Collective Rights and Reconciliation in the Constitutional Process: The Case of Israel

Abstract

Mr. Altschuler was a secular Jew who lived in Tel Aviv during the British Mandate. The Tel Aviv Municipality fined him for opening his restaurant on the Sabbath. He appealed to the Mandatory court against the fine and asked for the cancellation of the Tel Aviv Ordinance relating to working on the Sabbath. Following his action, Tel Aviv officials, most of whom were secular, raised an outcry against Mr. Altschuler, claiming that he had harmed the cultural autonomy of Tel Aviv and the national uniqueness of the “Yishuv,” the pre-state Jewish settlement. The officials’ response was similar to the political behavior of religious, national, and cultural minorities who seek to emphasize their difference and preserve their uniqueness in order to ensure recognition of their collective rights. Indeed, in pursuit of the protection of minority rights of this kind, many democratic states have recognized the right of these minorities to manage their internal cultural affairs without interference from the courts, even where their cultural autonomy infringes individual rights.