Separation—Only Separation

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bunique way of life, to achieve their national purpose and bheritage. The state is a tool to serve that purpose and to enable bthe people to achieve their fulfillment. Neither state nor land has ba will or authority of its own. The identity and character of the bland and state are decided upon and granted by the people. The bland and state do not command, they obey; they do not order, bthey serve; they exist only for the purpose of the people whose bname is attached to them.

bThe people are the masters and proprietors of the land, and bas such they are the citizens of it. Those who are not members bof the family, tribe, clan, people, nation, clearly have no own- bership, proprietorship, or legal ties to the land. They cannot be bcitizens since they are not members of the people, the nation. bStrangers can, of course, become part of the people and nation bthrough the process and discipline of Judaism and halakah. But bthat is the only way they can become citizens of the state.

bWhat rationality is there to claim that a piece of land has bthe will, authority, and power to convey to those who live on it bcitizenship, regardless of who they are? It is human beings who bdefine the land, not the land that defines the human beings. One bdoes not become an “Israeli” because one lives in the land. For bthe land itself is defined by the will, ownership, and title to it of bthe people of Israel. One can be an “Israeli” when belonging to bthe people of Israel, when joining the nation, the people, not bsimply by living on the piece of land that is the mere servant and bvessel of the people.

bAnd so, the right of non-Jews to live in the Land of Israel is ba thing to be decided upon by the owners of the land, its citizens b—the Jews, under the Jewish concept of resident stranger (ger btoshav). Residence or removal of noncitizens is decided by the bowners of the land according to that concept and what is good band right for the people and nation whose land and state it is. bWith this as a basis, let it be declared that:
 

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bThe identity between the state and the nation shall be the sole bbasis of citizenship in the State of Israel. The State of Israel bbelongs to and exists only for the Jewish nation and is there- bfore the Jewish state, the home in which the Jewish nation blives. It is therefore only membership in the Jewish nation bwhich gives citizenship in the Jewish state. All members of b