Israel’s Nation-State Law and the Fight Over Belonging

Every democracy is based on a single premise: equality.

That is why Israel’s 2018 Nation-State Law matters.

In July 2018, the Israeli Knesset passed Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People, also known as the Nation-State Law. Arab citizens of Israel were not happy. Arab members of the Knesset expressed their displeasure by tearing up copies of the bill on the chamber floor.

People in Tel Aviv protest for democracy and equality. (Photo Courtesy of Yoav Aziz via Unsplash)

What Does the Nation-State Law Do?

For decades, Israel’s constitutional identity rested on an uneasy balance. The 1948 Declaration of Independence promised that Israel would be both Jewish and democratic. The 2018 Nation-State law deliberately broke that balance.

Three provisions stand out. First, the 2018 Nation-State Law declares that “the right to national self-determination in the State of Israel is unique to the Jewish people.”

Not all citizens. The Jewish people specifically.

Second, it demotes Arabic from an official language to one with “special status,” a downgrade from its previous co-equal status with Hebrew.

Third, and most ominously, it declares that “the state views Jewish settlement as a national value and will act to encourage and promote its establishment.”

That final clause does not exist in a democracy, right? Promoting settlement on another group of people’s land is inherently undemocratic.

Jabareen and Bishara (2019) argue that the law transforms Israel from a state that manages ethnic tension within a democratic framework into one that treats Palestinian citizens as second-class citizens.

Judging by the language alone, how can one not be concerned about the lack of equality in the 2018 Nation-State law?

Why the Omission of Equality Matters

The Israel Democracy Institute explains that the Nation-State Law leaves out equality, democracy, and the language of the Declaration of Independence. It does not say Israel is both Jewish and democratic. It does not explicitly protect equal rights for minorities.

Equal rights are the backbone of democracy.

Now, there are some caveats. Palestinian citizens of Israel can vote. They can run for office. They can participate in public life. Israel’s democracy is not only about whether Palestinians are allowed to enter politics. It is also about whether Palestinians are recognized as full and equal members of Israel.

A constitution teaches people who belong. When a law says self-determination belongs to one group and says nothing about equality for everyone else, it sends a message. That is why the Nation-State Law should be understood as a statement about belonging.

Is This Democratic Backsliding?

The short answer is yes. The long answer is also yes.

Alfred Stepan argues that democracy requires political institutions to remain free from ethnic or religious capture (Stepan, 2000). In addition, he says that minority communities retain meaningful rights to participate in political life without those rights being contingent on their belonging to the dominant group. The Nation-State Law violates both conditions. It grants Jewish settlement bodies the right to promote settlement on Palestinian land and strips them of formal equality in their language.

Gerring, Hoffman, and Zarecki (2018) argue that democracy in diverse societies depends on institutions that manage difference. Their key insight is that diversity does not doom democracy on its own. What matters is how institutions respond to diversity. When the state brings identity into its system and solidifies it, conflict will inevitably arise, and the situation will become a zero-sum game. That insight fits Israel closely. The Nation-State Law does not solve the problem of diversity. It turns it into a ranking.

Freedom House’s 2025 report still classifies Israel as “Free,” but gives it a score of 73 out of 100 and notes that Arab or Palestinian citizens face de facto discrimination in housing, services, and personal security (Freedom House, 2025). The report highlights the Nation-State Law’s statement that Jewish settlement is a national value.

This is clearly undemocratic language.

Meanwhile, the V-Dem Democracy Report 2025 says Israel lost its status as a liberal democracy in 2023 and is now classified as an electoral democracy. That distinction matters. It suggests that elections remain in place, but liberal protections around equality before the law and institutional constraints have weakened.

What Does This Reveal?

Israel’s 2018 Nation-State Law matters because it reveals a deeper problem in democracies: equal rights can be eroded through legal mechanisms. It shows how a democracy can preserve elections while weakening equality. It also shows that the deepest democratic question is not only who gets to vote but who gets to belong.

The law did not end elections. It did not revoke the citizenship of the Palestinian people. However, the Nation-State Law of 2018 redefined the meaning of belonging.

This is an example of democratic backsliding. No coup. No tanks. Just a vote in the Knesset and a document that now tells one-fifth of Israel’s citizens that they are guests in their own country.

This is not just a discussion about identity. It is a broader discussion about belonging, democracy, and whether granting special rights to one group can, or will, remain a democracy.

References

Freedom House. (2025). Israel: Freedom in the World 2025 country report. https://freedomhouse.org/country/israel/freedom-world/2025
Gerring, J., Hoffman, M., & Zarecki, D. (2018). The diverse effects of diversity on democracy. British Journal of Political Science, 48(2), 283–314. https://doi.org/10.1017/S000712341600003X

Israel. (2018, July 19). Basic Law: Israel – The Nation State of the Jewish People. Refworld. https://www.refworld.org/legal/legislation/natlegbod/2018/en/150024

Jabareen, H, & Bishara, S. (2019). The Jewish Nation State Law. Journal of Palestine Studies, 48(2 (190)), 43–57. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26873195

Orhan, Y. E. (2022). The relationship between affective polarization and democratic backsliding: Comparative evidence. Democratization, 29(1), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/X3YL21

State of Israel. (n.d.). *The declaration of the establishment of the State of Israel*. Gov.il. https://www.gov.il/en/pages/declaration-of-establishment-state-of-israel

Stepan, A. (2000). Religion, democracy, and the “twin tolerations.” Journal of Democracy, 11(4), 37–57. https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.2000.0088
Varieties of Democracy Institute. (2025). Democracy Report 2025: 25 years of autocratization – Democracy trumped? https://www.v-dem.net/documents/60/V-dem-dr__2025_lowres.pdf