Citizenship and Its Erosion: Transfer of Populated Territory and Oath of Allegiance in the Prism of Israeli Constitutional Law

Abstract

This article discusses two issues of majority-minority relations in deeply divided societies. The first is the legitimacy of the transfer of a homeland minority (or a part of it) — along with the territory it inhabits — to a neighboring kin-state against the will of the minority or most of its members. The second is the constitutional validity of legislation that renders citizenship or the right to vote contingent upon an oath of allegiance to the state or to its fundamental attributes. These two interrelated steps, advanced by a central partner in the current government coalition in Israel, are aimed at the Arab-Palestinian minority. This article’s main focus is the examination of Israeli constitutional law safeguards that may prevent the implementation of these initiatives, which I find to be very dangerous.