DOCSLIB.ORG

Israel and the Middle East News Update

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

Israel and the Middle East News Update Wednesday, February 20 Headlines: ​ ● Sniping Between Netanyahu and Gantz Intensifies ● PM Pushing for Bayit Yehudi Merger with Extremist Otzma ● US Mission to PA Merging with Israel Embassy in March ● US Charity Opens Gaza’s First Cancer Ward for Children ● Despite Likud Attacks on Gantz, PM Supported Kerry Plan ● US Rabbinical Students Plant with Palestinians ● New Right Brings Experts in Hasbara and Aliyah to List ● Yisrael Beiteinu List Leaves Out Veteran Lawmakers Commentary: ● Ha’aretz: “Tampering with PA Funds, Israel Could Get Hamas Rockets” − By Amos Harel, Senior Columnist ● LA Times: “Boycotting Israel Won’t End the Palestinian Tragedy” − By Yossi Klein Halevi, Senior Fellow, Shalom Hartman Institute S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace 633 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 5th Floor, Washington, DC 20004 The Hon. Robert Wexler, President ● Yoni Komorov, Editor ● Aaron Zucker, Associate Editor ​ ​ News Excerpts ​ February 20, 2019 Jerusalem Post Sniping Between Netanyahu and Gantz Intensifies Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel Resilience Party leader Benny Gantz traded personal barbs on Tuesday night as Gantz accused the prime minister of ruling through incitement, intimidation and fear. “When I lay in muddy foxholes with my soldiers on frozen winter nights, you, Benjamin Netanyahu, left Israel to improve your English and practice it at luxurious cocktail parties,” Gantz said. Netanyahu responded, "Benny Gantz, you should be ashamed...as an officer in Sayeret Matkal, I risked my life time after time for [Israel]. Jerusalem Post PM Pushing for Bayit Yehudi Merger with Extremist Otzma Top candidates for Bayit Yehudi have threatened to quit if the extremist Otzma Yehudit runs on a merged list with their party, as negotiations broke down Tuesday, despite Netanyahu’s personal intervention. Otzma Yehudit is led by students of Rabbi Meir Kahane, who was banned from running for the Knesset on grounds of racist incitement. Netanyahu continued his efforts to convince the parties to run together in order to add seats to the right-wing bloc, offering former Shas leader Eli Yishai a cabinet post if he runs with Bayit Yehudi. Reuters US Mission to PA Merging with Israel Embassy in March The US Consulate General in Jerusalem, which serves Palestinians, will be absorbed into the new Embassy to Israel in March, a U.S. official said on Tuesday, giving a date for a merger announced in October which has been condemned by Palestinians. PA Official Nabil Abu Rudeineh said, “contacts at the political level with the American administration have been cut off and will remain so unless the American administration changes its positions on Jerusalem and the refugees,” said Abu Rudeineh. Times of Israel US Charity Opens Gaza’s First Cancer Ward for Children A US charity has inaugurated the first children’s cancer department in the Gaza Strip. The $3 million department, sponsored by Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, will provide chemotherapy, though bone marrow transplants and nuclear medicine won’t be available. The fund says it has an agreement with the World Health Organization to secure free movement of samples to labs in Israel or Jordan. 2 Ha’aretz Despite Likud Attacks on Gantz, PM Supported Kerry Plan On Monday, the Likud party accused Gantz of secretly conspiring with the Obama administration to promote a plan for a Israeli withdrawal to 1967 borders until Netanyahu blocked it. During Secretary of State John Kerry’s 2013-2014 peace initiative, General John Allen worked with the IDF to develop a plan for Israeli security through a two-state solution. The Americans felt that senior IDF officers, including Gantz, supported the initiative, while Netanyahu was skeptical but accepted it with reservations. However, the Americans blamed then-Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon for categorically rejecting it. Contrary to the Likud ad, the security plan included land swaps and annexation of the large settlement blocs. Associated Press US Rabbinical Students Plant with Palestinians In a stark departure from past programs focused on strengthening ties with Israel and Judaism, a new crop of US rabbinical students is reaching out to the Palestinians. On a recent winter morning, two dozen Jewish students planted olive trees in the Palestinian village of At-Tuwani in the southern West Bank. The program is run by “T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights,” a US-based network of rabbis and cantors. Most of T’ruah’s membership, and all students in the Israel program, are affiliated with the Reform, Reconstructionist and Conservative movements. The T’ruah program, now in its seventh year, is meant to supplement students’ standard curricular fare. Jerusalem Post New Right Brings Experts in Hasbara and Aliyah to List The New Right Party introduced more candidates on Wednesday, including Yomtov