Israel - A Multicultural Nation?
(Signs of the Time - January 2000)
The United Nations has determined that the city of Toronto is the most multi-cultural city in the world. Toronto beat out New York and London to take the 1999 award. The UN makes a multicultural determination once a year and considers factors such as government policy, educational integration and a willingness to integrate.
As cultures intermarry and become intertwined, it is possible that the multicultural theme could become the latest trend for the new decade. Recently, the nation of Israel has debated a bill which is before parliament as to whether or not they should make the leap and declare themselves a multicultural nation. On the surface, this change would seem to be a positive step for Israel. However, there are severe implications with Israel becoming a multifaceted, multicultural nation.
Should Israel move toward the multicultural goal? This month’s article will examine this question and look at the bill currently before the Israeli parliament.
One culture, one people?
Should Israel value one culture above the rest? This is a point currently being
debated in the parliament. It is, after all, the Jewish homeland, established on a policy
of ethnic preference to redress the enormity of the Holocaust as well as millennia of
wandering. The New York Times reported on December 6, 1999, "the debate
has been ignited by the release of new statistics showing that an increasing percentage of
recent immigrants are non-Jews. It has been fueled, though, by a confluence of factors,
including the increasing civil rights demands of the growing Israeli-Arab minority and the
rise of a younger generation that questions whether Israel should evolve into a post
Zionist country."
As well new statistics released in late October showed that in the last year, for the first time, more than half the immigrants to Israel were not Jews according to Jewish law. That is 53 percent did not have a Jewish mother or had not undergone a conversion. Since the great wave of immigration began in 1989, about 208,000 of the 1 million immigrants from the former Soviet Union have not been Jewish, according to official data.
The bill which is currently before the parliament is proposing to anchor into law the seemingly factual assertion that Israel is a democratic and multicultural state. The bill would change forever the fact that Israel values one culture above all others, the Jewish one. Under the new proposed law, all cultures would be defined as one and the same and would have the same rights and obligations. The unfortunate aspect of the proposed new law is that some of the existing laws will have to be modified as a result of the proposal.
A homeland for the Jews
The primary purpose behind the creation of the nation of Israel was to provide a
homeland for the Jewish people. The law of the land provided for Israeli citizenship to be
bestowed on Jews from anywhere in the world provided that they return to the motherland.
In 1970, this law was amended to include those with Jewish roots and connection to
non-Jewish spouses, children and grandchildren of Jews. This was a deliberate mirroring of
the Nazi definition of Jewishness. It meant to create a law that would embrace those who
might not consider themselves Jewish but might nonetheless face anti-Semitism or worse.
The New York Times reports that: "An old idea has been revived -- to tighten the generous Law of Return that guarantees citizenship to almost anyone with Jewish roots or spouse. But this time, it is not only the rigorously Orthodox who are questioning the law. Immigration experts, liberal Orthodox, secular immigrants and mainstream newspaper editorialists are proposing that the supposedly sacrosanct law be re-evaluated. ‘The Law of Return is discriminatory,’ said Zehava Gal-on, a member of Parliament from the Meretz Party. ‘It discriminates between Jews and non-Jews. I can accept that after the Holocaust, it was kind of a necessity. But maybe after 51 years, we are not in the same situation, and we don’t need to run our country based on such undemocratic laws.’"
Seeking useful immigrants
For much of the last 50 years, Israel was in the process of building a nation and
eager to attract immigrants to a culturally rich but difficult life. Now a relatively
prosperous and even peaceful society, Israel is actually a magnet even to those who do not
feel a Zionist bond. And it seems that in order for Israel to continue with its economic
upturn it must attract top immigrants.
As one might appreciate, the proposed legislation has stirred incredible debate in the legislature. The New York Times reports: "Inside and outside the legislature, the debate is already raging, a national soul-search about Israel’s identity and just how central Jewishness -- much less Judaism -- should be."
God’s land given to Abraham’s seed
The promises that God made to Abraham included descendants, a son and more importantly
land (Gen. 12:2) -- land that would be given to his descendants forever. As believers we
wait for this day to come, realizing God has not yet fully established His people in His
land.
Ironically, it is Abraham’s natural descendants who are ignoring the very promises that have preserved them through the centuries. They may think they are acting reasonably but as mankind attempts to reach for peace, they are doing so by ignoring God’s promises and principles.
The citizens of Israel are now debating what should become of God’s land; a land promised to them and which they were forced to fight for and now feel they have the right to govern however they choose.
The New York Times concludes its article with the following quotation: "‘I see this as a deep, profound debate going way beyond our immigration law,’ said Yuli Tamir, the immigration minister. ‘What will the nature of Israel be? A religious Jewish state? A state of all its citizens? A secular, democratic and Jewish state? It is a debate that will engage us for many, many years.’"
May the debate be terminated by our Master’s return and the reestablishment of his Father’s kingdom in the land of Israel. Let us pray that it may come soon.
George Rayner