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2 results

  • 5 - A Hebrew Constitution for the Jewish State

  • from Part I - Seeking to Fashion National Law
  • Nir Kedar, Bar-Ilan University, Israel
  • Book:
    Law and Identity in Israel
    Published online:
    24 October 2019
    Print publication:
    14 November 2019, pp 74-82

  • Summary

    Chapter 5 shows that the fear of cultural war was a central factor in the Knesset’s decision not to promulgate a written constitution during the first years of independence. The opponents of a formal written constitution, led by Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, did not reject establishing the structure of government, citizenship, and human rights in a written law. What they repudiated was doing so in the form of a formal and fancy constitution. For this reason, the Knesset resolved to enact a constitution piece by piece, without a solemn preamble that would address questions of identity and culture in Israel. This compromise was in keeping with Zionist policy which scrupulously and consistently negated the discussion of Jewish culture and identity.