Kalfon activist for French and Belgian aliyah, and founder of “Aleinu,” meant to help get French-speaking immigrants involved in Israeli politics. Together with New Right leaders Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked, Kalfon presented a plan on Tuesday for how Israel can absorb 50,000 French-speaking immigrants. Ran Bario Bar-Yoshafat, deputy director of the right-leaning Kohelet Policy Forum, also joined the New Right’s list. Times of Israel Yisrael Beiteinu List Leaves Out Veteran Lawmakers Yisrael Beytenu chair Avigdor Liberman on Tuesday unveiled his party’s slate for the upcoming elections, leaving out a pair of veteran lawmakers who have served under him for over a decade. Noticeably absent was the party’s current number two, Sofa Landver, who served as immigration minister until November when Liberman resigned as defense minister and pulled the party out of the government. Also left out was Robert Ilatov, who announced Monday he would not run in the April 9 elections. 3 Ha’aretz – February 19, 2019 Tampering with PA Funds, Israel Could Get Hamas Rockets By Amos Harel, Senior Columnist ● The decision by the security cabinet on Sunday to freeze the transfer of 500 million shekels ($138 million) of Palestinian Authority taxes as a sanction for its support of security prisoners was the result of political constraints. The law allowing the funds to be frozen was passed in July, but no politician seemed in any hurry to implement it. The murder of Ori Ansbacher in Jerusalem earlier this month led to renewed discussion of the assistance the PA gives to terrorists and their families; the overcrowding on the right side of the political spectrum did the rest. When Naftali Bennett and Avigdor Lieberman are circumventing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the right on the question of relations with the Palestinians, and the prime minister is busy branding himself as the strong right against Benny Gantz’s weak left, Netanyahu saw no choice but to start implementing the law. ● Between July and February nothing was done about deducting any taxes, and even during Sunday’s security cabinet meeting Shin Bet security service head Nadav Argaman delayed presenting the full data on the PA’s support of security prisoners – and got an earful directly from Bennett (which somehow leaked at the speed of light to Channel 12). ● But even now, the funds freeze relates only to the imprisoned terrorists, not to the annual assistance, slightly greater in scope, that the PA gives to the families of Palestinians who were killed in confrontations with Israel. This second clause includes help given to relatives of suicide terrorists. And even after the security cabinet decision and the festive announcement that followed, it still isn’t clear when the tax refunds to the PA will actually be withheld. There is some logic to the Israeli argument, which is supported by the U.S. administration, that the PA’s continued financial assistance to prisoners and families of terrorists indirectly encourages terrorism and contradicts its public statements regarding the need for peace. But in Israel they are also well aware of the ethos of the Palestinian struggle and the fact that any move PA President Mahmoud Abbas makes to reduce the prisoners’ payments will cause a huge domestic crisis for him. That’s why defense establishment heads objected to the tax freeze and sought to delay it as long as they could. ● Meanwhile, one cannot ignore a certain contradiction in the claims being made by Netanyahu and the ministers. On the one hand, they pride themselves on curbing aid to terror by stopping money transfers to the PA, which is still thwarting terror in the West Bank in coordination with Israel. On the other hand, Israel is approving the transfer of money from Qatar and other sources to the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip, which openly continues to confront Israel and use violence against it. The Israeli decision to stop the tax transfers puts more pressure on the PA leaders than the steps the American administration has taken to reduce the financial aid to the territories. The PA is threatening to completely halt the cooperation between it and Israel. Abbas has already been quoted as saying he will transfer the PA’s last penny to the prisoners if necessary, making this his highest priority. Security coordination with Israel will not be halted 4 because it is also a Palestinian interest, but the PA could take other measures, such as stopping all meetings in non-security channels. ● The primary danger here is the slippery slope. Abbas’ highest priority is the transfer of aid to Fatah prisoners from the West Bank imprisoned in Israel. To be able to continue this he might decide, as he has already hinted, to further reduce the funds transferred to the Gaza Strip. So by freezing the tax transfers, Israel might indirectly assist in exacerbating the situation in Gaza and hastening further escalation there, contrary to its objective.
Recommended publications
  • 1 Schlaglicht Israel Nr. 5/19 Aktuelles Aus Israelischen

