13 March 2023
Israels Staatsumbau
Israels neue rechtsreligiöse Regierung unter Benjamin arbeitet an einer Justizreform, die hunderttausende Demonstranten auf die Straße treibt und in der Kritik steht, den israelischen Rechtsstaat zu zerstören. Bei genauerer Betrachtung wird klar, dass es bei den Protesten nicht nur um die Reform selbst, sondern auch um grundlegende Fragen nach dem Charakter des jüdischen Staates und seiner Identität geht. Das israelische Rechtssystem steht schon immer stellvertretend für den Staat selbst. Die gespaltene israelische Gesellschaft streitet um das Verständnis von Demokratie, das Verhältnis von Religion und Staat und um die zukünftige Machtposition einzelner Gesellschaftsgruppen. Continue reading >>
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25 November 2022
The High Stakes Israeli Debate over the Override
Following the 2022 elections to Israel’s legislature (Knesset), a hardcore right wing coalition is in the process of forming. Each of the potential partners in this coalition fantasizes about introducing an override clause into the Israeli constitutional system for different political motivations. However, the result would be the same. It would allow the Knesset to disproportionally infringe upon constitutional rights. Continue reading >>
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13 July 2022
Hanging by a Thread
On June 20, 2022, Israel’s PM Naftali Bennet announced that he has decided, together with Yair Lapid, Israel’s foreign minister and Alternate Prime Minister, to disperse the Knesset. Bennet explained that the dissolvement was necessary to avoid “constitutional chaos”. But what was this pending “chaos”? What Bennet was referring to in such dramatic terms is the prospect of the expiration of the Emergency Regulations (Judea and Samaria—Adjudication of Offenses and Legal Assistance), which were set to expire as a result of the Knesset failing to pass a law extending them. What are these regulations? And how can the expiration of regulations, let alone emergency regulations, amount to a constitutional crisis? Continue reading >>20 July 2021
Does Where You (Legally) Stand Depend On Where You Sit?
On July 8, 2021, the Israeli Supreme Court rejected the petitions challenging Basic Law: Israel as the Nation of the Jewish People, enacted almost three years earlier. The so-called Hasson decision not only raises important questions about the relationship between legal and political struggles, it also calls into question the constitutional foundations of equality and democracy. Continue reading >>
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08 April 2020
Constitutional Crisis in Israel: Coronavirus, Interbranch Conflict, and Dynamic Judicial Review
The Covid-19 pandemic hit Israel in fragile political and constitutional times. After three consecutive national elections and during unprecedented and continuous constitutional crisis, it has deepened an interbranch conflict that has led to the High Court of Justice (HCJ) taking part, in real time, in a dynamic judicial review. The HCJ not only facilitated the functioning of the parliament but also expedited its oversight on the government’s use of emergency powers. Continue reading >>
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