Religious Zionism and the Framing of a Constitution for Israel

Abstract

ALMOST FIFTY YEARS AFTER ITS foundation, the State of Israel still lacks a formal constitutiona situation that is sometimes explained by the opposition from the religious circles to any constitutional arrangement. In the view of some, these circles still have enormous influence on the Israeli political system, but in terms of power relations, this is almost impossible. Religious political parties are far from accumulating such influence. When their political strength is measured by number of seats in the Knesset, the average of all fourteen national elections (from 1949 to 1996) stands at only fourteen percent. Their peak participation-nineteen percent-was achieved in 1996, while the low ebb--eleven percent-was in 1984. This data includes both flanks of the religious camp-the national-Zionists, represented by the NRP (National Religious Party), and the ultra-orthodox non-Zionists, represented by Agudat Yisrael. It seems more than strange that a weak minority would be attributed with so much influence on the political system. The most crucial period for the framing of a constitution for Israel was a few years after statehood. At that time, the governing party-Mapai--was dominant and secure, and it held veto power on any potential governing coalition. In this situation, the real power of the religious political parties was even smaller than their share in the Knesset. Up to 1977, four years after Mapai (changed to in 1968) lost its dominance, the religious political parties were not a necessary component in governing coalition, but Mapai tended to cooperate in the governing coalition with some or all the religious political parties. The largest of these, the NRP (founded in 1956 by a merger of the two national-Zionist parties of HaMizrachi and HaPoelHaMizrachi), took part in almost all the governing coalitions from 1949 to 1977 except for short periods in 1958-1959 and 1974. Since Labor lost its