The National Council of Young Israel (NCYI) today issued the following statement concerning an op-ed in The New York Times written by Naftali Bennett, Israel’s Minister of Education, Minister of Diaspora Affairs and the leader of the Jewish Home Party, in which he defended Israel’s new nation-state bill and correctly noted that, “Keeping Israel as the Jewish nation-state does not threaten the future of the Jewish people; it safeguards it.”
“The National Council of Young Israel is grateful that Minister Naftali Bennett rose in defense of a law that we consider vital to the preservation of Jewish identity within the State of Israel. We are proud to have actively supported this landmark legislation in a variety of ways in an effort to ensure that the version of the bill that was ultimately passed duly codified the fundamental principles that underscore Israel’s connection to the Jewish people. As an organization that has actively promoted Zionism in the United States for over a century and been at the forefront of the effort to curb assimilation through a unique approach of fusing Torah-true Judaism and Americanism, the National Council of Young Israel is delighted that Israel’s nation-state law formally integrates the tenets of the Jewish faith with the democratic ideals that are the hallmark of the State of Israel. As an enthusiastic proponent of this law, we are thankful that Mr. Bennett took to the pages of a major media outlet in order to extol the virtues of the nation-state legislation and explain why it is so critical to Israel’s future.”
{Matzav.com}
