English

Welcome to Constitution for Israel, the English-language portal for the constitution drafting project. By clicking on the links below you may

• View minutes from most of the Constitutional Committee’s eighty meetings
• Read about Israel’s constitutional history and the context of the drafting project begun in May 2003
• Read extensive background materials prepared in the Constitution for Israel office on some of the most important and controversial topics in the draft constitution
• Download educational kits, including source materials, designed to facilitate discussion groups on Israel’s constitutional issues
• Read the interim report on Constitution for Israel’s ongoing activities, and learn how you can get involved

Dear Friends,

Welcome to Constitution for Israel, the English-language home of the Knesset’s first-ever draft of a Constitution. This site, presented to the Knesset on Tu Bishvat 5766, the 58th birthday of the Knesset, represents the first milestone on a process which began in May of 2003; in truth, however, its roots are at the very beginnings of the State of Israel.

Israel has no written constitution. Various attempts to draft the formal document since 1948 have fallen short of the mark, and instead Israel has evolved a system of basic laws and rights, which enjoy semi-constitutional status. This provisional solution is increasingly inadequate for Israel's needs, and the necessity for completing this historic task has never been more urgent.

In 2003, as the Chair of the Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee, I initiated the Constitution by Broad Consensus Project, which aims to complete the work of writing a constitution for Israel that will enjoy wide support. The Committee seeks to create a constitution that represents all members of Israeli society, including secular and religious, Jewish and Arab, the majority as well as Israel’s many minority groups.

The Committee believes that since Israel is the democratic state of the Jewish people, it is appropriate to appeal to the worldwide Jewish community to inform them, and invite their input, on the constitutional issues in general, and particularly those questions which involve the relationship between Israel and the Jewish people.

This report is a milestone in the important project of involving the world Jewry in the constitutional process. In it you will find information presenting and explaining major constitutional issues and disputes; summaries of the Committee meetings, and proposed drafts of chapters of the constitution. The draft itself is available on the Constitutional Committee’s website at http://www.knesset.gov.il/huka, and the English version will soon be made available at our English-language site, http://www.cfisrael.org.

I invite you to comment, make suggestions, and make your influence felt. In short, I invite you to take a part in writing a draft of a Constitution for Israel.

Sincerely yours,

Michael Eitan

Chairman of the Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee of the Knesset

• Speaker of the Knesset: Member of Knesset Reuven Rivlin
• Chairmen of the Jewish Agency: Sallai Meridor (past); Ze'ev Bielski
• Chairman of the Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee of the Knesset: Member of Knesset Michael Eitan

• Director: Avram Heilman
• Yaacov Ben Shemesh (Former Director)
• Nili Heled (Former Director)
• Dov Rabinowitz
• Stephanie Pell
• Julian Furman
• Knesset Advisors: Sigal Kogut, Eyal Zandberg (Legal), Professor Ruth Gavison (Academic)

• Chairman: MK Michael Eitan
• MK Colette Avital, MK Azmi Bishara, Mk Eitan Cabel, MK Reshef Chayne, MK Eliezer "Cheetah" Cohen, MK Naomi Blumenthal, MK Yoel-Yuli Edelstein, MK Zehava Galon, MK Yitzhak Levi, MK Eti Livni, MK Gideon Sa'ar, MK Michael Ratzon, MK Avraham Ravitz, MK Yuli Tamir, MK Nissim Ze'ev
  • Committee Director: Dorit Vag
  • Legal Advisors: Sigal Kogut, Eyal Zandberg, Tami Sela, Efrat Rosen, Karen Weinshel
  • Academic Advisor: Professor Ruth Gavison

• Jewish Agency for Israel: Reuben Shalom, Yuval Yaini, Mark Ismailoff
• Israel America Jewish Forum: Marvin Lender, Joel Tauber, Menachem Revivi
• American Jewish Congress: Danny Grossman
• Melitz: Shira Steinitz

American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists, American Jewish Congress, Dor Chadash USA, Embassy of Israel to Canada, European Jewish Congress, President and Fellows of Harvard College, Jewish Agency for Israel

Amir Abramovitz, Yoav Artsieli, Alexandra Benjamin, David Borowich, Elana Broitman, Aryeh Carmon, Eugene Dubovoy, Yaffa Epstein, Motti Friedman, Neil Goldstein, Stephen Greenwald, Wendy Ham, Alan Jaffe, Liz Jaffe, Dan Kosky, Guy Lurie, David Mallach, Dan Meridor, Paul Miller, Arash Mostaghimi, Arif Nathoo, Michel Norman, Amitai Pach, Rochelle Penkower, Efrat Pilzer, Matt Plenn, James Quattrochi, Barak Rogers, Ilan Rogers, Noga Ron, Sheldon Schorer, Marc Stern, Ilan Wagner, Shmuly Yanklowitz, Yaffa Zilbershatz