Skip to main content

The Constitution of Israel

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
The Palgrave International Handbook of Israel

Abstract

Israel has no written constitution, but it does have extended constitutional arrangements, namely, the Basic Laws, constitutional rulings of the Supreme Court and the binding norms that have evolved over the years. Therefore, a “working” constitution exists in the material (essential) sense, that is, arrangements that derive from the existing social and political reality. And if Israel does have such a constitution, why has it not contributed more to the stability of the political system, rule of law, or at least the legality of the government itself? Debate continues concerning the status of the Basic Laws, constitutional areas not covered by them, such as human rights and religious affairs and the constitutional status of the Supreme Court. Would a formal constitutional structure contribute to strengthening democracy in Israel?

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Avnon, Dan. 1998. The non-democratic aspect of the basic laws with regard to human rights. Politika 5: 65–74. (Hebrew).

    Google Scholar 

  • Bendor, Ariel. 1995. Flaws in enacting basic laws. Mishpat Umimshal. (Hebrew).

    Google Scholar 

  • Constitution, Law and Justice Committee. 2006. A constitution in broad consensus. Jerusalem: The Knesset. (Hebrew).

    Google Scholar 

  • Galnoor, Itzhak. 1982. Steering the polity: Communication and politics in Israel. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1989. Consensus and dissension in Israel after the war of independence. In Israeli society, ed. S. Shmuel, 31–34. Hebrew: Ministry of Defense Publication.

    Google Scholar 

  • Galnoor I, Blander D. 2013. Israel’s political system. Am Oved Pub.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gavison, Ruth. 1985. The controversy over Israel’s Bill of rights. In Y. Dinstein, Israel yearbook on human rights, Tel Aviv University, 113–154.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1998. The constitutional revolution: Reality or self-fulfilling prophecy? Jerusalem: Israel Democracy Institute. (Hebrew).

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldberg, Giora. 1993. You don’t need a constitution to plant trees. Medina Mimshal Veyahasim Beinleumiim: 29–48. (Hebrew).

    Google Scholar 

  • Ha'aretz. 1950. Basic laws on the way to the constitution. 15 June. (Hebrew).

    Google Scholar 

  • Knesset. 1950a. Knesset records. 7 February. (Hebrew).

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1950b. Knesset Records. 13 June. (Hebrew).

    Google Scholar 

  • Landau, Moshe. 1996. Bestowing a constitution on Israel by way of court rulings. Mishpat Umimshal. (Hebrew).

    Google Scholar 

  • Lerner, Hanna. 2004. Democracy, constitutionalism, and identity: The anomaly of the Israeli case. Constellations: An International Journal of Critical & Democratic Theory 2: 237–257.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Medding, Peter. 1990. The founding of Israeli democracy 1948–1967. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Negbi, Moshe. 1987. Above the law: The constitutional crisis in Israel. Tel Aviv: Am Oved. (Hebrew).

    Google Scholar 

  • Neuberger, Benyamin. 1990. Constitutional issues in Israel. In Government and politics in Israel, ed. B. Neuberger, 25–37. Ra'anana: Open University. (Hebrew).

    Google Scholar 

  • Provisional State Council. 1949. Constitution committee (five booklets). Government Printing House. (Hebrew).

    Google Scholar 

  • Rozin, Orit. 2002. From ‘We’ to ‘I’: Individualism in Israeli Society in the Early 1950s. Ph.D Dissertation Tel Aviv University, (Hebrew).

    Google Scholar 

  • Rubinstein, Amnon, and Barak Medina. 2005. Constitutional law in the State of Israel. Tel-Aviv: Schocken. (Hebrew).

    Google Scholar 

  • Rubinstein, Amnon, and Liav Orgad. 2005. The legal status of the constitutional preamble: The case of Israel. Hebrew: Hamishpat.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shahar, Yoram. 2002. The early drafts of the declaration of independence. Iyunei Mishpat 26 (2): 523–600. (Hebrew).

    Google Scholar 

  • Shapira, Jonathan. 1996. A society captive to politicians. Tel-Aviv: Sifriyat Hapoalim. (Hebrew).

    Google Scholar 

  • Shimshoni, Daniel. 1982. Israeli democracy. New York: The Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tsidon, Asher. 1964. The house of representatives. Jerusalem: Ahiasaf. (Hebrew).

    Google Scholar 

  • Village et al. 1995. CA 6821/93 United Mizrahi Bank Ltd. vs. Migdal Cooperative Village et al., PD 49 (4) – issued November 1995 (the “Mizrahi Bank ruling”). P. 60 (Hebrew).

    Google Scholar 

  • Yanai, Nathan. 1990. The transition to a state without a constitution. In The transition from Yishuv to state, ed. V. Pilovski. Haifa: Herzl Institute.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Itzhak Galnoor .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Galnoor, I. (2023). The Constitution of Israel. In: Kumaraswamy, P.R. (eds) The Palgrave International Handbook of Israel. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2717-0_53-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2717-0_53-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-16-2717-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-16-2717-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Political Science and International StudiesReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics