Constitution for Israel Activities and Status Report

On Tu Bishvat 5766 – February 13, 2006 – the Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee of the Knesset will present a report including its drafts for a full constitution – based on the eleven Basic Laws, teamwork by outside organizations, and the consensus of Members of Knesset – to the Knesset, for the first time in history. As we approach this crucial milestone, the members of the Knesset Committee believe that since Israel is the democratic state of the Jewish people, it is highly appropriate to bring World Jewry to the table.

Israel’s constitution will affect more than just those who hold Israeli citizenship on the day it is ratified. It will affect Jews the world over – as potential citizens, as ambassadors of good will, as representatives of the Jewish state in their own countries, and as communities who care deeply about the character of Israel. It would be wrong to hold these debates, on topics ranging from social and economic rights to Religion and State and the Law of Return, without inviting these communities to the table.

Opening the constitutional dialogue to Jews from around the world is a unique and vital opportunity for Israel and world Jewry to enter into a dialogue regarding critical issues that will continue to impact the Jewish people for years to come. It will serve not only to improve the draft constitution, but also to deepen the relationship between the communities. Such an invitation is an unusual step for a sovereign nation, but Israel and world Jewry have come to realize the extent to which their respective agendas are one agenda. In light of their unique shared history, the interdependence and common destiny of the Jewish people and the State of Israel, dialogue with the Diaspora is imperative. The Constitution for Israel Project serves as the formal channel of communication between Diaspora Jewry and the Knesset Committee.

Constitution for Israel engages the Diaspora via a three-tiered approach. Through our public website at http://www.cfisrael.org, we aim to reach a largest and diverse Jewish audience around the world in the most convenient manner. The English-language website offers minutes of Committee meetings, background documents and information on the central issues, and allows for feedback from and debate amongst the users of the site.

The second level of involvement is at the organizational level, encouraging groups throughout the world to create “Community Constitutional Committees,” debating the issues and providing feedback to our office. This level, operated on behalf – and by the mutual consent – of the Jewish Agency For Israel and the Knesset by the Israeli American Jewish Forum, brings together participants from Jewish organizations, synagogues, political organisations, and Jewish student groups, often with several groups working in parallel in a single city. These groups utilize source materials and discussion guides developed for this purpose, which frame the debate and facilitate feedback from participants and moderators to the CFI office in Jerusalem. The CFI office is ultimately responsible for integrating the feedback and presenting World Jewry’s opinions and priorities as persuasively as possible to the members of the Constitutional Committee.

Finally, with the aid and support of the American Jewish Congress’s Steinberg Center, CFI has created infrastructure to involve panels of Jewish academic and professional experts in a unique forum, debating the central texts of the constitution and advising the committee on their substance at a high level. We plan to have up to ten panels of experts, each dealing with one of the topics on the list enclosed herewith. The panels will work in coordination with the Constitutional Committee’s schedule, and each panel will work for 8-10 weeks before presenting their response to the committee. The first panel, on Court-Knesset relations, already enjoys great success.

Launched in December 2005, the “CFI – Expert” online system is an online space where teams of experts will be able to interact with each other, the constitution draft, relevant information and background materials and even the Members of the Committee themselves and senior staff as well. Participation will consist of online discussion, face-to-face regional meetings, an interim telephone/videoconference, and finally presentation of recommendations to the Committee in Jerusalem.

All members involved, including members of Knesset from across the political spectrum, have high hopes we will achieve great results. The constitutional discussion will open up new channels of communication between Israel and Diaspora Jewry which are effective, respectful, and broad enough to include a wide range of opinions. The process is as important as the goal, and the network and channels of communication created in the course of our work will persist in the future, facilitating other endeavours.

At the time of writing, all three tiers of the Constitution for Israel Project’s method for Diaspora engagement are operational and have met with success. The www.cfisrael.org website has a large, and growing, library of translated Committee minutes, background documents and debates. Through publicity through Jewish organisations, press and websites throughout the world, awareness of the project continues to increase, and the on-line forum fills with feedback and user debates. As of August, 2005, the site receives 120 unique visitors each week, a number which has increased steadily since February of 2005.

Additionally, CFI is currently translating the full draft of the proposed constitution into English. The text will be available at http://www.cfisrael.org and on the Knesset's own Constitution by Broad Consensus webpage in February, 2006.

In Canada, the United States, and Israel, groups have met and are meeting to discuss the relationship between Religion and State, and the Law of Return. Work is currently underway on the next set of kits, on Minority Rights and Symbols of the State. The intention is to supply a comprehensive pack of discussion aids to Diaspora Jewry on all central aspects of the constitution. The Israeli American Jewish Forum will be operating small, 3-person delegations to visit discussion groups and Community Constitutional Committees across North America. These delegations will consist of one Member of Knesset, one member of the IAJF, and an academic.

Following a presentation this past June by the CFI office and MK Eti Livni at the biannual conference of the European Jewish Congress in Paris, the groundwork has been set for the process to be extended to European Jewish groups, leaders, and experts as well. Once the European aspect of the project is in its stride, we intend to broaden the scope of discussions to other areas of the world with large Jewish populations, such as Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and South America.

The CFI project, while remaining a joint project solely of the Jewish Agency and the Knesset, has made a series of strategic partnerships to enhance operations in North America, to fund and operate expert interactions, and to help produce educational materials. We hope to deepen and extend our strategic partnerships in Israel and abroad, under the leadership of the two parent organizations.

Finally, the mechanism for the Expert debates is completed, and the website is live, running from a server housed at the AJCongress’s Jerusalem office. The team on Court-Knesset relations is working closely with the Knesset on sections from the draft constitution and is providing valuable feedback for our MKs and Legal and Academic staff.

We endeavour, before the conclusion of the drafting project, to provide the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee with the range of opinions, priorities, and recommendations that the world’s Jewish communities have to offer, so that their input may be taken into account in the completed document, further realising Israel’s mandate as the Jewish State.

Constitution for Israel (CFI) is a joint project of the Knesset and the Jewish Agency for Israel. The project is run as an arm of the Knesset’s Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee and is responsible for its communication with the Diaspora.

The Israel American Jewish Forum is, by the agreement of the Knesset (Constitutional Committee) and the Jewish Agency, the operator for CFI in North America. As such it produces educational materials, coordinates meetings, and pursues strategic relationships on behalf of the project. Its mandate focuses on discussion groups and Jewish leadership.

The American Jewish Congress and its Lillian and Martin Steinberg Center for Israel are involved with the Constitution for Israel project through their sponsorship of the expert advisory team activity, as well as through a generous grant to the IAJF for its activities. Additionally, it has worked closely with the Lobby for a Constitution to organize seminars and a delegation from the Constitutional Committee to the US and Canada.

CFI has contracted work to Melitz (educational kits), which hopes also to use Hebrew translations of these materials for educational programs in Israel. It has worked together with the UJA-Federation of NY, and has been advised by members of the Project for the Implementation of the Gavison-Medan Covenant. CFI has also been assisted in International Expert advisory work by the Israel Democracy Institute.

To get involved in the Constitutional Dialogue, or to comment on our work, you can reach us care of the Constitution for Israel Project; c/o the Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee, Knesset of Israel, 2 Kaplan St., Jerusalem 91950