Building A Jewish Democracy

IPC News

Ne’eman, Beinish, Rivlin Support Judicial Review (Jerusalem, May 15)

“Yisrael Hayom” (“Israel Today”) reports that Justice Minister Yaakov Ne’eman, Knesset speaker Reuven Rivlin, and Chief Justice Dorrit Beinish will press for the Knesset to pass a “Basic Law:  Legislation” that will give Israel’s Supreme Court, for the first time, the legal power to exercise judicial review—i.e. the right to strike down Knesset legislation.

Israel’s Supreme Court arrogated itself the power to strike down Knesset legislation in the 1990,s after the adoption of “Basic Law:  The Dignity and Liberty of Man” in 1992.  This power was never given to the Supreme Court by law.  Whenever the court uses this usurped power it has been subject to broad public criticism, so it has used judicial review sparingly.  The judges would dearly love to have their right to strike down Knesset legislation embodied in legislation.

A study by the Israel Policy Center found that in stable democracies the power of judicial review is almost always linked to the appointment of justices to the nation’s highest court by elected officials.  This ensures that the ideology of the nation’s highest court is not divorced from the country’s mainstream political culture.  In Israel, judges are appointed by other judges.  The judiciary is a reservoir of left-wing and some post-Zionist opinion and diverges sharply from the public mainstream.

In the middle of the last decade Ne’eman, then a private citizen, headed a commission that produced a draft “Basic Law:  Legislation.”  This version would have givien the court the right to exercise judicial review.  The Knesset could override such decisions—but only for a limited period of ten years.  In practice, the override would not be worth much even during the ten year period.  In any individual case, the court could continue to refrain from applying a law it had struck down even if the Knesset “reinstated” it.  The override law included no provision reversing the outcome of any court case in which judicial review had been exercised.  At that time, the activity of the Israel Policy Center within the Knesset buried Ne’eman’s draft law in the Knesset Constitution and Law Committee.

It appears that Justice Minister Ne’eman now wishes to pass this law or another version of it.  IPC has not yet received the text of the proposed law.

That Ne’eman has recruited the support of Chief Justice Dorrit Beinish is not surprising.  The proposed law will reinforce the power of the Supreme Court.  Ne’eman has also got Reuven Rivlin, Chairman of the Knesset, aboard.  Rivlin is a respected legislator but not an unusually powerful one.  As in most legislatures, the post of Chairman in the Knesset is honorary.  Real power over this legislation will be exercised by the chairman of the coalition, Ze’ev Elkin, and the members of the Constitution and Law Committee chaired by Dudu Rotem.  Ne’eman’s draft is not likely to pass into law without a fight.

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Israel Policy Center Launches Projects With Israel’s Ministry of Public Diplomacy

The Israel Policy Center is expanding its activities in defense of Israel’s character as a Jewish, democratic state to include the fight against the delegitimization of Israel.  IPC is launching two projects in collaboration with Israel’s Ministry of Public Diplomacy.

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Fighting for a Jewish Democracy:  For a Democratic, Jewish Israel, Against Delegitimization

The Israel Policy Center is expanding its field of activity.  In addition to its work to strengthen Israel’s Jewish and democratic character at home, the Center will now take part in the worldwide struggle against Israel’s delegitimization.  The global campaign to delegitimize Israel is a serious threat to the continued existence of a Jewish state.

Since its inception the Center has worked to strengthen Israel’s character as a Jewish state and as a democracy.  The Center has been at the forefront of the struggle for constitutional reform in Israel, working to shift power to the people’s elected representatives in the Knesset and away from unelected elites in the law-enforcement system, academia and media, who enjoy power without a democratic mandate and often work to undermine Israel’s Jewish character and democracy.  This aspect of the Center’s work will continue.

In addition, the Center is adding a new dimension to its activity.  The Center will now work on projects to expose and discredit delegitimizers in Israel and abroad.  At the same time, the Center believes that there are great resources of sympathy for Israel, not only in North America but in Europe, which today are insufficiently recognized and consequently not adequately mobilized or coordinated in the struggle for public opinion concerning Israel.  The Center will work together with the Israeli government to create an effective network of support for Israel in Europe.  See related article on this site.

Followers of our work will receive news and updates regarding Israel’s Jewish character and the health of its democracy, and increasingly about the struggle to create effective responses to the worldwide campaign to delegitimize Israel.

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