would be a slippery slope towards a halachic state, I am pretty sure that even most religious people are not interested in a halachic state. We have flourished and grown up in democracies. I doubt too many people want to give up our democracy and turn it into a halachic state. At most a few laws would be adjusted a bit, but the nature of our State would not really change all that much.
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