    1 Schlaglicht Israel Nr. 5/19 Aktuelles Aus Israelischen

    Schlaglicht Israel Nr. 5/19 Aktuelles aus israelischen Tageszeitungen 1.-15. März Die Themen dieser Ausgabe 1. Versehentlicher Raketenangriff ...................................................................................................................................... 1 2. Israelische Parlamentswahlen ....................................................................................................................................... 3 3. Unruhen am Tempelberg ................................................................................................................................................. 6 4. Medienquerschnitt ........................................................................................................................................................... 8 1. Versehentlicher Raketenangriff heftigen Ausschreitungen bei Protesten in Gaza Israels Armee geht inzwischen davon aus, dass die gegen die hohen Lebenshaltungskosten und die zwei Raketen des Typs M-75 Fajr, eine Langstre- hohen Steuergelder, die die Hamas den Palästinen- ckenrakete aus iranischen Werkstätten, die Tel Aviv sern abverlangt. Demonstrant_innen steckten Auto- für einige Minuten den Atem anhalten ließen, unbe- reifen in Brand und blockierten Straßenkreuzungen. absichtigt abgefeuert wurden. Das Militär reagierte Die Sicherheitsbeamten der Hamas reagierten mit mit rund 100 Luftangriffen auf zumeist militärische harter Hand. Mehrere Menschen mussten mit Ver- Anlagen der Hamas. Vier Menschen trugen bei den letzungen ins Krankenhaus eingeliefert
  • Elections Survey Press Release 2-19

    Elections Survey Press Release 2-19

    For more information or interviews: Danae Marx, Director of International Communications +972-52-4334557 | [email protected] Pre-ELECTIONS SURVEY - PRESS RELEASE Exclusive Pre-Elections survey by the Guttman Center at the Israel Democracy Institute: Half of Israelis find it harder than in the past to decide whom to vote for; 25% base their choice on the party’s positions on socioeconomic issues and 18% on who heads the party; 27% do not trust the integrity of the Knesset elections March 5, 2019 – A special pre-election survey by the Guttman Center at the Israel Democracy Institute reveals that half of Israeli voters find it harder than in the past to decide whom to vote for, in particular among those who defined themselves as the center; 25% base their choice on socioeconomic issues; and 26% of Jewish Israelis and 34% of Arab Israelis do not trust the integrity of the Knesset elections. Main Findings: Elections - Undecided Votes: 50% of Israelis across the board are having a hard time deciding who to vote for because of the many changes to the political party map. Among Jewish voters the difficulty is especially pronounced with potential voters for center-right parties Kulanu (76%) and Gesher (headed by Orly Levy-Abekasis) (68%), and the far-right parties of Jewish Home (Bayit Yehudi) and the Jewish Power (Otzma Yehudit) (73%) running with them on a joint list. 45% of Arab voters also said that they were having greater difficulty deciding in this election than they have in the past. What are voters’ main considerations? 25% of Israelis said their vote would be decided by the parties' positions on socioeconomic issues and 18% of voters said they will decide according to who heads the party.
  • JCRC Statement in Response to Potential Inclusion of Otzma Yehudit in Israeli Government

