February 12, 1958
The Knesset votes 96-0 to approve the first of 14 Basic Laws, dealing with the Israeli parliament itself.
The Basic Laws emanate from Israel’s inability to enact a constitution. Israel did prepare a draft constitution, which was published in several places, including The New York Times on December 10, 1949, but it was not introduced or passed by the Knesset.
After more than a year of debate, the first Knesset instead adopted a compromise, the Harari Resolution, sponsored by member Yizhar Harari. It stipulates that instead of a single document, the “constitution” of Israel is composed of a series of Basic Laws created by a special law committee and approved by the Knesset. The Harari Resolution states: “The First Knesset instructs the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee to prepare a draft State Constitution. The constitution will be built chapter by chapter, in such a way that each will constitute a separate Basic Law. The chapters shall be presented to the Knesset when the committee completes its work, and all the chapters together shall comprise the Constitution of the State.”
According to the Harari Resolution, the Knesset began to create and pass laws that outlined and defined government behavior and guided policies on society, population and the economy. It was contemplated that at some point, when the Basic Laws were completed, an introduction would be added, and they would form the constitution. Basic Law: The Knesset is the first “chapter” of this expected constitution.
This Basic Law does not define the powers of the Knesset; it outlines its rules and functions, duties of its members, and election procedures and eligibility. In addition, the law establishes Jerusalem as the seat of the Knesset and sets the number of members at 120. The law has been amended 10 times since 1958. Of note is Amendment 9, passed July 31, 1985, which states that a political party may not participate in elections if it denies the existence of the State of Israel as the state of the Jewish people, rejects the democratic nature of the state or incites racism.
