Jewish state law goes against universal law, turkey says

TURKEY yesterday slammed a new Jewish nation-state law passed by Israel’s Knesset, saying it “disregards” norms of universal law. In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said: “The Jewish nationstate law passed by the Israeli parliament today disregards norms of universal law and ignores the rights of Palestinians.” The statement came yesterday after Israel’s Knesset passed a law that declares the country to be “the nation-state of the Jewish people.” The ministry also condemned the law, describing the right to self-determination in Israel as only belonging to Jewish people, as “antiquated” and “discriminatory.” The statement called on the international community to take a stand against the law, meant to bring an end the vision of a two-state solution.

A top Turkish presidential aide “strongly condemned” a new law proclaiming Israel a “Jewish nation-state.” “It is certainly not possible to accept this racist step that shows its effort to legally erase the Palestinian people from their homeland,” presidential spokesman İbrahim Kalın told Anadolu Agency. “We call on the international community to react against this injustice that happened before the eyes of the whole world,” he added.

American Jewish organizations also slammed the new Israeli law. The American Jewish Committee said it was “deeply disappointed,” underscoring that the law “puts at risk the commitment of Israel’s founders to build a country that is both Jewish and democratic.”