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44-452: "The Basic Law : Israel Lands" establishes the principle that Israel Lands are nationally owned, and they can only be leased, not sold. Thus, land buyers are granted only lessee's rights, formally not full ownership rights. Based on this law and several other laws, the Israel Land Administration was created in 1960. It's an organization supervising the proper use of lands in the public domain and managing some 93% of Israeli lands. Starting from

88-630: A 61 MK majority to amend under section 7, and Basic Law: Human Dignity and Freedom—which was not entrenched in the same way, but in Barak’s view required the Knesset to explicitly declare its intent to violate the law, in a similar manner to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms notwithstanding clause — created a set of generalities and conflicting principles in the Basic Laws, which meant that it fell to

132-515: A constituent assembly should have prepared a constitution by 1 October 1948. The delay and the eventual decision on 13 June 1950 to legislate a constitution chapter by chapter, resulted primarily from the inability of different groups in Israeli society to agree on the purpose of the state, on the state's identity, and on a long-term vision . Another factor was the opposition of David Ben-Gurion ( Prime Minister 1948–1954 and 1955–1963), who thought that

176-589: A formal written constitution would allow the Israeli Supreme Court to overrule his socialist policies. Furthermore, Ben Gurion aimed to shift towards a majoritarian election system , and adopting a constitution would have entrenched the existing proportional representation system. Various bodies in Israel have called for the enactment of a formal constitution as a single document, and have submitted ideas and drafts for consideration. These calls increased during

220-466: A law befitting the values of the State of Israel, enacted for a proper purpose, and to an extent no greater than is required.” This limitations clause is contained in section 8 of Basic Law: Human Dignity and Freedom and section 4 of Basic Law: Freedom of Occupation. These were passed by votes of 32–21 and 23–0 respectively, and Knesset debates indicate that many MKs were not aware that these laws pertained to

264-465: A paper offering basic reforms for Israeli economy in 2009-2010. It recommended “to pass the law on the land ownership to let all lessees holding lease contracts for housing and employment (gain full ownership rights).” It was suggested to create a new government agency for this purpose – Israel Land Authority. The reform should start from urban lands, but some parts of this paper also noted the importance of privatizing agricultural lands. Financial experts of

308-496: A simple majority, even one that might arguably conflict with a Basic Laws of Israel, unless the basic law has specific conditions for its modification. Basic laws that include specific conditions include the following: A majority of the Knesset members can amend the Basic Laws on the government and on freedom of occupation. Ministry of Housing and Construction The Ministry of Construction and Housing ( Hebrew : מִשְׂרַד הַבִּנּוּי וְהַשִׁכּוּן , Misrad HaBinui VeHaShikun )

352-582: Is a portfolio in the Israeli cabinet . The ministry was created in 1961. Until 1977 and for a period from November 2014 till August 2015 it was known as the Ministry of Construction , and in 1977–2014 and from August 2015 as the Ministry of Construction and Housing ( Hebrew : מִשְׂרַד הַבִּנּוּי וְהַשִׁכּוּן , Misrad HaBinui VeHaShikun ). Construction was also previously part of the Labour and Construction ministry during

396-515: Is no clear rule determining the precedence of Basic Laws over regular legislation, and in many cases, such issues are left to interpretation by the judicial system. In 1950 the First Knesset came to what was called the Harari Decision . Rather than draft a full constitution immediately, they would postpone the work, charging the Knesset's Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee with drafting

440-403: The 2023 anti-judicial reform protests , when multiple opposition figures and civil society organizations proposed the codification of the Basic Laws into a formal constitution. The Israeli Declaration of Independence stated that a formal constitution would be formulated and adopted no later than 1 October 1948. The deadline set in the declaration of independence proved unrealistic in light of

484-608: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem a leaser's rights are equal to that of the owner. This is because: He also believes that the main principle of the Basic Law: Israel Lands should remain unchanged since it is one of the fundamental features of the Israeli legal system. Another reason is that Israel is a small country with limited land reserves. Influenced by this debate, in April 2009 Israeli Ministry of Finance has issued

