Jews who fled persecution in Arab countries have been formally recognised by Israeli legislators.

A new law, approved by the Ministerial Committee on Legislation, has made February 17 an annual date in the Israeli calendar to remember the 850,000 refugees.

February 17, 1948 was the date the Arab League passed a law permitting member states to impose discriminatory sanctions on Jewish citizens.

MK Dr Shimon Ohayon from Yisrael Beiteinu, who drafted the law for Day Commemorating the Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries, has also called on the Arab League to “accept historic accountability for the humiliation, the suffering, and the losses incurred by innocent Jewish victims of the Arab world’s declared war against the state of Israel.”