--- title: Jewish Nation-State Bill Passes Israeli Cabinet description: The Israeli Cabinet on Sunday approved draft legislation to call Israel the nation-state of the Jewish people canonical: https://time.com/3601853/jewish-nation-state-bill-passes-israel-cabinet-palestine-arab-hebrew/ author: Elizabeth Barber article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-24T07:47:30.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T02:18:50.864Z article:section: World og:title: Israeli Cabinet Passes 'Nationality Law' og:description: Controversial legislation has set off a vexed debate about Israel's future og:url: https://time.com/3601853/jewish-nation-state-bill-passes-israel-cabinet-palestine-arab-hebrew/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9a12a9a832c7fb30/69876a79cd68489b360982f9/mideast-israel_wong-2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Benjamin Netanyahu og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Israeli Cabinet Passes 'Nationality Law' twitter:description: Controversial legislation has set off a vexed debate about Israel's future twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9a12a9a832c7fb30/69876a79cd68489b360982f9/mideast-israel_wong-2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Jewish Nation-State Bill Passed by Israeli Cabinet by [Elizabeth Barber](/author/elizabeth-barber/) ## Elizabeth Barber Nov 24, 2014 7:47 AM CUT  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during in his Cabinet meeting in his office in Jerusalem on Nov. 23, 2014 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during in his Cabinet meeting in his office in Jerusalem on Nov. 23, 2014Jim Hollander—AP by [Elizabeth Barber](/author/elizabeth-barber/) ## Elizabeth Barber Nov 24, 2014 7:47 AM CUT The Israeli Cabinet on Sunday [approved](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/24/world/middleeast/israeli-cabinet-backs-nationality-bill-that-risks-wider-rift-with-arab-minority.html?%5Fr=0 "undefined") a bill to call Israel the nation-state of the Jewish people, a measure that critics say could further strain the state’s frayed relationship with its Palestinian population. The draft legislation, titled “Israel, the Nation-State of the Jewish People,” is backed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has promised that it will guarantee equality for all Israeli citizens, the New York _Times_ reports. Yet Palestinian lawmakers deem the bill a threat to the rights of the state’s Arab minority and its democratic principles. The proposed law’s final wording has not yet been settled. At least one version of the draft law would demote the Arabic language to “special status” in Israel, making Hebrew the state’s sole official language. The bill passed the Cabinet by 14 votes to six and is now headed to Parliament. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3601853/jewish-nation-state-bill-passes-israel-cabinet-palestine-arab-hebrew/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3601853/jewish-nation-state-bill-passes-israel-cabinet-palestine-arab-hebrew/"},"headline":"Jewish Nation-State Bill Passed by Israeli Cabinet","datePublished":"2014-11-24T07:47:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T02:18:50.864Z","description":"The proposed legislation, sometimes referred to as the \"nationality law,\" has set off a debate about Israel's future","url":"https://time.com/3601853/jewish-nation-state-bill-passes-israel-cabinet-palestine-arab-hebrew/","keywords":["Israel","Benjamin Netanyahu","Gaza and the West Bank","Palestinians"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9a12a9a832c7fb30/69876a79cd68489b360982f9/mideast-israel_wong-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Elizabeth Barber","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/elizabeth-barber/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9a12a9a832c7fb30/69876a79cd68489b360982f9/mideast-israel_wong-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Benjamin Netanyahu","caption":"Benjamin Netanyahu","creditText":"Jim Hollander—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3601853/jewish-nation-state-bill-passes-israel-cabinet-palestine-arab-hebrew/","name":"Jewish Nation-State Bill Passed by Israeli Cabinet"}}]}] ```