Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein told Israel Radio Tuesday morning that he sees the new “nationality law” as a message to the Supreme Court. The fact is, he argued, when a Supreme Court justice reviews a case, he or she are expected to consider Israel’s constitutional laws, the Knesset Basic Laws.
“If I’m a Supreme Court Justice today,” Edelstein said, “on which basic laws am I supposed to base my rulings, if I wish to emphasize Israel’s role as a Jewish State? There aren’t any.”
The Basic Laws of Israel are as close as the Jewish State has come to a constitution so far. In 1950, the first Knesset decided, rather than draft a full constitution immediately, to appoint the Knesset’s Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee, which, over the years, would draft such a document piecemeal. Each new chapter would be called a Basic Law, and when all had been written they would be compiled into a complete constitution.
In 1992, President of the Supreme Court Aharon Barak sanctioned as constitutional those Basic Laws which had already been written and those that would be written, so that, in effect (whether the chief justice did or did not have the authority to legislate thusly), Israel now has an incomplete constitution,
From 1958 to 1988, the Knesset passed nine Basic Laws, governing state institutions. In 1992, it passed Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty, and Basic Law: Freedom of Occupation, establishing the Supreme Court’s powers of judicial review based on these two constitutional laws. Both relatively new basic laws describe Israel as a Democratic and Jewish State.
But, as Speaker Edelstein put it, so far the Knesset has taken care quite well of the democratic part of the Democratic and Jewish State; it’s now time for the Jewish part, which should fit nicely within the concept of Judicial Review.
The proposed Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People was submitted by former Shabac chief, MK Avi Dichter, back when he was still member of Ariel Sharon’s Kadima party. It failed to win the Knesset’s support. Now a proud Likud member, and in light of recent attacks on Israel’s legitimate rule by UNESCO and many other outside groups, Dichter’s constitutional law stands a reasonable chance of winning.
The bill’s clauses are:
- Sections 1–2 of the bill detail the principles for which the law was established: “Israel is the homeland of the Jewish people in which the Jewish people fulfill their ambition to self-determination according to their cultural and historical legacy.”
- Section 3 regulates the state’s symbols – the flag, the anthem and the Emblem of Israel.
Section 4 stipulates that Hebrew is the only official language of the state of Israel while the Arabic language would be of a “special status. - Section 5 establishes the Law of Return as part of Israel’s Basic Laws.
- Sections 6–7 deal with the relations between the state of Israel and the Jewish diaspora as well as Israel’s responsibility for in-gathering world Jewry.
- Sections 8–9 deal with the state’s obligation to preserve the Jewish heritage.
- Sections 10–12 regulate the Hebrew calendar, holidays and memorial days.
- Section 13 provides that in a case of a laconic phrase in the Israeli law, the Israeli court system would use rabbinical Jewish law as a source of inspiration.
- Section 14 deals with the state’s obligation to protect the holy places of all faiths located within the territory of Israel.
It’s not a bad idea, and, hopefully, will result in good legislation. It’s also obvious why so many on the left have attacked it. Never mind Arab MKs, who sees it—not without reason—as an attempt to enhance Jewish rule in the State of Israel. The left doesn’t like it because, let’s face it, the new law empowers the Israeli right, especially sections 8-9, 13, and 14.
Section 14 alone would be used on the same day the new law is enacted to demand free access—and the right to prayer—for Jews on the Temple Mount. Section 13 could be used effectively to firmly close down Jewish businesses on Shabbat. And sections 8-9 could be the foundation of pro-religious legislation that would send many secular Israelis packing on their way to Berlin.
Opposition leader MK Isaac Herzog (Zionist camp) told Israel Radio that Prime Minister Netanyahu is promoting the current version of the Nationality Law to divert public attention from his ongoing political failures and perhaps even his investigations by the police. But Herzog is wrong in claiming Netanyahu stands to gain much from the new law. His rightwing, nationalist members – about 25 out of his faction’s current 30 MKs – they stand to win a lot, including pulling Likud further away from the center.