Tel Aviv, Feb 15 (RHC)-- In Israel, the justice minister has sparked outrage by saying that maintaining a Jewish majority in Israel justifies committing human rights violations. 

Speaking at a conference in Tel Aviv, Ayelet Shaked said: “There is place to maintain a Jewish majority even at the price of violation of rights.” 

During her speech, Shaked also defended the controversial so-called Jewish nation-state bill, which would legally define Israel as the “national home of the Jewish people.”  Critics say, if passed, the bill could be used to justify the widespread discrimination against Israel’s non-Jewish citizens. 

In more news on Israel, the police have recommended indicting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on criminal corruption charges.  Netanyahu is under investigation in two separate criminal corruption cases.  In one case, Netanyahu is accused of trying to push tax breaks to benefit an Israeli billionaire Hollywood producer after receiving gifts from him.  In the second case, Netanyahu is accused of trying to strike a deal to secure more favorable coverage from a leading Israeli newspaper by offering to curtail the circulation of one of the newspaper’s rivals.