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528-668: The Israeli Constituent Assembly (the First Knesset), the State of Israel has enacted several Basic Laws of Israel dealing with government arrangements and with human rights. The Israeli Supreme Court President Aharon Barak ruled that the Basic Laws should be considered the state's constitution, and that became the common approach throughout his tenure (1995–2006). Opponents of this approach included Barak's colleague, Supreme Court Justice Mishael Cheshin . According to Israel's Declaration of Independence of 14 May 1948,

572-496: The United Kingdom ) that operate entirely or in part according to an uncodified constitution consisting of both material constitutional law (based upon cases and precedents), common law, and the provisions of these formal statutes. The State of Israel has an uncodified constitution . Instead of a formal written constitution , and in accordance with the Harari Decision ( הַחְלָטַת הֲרָרִי ‎) of 13 June 1950 adopted by

616-585: The individual liberties that were outlined in the Israeli Declaration of Independence . The Basic Laws deal with the formation and role of the principal institutions of the state, and with the relations between the state's authorities. They also protect the country's civil rights , although some of these rights were earlier protected at common law by the Supreme Court of Israel . The Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty enjoys super-legal status, giving

660-643: The provisional government between 1948 and 1949. There has been a Deputy Minister on several occasions. Since 1967, the Ministry of Housing (as it was known then) assumed a political importance in the context of Israel's relations with the Palestinians, since this ministry is responsible for construction projects at controversial Israeli settlements on the West Bank and in East Jerusalem . The political identity of

704-453: The war between the new state and its Arab neighbors. General elections eventually took place on 25 January 1949 in order to elect a Constituent Assembly which would approve the new state's constitution. The Constituent Assembly convened in February 1949. It held several discussions about the constitution without reaching an agreement. After only four meetings, on 16 February 1949 it adopted

748-544: The Amendment 7 (2009) of the Israel Land Administration Law (1960), ILA’s functions are as follows. Israel Land Authority is headed by ILA's CEO appointed by prime minister and other ministers for a 5-year cadence. The current CEO (starting from September 2011) is Bentzi Lieberman. CEO is subject to Housing and Construction Minister , while ILA's staff are state employees. The Israel Land Council sets policy for

792-564: The High Court of Justice, rejected multiple opportunities to claim the power of judicial review. Just after Israel’s founding, in the 1948 Ziv case the Court ruled against interpreting Israel’s Declaration of Independence as the nation’s constitutional document, and in 1970, the Court reaffirmed this principle in the Rogozinsky case. In Rogozinsky , the Court went so far as to explicitly deny itself

836-580: The Israel Land Authority. On January 21, 2013 prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has appointed former Communications and Welfare Minister Moshe Kahlon as a new ILA chairman. The structure of the ILA consists of headquarters and three divisions: According to the Amendment 7 (2009) of the Israel Land Administration Law (1960), Israel Land Council will be formed by the government. This Council will shape

880-598: The Israeli constitution from an unwritten constitution to a formal, written constitution, albeit an incomplete one. The limitations clauses function as both limitations on human rights, but also as an acknowledgement of substantive entrenchment, rather than the purely procedural entrenchment of section 4 of Basic Law: The Knesset recognized in the Bergman decision. Previously, the Knesset could repeal even Basic Laws simply through passing conflicting statutes, by virtue of parliamentary sovereignty. By contrast, Bank Mizrahi empowered

924-475: The Israeli state depending on the type of legislation it is enacting. In addition to its position as the legislative branch, which it occupies when dealing with ordinary legislation, the Knesset acts as a constituent assembly empowered to write a formal constitution for Israel when passing Basic Laws, deriving this authority from the First Knesset’s Harari Decision to pass on the task of writing

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968-536: The Knesset had an explicit power of self-limitation even when acting in its legislative capacity, but this interpretive approach has not been cited in subsequent cases. The cumulative impact of the Bank Mizrahi decision was that it established judicial review of ordinary Knesset legislation, significantly curbing the Knesset’s parliamentary supremacy, and according to some Israeli constitutional scholars, fully converted

