Tens of thousands of members of Israel's Druze minority and their Jewish supporters, some chanting "Equality for all," packed a central Tel Aviv square Saturday night to rally against a contentious new law that critics say sidelines Israel's non-Jewish citizens.
It marked the first time in recent memory that the Druze – followers of a secretive offshoot of Shiite Islam who are considered loyal to the State of Israel – staged a large public prowwww.
Hundreds of brightly colored Druze flags, rarely seen outside the community, fluttered in the square along Israel's flag. Nearby City Hall was also lit up in Druze colors.
Organizers estimated the turnout at 50,000. The rally marked the biggest backlash yet against the recently passed law that enshrines Israel's Jewish character and downgrades the standing of Arabic from an official to a "special" language.
The law has outraged Israel's Arabic-speaking minority, which includes the Druze and makes up about 20% of the population. Critics say the law undermines the country's democratic values.
The Druze serve in the military, unlike most of the country's Arab citizens, who overwhelmingly follow Sunni Islam and have close family ties with Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Over the years, members of the Druze community have risen to prominence in the military and in politics.
On Saturday, Tel Aviv's Rabin Square was packed with Druze protesters bused in from all over Israel, and their Jewish backers, including former senior members of the defense establishment.
"No one can preach to us about loyalty and the military cemeteries testify to this. Despite our utter loyalty, the state does not see us as equal," Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif, told the demonstrators in a speech.
"Just as we fight for the existence and security of the state, so are we determined to fight together for the character and right to live in it in equality and dignity," said Tarif.
Retired Brig. Gen. Amal Asad, who spearheaded the Druze campaign against the legislation, said, "We came here to tell the entire Israeli nation, with all of the Israeli people, that this country is for all of us.
"We were born here, we will die here, we love this country, we have defended it, and we will continue to live here together – Jews, Arabs, Druze, Circassians, Bedouins, as equal brothers. We are all Israelis," he said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other cabinet ministers have met with Druze leaders to try and allay their concerns. But recent meetings did not go well.
Netanyahu abruptly ended a meeting with Asad and other Druze officials this week after Asad warned the new law would "lead to apartheid."
Lawmaker Avi Dichter, who co-sponsored of the law, was heckled by Druze in attendance at another meeting.
Protester Rima Basis, 25, from the predominantly Druze town of Daliyat al-Carmel, said the new law has helped entrench a feeling of inequality that had already existed to some degree.
"The bond that we've had until now has suffered a very serious blow," she said. "Until now, we've given without any price, without anything in return, out of the belief that at the end of the day, we're indeed brothers, people who can live together in peace.
"If you now define me not as a citizen of the state, how can I give any more or feel like I belong to this country, or stand up and sing the national anthem with pride?" she said.
Netanyahu said over the weekend that "the feelings of our Druze brothers and sisters touch my heart. I want to tell them: There is nothing in this law that infringes on your rights as equal citizens of the state of Israel, and there is nothing in it that harms the special status of the Druze community in Israel.
"The people of Israel, and I among them, love and appreciate you. We deeply appreciate our partnership and the covenant between us," he said.
