Democratic Israel Must Demand a Jewish Sovereign Guarantor Before Annexing Gaza, the West Bank and Declaring One State.
Bicameral Parliament, Legislative Unification and
Long Term Economic Prosperity
The reorganization of
community representation promoted by this paper is expected to gain momentum
over the next 25 years as the nation begins to understand and realize the
social and economic benefits that will flow from it.
Jewish sovereignty,
secured by national rabbinical representation in an upper house of Israel’s future parliament
(Knesset) may be a confronting prospect to many, but the national benefits for
all groups are presently misunderstood and overlooked. The majority of Israel’s Jewish electorate
periodically participate in the religious services of a local synagogue.
Members of these community synagogues presently nominate municipally appointed,
government funded Town Rabbis to represent their communal religious interests.
Elected Town Rabbi’s are self-interested to empower their framework and elevate
it to take its place on the national political stage. Grass root participation
is a principal requirement for any such structural change, therefore town hall
meetings, community activities and societal representations organized by
appointed Town Rabbis and leaders will be hallmarks for success of this future
movement.
Simultaneous
participation by religious professionals in the judiciary and other segments of
Israel’s legislative and legal sectors will provide growing support, for
integration into Israel’s secular laws and processes the balanced, favourable
(to society) interpretations founded in ancient teachings and principles that
strengthen Jewish Sovereignty.
Finally, growth of labor
intensive domestic industry is essential to satisfy the economic demands of Israel’s growing constituent
underclass. Political parties that prioritise development of sustainable
industries capable of employing a significant portion of unemployed and
non-participating workforce will
benefit. Israel’s indigenous and
cultural prerogative, including for the optimal growth of tourism is a
principle dogma of this future outcome. As such this idea of community
representation and sovereignty is tied directly to the issues presented;
specifically as the means for people to develop skills, obtain economic benefits and ultimately deliver
wealth re-distribution to the broader population.
Superior Judiciary
Rabbinical
representation in Israel’s judiciary is
virtually nonexistent despite the obligation to refine social justice as
expressed in the Torah portion Shoftim and the requirement to pursue that end
in Talmud Sanhedrin (32b). Such pursuit relates to the effort an individual
expends to bring all of society to a more refined state, in this case through a
superior judiciary. Although Torah and Talmud may emanate from a different era,
the responsibility to refine justice is unequivocal at all times. Therefore the
obligation is active and must be carried out with clear intention and
conviction. This paper defines a plan to achieve such a result.
Rabbinical ordination
and certification to practise law may not appear to have much in common, but Israel’s state judiciary would
be better served by qualified applicants who have also learned the legal
foundation of Torah. Such a scenario in which these qualified individuals
integrate and assimilate ideas through the Ministry of Justice is one where the
Rabbis and scholars of Israel’s communities and their
various Talmudic institutions take command. In doing so they also fulfill their
obligations to pursue justice in a manner that would imbue Israel with a more just
judiciary capable of incorporating into precedent substantially Talmudic
principles.
The number of places
available to students in Israel’s law schools is
limited. Each year approximately 1500 students qualify the bar examination to
become lawyers in Israel. Some move to private
practices, partnerships, corporate jobs, politics, advocacy and the judiciary.
Whilst enlistment is competitive, selection of accomplished Torah students
would virtually be be assured. Although negative biases at certain educational
institutions may prevent a fair balance of religious enlistment, it would not
take more than a few years before selection on the merits prevailed.
Israel’s Law Schools
Developing channels of
cooperation between religious community leaders and Law Schools will provide a
foundation for parties to explore these ideas. Financial assistance in the form
of grants and other incentives for participation by underprivileged applicants,
over and above existing assistance programs from Law Schools can and should
also be considered. The Law Schools of Israel are listed below;
1. Bar Ilan University (BIU), Yaakov
Herzog Faculty of Law, Ramat-Gan
4. Tel-Aviv University (TAU), Faculty of
Law, Ramat-Aviv
In addition there are six
schools of law at these Israeli colleges: Academic
Center of Law & Business [1], Ramat Gan; College
of Management [2], Rishon Lezion; Interdisciplinary
Center (IDC) [3], Herzliya; Netanya
Academic College [4], Netanya; Ono
Academic College, [5], Kiryat Ono; Sha'arei Mishpat, [6], Hod HaSharon
Increasing religious
participation in the legal affairs of Israel is a sure way to bring
productive Torah principles to the nation. Concern about imbalanced secular
influence has led to an isolationist response by many Haredi communities. Such
community wide response can be progressively improved by their participation in
the Israeli judiciary with a view to producing laws that would reflect their
interests. Some communities are already participating in this manner and we are
encouraged to support them in their efforts toward these stated objectives.
