Israel drafts Constitution
According to the Jerusalem Post, a draft constitution is making its way through the Knesset with the blessings of all three primary Zionist parties — Labor, Likud, and Kadima — while the further-right and left are opposed. The draft is connected to the apparent plan to finalize Israel’s borders by annexing much of the West Bank, though the lack of permanent borders is only one supposed reason Israel has no constitution.
More important has been the realization that a written constitution requires clarifying issues Israeli policymakers have long wanted to remain vague. So it will be interesting to see how the draft proceeds to become, as Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says, “a central tool for anchoring Israel’s status as a Jewish and democratic state in the deepest and most ethical meaning of these terms.”
As I’ve touched on here from time to time, I don’t see how the contradiction between being a Jewish state and a democratic state can be resolved in any meaningful way. Indeed, Meretz on the left “decried the constitution for its failure to protect minority communities in Israel. ‘The draft constitution is unsuitable,’ said Meretz leader Zahava Gal-On. ‘It fails to protect Israel’s minority communities, such women, those who wish to marry outside the Rabbinate, Arabs, non-Orthodox Jews, and the homosexual community.’”
Meanwhile, “the right-wing parties insisted that it was an ‘unnecessary’ document. ‘This draft destroys the spirit and soul of Israel, it gives legitimacy to the separation of church and state in Israel,’ said NRP leader Zvulun Orlev. ‘Its essence must be Israel as a Jewish state - the heart of Israel is the Jewish religion.’”
Perhaps the public debate will clarify for Israelis that they can’t have it both ways, at least if “democracy” means an emphasis on human and individual rights and not just simple majority rule. I’m just not sure which way they’ll turn when they have to decide whether what counts in Israel is being equal or being Jewish.