the israeli incorporation regime57 imposes a loyalty oath for non-Jewish persons seeking naturalization in Israel and for Israeli citizens seeking first ID cards (obligatory at the age of sixteen). Having received government approval on October 10, 2010 (but not a Knesset majority as of yet) the proposed amendment to The Citizenship Law (1952) requires the declaration of a loyalty oath to Israel as a “Jewish, Zionist, and democratic state, to its symbols and values, and to serve the state in any way demanded, through military service or alternative service, as defined by law.”18 This wording is a substantial change from the phrasing of the current declaration: “I declare that I will be a loyal citizen of the State of Israel.”19 As evident, the legal imposition of a declaration identifying Israel as a state for Jews only, not only targets the historical ties of Arab citizens to the land, but it also reinforces existing sentiments of alienation within the community. Moreover, the bill also targets the non-Jewish spouses of Israeli citizens who, as non-Jews, will be obliged to swear the oath in order to live with their partners. All in all, three important observations surface from these laws. The first point is that these laws are pervasive. They target all areas of Arab life in Israel: land rights, economic, land and budgetary allocations, freedom of association and expression, the right to protest and challenge Zionist policies, and even the right to ask for equality in the law, among other areas. Important to note is that these legal amendments are not made in isolation but against the background of a hegemonic Zionist discourse. The aim here is to force concession to a dominant Zionist consensus on the Arab citizenry (Rouhana and Sultany 2003). The second point about these legal amendments is that, if we pay attention, we will notice that some of the most controversial initiatives are amendments to existing legislation that was created in the first few years of (or prior to) the establishment of the state. For instance, from the limited selection of laws 18 Adalah: The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, New Discriminatory Laws. Israeli Labour Ministers submitted a draft of an alternative loyalty oath based on “the liberal and open spirit of Israel’s declaration of independence.” According to this draft, prospective citizens would be required to swear an oath to be “a citizen loyal to the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, in the spirit of the declaration of independence, and … committed to honouring the laws of the state.” Here, the word ‘Zionist’ is left out. See Haaretz, “Barak drafts alternative loyalty oath, based on ‘liberal spirit’ of Israel,” October 17, 2010, http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/barak-drafts-alternative-loyalty-oath-based -on-liberal-spirit-of-israel-1.317701. The fact that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also supported the draft citizenship loyalty oath quickly indicated to Labour coalition members that the passing of the law would result in a payoff in the form of a settlement building freeze. This did not happen. 19 Adalah: The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, New Discriminatory Laws, 18.