Working with the Ministry of
Justice and the administrator
for judicial appointments, including magistrates we intend to promote a more
balanced representation from the Haredi and religious sector.
Tourism showcase and
economic incentive
The shortfall in
contribution to GDP through added revenue from tourism is now widely
acknowledged at various levels of government and is closely tied to unskilled
labor demand. Response to the shortage of hotel rooms is the acute focus of
government evidenced in development grants that offer 28% cash rebate for
approved developments. In addition very few municipal councils in Israel will not grant relaxed
zoning conditions for new hotel developments because these offer significant
contributions to the economy of any city. The economic shortfall from Israel’s sub-optimal
exploitation of global tourism demand presents an opportunity to build and
focus awareness on Israel’s most significant
national economic initiative. The government views the deep reforms required to
address the complexity of the issues, but has not actioned all of the top down
changes required to realize the benefits that would flow. Realizing potential
revenue and employment advantages from tourism requires Israel attracting,
accommodating and facilitating millions of additional visitors to the country
each year. Planning and developing infrastructure, attracting capital and
skills and training and educating workers needed to kick start the momentum is
a significant undertaking that requires attention from the Prime Minister and
the entire cabinet.
The Jerusalem 5800 team are a good example having assumed responsibility for
planning a future Jerusalem capable of expanding
tourism by providing hospitality and infrastructure for residents and visiting
guests. These plans are now well established, published and in circulation
among the country’s most active bureaucrats. Planning has occurred over much of
the past 3 years and the principle project team will soon complete its initial
work. The work on individual projects anticipated by the plan will soon
commence and are expected to span the next 25 years.
Jerusalem anchors Israel’s ability to attract
mass tourism, its unique qualities allow it to compete in a world filled with malls,
tall buildings and resorts. Inherently its ‘holy city’ attractiveness
guarantees it a significant place on the world stage, but narrow vision,
distractions and complacent attitudes are a constant threat to the city
realizing its full potential. To illustrate the magnitude of the attitudinal
shift required, we return to the idea at the opening of this paper -
sovereignty expressed through national religious representation.
In order to advance
Jerusalem and other major cities in Israel to their ultimate and most
beneficial conclusion, a new, but different phase of planning and development
for Israel leading to the year 5800 will be required. Anything less than a
cross-government, highly professional approach, the likes of administrators who
transform a city in preparation for the Olympic Games, would be a poor result.
This effort must be fully embraced by the highest office of the land, as such
the Prime Minister must have received a mandate for the idea’s covered in this
document from the electorate as the Knesset platform on which they are voted to
power.
Bicameral Government - Israel as a Constitutional
Monarchy
Israel’s government and
constitution are remnants of the British system of government prior to 1948.
The unicameral Knesset and Basic Law of the country followed forms that did not
emanate from Jewish culture and therefore remain somewhat cumbersome, not
addressing national, traditional or religious constituents particularly well.
Further the 20% mostly Muslim block of Israeli Arabs are often antithetical to
sensitive national issues that favor the Jewish majority because of an
ambiguous constitutional construct.
Although not immediately
apparent, Israel’s unicameral system of
government does not ideally represent the demographic it represents. Voter
turnout over the past 50 years has progressively dropped from the 80th to the
60th percentile, but voter turnout is not the primary issue. More than a third
of Israeli Jews observe traditional laws and another 25% consider themselves to
be traditional non-observing. Returning Israel to its more traditional
model of judiciary and government will be culturally compatible for its
majority Jewish population. Notwithstanding the spread of secularism in Israel, economic pragmatism
will continue to direct domestic politics toward this ideal.
Establishing legal and
cultural uniformity will certainly clarify the sovereign rights of Israelis,
but the objective of these unilaterally mandated propositions is to
significantly boost economic development for citizens. The legal and
citizenship rights consistent with a democratic institution to appoint a king
are not foreign to Jewish culture or those of the region and the benefits of a
constitutional sovereign, would ultimately accrue through pomp, ceremony and
constant global fascination that would boost tourism well beyond anticipated
levels.
A newly convened group has been established to promote and educate the electorate,
electoral assembly and Town Rabbis to provide direction, insight and
inspiration to ultimately move a resolution on a referendum for a bicameral
structure of government that would draw its new members from the electoral
framework specified in the The
Jewish Religious Services Law, 1971.
Present Government Representation
Appointment of Israel’s Town Rabbis is
governed by the Minister for Religious Affairs. Town Rabbis are elected via the
electoral domain of the Religious Council, city council, synagogues and
communities in accordance with The
Jewish Religious Services Law, 1971.
They receive lifetime appointments.
The election of Israel’s
chief Rabbi takes place in accordance with Chief Rabbinate of Israel Law, 5740-1980* through a legal Electoral Assembly that forges an
alliance of 150 people made up of elected Mayors and Rabbis of Israel’s largest
city’s, public figures, religious and regional councils and knesset members. In
all 80 Rabbis and 70 members of the public make up the body required to make
the appointment.
