The party of Israel’s controversial Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Sunday will take the next step toward passage of a bill that will require all citizens to swear a loyalty oath when it is brought before a ministerial committee. The language of the bill demands that Israelis “commit to being loyal to the State of Israel as a Jewish, Zionist and democratic state, to its symbols and values and to serve the state as much as required through military or alternative service." Some argue that minorities including Israel’s Arab population are being asked to swear to something that they cannot uphold. Yisrael Beiteinu [Israel Our Home], Lieberman’s party, has offered sister-legislation that provides a one-year jail term for anyone convicted of publicly denying Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. The concepts behind the bills were featured in the party’s election platform and were seen as resonating among Israel’s Jewish public, coming after a number of incidents in which Arab lawmakers participated in rallies and other events at which the destruction of the Jewish state was called for.
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