it is refreshing to read an objective post, one that deviate from the typical hate rant that is so common here..

Should be maintained. we need to show the world that we are not like the islamic extremists that are not allowing any other religion or culture to be practiced in their countries. Livnat is a minority.

had the vision and foresight to include Arabic as an official language. They saw the need for Israelis to know the language in order so that they may be informed about what is happening in the other countries of the region. Today, it is even more imperative that Israelis know what is happening around them. I think it sad that more don't take advantage of the opportunity available to them. Also, iwhen travelling to let's stay, Taba or to Petra, it's nice to be able to use the language when communicating to the locals in hotels, shops, etc. It shows neighborliness. It's not like Israel is an island-it is so\urrounded by countries who speak Arabic. When looking at this situation, I like to look at Holland as an example. Even though they do have one official language, they saw the need long ago to be multilingual, and to know the languages of the surrounding countries. And that was during a time when cicumstances were much less friendly than now. Now, as for English being an official language-I'm all for it. It should have never been removed in the first place. Look, Israel has a unique position in the region, as it has one foot in the East, and another in West. Making English an official language would codify that.

HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT? WHERE'S YOUR TORAH KIDDO? YOU'VE FORGOTTEN THE ORIGINAL MIGHTY MEN OF VALOR AND THE G-D OF ISRAEL WHO PROMISED THIS LAND TO THE JEWS. THEY SHOULD HAVE HEEDED G-DS WARNINGS AND MADE THE LAND PURE OF HER gODLESS ENEMIES. BY ALLOWING THESE HEATHENS TO DWELL IN ISRAEL IS NOT WHAT G0D COMMANDED. BOTH THE PEOPLE AND THE LAND OF ISRAEL ARE BUT REMNANATS. OUR ORIGINAL LAND GRANT FROM G-D WAS FROM THE EUPHRATES TO THE NILE. REMEMBER? ARABS BELONG IN ARABIA NOT ISRAEL. PLAIN AND SIMPLE. BEN GURION WAS A GIANT BUT, NOT THE G-D OF ISRAEL.

Maybe you should stop shouting all the time and people might listen. I know you think you got planning permission for the state of Israel in the Torah in the Bronze age. And Yes of course the Jewish people deserve a homeland. But I think your just a little bit nuts referring to the bible to justify wiping out an entire people and taking the boundry of the state of Israel from the Euphrates to the Nile... Why stop there.. Why dont you go as far as the Yangtze river and head west to the Thames....................................................I mean, come on, are you Joking or are you seriously insane.?

Walter - welcome to reality!

Thanks for showing off your talents. Buddy, your experience in living within Arabs is different than mine! Believe it or not, you would be more careful to say you're Jewish in Canada! Egyptians might hate Zionism, but they always treated Jewish Egyptians as Egyptians! I grew up in Alexandria, Egypt in Nasser’s era, which was the worst towards Jewish-Egyptians. But an Egyptian would feel only Egyptian regardless of religion. That's what I've felt. Any different feedback from other readers would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Touche. We won't agree on this subject, or maybe on any subject for that matter. I have had contacts with Arabs all my life too and my experiences with them are certainly not negative. On top of that, I like the Arab language. Maybe I'm naive, but that's my point of view. I do respect your position on this, although you too, at least in your first post, generalized far too much and willingly resorted to stereotypes of Israeli Arabs who are all hostile to the country and want to see it eliminated. I do not delude myself into thinking Arab Israelis love this state, they don't and have no reason too. But not all of them are enemies of Israel.

Think that this subject that we both agree on. I do not denigrate Arabic. I have found it very useful in my military career. We need to stop building walls between our citizens, bridges are much better.

Arabic is part of Israel even before Israel spoke modern Hebrew . Modern Hebrew (as spoken today in Israel) imported a ton of words and expressions from Arabic as well as from Russian, English etc. Israel and the Hebrew language are deeply influenced by Arab culture and such influence cannot be stopped at will with a decision made by Limor Livnat.... Israel lives as a multi linguistic society for 60+ years. The question is why change it TODAY?

I do not think that multiple official languages is a good idea. A single official language is much more efficient, and will serve to insure social unity. However, that in no way means that Arabic should be banned or even discouraged. In fact, it would be to all Israelis benefit, whether Jewish or Arab, if they were all taught Hebrew, Arabic, and English in school Hebrew, because it is the official language. Arabic, because it is the native language of a huge minority and is the language spoken by all of Israel's neighbors and 20+ countries in the region. English, because it is the international language of politics and commerce. One of the great failures of the American education system is that it has never mandated learning other languages. I'm all for English being the only official language in America, but Americans would all benefit from learning another language, especially Spanish. As an adult working on learning a second language I can assure you that I wish someone would have taken the time to teach me when I was young, languages seem to come much easier to children.

I am not confused. East Jerusalem Arab schools use PA textbooks with a different cover. I wish they were like the schools in Nazereth, but they are not. Minorities, Arab or Ultra-Orthodox, deserve to be treated as human beings. You were not taught to hate jews in school. Why should the Arab children in East Jerusalem ?