1012-653: The Knesset which passed the limitations clauses to bind future Knesset sessions to comply with those clauses or have their legislation struck down via judicial review. In this approach to entrenchment, the current Israeli system mirrors the entrenchment of the Canadian Bill of Rights, as both laws are weakly entrenched such that while Knesset and Canadian parliament legislation can be struck down by their respective courts for failing to comply with their respective entrenched laws, both parliaments can override this provision by either explicitly stating their intent to do so or amending

1056-460: The Knesset, and required an absolute majority of 61 MKs to amend. In its 1969 Bergman decision, the Supreme Court implicitly assumed the power of substantive judicial review, invalidating a public financing law that denied public funds to political parties not represented in the previous Knesset on the grounds that the law violated section 4. The Court grounded its power to strike down the law in

1100-467: The Supreme Court the authority to disqualify any law contradicting it, as well as protection from Emergency Regulations. The Basic Laws were intended to be draft chapters of a future Israeli constitution, which has been postponed since 1950; they act as a de facto constitution until their future incorporation into a formal, unitary, written constitution. Israel is one of six countries (along with New Zealand , San Marino , Saudi Arabia , Canada , and

1144-580: The Transition Law, by which means it became the " First Knesset ". Because the Constituent Assembly did not prepare a constitution for Israel, the Knesset is the heir of the Assembly for the purpose of fulfilling this function. The Basic Laws do not cover all constitutional issues, and there is no deadline set for the completion of the process of merging them into one comprehensive constitution. There

1188-406: The agreement reached after negotiations were held between ILA management, Ministry of Finance and Trade unions , some 200 of ILA staff will leave their job voluntarily, as for the rest they will be embedded in the structure of a new Israel Land Authority organization. According to the Amendment 7 (2009) of the Israel Land Administration Law (1960), ILA’s objectives are as follows. According to

1232-557: The beginning of the 2000s there has been an ongoing debate including governmental officials whether different issues arising from the national ownership of the land can be solved. On July 12, 2003 and on February 4, 2004 the Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee met as the committee for the Constitution by Broad Consensus to discuss this problem. Several academic experts have challenged the necessity to keep 93% of public lands owned by

1276-422: The conflicting laws themselves, depending on the case. Shortly after the Bank Mizrahi decision, the Knesset declared that it would review proposed laws for compliance with other Basic Laws going forward, and coalition government agreements since this case have included the stipulation that no party would attempt to modify Basic Laws without the agreement of all coalition partners. The Knesset can pass any law by

1320-605: The constitution to the Second Knesset. This marked a significant departure from the British system of parliamentary sovereignty that Israel inherited and practiced prior to the Constitutional Revolution, as it permitted a Knesset to bind its successors. Outgoing Supreme Court President Meir Shamgar’s concurring opinion in Bank Mizrahi did not recognize the Knesset’s role as a constituent assembly and instead argued that

1364-399: The constitutional entrenchment of any rights nor that they affected the status of judicial review in Israel. However, Justice Aharon Barak , who would become President of the Supreme Court , explicitly declared that the passage of these Basic Laws had initiated a constitutional revolution in Israel. Barak argued that Basic Law: Freedom of Occupation, which was explicitly entrenched to require

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1408-555: The document piecemeal. Each chapter would be called a Basic Law, and when all had been written they would be compiled into a complete constitution. Between 1958 and 1988 the Knesset passed nine Basic Laws, all of which pertained to the institutions of state. The power of judicial review is not addressed in Basic Law: The Judiciary, or elsewhere in Israel’s Basic Laws. Prior to 1992, the Supreme Court, sitting as

1452-482: The fact that the Knesset had failed to pass it with the absolute majority required, in the process upholding the principle of entrenchment in Israeli constitutional law. While this created only a procedural requirement that the Knesset had to meet to enact the law—namely reaching an absolute majority when passing a law in conflict with it—it also demonstrated the Court’s willingness to determine whether Knesset legislation met

