Israeli rift grows over proposals for 'Jewish state'

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin has become a vocal campaigner against racism since taking office last August. AFP/Getty Images

Robert Tait

Reuven Rivlin, the Israeli president, has lent his weight to mounting criticism of a bill that would officially define Israel as a Jewish state, calling it a threat to Zionism that plays into the hands of the country's enemies.

His intervention represents the most authoritative attack yet on the proposed legislation, which has been labelled "racist" by critics and which has left Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government deeply split.