Resumen de Language Law in Israel
The examination of Israeli language law demonstrates the intricate relationship between legal policy, ideology and practice. Ideology and practice reflect the character of Israel as a nation-state where Hebrew has been perceived as a national symbol. At the same time, there are several groups in Israel which speak other languages including a considerable minority of Arabic speaking citizens for whom Arabic bears a national significance. The national significance of both Hebrew and Arabic has created an ideological discord which has had an unavoidable influence on the legal policy-making authorities. However, in spite of this ideological conflict, legislation and court decisions have recognized and granted group-differentiated language rights to the Arabic speaking minority. Speakers of other languages have also been granted some language rights. Israel thus illustrates the complexity of granting language rights in a nation-state and also how conflicting rights are balanced to find a compromising solution.
