Netanyahu orders new loyalty oath, including Jews

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered Israel’s justice minister to redraft the loyalty oath amendment to include Jews.

Netanyahu on Monday said the new amendment to the Citizenship Act, which requires a pledge of allegiance by non-Jews to the Jewish and democratic state of Israel, should include Jews seeking Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return.

The amendment approved by Netanyahu’s Cabinet last week applied only to non-Jews seeking Israeli citizenship. Human rights groups and political organizations, in Israel and abroad, have slammed the amendment as racist.

Justice Minister Yaakov Ne’eman had made a similar proposal to his own amendment during the Cabinet debate.