Ayelet Shaked and Naftali Bennett, parliament members from Yamina party, chat during a special session of the Knesset whereby Israeli lawmakers elect a new president, at the plenum in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, in Jerusalem June 2, 2021. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

i24 News – Israel’s Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked said on Monday that the right-wing Yamina party — led by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett — would veto any changes to the Nation-State Law as pressure mounts both externally and internally.

“I recommend that my friends in the coalition stop amusing themselves by thinking they can make changes in Basic Laws that are not agreed upon,” Shaked tweeted Monday morning. “It won’t happen, as is set in the coalition agreement.”

Shaked was supported by fellow Yamina Knesset members Nir Orbach and Abir Kara, who stated on Twitter that the party’s official stance is opposed to any changes to the law that enshrines Israel as a Jewish state.

Shaked’s comments come after Avigdor Lieberman said that the government should amend the current law. In addition, defense Minister Benny Gantz declared his Blue and White party plans to bring forward an equality bill to amend the law.

“There is a clear contradiction between the Nation-State Law in its current version and the eulogies given in honor of Lt. Col. Mahmoud Khir al-Din,” Lieberman said on Twitter, addressing the recently released identity of an Israeli special forces officer killed in the Gaza Strip in November 2018.
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid backed Lieberman, tweeting, “I agree with every word.”

Joint List head Ayman Odeh noted on Monday that the coalition could count on his party’s support in passing Gantz’s proposed legislation, despite Shaked’s opposition.