Israeli minister promises to pass 'allegiance' to Israel law
Israel's energy and infrastructure minister said on Sunday that new legislation will soon require all members of the Israeli parliament to pledge their allegiance to Israel as a Jewish state.
"Soon we will pass a law that will require every Knesset member, at the swearing-in ceremony to the Knesset, to pledge allegiance to Israel as a Jewish and democratic state," Eli Cohen said in a post on X.
He added that Palestinian members of parliament opposing these titles will "have no place in the Knesset of Israel", as he referenced politicians Ahmad Tibi and Ayman Odeh.
Odeh, head of the Hadash alliance, and Tibi, head of the Arab Movement for Change (Ta’al), have faced anger from their Israeli counterparts.
In late June, Israel's Knesset House Committee voted to advance Odeh's impeachment over comments he made earlier this year that were perceived as being pro-Palestinian and against the war on Gaza.
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Lawmakers from both the ruling coalition and opposition Yesh Atid and National Unity parties voted 14-2 in favour of impeachment, while two Knesset members from the Palestinian United Arab List (Ra'am) and Ta'al parties opposed the move.
Odeh had earned the scorn of several Israeli lawmakers earlier last year when he welcomed a long-awaited Gaza ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
The Palestinian lawmaker drew further criticism after a speech he gave during an anti-war demonstration in Haifa.
Tibi came under fire earlier this year for comments made against Israeli police spokesperson Arye Doron. In an interview with Channel 13, Tibi criticised Doron in an argument about police brutality against Palestinian citizens of Israel and the killing of a Bedouin man in the Negev.
Police then sought to criminally investigate the lawmaker under suspicion of insulting a civil servant.
Israeli law targets Palestinians
Israel continues to pass laws that infringe on its Palestinian population and those living within the occupied territories.
According to report by the legal centre Adalah, Israel has passed more than 30 laws since October 2023 that deepen a system of apartheid and repression against Palestinians.
The laws, enacted between 7 October 2023 and 27 July 2025, target a range of political and civil rights, including freedom of expression, protest and thought, citizenship and family life, equality and social rights, and the rights of detainees and prisoners.
One is the expanded use of counterterrorism laws, applied almost exclusively to Palestinian citizens of Israel and Palestinian residents of occupied East Jerusalem.
Adalah said Israel has used the wartime climate to accelerate discriminatory trends. The centre has now documented a total of 100 discriminatory laws.
The laws criminalise political expression, authorise deportations of Palestinian families, block family unification, permit the dismissal of Palestinian teachers, revoke social welfare benefits if children are convicted of so-called “security offences”, expand detention powers, restrict access to legal counsel, and close independent media outlets.
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