pro and con on loyalty oath

PRO
Cabinet Approves Citizenship Oath Change for New Citizens - Attila Somfalvi
The Israeli Cabinet Sunday voted 22-8 in favor of a draft amendment to the Citizenship Act which will obligate new non-Jewish citizens of Israel to pledge allegiance to a "Jewish, democratic state." (Ynet News)
See also Behind the Cabinet Decision
Prime Minister Netanyahu told the Cabinet Sunday: "Our Declaration of Independence says: 'We hereby declare the establishment of a Jewish state in the Land of Israel, to be known as the State of Israel.'...The State of Israel is the national state of the Jewish People and is a democratic state in which all its citizens - Jewish and non-Jewish - enjoy fully equal rights."
"To my regret, today, there are those who are trying to blur not only the unique connection between the Jewish People and its homeland, but also the connection between the Jewish People and its state. Democracy is the soul of Israel and we cannot do without it. No one can preach democracy or enlightenment to us. Zionism established an exemplary national state, a state that balances between the national needs of our people and the individual rights of every citizen in the country."
"There is no other democracy in the Middle East. There is no other Jewish state in the world. The combination of these two lofty values expresses the foundation of our national life and anyone who would like to join us needs to recognize this." (Prime Minister's Office)

CON
one writer
The bill passed in the Cabinet - it has a ways to go to be passed in the Knesset and if we're fortunate it won't be - is a stupid measure that serves only to stir passions unnecessarily and to make us look racist. We don't need this now. Israel is a Jewish State - we all know that - the UN voted for the establishment of a Jewish State - but what does it mean? A state with a majority of Jews? A state favoring Jews? A state based on Jewish law? And what does it mean to say we are a democratic state? By the way, why exempt Jews from the oath? Do you think that all Jews making aliyah or already here really believe in democracy? There are a lot of people in Meah Shearim who would have a problem with that. What happens if a person takes that oath but doesn't really believe in it? How will you prove it? The whole thing is nonsense - but dangerous nonsense because it will now lead to a whole batch of bills seeking to go further in that direction - loyalty oaths for this and that, deprivation of citizenship for this and that. This is Lieberman's agenda and it's a nasty one. Thank God Benny Begin and Meridor had the courage to oppose it and they are hardly leftists.