 The word is cognate to the Arabic "Nasrani".Israel's Declaration of Independence, issued in 1948, describes the country as a Jewish state but clearly extends religious freedoms to all of its inhabitants by stating that the State of Israel will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions.During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the fate of the Christian Palestinians was similar to that of the Muslims, in term of military administration and land confiscations.