The Constitution Of Israel

This book presents the main features of the Israeli constitutional system and a topical discussion of Israel's basic laws. It focuses on constitutional history and the peculiar decision to frame a constitution 'by stages'. Following its British heritage and the lack of a formal constitution, Israel's democracy grew for more than four decades on the principle of parliamentary supremacy. Introducing a constitutional model and the concept of judicial review of laws, the 'constitutional revolution' of the 1990s started a new era in Israel's constitutional history. The book's main themes include: constitutional principles; the legislature and the electoral system; the executive; the protection of fundamental rights and the crucial role of the Supreme Court in Israel's constitutional discourse. It further presents Israel's unique aspects as a Jewish and democratic state, and its ongoing search for the right balance between human rights and national security. Finally, the book offers a critical discussion of the development of Israel's constitution and local projects aimed at enacting a single and comprehensive text.

In the domain of comparative constitutionalism, Israeli constitutional law is a fascinating case study constituted of many dilemmas. It is moving from the old British tradition of an unwritten constitution and no judicial review of legislation to fully-fledged constitutionalism endorsing judicial review and based on the text of a series of basic laws. At the same time, it is struggling with major questions of identity, in the context of Israel's constitutional vision of 'a Jewish and Democratic' state. Israeli Constitutional Law in the Making offers a comprehensive study of Israeli constitutional law in a systematic manner that moves from constitution-making to specific areas of contestation including state/religion relations, national security, social rights, as well as structural questions of judicial review. It features contributions by leading scholars of Israeli constitutional law, with comparative comments by leading scholars of constitutional law from Europe and the United States.

Covering the history of Israel since its birth, this comprehensive discussion focuses on the historical, ideological and political determinants of the civil rights issues within Israel. Important topics covered include the historical and ideological roots of Israeli democracy; the problems of a collective society during the establishment of a democratic state; the legal and political attitudes towards human rights in the Occupied Territories and the implications of these attitudes for the peace process; the dilemma of a democracy in a state of war; and problems of democracy versus national security. The author makes use of interviews with prominent national policy makers.

In Israel today there is increasingly vigorous support for the framing of a constitution. At the same time there is almost no recognition that in forty years Israel has acquired an almost complete set of basic laws that form a constitution. The aims of this volume are threefold: to inform the Israeli public and the world as to what exists and consider what still is needed in the way of a constitution; to enter constitutionalism firmly on the Israeli public agenda; and to learn from the American experience. The author shows that Israel's constitution is more than anything else a modern adaptation of an ancient constitution. Contents: Israel and Models of Modern Constitutionalism; The Politics of Constitution-Making in the United States and Israel; Issues of Constitutional Design: Civil Rights and Liberties; Issues of Constitutional Design: Interjurisdictional Relations; The State of Constitutionalism in the United States and Israel: Where Do We Go from Here? R Co-publised with the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.

This book presents the main features of the Israeli constitutional system and a topical discussion of Israel's basic laws. It focuses on constitutional history and the peculiar decision to frame a constitution 'by stages'. Following its British heritage and the lack of a formal constitution, Israel's democracy grew for more than four decades on the principle of parliamentary supremacy. Introducing a constitutional model and the concept of judicial review of laws, the 'constitutional revolution' of the 1990s started a new era in Israel's constitutional history. The book's main themes include: constitutional principles; the legislature and the electoral system; the executive; the protection of fundamental rights and the crucial role of the Supreme Court in Israel's constitutional discourse. It further presents Israel's unique aspects as a Jewish and democratic state, and its ongoing search for the right balance between human rights and national security. Finally, the book offers a critical discussion of the development of Israel's constitution and local projects aimed at enacting a single and comprehensive text.

Master's Thesis from the year 2004 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Region: Near East, Near Orient, grade: 1,0, University of London (School of Oriental and African Studies), course: Political Systems of the Modern Middle East (SOAS), 127 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: This dissertation discusses the role of the Israeli High Court of Justice within the political system of Israel after the enactment of two Basic Laws in 1992. The main thesis is that the power of the court has been much overestimated. In particular, the large assumptions connected to the 'constitutional revolution' that many saw in the enactment of the 1992 laws must be refuted. This paper argues that the alleged 'revolution' was a myth, and that fundamentally nothing much has changed. The political system largely remained untouched by the 1992 laws. This dissertation defines the role of the court as a mediator between particularistic and universal values rather than promoting universal human rights, or protecting minority rights. In fact, the role of the High Court must be regarded as stabilizing an essentially undemocratic system by legitimising government policies and by supporting a discourse that maintains the democratic fa ade of the system. The enactment of a constitution has not been promoted by Chief Justice Barak's activism, and indeed has made the enactment of a constitution much less likely.