1496-540: The government, 7 of them from the government and 6 from KKL . Basic Laws of Israel The Basic Laws of Israel ( Hebrew : חוקי היסוד ‎ , romanized :  Ḥukey HaYesod ) are fourteen quasi- constitutional laws of the State of Israel , some of which can only be changed by a supermajority vote in the Knesset (with varying requirements for different Basic Laws and sections). Many of these laws are based on

1540-472: The judiciary to interpret and “[give] content to” those laws. Barak’s declaration of a “constitutional revolution” presaged his majority opinion in the landmark 1995 Bank Mizrahi v. Migdal Cooperative Village case. Bank Mizrahi declared that due to the limitations clauses included in the 1992 Basic Laws, the Basic Laws now formed a written constitution that the courts had the power to uphold via judicial review. The more specific holding of Bank Mizrahi

1584-584: The land policies of the Israel Land Authority, oversee its activities and approve its proposed budget determined by the law. ILA manager will present a detailed report on the organization's activities to the Israel Land Council twice a year. The government will also present a report to the Economical Affairs Committee of the Knesset at least once a year. Israel Land Council will be headed by the minister and it will have 13 more members chosen by

1628-459: The ministry saw Israel Land Administration is the main impediment for the economic development of the state since main economic activities depend upon the flexibility of the land reserves. These changes were implemented in the Arrangements Law of 2009 including a section called “Israel Lands Reform”. This reform was a part of the privatization process of the ILA and it was heavily criticized by

1672-509: The official governmental press-release, "The reforms are designed to reduce bureaucratic impediments for homeowners who wish to enlarge their homes and the involvement of the Government in the real estate market, and enable the ILA to focus on developing and marketing state lands, as opposed to dealing with leased residential units." The reforms are meant to offer a greater supply of residential units that would cause housing prices to decline. Upon

1716-780: The public. In August 2009, the Knesset passed an Israel Land Authority Law that allows people to own land property in Israel, rather than lease it. According to the law, land privatization will be divided into two steps, with a team of ministers examining the reform. As a part of the same legislature and as a part of the land reform Israeli Land Authority was created. Under the reform some 200,000 acres of state-owned land, comprising 4% of total Israeli lands, will be sold to private buyers, including homeowners, developers and kibbutzim. It will speed development plans, bring more housing quickly to market and thus help reduce soaring housing prices and boost Israeli economy. Municipalities will gain more power in land allocation and development. According to

1760-424: The right to judicial review of ordinary Knesset legislation. However, near the same time as the Rogozinsky case, the Court began to indicate a different posture with regard to judicial review of entrenched Basic Laws. At the time, the only provision in the Basic Laws that was entrenched was section 4 of Basic Law: The Knesset, which required “general, national, direct, equal, secret, and proportional elections” for

1804-423: The state, Professor Hanoch Dagan of Tel Aviv University and Professor Rachelle Alterman of Technion - Israel Institute of Technology among them. They noted that the law allows certain exceptions to the prohibition on selling state lands and suggested that there is no need in changing (constitutional) basic laws – these exceptions could be broadened by ordinary legislation. According to Professor Joshua Weisman of

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1848-423: The substantive requirements of Basic Laws. However, the Court explicitly refused to endorse the principle of judicial review of all Knesset legislation, explicitly stating that it did not intend for the Bergman decision to address that point. It further reinforced this stance in its 1974 Negev decision, clarifying that the Court lacked the power of judicial review in cases where the standard for potential review

1892-411: Was an unentrenched ordinary law or Basic Law. In 1992 the Knesset passed the first two Basic Laws that related to human rights and to the basis of the Supreme Court's recently declared powers of judicial review . These are "Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty" and " Basic Law: Freedom of Occupation ". Both Basic Laws contain clauses prohibiting the violation of the rights they enumerate, “except by

1936-481: Was that Knesset legislation that violates the limitations clauses of Basic Law: Freedom of Occupation and Basic Law: Human Dignity and Freedom is void no matter what majority passed the law, rejecting its position in Bergman and elaborated in Negev that only constitutionally entrenched Basic Laws empowered the court to exercise judicial review. The Court’s main reasoning was that the Knesset holds two distinct roles within

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