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This article examines the recent Israeli Nationality Law within a historical context. It argues that the law in many ways manifests the settler-colonial identity of the State of Israel and as such the law embodies clearly both the achievements of the Zionist movement and Zionist future designs. The law is not an extreme right-wing document but rather an accurate reflection of the major characteristics of the Zionist settler-colonial movement in Palestine. Like all settler-colonial movements, the Zionist movement strove to include as few Palestinians as possible in it. The incomplete implementation of this goal during the 1948 Nakba has informed Israeli policies since 1948 and are the best explanation for the 2018 Nationality Law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that the identity labels attached to the Palestinians in Israel resulted from a reciprocal interchange of ideas between the Israeli political establishment and the Palestinians themselves, as part of the struggle over identity between the two parties. Each side chose identity labeling criteria that fit its narrative. This shows that such labels are not mere terms but rather serve through their historical evolution and political context to reflect the struggle for collective identity by Palestinian citizens among themselves as well as with the Zionist establishment of Israel, and highlights their symbolic significance. The main question which this paper attempts to answer is how the collective identity of the Palestinian citizens of Israel was shaped and determined within the Israeli context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]