Turkey slams Israel's 'Jewish nation-state' law

Turkey on Thursday slammed a new Jewish nation-state law passed by Israel's Knesset, saying it "disregards" norms of universal law.

In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said: “The Jewish nation-state law passed by the Israeli parliament today disregards norms of universal law and ignores the rights of Palestinians.”

"The international community must also react to the law, which aims to justify the unlawful occupation of Palestine by the Israeli government and remove the possibility of a two-state solution," it added.

Israel passed the "nation-state" law earlier on Thursday after months of political argument by a vote of 62 to 55 in a tumultuous Knesset session in which Arab lawmakers slammed what they described as “Israeli racism against the Arab minority.”

The law stipulates that "Israel is the historic homeland of the Jewish people and they have an exclusive right to national self-determination in it".

It also strips Arabic of its designation as an official language alongside Hebrew, downgrading it to a "special status" that enables its continued use within Israeli institutions.