ENSHRINING 3379:

The government is expected to approve on Sunday two controversial - and democratically questionable -- bills which seek to enshrine Israel's definition as a Jewish state in the country's Basic Law. [...]

Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein has repeatedly expressed his opposition to the bills and asserted that the government should not give its support to the two pieces of legislation, Israel Radio reported.

"It's very problematic to me that the government supports [private members' bill] proposals which raise serious problems," Weinstein wrote in a legal opinion published by the Walla news site. He said that in the proposed bills that have been drafted thus far, including one to be put forward by Netanyahu, there are "significant changes in the founding principles of constitutional law as anchored in the Declaration of Independence and in the basic laws of the Knesset, which can flatten the democratic character of the state."

Dan Meridor, a former high-ranking Likud party lawmaker who also served as justice minister, warned Saturday against bills that would enshrine Israel's status as a Jewish state among the country's Basic Laws. [...]

In his criticism Saturday, Meridor said, "You can't have a law that sets down the state's obligation to promote the heritage and culture of the majority and not the minority. Doesn't the minority have a right, like Jews anywhere else in the world have the right?"

Meridor, a supporter of the two-state solution who is considered a moderate in comparison to current Knesset members from Likud, served as a minister in several cabinets since 1988, including between 2001 and 2013. He chose to stay out of the race for a Knesset seat in the 2013 elections.

He accused the ministers of promoting "bills that have no purpose other than short-term political gain and create unnecessary complications both on the international and the internal level. You can't mess around with the constitution for political ends," he added, before appealing to the bill's proponents: "Therefore, if it isn't too late to invoke reason - let it go, set it aside, it's pointless."

Follow @brothersjudd