Special Interview Waiting for a Constitution

Israel has begun a year-long celebration of its 40th anniversary with a special emphasis on the Declaration of Independence proclaimed when the Jewish State was established.

But one major promise of the Declaration has not yet been realized — a constitution.

“The promise of the Declaration of Independence should be fulfilled with a constitution for Israel in order to safeguard the humanistic and democratic values upon which Zionism was founded and to provide Israel with an efficient government which will enable us to face the very difficult problems ahead,” Uriel Reichman, dean of the Tel Aviv University Law Faculty, said in an interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency here.

Reichman and three of his colleagues at the law school have drafted a proposed constitution which includes a Bill of Rights and wide changes in the government of Israel. He said the draft was written after consultation with constitutional scholars and political scientists in Israel, the United States and Western Europe.

WIDESPREAD SUPPORT IN ISRAEL

Since the proposed constitution was released at Tel Aviv University last August, there has been “an explosion of Israeli opinion” in favor of a constitution, Reichman said.

Israelis have volunteered to support the campaign for a constitution and a committee has been formed to press the government to act. “People have shown up in my office to support the campaign” and donate funds, Reichman said.

He said Israeli newspapers have offered free advertisement space, a major ad agency is undertaking the campaign free of charge and buses carry free ads urging a constitution.

Support has also come from business and financial leaders, and the mayors of 30 cities throughout Israel have issued a proclamation urging the Knesset to act, Reichman said.

President Chaim Herzog in his Rosh Hashanah message also lent his support. “This is the time to hold a thorough, non-political national discussion, to be based on a new national consent, on the issue of formulation of a constitution for Israel,” Herzog said.

He defined such a constitution as one “which will anchor the fundamentals of living in the State and will strengthen Israel’s democracy, a constitution which will mirror our qualities of unity and uniqueness as a nation, which will be based on the Declaration of Independence, as well as on the realities of life in Israel after 40 years of sovereignty.” Reichman said he has received support from Knesset members of all parties. Premier Yitzhak Shamir has praised the effort of the law professors and said Israel was “mature” enough now to have a constitution.

While Foreign Minister Shimon Peres has not made any public statements yet, Reichman, who is scheduled to meet with him, said he believes Peres will also support the effort.

Reichman said he knows there are many difficulties ahead, but he believes that this is the “opportune moment, providing that the public pressure will be kept on very strongly” and the issue can be kept nonpartisan.

“We are trying hard to finalize the matter before the end of May 1988,” when the next election campaign for the Knesset is scheduled to begin, Reichman said.

He said he would like to see representatives of all the parties meet in a closed convention to approve the constitution and submit it to the Knesset. Although it is not required, Reichman believes that if the Knesset approves a constitution it should be submitted to a referendum so that all Israelis can take part in creating a new “social covenant.”

Reichman said that he and his colleagues engaged in their effort because of a fear that the current situation endangers Israel’s democratic structure and the humanistic values on which Zionism was established.

That is why a Bill of Rights was considered mandatory. “The most sacred human rights can be amended by a simple majority of the Knesset,” he said.

He noted particulary the religious laws which are subject to pressure from the small religious parties which are needed to from a government by Labor and Likud. He said the rightwing political element might find they need the support of Rabbi Meir Kahane to form a government and adopt a law to impose a curfew on Israeli Arabs, or the left wing might need the Communists and agree to nationalize major industries.

“In order to preserve individual freedom, the State should be run for the benefit of its citizens, rather than the politicians,” Reichman said.

ASPECTS OF PROPOSED BILL OF RIGHTS

The proposed Bill of Rights would preserve religious freedom, but it would also protect secular Israelis, allowing civil marriage, divorce and burial, Reichman said. But, he stressed, there would be no “wall of separation” as in the U.S. Constitution, and the State would still support religious services.

Reichman rejected the long-held common view that David Ben Gurion, Israel’s first Prime Minister, did not push for a constitution because of the religious issue. He noted that the National Religious Party was ready to support a constitution in 1949-50 and that one of its leaders would have chaired the committee drafting the document.

“Ben Gurion simply did not want a situation in which his hands would be tied by a binding document,” Reichman said.

In addition to the guarantees contained in other democratic constitutions, Reichman said the proposed Bill of Rights would also contain the right of citizens to a humane standard of living. He explained in the Jewish tradition of each Jew being responsible for the other, citizens who were starving or homeless would have a claim on the government, Reichman said he did not fear that Israel could end up with a constitution in which Israelis would lose some of the rights they now have. This is the concern of many in the U.S., including the Jewish community, about the proposals for a constitutional convention to force an amendment requiring a balanced budget.

While there is always the danger of this happening, Reichman conceded, he believes the Bill of Rights is too ingrained in the American tradition for this to happen in the U.S., and polls have shown that two-thirds of Israelis want their country to be a Western-style democracy.

(Tomorrow: Part Two)