The State of Israel as the State of the Jewish People – A Position Paper by “Tikva LeIsrael.”
At the first meeting of the Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee on drafting a constitution, one member of Knesset remarked that there is little to expand on the subject of the “Jewish State;” it would suffice to insert this ...
The State of Israel as the State of the Jewish People – A Position Paper by “Tikva LeIsrael.”
At the first meeting of the Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee on drafting a constitution, one member of Knesset remarked that there is little to expand on the subject of the “Jewish State;” it would suffice to insert this definition into the constitution and allow the Supreme Court to interpret it. We must not accept this position. The definition of the essence of the State is not the business of the Supreme Court, but rather belongs to the people and its representatives in the Legislative Branch. Furthermore, in order to prevent the Supreme Court from establishing the law on this subject, the legislature must present as clear a position as possible.
Among the latest generation, citizens of the state are increasingly defining themselves more as Israeli than as Jewish. We must hurry and deal with this issue before it is too late.
There is no contradiction between the adjectives Jewish and Democratic; there is only a certain tension. This is the way of the world, since there is a natural tension between different values. There is a universal tension between liberty and equality (most obviously in the progressive tax system). In the United States, the federal character of the state infringes significantly on the principle of political equality. In several European states, a certain religion has the status of state religion (sometimes with political ramifications).
Basic Recommendations: The State of Israel is a Jewish State, the State of the Jews, the State of the Jewish People (according to the Law of Return). On the public level, the State of Israel must express Jewish traditions / heritage / culture according to its unique properties,* and to provide religious services to all who request them. On the private level, there must not be enforced religion. The Bible should be a source of inspiration for the state, not a source of authority. The state of Israel is compelled to protect and to develop its relationship with the Jewish Diaspora by encouraging immigration as an uppermost Zionist value, and to act to strengthen the hold of the Jewish People on its land on the theoretical, demographic, and territorial levels. The state of Israel owes equal rights to all of its citizens, including the non-Jews. With that, however, Israel has a right and a duty to take steps on the demographic and territorial levels to safeguard Israel’s Jewish character – steps which are likely to stand in contradiction to the full expression of the principle of equality.
* As opposed to the universal interpretation of Judaism offered by Chief Justice Aharon Barak.
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