The Loyalty Discourse in Israel and the Legitimisation of Minority Discrimination

Abstract

Public debate in Israel on the relationship between citizenship and loyalty has given rise to a series of bills that propose making various rights that are perceived as associated with citizenship contingent upon loyalty to the State. The present article examines these bills and argues that 'loyalty tests' may lead to both individual and group discrimination. Such tests may be used as a disguise for individual discrimination by claiming that the basis for preventing an individual from enjoying a certain right is not a prohibited distinction, but rather the individual’s personal choice not to meet an obligation presented as general and perceived by public opinion as legitimate. In addition, associating loyalty to the state with identification with a particular group or narrative, explicitly or implicitly, renders identification with alternative or conflicting narratives to be perceived as disloyal, which may delegitimize constituting elements of the collective identity of minority groups.