The law describes Hebrew as the "state's language", effectively prioritising it above Arabic which has for decades been recognised as an official language alongside Hebrew.
In which other countries has the choice of language proved politically controversial?
LATVIA
Image copyrightAFPImage caption Plans for Latvian to be the teaching medium in secondary schools also led to protests This Baltic state and former Soviet republic has a sizeable Russian-speaking minority, but the government recognises only Latvian as the official state language. A referendum held in 2012 rejected a plan to accord Russian the status of a second official language. The authorities also have plans to promote Latvian as the language of instruction in all secondary schools, although for the moment, teaching in Russian and other minority languages will still be allowed at primary-school level.
CROATIA
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption Croats use Latin rather than Cyrillic script After its independence in 1991, Croatia abolished the Cyrillic script, which had been used when Croatia was part of the former Yugoslavia. Croats write using Latin script and Serbs use Cyrillic. However, when Croatia joined the EU in 2013, it did allow signs in both Cyrillic and Latin script in areas with a significant Serb minority, leading to angry protests by some Croats.
INDIA
Image copyrightAFPImage caption Tamil Nadu state has its own distinctive culture and traditions Plans to make Hindi the sole official language of India in place of English after independence met resistance from non-Hindi-speaking states in a country with a multiplicity of languages. Tamil Nadu - with its own ancient language and traditions - suffered riots over the issue. The central government continues to use English as well as Hindi for official purposes, and individual states have largely been left to decide their own language policy.
TURKEY
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption Kurdish areas of Turkey have long had restrictions on the use of their language Turkish is the only official language and there have long been restrictions on the Kurdish minority regarding the use of their language. In 2002, under pressure from the EU, Turkey allowed some teaching and broadcasts in Kurdish. University-level language courses in Kurdish and other minority languages were introduced in 2009 as part of reforms.
CANADA
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption French speakers in Canada worry about the dominance of English Canada is officially bilingual, with the constitution stating that English and French have "equality of status" in all government institutions and the parliament. However, historically there's been concern in largely French-speaking Quebec about the dominance of English, given Canada's proximity to the US. In 1974, Quebec made French the official language in the province. It's also taken measures to promote the use of French, for example, policing restaurants which use non-French words on their menus.
More air strikes have been reported in southern Beirut and Lebanon, as Israel tells more than 30 villages in the south to evacuate A major road out of Lebanon was hit overnight - pictures show a large crater near the border crossing into Syria, where thousands of people have been fleeing. Israel says the route was being used to transport weapons Rockets continue to be fired into Israel from Lebanon - watch the moment our correspondent runs for cover after hearing gunfire and explosions Lebanon's health ministry said earlier 37 people have been killed in Israeli ground and air attacks in the past 24 hours; more than 2,000 people have now been killed since last October In Iran, the supreme leader defended his country's missile attack on Israel earlier this week as a "minimum punishment" in a rare public speech
By Lynn Hunt Fareed Zakaria seeks lessons for the present in various European revolutions, but the “liberal” English and Dutch examples he singles out as exemplary barely qualify as revolutionary at all. Reviewed: Age of Revolutions: Progress and Backlash from 1600 to the Present by Fareed Zakaria Norton, 383 pp., $29.99 Fareed Zakaria is a captain of the punditry industry. A longtime host of his own CNN show on international and domestic politics, a columnist at The Washington Post , and the author of best-selling books on current affairs, he seems to have been everywhere and read everything. Born in India of Muslim parents, educated at Yale and Harvard, and now hobnobbing with heads of state, he maintains just enough emotional distance from the United States to look at our internal divisions and external entanglements with a relatively cool eye. In Age of Revolutions Zakaria goes all the way back to the Netherlands in the 1500s to t...
Daily Star PM, her cabinet colleagues must step down, say protesters from a mammoth rally at Central Shaheed Minar The Central Shaheed Minar and adjacent roads were full to the brim as thousands of people, including teachers, lawyers, guardians with their children, civil society members, cultural and political activists, freedom fighters and day labourers, from across the capital braved the rain and joined the anti-discrimination student movement yesterday afternoon. PHOTO: NAIMUR RAHMAN Turning down the prime minister's call for dialogue, the organisers of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement yesterday came up with a one-point demand -- the resignation of Sheikh Hasina and her cabinet members. They made the announcement at a rally attended by tens of thousands of people at the Central Shaheed Minar around 5:00pm. For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Nahid Islam, a key organiser of the anti-discrimination student movement, surrounded by fellow ...
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