Last update - 00:00 27/01/2007
Council for Peace and Security nixes Israeli Arab 'Vision' document
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent
The Council for Peace and Security on Saturday expressed opposition to the "The Future Vision of the Palestinian Arabs in Israel" document presented by the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee, saying it "rejects Israel's existence as a Jewish democratic state."
Council President Major General (Res.) Dani Rothschild said this weekend that the document compromises the basic values of Israel.
"It is inconceivable to subvert the right of the state to define itself as Jewish and democratic, of our connection to Jews of the world, of demographic hegemony, of territoriality and national symbols. These are the basic elements of the Jewish nature of the state," Rothschild said.
The council's deliberations, completed last Thursday, were carried out with the participation of Dr. Assad Ranam, among the drafters of the document, and Shuweiki Hatib, chairman of the committee.
The document calls for a "consensual democracy," in which the minority reserves the right to veto issues of vital importance to the state and has autonomy in interior affairs.
It also demands changes in national symbols, residency and citizenship laws, and the manner in which the state interacts with the Arab minority.
The council's leadership said at the end of negotiations that "the ongoing discrimination against the Arab minority in Israel is liable to turn into a security problem" and called on the government and Israeli public to work against inequality and discrimination in the Arab public.