Islam Times - Peres criticizes Netanyahu’s Jewish state motion

Islam Times - Israel's former president Shimon Peres has criticized Tel Aviv’s new bill aimed at defining Israel as "the Jewish state."

At a Thursday ceremony, Peres warned that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new legislation is motivated by political interests, will tarnish the regime’s image, and erode Israel’s so-called “democratic principles.”

Following a stormy meeting on Sunday, the Israeli cabinet voted in favor of the controversial motion in another sign of increasing efforts to Judaize the occupied Palestinian territories.

Two centrist parties, one led by Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and the other by Finance Minister Yair Lapid have voted against the bill.

Livni says she would only support a softened version of the bill in which "the state" will maintain “equality for all its citizens.”

The Israeli premier’s version has avoided using the word “equality.”

The new development is seen as an extension of Israel’s efforts over the past decades to change the demographic makeup of al-Quds (Jerusalem) by constructing illegal settlements, destroying historical sites and expelling the local Palestinian population.

Palestinians argue that al-Quds is the capital of a future Palestinian independent state, and that its heritage should remain intact.