Knesset Advances Bill Anchoring Right to Express Jewish Identity in Public Space

The Knesset on Wednesday approved in a preliminary reading a bill seeking to anchor in law the right to express Jewish religious identity in Israel’s public space. The proposal, sponsored by Likud MK Galit Distel Atbaryan, passed by a vote of 49 in favor and 35 against.

The bill, titled “The Realization of Jewish Identity in the Public Sphere,” is not yet law. Following its preliminary approval, it will now be transferred to the Knesset Committee to determine which committee will handle it, ahead of further debate, possible revisions, and additional readings.

At its core, the legislation aims to establish a legal right for Jews to put on tefillin and to conduct Jewish prayer in public spaces and in institutions funded by the state. Under the proposal, officials or authority holders would be barred from interfering with such acts, including through administrative or bureaucratic measures.

The bill also addresses how prayer is conducted in different settings. In synagogues or educational institutions where a Jewish praying community exists, the authority in charge would be permitted to require that prayer follow the local Jewish custom. In broader public spaces or public institutions, prayer according to the tradition of the worshippers would be allowed, provided that such activity does not constitute a protest.

Supporters of the bill argue that it responds to what they describe as a growing number of incidents in which Jewish religious practices were restricted in the public sphere. In the explanatory notes accompanying the proposal, the legislation is framed as part of Israel’s responsibility as a Jewish state to preserve Jewish heritage and prevent the marginalization of Jewish religious symbols.

“The State of Israel, the beginning of the flowering of our redemption, was established, among other things, out of the people’s duty to preserve the heritage for which so many of our sons gave their lives,” the explanatory notes state, adding that the law is intended to ensure that symbols for which Jews were persecuted throughout history “do not become controversial in the Jewish state.”

During the Knesset debate, Distel Atbaryan rejected claims that the proposal amounted to religious coercion. “Zero coercion. You are lying,” she said in response to opposition criticism, arguing that the bill’s purpose is to prevent interference with religious expression rather than to impose religious practice.

Opposition lawmakers, however, sharply criticized the legislation. Opposition leader Yair Lapid described the bill as part of a broader legislative direction that, in his view, undermines the possibility of shared civic life in Israel. “You have abandoned the idea of shared life,” Lapid said. “The government is telling citizens: ‘Get lost.’ And so they leave.”

With the preliminary vote completed, the legislation now enters the committee stage, where lawmakers are expected to debate its scope, wording, and enforcement mechanisms. Amendments may still be introduced before the bill can advance to its first full reading. For now, the vote marks another step in the coalition’s effort to legislate questions of Jewish identity in Israel’s public sphere.