    JCRC Statement in Response to Potential Inclusion of Otzma Yehudit in Israeli Government

    For Immediate Release Contact: Jeremy Russell February 25, 2019 Director of Marketing and Communications [email protected] JCRC Statement in Response to Potential Inclusion of Otzma Yehudit in Israeli Government San Francisco, CA – The Jewish Community Relations Council of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin, Sonoma, Alameda and Contra Costa Counties (JCRC) is deeply concerned about reports of an agreement between the Bayit Yehudi or “Jewish Home” and the Otzma Yehudit or “Jewish Power” parties to run on a joint list in the April Knesset (Israeli Parliament) elections. Otzma Yehudit is the ideological successor of the Kach party, which was founded by Meir Kahane, who espoused racist, extremist and violent views. Kach was designated a terrorist organization under Israeli, American and European law. Furthermore, it was banned from the Knesset for inciting violence, and ultimately outlawed from Israel altogether. Statements from party leaders and the party platform make it clear that Otzma Yehudit continues to hold these reprehensible views. Since 2007, the Bay Area Jewish community has been on record in support of “a two‐state solution to end the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis, in which the parties peacefully coexist with fully normalized diplomatic relations, in mutual cooperation that promotes the economic development and social welfare of their respective citizens.” Furthermore, in 2018, at the culmination of a nine-month education and deliberation process that engaged the wide swath of the Jewish community, the JCRC Assembly – comprised of 80 community members representing the rich diversity of the Bay Area Jewish community – issued a consensus policy statement on the delegitimization of Israel.
  • Statement on Otzma Yehudit Party

    Statement on Otzma Yehudit Party

    March 1, 2019 Statement on Otzma Yehudit Party Driven by our love of Israel, its people, land, and state, the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation is unwavering for our support for the Jewish State of Israel. Not only is it the birthplace of our spiritual, religious, and political identity, but the state rose as an expression of our highest democratic values. Israel’s Declaration of Independence refers to those values when it guarantees “complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions.” Because of that history, commitment, and love, we join the growing consensus in the Jewish community denouncing the inclusion of the Otzma Yehudit (“Jewish Power”) party in the Israeli election process. Otzma Yehudit is an unabashedly racist extension of the hateful Kahane ideology. Those reprehensible views do not reflect the core values of the State of Israel nor the Jewish people, and must be unequivocally rejected. Politics must never prevail over morality. Racism and hatred must be unequivocally condemned. We call on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to publicly denounce Otzma Yehudit and declare them an unacceptable party for inclusion in any future government. Safeguarding rights and pursuing 1360 N. Prospect Ave Milwaukee Jewish Federation social justice since 1938. Milwaukee, WI 53202-3094 Chair P 414.390.5781 Board Chair Ann Jacobs F 414.390.5782 Moshe Katz Director [email protected] Acting CEO/President Elana Kahn www.MilwaukeeJewish.org Tom Lindow .
  • Israel and Overseas: Israeli Election Primer 2015 (As Of, January 27, 2015) Elections • in Israel, Elections for the Knesset A

    Israel and Overseas: Israeli Election Primer 2015 (As Of, January 27, 2015) Elections • in Israel, Elections for the Knesset A

