Talk:Jewish state

Why/how/to whom is the term "Jewish State" controversial?
It's used all the time and everywhere in the American, Canadian, Australian, British and of course Israeli media to refer to Israel. Who takes issue with this? It's somewhat dishonest to say it's "controversial" if it's only anti-Zionists and Arabs who take issue with it. --Daviddwd (talk) 04:26, 30 March 2015 (UTC)
 * I suggest you read ref1 in the article, and also WP:WORLDVIEW. Also, bear in mind that stating that "topic X is not controversial because everyone on one side of the argument is agreed" is a logical fallacy. Oncenawhile (talk) 16:24, 30 March 2015 (UTC)
 * David, the term "Jewish State" is controversial to many people in Israel because of the "Jewish State bill" the incumbent Israeli government is pursuing, which will, if passed, explicitly make the state for Jews first and foremost—the "Jewish" part of "Jewish and democratic state" would be effectively put ahead of the "democratic" part. Everybody else will be second-class citizens presumably (in many ways they already are in practice, at least inasmuch as how they are perceived in mainstream Israeli society—the state is technically secular but in practice Orthodox Judaism has massive political clout). Hopefully the courts will strike this law down as unconstitutional as it risks, in my view, paving the way to a Halachic state, something absolutely at odds with Israel's founding principles. I volunteered for the IDF from abroad, incidentally, so I don't think I could be called an anti-Zionist. —  Cliftonian   (talk)  05:37, 7 April 2015 (UTC)


 * By the way, is not it so much different... I mean, you say Halachic, but secular ideology, isn't it partucularly Israeli? I mean, in the article it is about how Zionist founders envisioned smth secular, modeled after Europe, but right now the end result is it such as they claimed they promote? I mean, I've been in Israel, it is not Europe clearly. And that the Orthodoxes are not just in politics, this in some way is everywhere. Not that you couldn't eat a pizza, but somehow more or less this is everywhere, the priority of Jewishness, of what is to be Jewish and all. You probably are all into that, since you volunteered to the army. It all IMO is about how 'Israel is not' while in truth it is not at all that way, in reality. Like if you say Israel is modern, civilized and secular... probably just modern, stuff is modern. Yuri Kozharov (talk) 23:15, 29 January 2016 (UTC)

Some countries like to call themselves Islamic (I don't know if any county calling itsself Christian or Hindu or Budist...?). How this is different from Israel calling itself "Jewish". Big difference. Islamic in the case of Iran is an added orientation to the practices of the state (more accurately, those in power). It is similar to the word "Republic" or "Kingdom" in the official name of any country. Before the Iranian revolution if was just Iran and will likely will return to that name or "Repubic of Iran" after the Ayatullha are out of favor. Iran, and other countries like Egypt with long history, changed its written/spoken language and even religion several time throughout its history. In other word, religion (Islam) does not define those countries. Even as those countries share many traditions that go back thousands of years every country has its own distinct characteristics. Israel by calling itself a Jewish State also reflects the views of those in power, but It goes much further to proclaim itself as the state to all Jews of the world (Zionism as a political movement under the banner of Religion). Here Israel gets itself into uncharted waters (least of which problems with non-Jewish citizens). No country or even a political party throughout history proclaimed itself as to represent ALL those who belong to a specific religious or Ethnic orientation. Indeed some Jewish religious groups denounce "Zionism" as anti-religion movement. Many Jewish intellectuals see clearly see the obvious contradictions between being a "Jewish" and a "Democratic" State.

One final comment on what Wikipidia wrote about the subject; on the last line of the 3rd paragraph, the term Israel's "Arab Population" when it meant "non-Jewish population". Wikipedia further propagates the myth that "Jewish" and "Arab" are mutually exclusive terms, when in fact many Israelis imigrated to Israel from Arab countries (Iraq, Egypt, Yemen, Syria and until this day Morocco). Those people have been robbed of their Arab identity and forced to conform to the identity forced on them by those in power; Holocaust survivors from Eastern Europe. MED March 2021 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 73.15.236.195 (talk) 23:09, 31 March 2021 (UTC)

Weird sounding, who's right of return Palestinian recognition of 'Jewishness' of the state is obstructing
Palestinians regard acceptance of the demand as giving up the [Palestinian Arab's] right of return [to Palestinian Territories].[8] Yuri Kozharov (talk) 23:15, 29 January 2016 (UTC)

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 1 August 2021
“…as has the government of his successor Benjamin Netanyahu.” should be changed to “…as did the government of his successor Benjamin Netanyahu.”

Explanation: Netanyahu is no longer PM. Junglefingers (talk) 22:44, 1 August 2021 (UTC)
 * ✅ –– 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗗𝘂𝗱𝗲 ( talk ) 06:43, 3 August 2021 (UTC)