CAIRO, July 21 (Xinhua) -- Egypt on Saturday voiced its rejection to a new Israeli law declaring that "only Jews have the right of self-determination in the country," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"The law consecrates the principles of occupation and apartheid, and undermines chances of peace and a fair and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian cause," the statement said.
The Israeli parliament passed the "Jewish nation-state" law on Thursday that makes Hebrew the country's national language, and Jerusalem as its capital. It will also grant diaspora Jewry the right to return to Israel.
The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated that the law will affect the right of return for the Palestinian refugees.
The statement highlighted the possible obstacles that would emerge after the law's stipulation of Jerusalem as the unified capital for Israel.
"The law will jeopardize the future for reaching any fair settlement for the Palestinian cause, as well as peace and the efforts exerted to encourage the concerned parties for resuming negotiations," it said.
Egypt presented last week an initiative to both Hamas and Fatah, aiming at ending Palestinian internal division and pushing forward the reconciliation talks stalled since December last year.
Islamic Hamas movement, which rules the Gaza Strip, accepted on Thursday the Egyptian initiative.
Egypt stressed its firm stance towards the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, topped by establishment of an independent Palestinian state, the statement added.
It urged the international community to undertake its role for preserving the historical and legal rights of the Palestinian people, and to press for resuming negotiations based on the two-state solution.
Earlier Saturday, Saeed Abu Ali, assistant Secretary General of the Arab League for Palestinian and Occupied Arab Territories Affairs, warned against the recently approved Jewish nation-state law for it will enshrine racism and ethnic cleansing.
Abu Ali called for launching an international probe into crimes committed by the Israeli occupation against Palestinians.