The Electoral Assembly
representing the communities of Israel is constructed as
follows;
·
(1) 30 Town Rabbis from the major towns;
·
(2) 14 Town Rabbis from the major local councils;
·
(3) two regional rabbis from the major regional councils;
"regional rabbi" means a person appointed with the approval of the
Minister of Religious Affairs to be a rabbi of a regional council;
·
(4) eight rabbis from the major moshavim (smallholders'
settlements);
·
(5) the most veteran neighbourhood rabbi from each of the towns of
Jerusalem, Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Haifa and Beersheba, and in the case of
neighbourhood rabbis with equal length of service, the oldest of them;
"neighbourhood rabbi" means a person appointed by the Religious
Council, with the approval of the Minister of Religious Affairs, to be a
neighbourhood rabbi;
·
(6) the ten most veteran dayanim, and in the case of dayanim
with equal length of service, the oldest of them;
·
(7) the Chief Army Chaplain and his deputy, and if he has no
deputy, the army chaplain with the highest military rank, and in the case of
army chaplains of equal rank, the one with the greatest length of service in
the Army Chaplaincy;
·
(8) ten rabbis appointed by the Minister of Religious Affairs with
the approval of the Government.
The representatives of
the public in the Electoral Assembly is;
·
(1) the mayors of 25 major towns;
·
(2) the heads of six major local councils;
·
(3) the heads of four major regional councils;
·
(4) the heads of the religious councils of 14 major towns;
·
(5) the heads of the religious councils of four major local
councils;
·
(6) two Ministers elected by the Government;
·
(7) five members of the Knesset elected by it or by one of its'
committees empowered by it for this purpose;
·
(8) ten members of the public appointed by the Minister of
Religious Affairs with the approval of the Government.
The overwhelming
construction of this Electoral Assembly are religious representatives making up
98 of the 150 members.
Whilst this Electoral
Assembly is a temporary body assembled for the purpose of electing the chief
Ashkenazi and Sephardi Rabbis, its 80 Rabbinical members are empowered in
communities that extend deep into the heart of the Israeli electorate. These
Rabbis have within their collective power the ability to move the nation toward
electoral reform to enable Israel to finally address its
constitutional construct, legal authority and sovereignty. Any initiative
directed to bring such constitutional change would need to occur from the level
of Town Rabbis who would lobby for and obtain community support for such an
initiative. The hurdles to any change are high, to understand them let’s look
at referenda in Israel.
Referenda
The Basic
Law of Israel does not provide for the holding of referendums
and the country has never held one. The holding of a referendum has been
proposed several times over the course of Israel's
history, although none of these proposals have ever succeeded. David Ben-Gurion proposed a referendum on the introduction of a majoritarian electoral system in 1958 to reduce the influence
of the National
Religious Party. Menachem Begin proposed the introduction of a legislative
initiative, which
would have allowed 100,000 citizens to demand that a proposed law be submitted
to a referendum. The referendum was also briefly discussed in the 1970s, when a
plebiscite over the future of the West Bank was considered.
The enactment of
significant constitutional reform would require the Knesset to adopt a
nationwide referendum or at least a referendum of a Knesset supermajority, a
seemingly impossible undertaking at this time. However, analyzing the reasons
why events that promote such an adventure could be embraced by the country and
its elected representatives are beginning to become apparent.
The national disparity
that exists between religious and secular Jews also exists between Ashkenazim
and Sephardim, Haredim and Religious Zionists, new immigrants and old, hardline
Muslims, Christians and Jews, Bedouins and Druze, people under the Palestinian
Authority, Gazans and Israelis. In addition post military education ensures Israel’s concentration of the
highly skilled, while torah scholars and those without any post school
education are often left without skills. The principle unifying prospect for
such a diverse society will be that which provides the most apparent economic
benefit. This presents a unique opportunity in Israel for constitutional
reform centered on employment centric economic prospects that are otherwise not
obtainable. Although other sector opportunities may contribute, tourism
associated with Israel as the “Holy Land” stands out from the
crowd.
Putting it all together
A promoter organization
has enlisted Town Rabbis and Electoral Assembly officials to form a loose body
that concentrates its lobby to organize its electoral framework to serve Israel and its economic
objectives. The promoter organization, operated without fanfare, will direct
its objective to promote its ideals and organize its participants. Its
objective is to document and approve a charter directed toward establishing a
bicameral parliamentary system, by referendum using elected Rabbis to perform a
national function beyond their present role as ‘Town’ Rabbis.