    Israel and Overseas: Israeli Election Primer 2015 (As of, January 27, 2015) Elections In Israel, elections for the Knesset are held at least every four years. As is frequently the case, the outgoing government coalition collapsed due to disagreements between the parties. As a result, the Knesset fell significantly short of seeing out its full four year term. Knesset elections in Israel will now be held on March 17, 2015, slightly over two years since the last time that this occurred. The Basics of the Israeli Electoral System All Israeli citizens above the age of 18 and currently in the country are eligible to vote. Voters simply select one political party. Votes are tallied and each party is then basically awarded the same percentage of Knesset seats as the percentage of votes that it received. So a party that wins 10% of total votes, receives 10% of the seats in the Knesset (In other words, they would win 12, out of a total of 120 seats). To discourage small parties, the law was recently amended and now the votes of any party that does not win at least 3.25% of the total (probably around 130,000 votes) are completely discarded and that party will not receive any seats. (Until recently, the “electoral threshold,” as it is known, was only 2%). For the upcoming elections, by January 29, each party must submit a numbered list of its candidates, which cannot later be altered. So a party that receives 10 seats will send to the Knesset the top 10 people listed on its pre-submitted list.
  • Inequality, Identity, and the Long-Run Evolution of Political Cleavages in Israel 1949-2019

    Inequality, Identity, and the Long-Run Evolution of Political Cleavages in Israel 1949-2019

    WID.world WORKING PAPER N° 2020/17 Inequality, Identity, and the Long-Run Evolution of Political Cleavages in Israel 1949-2019 Yonatan Berman August 2020 Inequality, Identity, and the Long-Run Evolution of Political Cleavages in Israel 1949{2019 Yonatan Berman∗ y August 20, 2020 Abstract This paper draws on pre- and post-election surveys to address the long run evolution of vot- ing patterns in Israel from 1949 to 2019. The heterogeneous ethnic, cultural, educational, and religious backgrounds of Israelis created a range of political cleavages that evolved throughout its history and continue to shape its political climate and its society today. De- spite Israel's exceptional characteristics, we find similar patterns to those found for France, the UK and the US. Notably, we find that in the 1960s{1970s, the vote for left-wing parties was associated with lower social class voters. It has gradually become associated with high social class voters during the late 1970s and later. We also find a weak inter-relationship between inequality and political outcomes, suggesting that despite the social class cleavage, identity-based or \tribal" voting is still dominant in Israeli politics. Keywords: Political cleavages, Political economy, Income inequality, Israel ∗London Mathematical Laboratory, The Graduate Center and Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality, City University of New York, [email protected] yI wish to thank Itai Artzi, Dror Feitelson, Amory Gethin, Clara Mart´ınez-Toledano, and Thomas Piketty for helpful discussions and comments, and to Leah Ashuah and Raz Blanero from Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality for historical data on parliamentary elections in Tel Aviv.
  • A Threshold Crossed Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution WATCH

    A Threshold Crossed Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution WATCH

    HUMAN RIGHTS A Threshold Crossed Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution WATCH A Threshold Crossed Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution Copyright © 2021 Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 978-1-62313-900-1 Cover design by Rafael Jimenez Human Rights Watch defends the rights of people worldwide. We scrupulously investigate abuses, expose the facts widely, and pressure those with power to respect rights and secure justice. Human Rights Watch is an independent, international organization that works as part of a vibrant movement to uphold human dignity and advance the cause of human rights for all. Human Rights Watch is an international organization with staff in more than 40 countries, and offices in Amsterdam, Beirut, Berlin, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Goma, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Nairobi, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, Tunis, Washington DC, and Zurich. For more information, please visit our website: http://www.hrw.org APRIL 2021 ISBN: 978-1-62313-900-1 A Threshold Crossed Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution Map .................................................................................................................................. i Summary ......................................................................................................................... 2 Definitions of Apartheid and Persecution .................................................................................
  • Project Democracy – Fighting for the Ground Rules

