Israel declared 'national state of the Jewish people'

JERUSALEM, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet approved a controversial bill on Sunday to make Israel the nation-state of Jewish people.

The bill is not yet a law, as it still needs approval from the country's parliament. It's actually a combination of two bills, and Netanyahu will be adding it to an additional version to be presented in the coming week. Fourteen cabinet members supported the measure and six opposed.

"The bill submitted today to the government puts a Jewish state before democracy," said Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid. "It is an anti-democratic bill. Neither I nor Yesh Atid will vote on Wednesday for the nation-state bill as it was submitted."

Arabs account for just over 20 percent of Israel's population, and the bill would remove Arabic from the list of official languages.

Many people see the proposed law as racist and exclusionary.

Israel approves the #JSIL law, declares democracy for Jews only w/halakha as a guide: http://t.co/IjuyoGJ8g1

— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) November 23, 2014