A Fuss In Israel Over The Loyalty Oath

Many Israelis are grumbling about the plan Israel is proposing to force non-Jewish citizens to make an oath of allegiance to Israel as a Jewish state. The complaining, which is coming mainly from left-leaning Israeli commentators is along the lines of what Gideon Levy wrote in Haaretz:

Remember this day. It’s the day Israel changes its character. As a result, it can also change its name to the Jewish Republic of Israel, like the Islamic Republic of Iran.

But it has always been the Jewish Republic of Israel! I don’t really understand this position. “Jewishness” has always been part of what Israel wanted to be (The Star of David on the flag could have been a hint to Mr. Levy). It’s not like the oath suddenly changed Israel’s sense of what it is: A racist state that was purposely built for Jews, that would never allow a non-Jewish majority.