Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu walked out of a meeting with Druze leaders regarding the nation-state law on Thursday, after one of them suggested the controversial legislation would turn Israel into an "apartheid state."
Though largely symbolic, Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People, enacted in late July, states that "Israel is the historic homeland of the Jewish people and they have an exclusive right to national self-determination in it."
The language of the law has been panned by Arab lawmakers and non-Jewish Israeli citizens as "racist."
The Druze – a unique religious and ethnic minority among Israeli Arabs, who serve in the IDF and hold key positions in Israeli politics and public service – were particularly offended by the law, which community leaders labeled as an "extreme act of discrimination" against the country's minorities.
Druze make up only 1.3% of Israel's population. Israeli Arabs make up 20% of the citizenry.
While Netanyahu and cabinet ministers were able to rebuff most of the condemnation, the criticism from the Druze made more of an impact and prompted the prime minister to set up a special committee tasked with formulating new legislation that will address the Druze grievances and ease tensions.
An initial legislative framework introduced on Tuesday was lauded by the Prime Minister's Office as "a historic outline that constitutes a revolution in the legal status of minority community members who serve in the security forces, particularly the Druze community."
Druze spiritual leader Sheik Mowafaq Tarif had agreed the plan would improve the community's status.
"There is no doubt that this is an unprecedented window of opportunity to advance the Druze community's status in Israel," he said.
Communication Minister Ayoob Kara, the first Druze minister is Israel, also voiced support for the outline, saying Netanyahu "is the only prime minister to ever name a Druze as a key government minister and a significant partner to government policy."
Kara, too, called the outline "historic," saying it was "a solid plan that would benefit the community and serve its interests."
Druze Kulanu MK Akram Hasson noted that "there's still a long way to go, but this is a good plan," and Yisrael Beytenu MK Hamad Amar agreed the framework was a "historic" one.
However, Thursday's meeting took a wrong turn moments after it started when Brig. Gen. (ret.) Amal Asad, one of the leaders of the Druze protest, referred to a Facebook post arguing that Israel was "an apartheid state."
Netanyahu said Asad's tone and words was unacceptable and ended the meeting.
The Prime Minister's Office issued a statement saying, "The prime minister will not accept any affront to the Israeli prime minister or the state's honor, nor will he tolerate anyone calling an apartheid state."
Asad denied yelling at Netanyahu.
Speaking to Hadashot evening news on Thursday, Asad said, "The prime minister was again preparing to tell us stories about the committees he plans to form, but we insisted that we wanted an amendment to the nation-state law. Netanyahu wouldn't hear of it."
Asad said he and the other Druze officials then left the room and came back a few moments later.
"When we came back, he said he had nothing to say to me anymore because I had written [on Facebook] that Israel was an apartheid state. I stand by that," he said.
"Netanyahu said he was willing to hold the meeting with a smaller forum, but no one would hear of it. Everyone but Ayoob Kara got up and left," Asad said.
On Wednesday, after the initial outline was introduced, Asad protested on Facebook, writing, "My dear friends, the prime minister, through his clerks, suggested to the Druze leadership to stop protesting against their humiliation last week. The prime minister's creative head has invented a new trick – you will keep quiet and remain humiliated and maybe receive the odd benefit.
"Maybe it will succeed. Maybe the Druze no longer have self-respect and pride, and perhaps the new humiliation will find a sympathetic ear. There will be a Basic Law that says that the Jews are masters of the land – even those who do not serve in the IDF – but there will also be another, regular law that says to the non-Jews: If you serve in the military you will receive 'benefits.'"
Addressing Netanyahu, Asad wrote, "Your proposal is even more humiliating than the nation-state law itself, which is an evil and racist law designed to enable the State of Israel to become an apartheid state."
Despite the apparent setback, Tourism Minister Yariv Levin, one of the committee members, said the legislation would be presented when the Knesset returns for its winter session on Oct. 14.
"To my delight, the Druze community has accepted the outline. We have agreed to work on the details and bring a set proposal to a vote," he said.
Habayit Hayehudi leader Education Minister Naftali Bennett wrote on Facebook that "the Druze community doesn't have to prove to anyone its loyalty to Israel or the strength of the bond between us. Seventy years of statehood prove this beyond any doubt."
However, Druze opposition MK Salah Saed (Zionist Union) said he was not sure the crisis had been averted.
"I have read the new proposal and I can live with it, but the problem is that I don't believe the prime minister," Saed said.
Meanwhile, Druze protest leaders plan to hold a mass protest rally against the nation-state law on Saturday evening in Tel Aviv.
Organizers said the rally would be apolitical and that no lawmakers were invited to speak.
"This rally aims to try and mobilize the entire country, to make people understand that this is not just the Druze's struggle but that of anyone who feels Israeli and wants the state to continue to maintain equality," Jabar Habish, one of the organizers, said.
"We are the moderate voice and in fact, we are actually fighting for the state twice – once as part of the IDF and the second time right now," he said.
