Israel's government has endorsed a proposal to put in law the country's status as the national homeland of the Jewish people.
The move has drawn fire from critics who claim it weakens democracy by reserving national rights for Jews only.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told cabinet the state of Israel is the nation state of the Jewish People.
"It has equal individual rights for every citizen and we insist on this, but only the Jewish People have national rights: A flag, anthem, the right of every Jew to immigrate to the country, and other national symbols," he said.
"These are granted only to our people, in its one and only state."
After a stormy meeting cabinet voted 14-to-six in favour of the proposal, that is now awaiting parliamentary approval.
"It has equal individual rights for every citizen and we insist on this, but only the Jewish People have national rights: A flag, anthem, the right of every Jew to immigrate to the country, and other national symbols" - Benjamin Netanyahu.
The law would see Israel defined as the national homeland of the Jewish people, rather than as Jewish and democratic.
Tourism Minister Uzi Landau said there is nothing unusual about a law like this.
"It's a natural basic law that is saying what is clear to every country, that Israel is Jewish and democratic as France is French and democratic, and Britain is British and democratic," he said.
"That there is an identity to a country while at the same time all of the rights of all of the citizens of all minorities are fully respected. All are equal under the law."
But there are concerns a change to the laws could see sanctioned discrimination against its 1.7 million Arab citizens.
Alon Ben-Meir is a Professor of International Relations at New York University.
He told Al-Jazeera that if the law passes it would be a setback for Israel diplomatically.
"This kind of law is simply unhelpful in every which way you can look at it," he said.
"And it's simply going to undermine Israel rather than strengthen its position within itself and within the international community."
"This kind of gesture, effectively creating a two-tier system by law if there wasn't one already which disenfranchises the non-Jews is incredibly incendiary."
Jacqueline Sutton is a Ph-D Scholar at the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Australian National University.
She said even if the law doesn't pass, it shows the Israeli government is not willing to commit to a ceasefire.
"This kind of gesture, effectively creating a two-tier system by law if there wasn't one already which disenfranchises the non-Jews is incredibly incendiary," she said.
"[It] will of course have a reaction not only by the Palestinians but also the Christians; Christians and Muslims make up 20 per cent of the Israeli population."
The Prime Minister also announced an initiative to strip Arabs of their residency and welfare rights if they, or their relatives, take part in the unrest that has plagued the region in recent months.