    Project Democracy – Fighting for the Ground Rules

    PROJECT DEMOCRACY – FIGHTING FOR THE GROUND RULES CHAPTER 3: GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS The danger to democracy in Israel is multi-faceted. Particularly worrisome, two of the central arenas from which these threats arise are the very ones charged with safeguarding democracy: The Knesset (Israeli parliament) and the government. Over the past two years, senior officials have voiced harsh and unprecedented statements directed against human rights organizations, political groups, and minorities, and have made various attempts to narrow their operations. At the same time, a long list of new legislative proposals have been introduced in the Knesset, some of which have been enacted, which clearly harm Israeli democracy and undermine the rights, the status, and the opinions of those who are not part of the current political majority or whom the majority wishes to shy away from. It is important to emphasize that these legislative initiatives are not only private proposals introduced by individual MKs, but bills that have, in some cases, received the support of the government and in other cases have even been introduced by the government itself. Additionally, recent years have seen the continued erosion of checks and balances between branches of government, a basic democratic principle that is vital for the survival of any democracy . There have been serious defects in the legislative process, and legislation has been introduced that would strengthen the powers of the government and weaken those of the opposition, which represents Israel's minority voices. Another dangerous phenomenon is the continued undermining of the status of the judiciary branch. This manifests itself in the government's refusal to comply with court rulings made against it, and in legislative attempts to weaken the power of the Supreme Court.
  • Israel and the Middle East News Update

    Israel and the Middle East News Update

    Israel and the Middle East News Update Friday, January 17 Headlines: • Final Hurdle Preventing Immunity Removal Likely Next Week • Polls Show Right-Left Still Deadlocked • Blue and White Appealing to Religious Zionists in Wake of Rupture • Ben Gvir to PM: I’m Not Dropping Out, Don’t Preach to Me • World Leaders to Meet in Jerusalem, Send Message Against anti-Semitism • Putin Said Mulling Pardon for Israeli Jailed in Russia Commentary: • Yedioth Ahronoth: “The Immunity Battle” − By Nachum Barnea • Ha’aretz: “Religious Zionist Politics Has Never Looked So Miserable” − Yossi Verter S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace 633 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 5th Floor, Washington, DC 20004 The Hon. Robert Wexler, President ● Yoni Komorov, Editor ● Yehuda Greenfield-Gilat, Associate Editor News Excerpts January 17, 2020 Jerusalem Post Final Hurdle Preventing Immunity Removal Likely Next Week Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein is expected at the beginning of next week to announce a date for the Knesset plenum to convene to pass the final proposal necessary to ensure that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's immunity will be removed. There is a majority for removing Netanyahu's immunity in the Knesset plenum and there will also be in the House Committee that will legislate the rejection of his request for immunity from prosecution in his criminal cases. The House Committee will vote to reject Netanyahu's immunity after some three weeks of deliberations. After the vote to reject immunity, Netanyahu’s indictment will be filed at the Jerusalem District Court but will not begin for several months. Once the indictment is filed, Netanyahu will not be able to request immunity from the next Knesset.
  • The 20Th Knesset Report on Racist, Discriminatory, and Occupation- and Annexation-Supportive Laws and Bills

    The 20Th Knesset Report on Racist, Discriminatory, and Occupation- and Annexation-Supportive Laws and Bills

    The 20th Knesset Report on Racist, Discriminatory, and Occupation- and Annexation-Supportive Laws and Bills Summer Session 2015 – Summer Session 2018 Third Report By Barhoum Jaraysi Palestinian Forum for Israeli Studies (MADAR), Ramallah, in cooperation with the Negotiations Affairs Department, Palestine Liberation Organisation Summary 2015–2018 Over the three years of its parliamentary session, the Knesset enacted a total of 185 racist laws in support of the occupation and settlement activity. A total of 32 bills were approved in the final reading. These included 26 separate laws. Six bills were included as provisions under four of the 26 approved laws. In the third parliamentary year (May 2017–March 2018): 1. The Knesset approved six bills in the final reading. Another two bills were included as provisions under a law. Approved bills provide for tightening restrictions on Palestinian movement and access across the 1967 occupied territory and enforcing the Israeli law to the occupied West Bank. 2. Two bills were approved in the first reading. Of these, a bill provides for imposing restrictions on anti-occupation human rights organisations. Representatives of these organisations may not visit school students. 3. Seven bills were approved in the preliminary reading. These advocate for discrimination and restriction of political activity. The most dangerous of these is the Nation-State Law. 4. During the reporting period, members of Knesset (MKs) proposed 38 bills. The majority of these prescribe penalties against Palestinians of the West Bank and Jerusalem, place restrictions on political activity, and consolidate discrimination. Since Donald Trump was elected as the US President, the Knesset has initiated a process to provide final approval and make laws, with the purpose of direct and indirect annexation.
  • Civic Identity in the Jewish State and the Changing Landscape of Israeli Constitutionalism

