(Avigdor) Lieberman's party to seek cabinet okay for loyalty oath

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu party plans to propose controversial legislation requiring citizens to swear loyalty to the state, a party spokesman said on Monday.

The party intends to seek cabinet approval for the bill before presenting it to the Knesset where it would have to pass three votes and a committee review before taking effect, according to the spokesman.

The proposal was a key part of Yisrael Beiteinu's campaign in February's general election, in which it grew to Israel's third largest political party.

The bill calls for enabling the interior minister to lift someone's citizenship if he or she fails to either serve in the Israel Defense Forces or do a term of national service.

Party spokesman Tal Nahum said the measure would require all Israelis to declare loyalty "to the state of Israel as a Jewish, Zionist and democratic state" before they can be issued a national identity document. The law requires all Israeli residents over 16 carry their identity cards at all times.

Nahum said the cabinet would discuss the bill on Sunday."

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[villager]

1. So this means no more exemptions for the Orthodox from IDF service?

n/t

[rateyes]

2. Wow! How can a "Jewish Zionist State" to which ALL Israelis

have to sign a loyalty oath be a "democratic state?" A. Lieberman is one gigantic asshole.

[rateyes]

3. Can see it now. Yes, I know you are an Arab Israeli, but if you want to

remain Israeli, you must sign an oath that declares you to be a second-class citizen of the state.

Lieberman can fuck off. Tell me that the Zionist Lieberman isn't a racist.

[Cassandra]

4. The ZIONIST Lieberman isn't racist, however...

the AUTHORITARIAN Lieberman is certainly racist, stupid, un-democratic and doomed to failure after pissing off many more people than is necessary.

[rateyes]

5. Lieberman is a racist, and he's a Zionist, and

he's a damned fascist. I wonder how true the statement, when speaking of Jewish racists, "not all Zionists are racists, but all racists are Zionists," might be.

[Cassandra]

6. I'm sure there are racists who are not zionists.

I'm just saying that on this dumb law, you are pointing to the wrong thing as a common denominator.
Jews probably have the same % of authoritarian nutcases as any other population (since this is psychological rather than ideological). Those were the types happy to be recruited to be kapos to police the ghettos for the Nazis.

[LeftishBrit]

8. Yes; well being a racist and fascist are the things that distinguish him particularly

Virtually all Israeli politicians are Zionists (including Peace Now activists and the like); but not all are racists or fascists - though any are too many.

Like saying: "Jesse Helms was a racist and he was American and he was a damned fascist". Quite true; but all US politicians are/were Americans, but not all were racists or fascists like Helms.

"all (Jewish) racists are Zionists"

I would doubt that - many ultra-Orthodox groups tend to be racist at least in the sense of being very insular and avoiding contact with 'different' people; and while some are extremely Zionist, some others are anti-Zionist.

[LeftishBrit]

7. You are right there!

He reminds me of LePen, Haider, Pat Buchanan, and a bunch of other similar types.

He will go down (politically certainly, and possibly to jail for corruption) befpre very long, but he may cause an awful lot of trouble before that.

[IndianaGreen]

9. Can you imagine what would happen if a similar demand were made in America?

The only oath we take is to the Constitution, not to the state or to the President.

[LeftishBrit]

10. Sadly, no one needs to imagine it.

This is what happened in many places in the times of McCarthy and even beyond. Admittedly, not every citizen - but various organizations including schools and universities required it. Loyalty to the 'government' was often involved.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loyalty_oath

Bad idea in America then; bad idea in Israel now.

[Violet_Crumble]

12. No, this isn't what happened in many places in the time of McCarthy...

The big difference between the examples in the Wikipedia article and what's looking very much like what will become law in Israel, is that with Israel, a refusal to swear loyalty will result in citizenship being revoked.

[Jefferson23]

11. And how will he accomplish this, have the IDF go door to door with a

roster? Freaking lunatic.