Jerusalem ( CNN ) -- The Israeli Cabinet has approved an amendment to a citizenship law that requires new citizens to declare their loyalty to a `` Jewish and democratic state , '' the prime minister 's office said Sunday . A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 's office confirmed vote , saying 22 ministers voted for the change and eight voted against it . Now that the proposal has passed the Cabinet , it will be taken up by Israel 's parliament , the Knesset , for passage into law . Before his government 's weekly Cabinet meeting , Netanyahu made a forceful plea Sunday for changing the nation 's Citizenship Law . He challenged criticism that the revision is undemocratic and could harm relations with the minority Arab population . Netanyahu cited the nation 's Declaration of Independence , which says Israel is both the `` national state of the Jewish people '' and a democratic state `` in which all its citizens -- Jewish and non-Jewish -- enjoy fully equal rights . '' `` Democracy is the soul of Israel and we can not do without it , '' Netanyahu said , according to a statement from his media adviser . He noted that Israel was the only democracy in the Middle East , and that `` there is no other Jewish state in the world . '' `` The combination of these two lofty values expresses the foundation of our national life and anyone who would like to join us needs to recognize this , '' Netanyahu said . Netanyahu announced last week he would push now for adding language to Israel 's citizenship and entry law that would declare a new citizen 's allegiance to `` a Jewish and democratic state . '' After the prime minister announced the push , but before Sunday 's Cabinet vote , Arab Knesset member Hanin Zoabi said that Israel is `` discriminative in its policies and laws against all who are not Zionists . '' Zoabi went on to say the law `` not only discriminates between Jews and non Jews , it also discriminates between Zionist Jews and non Zionists Jews . '' Another Arab Knesset member Ahmed Tibi , from the Ra'am-Ta'al party , criticized the move as well , saying that `` the values of Jewish and Democratic can not be in the same definition because democracy is the equality of all the citizens . '' `` But an ethnic definition as Jewish is the preference of the Jew over that of the Arab and therefore it fixates an inferior status to 20 percent of the population , '' Tibi said . Israel is home to roughly 6 million Jewish citizens and 1.5 million Arab citizens . In describing the reasons for the timing of the proposed change of language , Mark Regev , a spokesman for Netanyahu , said , `` What we are asking others to accept we have to demand of ourselves '' -- a reference to the recent Israeli government demand that Palestinians recognize Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people . The language of the new oath would not apply to immigrants coming to Israel under what is called the `` Law of Return '' that allows converted Jews and people with Jewish ancestry the right to settle in Israel and acquire citizenship . Israel 's right-wing coalition government is divided over the proposal . Minister of Social Affairs Yitzhak Herzog from the Labour Party , which questions the change , told Israeli Army radio that political pressure was behind Netanyahu 's push for the move . The problem with the amendment , Herzog said , `` is not in the essence but the influence this will have on the dialogue with the Arab minority in Israel . '' Recently resumed peace talks with the Palestinian leadership appear to hinge on whether Israel will extend a moratorium on construction in Jewish settlements in the West Bank . The moratorium expired on September 26 . The right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu party , also a member of the coalition government , welcomed the proposed change and denied it had anything to do with a possible extension of the settlement freeze . `` It is definitely not connected to the settlement freeze , '' said David Rotem , a Knesset member for the party . `` We have been talking about passing this law even before the elections and it is part of our coalition agreement . '' Before the changes were approved by the Cabinet , Rotem told CNN the oath was `` very similar to the citizenship law in the United States , England , Australia , France and many other countries who all demand a declaration of loyalty . '' CNN 's Shira Medding , Michal Zippori , Kevin Flower and Tom Cohen contributed to this story .
Israeli Cabinet approves changes to citizenship law . Changes approved by Cabinet face passage in Knesset . Score: 6 An Arab party member criticizes the proposal as undemocratic .