Lebanon’s prime minister has condemned Israel’s new citizenship law as “racist,” comparing it to practices in apartheid-era South Africa.

Saad Hariri says the law would make ongoing peace talks with the Palestinians “unbearable” and warns it encourages extremism. He also urged the EU to persuade Israel not to apply it.

The Israeli Cabinet passed a bill earlier this month that would require non-Jewish immigrants to pledge allegiance to the “Jewish and democratic” state of Israel in order to receive citizenship.

The move is widely seen as undermining the rights of Israel’s Arabs who make up a fifth of Israel’s 7.5 million people.

Hariri spoke Thursday after talks with Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias ( pictured above). Fox News