The subject of the article is the use of Arabic as an official language. This is a POLITICAL question. And, as such, the Arab leaders, be they MK's, intellectuals, various political organizations, or religious leaders, have a POLITICAL agenda. This agenda is hostile to the idea of a Jewish state. They can hide behind liberal rhetoric, as many do, but this is a facade. Many, especially religious figures, do not even hide behind the liberal rhetoric. I have a "Zionist" agenda - in other words, everything that strengthens us as a Jewish state, a state of the Jewish people, is a good idea & anything that thwarts the agenda of those that would seek a "state of all it's citizens" - a bi-national state - is similarly, a good idea. That some use liberal rhetoric to delegitimize our national rights as a people to a sovereign state is a clever ploy - but that's all it is - a ploy, a tactic. On the other hand, there is nothing wrong with teaching Arabic in schools, there is nothing wrong with studying Arab culture (objectively, not the PC version).

GOOD WOULD IT BE TO LOOSSEN THE LOCAL ARAB POPULATION TIES TO THE REST OF THE ENEMY ARAB WORLD, THROUGH THE LANGUAGE IDENTIFICATION OF THEM WITH THE MODERN DEMOCRATIC JEWISH SECTOR OF THE COUNTRY AND ALLOWING THEM TO DENY TRADITIONAL OLD FASHIONED ARAB VALUES .....THIS WOULD CERTAINLY WORK IN FAVOR OF A GROWING LOYALTY OF YOU TO THIS GREAT MODERN COUNTRY......THAT'S THE PROJECT YOU SHOULD EMBRACE SO THEN YOU COULD CULTIVATE YOUR ARAB PRIDE BUT SEVERED FROM THE ENEMIES OF ISRAEL...... NEW ARAB MEN.LOYAL TO ISRAEL FOR THE CULTURAL IDENTIFICATION THAT WOULD SERVE TO OUR JEWISH NATIONAL PROJECT...........NO NEED TO KEEP YOUR INDIGENOUS IDENTITY AS SOMETHING ANTAGONIC WOULD SERVE BETTER THE ISRAELI NATIONAL PROJECT......IT'S NOT A MATTER OF BEING MORE OR LESS INDIGENOUS....BUT RATHER A MATTER OF MORE COOPERATION AND LESS COMPLAINS LIKE WE JEWISH DO EVERYWHERE WE LIVE!!!!!!

FORMED IN THIS LAND AND WE HAPPILY (OR HAPPYLY?) SUCCEEDED IN ESTABLISHING OUR MAJORITY STATE RIGHT HERE.......I HOPE YOU SUCCEED TO ESTABLISH YOUR STATE IN THE TERRITORIES AND I HONESTLY REGRETTE THE ORIGINAL PALESTINAN REFUGEES (SORRY FOR SOME SARCASM IN MY FORMER POST) BUT LET'S CNVENE THAT'S REGRETTABLE BUT NOT A REASON TO CANCEL A STATE SO WELL SUCCEEDED AND SO BELOVED BY IT'S CITIZENS....WE DON'T WISH TO CANCEL ANY OF THE EUROPEAN STATES THAT MADE US REFUGEES AND THAT'S YOUR OBSOLETE POINT OF VIEW.....WHERE ELSE SHOULD WE HAVE STABLISHED OUR STATE IN ORDER OF BEING A FREE PEOPLE NOT RULED BY ANY OTHER ONE???? NOTHING BETTER THAN THE PLACE WHERE WE'VE BEEN FORMED AND WHERE NEVER HAS ANY OTHER PEOPLE SUCCEEDED IN STABLISHING ANY OTHER INDEPENDENT ETATE EITHER........IF YOU JUST HAD SUCCEEDED IN THAT BEFORE US.............BUT HISTORY HASN'T BEEN WRITTEN BY ANY "IF"S!!!!!!!

Thats why they have to be fully covered

The moderators have obviously not done their job - and the posting by #24 is no more than an obscene statement of the writers own bigotry. It should not have been published.

"Go to any West Bank town, and you see that in the dressings of the Old Women, in their Aramaic Levanite dialect" Dude, what ARE you talking about? dialect refers to language, not to dress, and Palestinians do NOT speak Aramaic, only Arabic. It is the Jews who employ Aramaic as a secondary liturgical language. Oh, and by the way, Jesus is an example of someone who converted from Judaism? Jesus lived and died as a Jew. What are you talking about? Also you claim, all our grandfathers came from somewhere else. Does that include the Jewish majority that was already living in Jerusalem in 1860? Did you know that 500,000 Arabs entered Mandate Palestine between 1932 and 1944, to take advantage of economic opportunities created by the Jews?

Herod the Great was an Arab? My sources tell me he was King of Judea, who identified as a Jew, rebuilt the 2nd Temple, and defended Judea against marauding Arab tribes. Now you are going even further, claiming the Assyrians and Babylonians were also of Arab origin! You claim that that all speakers of Semitic languages originate in Arabia! Wow! The 3rd Reich had similar delusional fantasies about the 'Aryan race' and their own connection to it. The truth is that an ever-growing body of evidence indicates that the first Semitic languages, were spoken in Ethiopia, not Arabia at all(Semitic refers strictly to language, not race). Furthermore, Abraham and Ishmael, according to the Bible never entered anywhere in the Arabian peninsula. So it is disigenuous for the original Arabs to claim descent from them.

Arab women. Do they dye carpets or is that a bridal rite? Is orange beautiful to them? I sat next to an Arab woman on a plane and her outfit looked like a carpet and a headscarf. How do they suffer the heat of the Middle East summers in such outfits?