While most current studies on law and politics in Israel focus on the legal aspects of public policymaking within the courts, this book explores the relationship between law and government from a positive perspective. That is to say that the question asked is: how the political relationships between the three branches of government affect public policy and hence social outcomes. The eleven contributors to this volume concentrate on Israel from theoretical, comparative and critical approaches, and hence the analysis presented could as well be applied to other polities. This book was published as a special issue of Israel Affairs.

Defining Israel: The Jewish State, Democracy, and the Law is the first book in any language devoted to the controversial passage of Israel's nation-state law. Israel has no constitution, and though it calls itself the Jewish state there is no agreement among Israelis on how that fact should be reflected in the government's laws or by its courts. Since the 1990s a number of civil society groups and legislators have drafted constitutions and proposed Basic Laws with constitutional standing that would clarify what it means for Israel to be a "Jewish and democratic state." Are these bills liberal or chauvinist? Are they a defense of the Knesset or an attack on the independence of the courts? Is their intention democratic or anti-democratic? The fight over the nation-state law-whether to have one and what should be in it-toppled the 19th Knesset's governing coalition and, even after its passage on July 29, 2018, remains a point of contention among Israel's lawmakers and increasingly the Israeli public. Defining Israel brings together influential scholars, journalists, and politicians, observers and participants, opponents and proponents, Jews and Arabs, all debating the merits and meaning of Israel's nation-state law. Together with translations of each draft law, the final law, and other key documents, the essays and sources in Defining Israel are essential to understand the ongoing debate over what it means for Israel to be a Jewish and democratic state.

This book analyses both the substance of Israel's National security law and the dynamics of its historical development. It examines the normative principles upon which Israel's national security law is based, institutional arrangements for the formulation and protection of national security law, and the style in which Israeli national security law is formulated.

This book instructively introduces the reader to the basics of Jewish law. It gives a detailed, cutting-edge analysis of contemporary public and private law in the State of Israel, as well as Israel’s legal culture, its system of government, and the roles of its democratic institutions: the executive, parliament, and judiciary. The book examines issues of Holocaust, law and religion, constitutionalization, and equality.

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.

A study of the relationship between judicial activism and government lawyers.

Derived from the renowned multi-volume International Encyclopaedia of Laws, this very useful analysis of constitutional law in Israel provides essential information on the country s sources of constitutional law, its form of government, and its administrative structure. Lawyers who handle transnational matters will appreciate the clarifications of particular terminology and its application. Throughout the book, the treatment emphasizes the specific points at which constitutional law affects the interpretation of legal rules and procedure. Thorough coverage by a local expert fully describes the political system, the historical background, the role of treaties, legislation, jurisprudence, and administrative regulations. The discussion of the form and structure of government outlines its legal status, the jurisdiction and workings of the central state organs, the subdivisions of the state, its decentralized authorities, and concepts of citizenship. Special issues include the legal position of aliens, foreign relations, taxing and spending powers, emergency laws, the power of the military, and the constitutional relationship between church and state. Details are presented in such a way that readers who are unfamiliar with specific terms and concepts in varying contexts will fully grasp their meaning and significance. Its succinct yet scholarly nature, as well as the practical quality of the information it provides, make this book a valuable time-saving tool for both practising and academic jurists. Lawyers representing parties with interests in Israel will welcome this guide, and academics and researchers will appreciate its value in the study of comparative constitutional law. "