Promoting the expanded
mandate of the existing electoral framework, by which Town Rabbis are
appointed, as a means to elect a second house to the legislature of government
is a starting point that will no-doubt transform as the idea matures. Although
the development or even the marketing of such an objective is feasible, a
factor of financial budgeting, the higher motivation and inspiration to drive
toward the objective would make such an initiative far more compelling for many
of its participants. If the body of participants are motivated by the prospect
of expanded power and by a higher reason to obtain it, there may be sufficient
impetus to achieve the objective.
The multitudinous and
substantial issues to be addressed by any elected body responsible for
approving law in an upper house of a bicameral parliament would be daunting.
However, as the nation and the Jewish people’s authoritative religious body,
its higher purpose would also become the progressive amalgamation of religious
and secular law in order that Israel’s indigenous Jewish
culture be expressed and fully exploited to the benefit of all its people. Such
an ambitious undertaking can only ever be initialized by motivated participants
who bring a religious and secular sensibility and can foresee a future Israel which enables its
prophetic cultural realization and releases the economic benefits that flow
from it. Envisaging and developing a path forward is a function of education
and direction toward the objective, a matter of interpretation already well
prescribed in the Jewish exegesis.
The Law
The separate existence
of national and religious law establishes a basis for confusion and dismissal,
each rendering the other impotent at the secular and religious fringes of Israel’s Jewish society. The
equal application of law by Israel’s executive and enforcement agencies is made
more difficult by the existence of underlying legal precepts that are
culturally observed to a lesser or greater degree by diverse groups in
different parts of the country.
Israel’s unicameral
legislative structure cannot serve its cultural or religious disposition
because it does not permit an authoritative body of representatives qualified
in accordance with halachic principles to prevail over it. As such it is
conflicted by its inability to express Jewish sovereignty over the land to
which it claims an indigenous right on behalf of its Jewish people. This
proposition addresses the present shortcoming. A law to enable a one time
national referendum to introduce a bicameral structure would also introduce to
the national debate the constitutional representation in Israel’s sovereign image.
The election of Town
Rabbis to the upper house of a bicameral parliament is presently influenced by
public opinion through the Electoral Assembly and Minister of Religious
Affairs. The future process would ensure that selection criteria as
modified in the course of drafting the referendum, would satisfy the demands of
both religious and secular communities in Israel. The hope that Talmudic
law and Israel’s state laws would
converge as enabled in a bicameral parliament would shift the paradigm. In such
a scenario Knesset Kattan (upper house) would be responsible for approving law,
Knesset Gadol (the existing lower house) responsible for drafting law and the
executive branch under the Prime Minister responsible for administering and
executing law.
The Tourism Benefit
Toward a positive
referendum, momentum for economic growth can be characterized in terms
synergistic with the vision of Israel’s postexilic future.
The present desire of local and state government is for 10 million tourists to
arrive in Israel each year from the
present 3.5 million. The presently stated requirement is an additional 19000
hotel rooms to be constructed in Jerusalem in order to accommodate
5 million tourist arrivals. Although enormous potential exists, the complexity
of the task requires a detailed knowledge, much of which can be understood
through the work of the Jerusalem 5800 team. Ultimately
the limit to tourism arrivals in Israel is unknown because the
expression of sovereignty in a bicameral government would also allow Israel to resolve its cultural
and religious prerogatives, which would significantly increase tourism demand
and boost the economy accordingly.
For every 1 million new
tourists GDP increases $1.8 billion and includes at least 20,000 direct jobs
and 60,000 indirect jobs in employment classes which span unskilled and skilled
labor sectors. The future benefit to people in Israel and Jerusalem as a direct result of
tourism is arguably more significant than any other single industry sector. In
addition to economic benefits, tourists leave Israel with a realization of
safety and security an orientation that counters the dangerous image cast upon Israel every day in the global
media. A bicameral government that provides this stimulation and direction
would finally re-establish Israel’s most important
cultural, religious and national icons and assets which would add significantly
to the nation's economic outlook.
Perhaps the promise of a
restored, authentic Jerusalem competing with annual
pilgrimage to the Vatican or Mecca, where history and
exploitation of narrative entertain visitors who can be touched in ways never
before imagined, is sufficient to motivate Israel’s secular and religious
communities to recognize and realize their awaiting benefit.
Development Timetable
2013/5773 - 2016/5776 -
Establish funding body; engage political science team; document electoral and
parliamentary framework; identify supporters and electoral candidates
2017/5777 - 2020/5780 -
Educate Town Rabbi’s in the national framework; Publish comprehensive outline
for political path to referendum; educate nation on referenda; complete
referenda campaign plan; gather support; introduce for discussion and passage
in Knesset
2021/5781 - 2025/5785 -
Obtain endorsement of Chief Rabbi for bicameral nationwide referendum at
election; Intensify lobby; Election and result
2026/5786 - 2030/5790 - Formally appoint national body as Knesset upper house.
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