Israeli parliament to debate new Jewish nation law next week

Israeli MPs will return from their summer recess next week to discuss mounting criticism of a new law proclaiming the country to be the nation state of the Jewish people, its parliament said on Tuesday. A meeting will be held on August 8 at the behest of 52 of its 120 members. No votes will be taken at the session, although some MPs have called for urgent changes to a law that they say legalizes discrimination against Israel’s Arab minority, AFP said. President Reuven Rivlin has reportedly said he will sign the law in Arabic, in an apparent protest against the language’s loss of official status, alongside Hebrew under the new legislation. However, Rivlin’s office did not confirm the reports in the Israeli media.