Former Likud Knesset member Uriel Lynn, who served as chairman of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee between 1988 and 1992 when the Knesset passed Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty and Basic Law: Freedom of Occupation, says that the controversial nation-state law changes nothing and in no way affects existing Basic Laws.
The most recent Basic Law, which anchors Israel's status as the "nation-state of the Jewish people" in Israel's de facto constitution, has angered many non-Jewish Israeli citizens who feel the law discriminates against them.
"I don't think that the nation-state law entails legal discrimination against Arab or Druze citizens," Lynn told Israel Hayom this week, adding that when he was in the Knesset, he secured support from the Alignment (Labor), Meretz and Hadash parties for Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty, despite the fact that it did not spell out equality for all citizens.
"Together with the author of the law, MK Amnon Rubinstein, I intentionally decided not to include a clause on equality in the law because it was obvious to us that if we did, we wouldn't be able to secure the necessary majority to pass it," he explained.
He added that Rubinstein and he "convinced the leaders of Meretz to support the law by explaining that we had included a sentence stating that the purpose [of the law] was to 'protect human dignity and liberty to anchor in a Basic Law the values of the state of Israel as a Jewish, democratic state.' We felt that the law protected life, limb, and dignity, and thus ensured privacy and the protection of privacy."
"They understood that if they didn't support that version, there would be no Basic Law to protect human dignity and liberty, as they hadn't managed to pass such a law since the state was established," Lynn said.
Lynn stressed that "we realized that we had a historic opportunity … so from the very first stages, I took care to bring MK Yitzhak Levy from the National Religious Party and Rabbi Avraham Ravitz from Degel Hatorah into the legislative and consultation process to ensure across-the-board support for the law."
Lynn said he promised Levy and Ravitz that the proposed Basic Law would protect the status quo anchored in existing legislation.
"We understood that with this law, we would be granting the Supreme Court the power to reverse legal clauses that contradict this Basic Law, and that is precisely what happened," the former MK said.
Responding to the demand from the current opposition camp to amend the nation-state law, Lynn said he thinks the government "must not respond to pressure and amend the law, because the moment one change is made to satisfy the Druze, other groups will feel oppressed and demand changes, too, and the saga will never end."