    Civic Identity in the Jewish State and the Changing Landscape of Israeli Constitutionalism

    Claremont Colleges Scholarship @ Claremont CMC Senior Theses CMC Student Scholarship 2018 Shifting Priorities? Civic Identity in the Jewish State and the Changing Landscape of Israeli Constitutionalism Mohamad Batal Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses Part of the Constitutional Law Commons, and the Law and Politics Commons Recommended Citation Batal, Mohamad, "Shifting Priorities? Civic Identity in the Jewish State and the Changing Landscape of Israeli Constitutionalism" (2018). CMC Senior Theses. 1826. https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/1826 This Open Access Senior Thesis is brought to you by Scholarship@Claremont. It has been accepted for inclusion in this collection by an authorized administrator. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Claremont McKenna College Shifting Priorities? Civic Identity in the Jewish State and the Changing Landscape of Israeli Constitutionalism Submitted To Professor George Thomas by Mohamad Batal for Senior Thesis Spring 2018 April 23, 2018 ii iii iv Abstract: This thesis begins with an explanation of Israel’s foundational constitutional tension—namely, that its identity as a Jewish State often conflicts with liberal- democratic principles to which it is also committed. From here, I attempt to sketch the evolution of the state’s constitutional principles, pointing to Chief Justice Barak’s “constitutional revolution” as a critical juncture where the aforementioned theoretical tension manifested in practice, resulting in what I call illiberal or undemocratic “moments.” More profoundly, by introducing Israel’s constitutional tension into the public sphere, the Barak Court’s jurisprudence forced all of the Israeli polity to confront it. My next chapter utilizes the framework of a bill currently making its way through the Knesset—Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People—in order to draw out the past and future of Israeli civic identity.
  • Israel: 2021 Parliamentary Election and New Coalition Government

    Israel: 2021 Parliamentary Election and New Coalition Government

    By Nigel Walker 14 June 2021 Israel: 2021 parliamentary election and new coalition government Summary 1 Background 2 2021 Parliamentary election commonslibrary.parliament.uk Number CBP 9189 Israel: 2021 parliamentary election and new coalition government Image Credits .Wikimedia Commons page – טימי טרנר (Israel) flag by (Timmy Turner) ישראל / image cropped. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0). Disclaimer The Commons Library does not intend the information in our research publications and briefings to address the specific circumstances of any particular individual. We have published it to support the work of MPs. You should not rely upon it as legal or professional advice, or as a substitute for it. We do not accept any liability whatsoever for any errors, omissions or misstatements contained herein. You should consult a suitably qualified professional if you require specific advice or information. Read our briefing ‘Legal help: where to go and how to pay’ for further information about sources of legal advice and help. This information is provided subject to the conditions of the Open Parliament Licence. Feedback Every effort is made to ensure that the information contained in these publicly available briefings is correct at the time of publication. Readers should be aware however that briefings are not necessarily updated to reflect subsequent changes. If you have any comments on our briefings please email [email protected]. Please note that authors are not always able to engage in discussions with members of the public who express opinions about the content of our research, although we will carefully consider and correct any factual errors.