Tens of thousands of Druze in Israel and their supporters protested on Saturday against the controversial adoption of the Nation State Law. The demonstrators in Tel Aviv slammed the legislation that makes them second-class class citizens, an AFP reporter said. The law, which passed last month and is part of Israels so-called basic laws, a de facto constitution, proclaims the country the nation state of the Jewish people. It makes no mention of equality or democracy, implying the countrys Jewish character takes precedence, and speaks of Israel as the historic homeland of the Jews, who have a "unique" right to self-determination within its borders. The law also downgrades Arabic from an official language on a par with Hebrew and deems only Jewish settlement as a national priority. It has prompted announcements by several Druze that they would no longer serve in uniform. Druze, unlike other Arabs who may volunteer, are subject to compulsory service in the military or police alongside Jewish Israelis. Arabs have strongly criticized the legislation, particularly those from Israels 130,000-strong Druze community. Turkey called it racist and the European Union expressed concern. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took this in his stride, saying it was needed to fend off Palestinian challenges to Jewish self-determination. But his conservative government appears to have been blindsided by the response from the Druze community, even though parliament passed the law on July 19 after years of heated debate in the Knesset. Holding colorful Druze flags, protestors at Saturdays demonstration chanted "equality". "Despite our unlimited loyalty to the state, the state doesnt consider us equals," Israeli Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Muafak Tarif said in a speech. Netanyahu had conducted a series of meetings with the Israels Druze leadership, telling them there was "nothing in this law that infringes on your rights as equal citizens of the state of Israel". But the meetings and implications of new pro-Druze legislation have not eased their discontent, with a number of junior Druze military officers resigning from the Israeli army in protest. Druze opposition lawmaker Salah Saed of the Zionist Union said he was not sure the crisis had been averted. “I have read the new proposal and I can live with it, but the problem is that I don’t believe the prime minister,” Saed said, fearing Israel could face early elections before the legislation is finalized. Elections are set for November 2019. “(Netanyahu) is stringing us along... We will not play into the hands of this government,” Saed added.