DALIYAT EL-KARMEL, Israel — On the edge of this Druse village, perched on a quiet green ridge above the Mediterranean, is a national monument to more than 420 Druse soldiers and security force members who have fallen in battle for Israel.

The tiny, Arabic-speaking Druse minority threw its lot in with Jews even before the state was established. In the 70 years since, both groups have called their strategic alliance a “covenant of blood” and described each other as “blood brothers.”

Then, in mid-July, Parliament enacted a basic law, with the weight of a constitutional amendment, declaring Israel “the nation-state of the Jewish people,” built on national self-determination “unique to the Jewish people.” It prioritizes Jewish building and downgrades Arabic from an “official” language alongside Hebrew to one with a “special status.”

Most divisively for Israel’s Arab minority, which makes up 21 percent of the population of nearly nine million, it also omits any mention of democracy or equality for all citizens.