Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People: Lessons for Particularistic and Universalistic Constitutional Legitimation

Abstract

The ‘Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People,’ passed by the Knesset on July 19, 2018. This Article describes the main provisions of the Basic Law; it discusses some of the past history leading to the legislation. It also provides some evaluation as to its effects and speculations concerning its future. Last I use this basic law to make a broader point concerning constitutional legitimation. More specifically I argue that there are two ways to gain constitutional legitimacy: representational and reasons-based. While particularistic values such as the ones entrenched in the basic law gain legitimacy from representation, universalistic values need not rest on representation. I conclude by arguing that given the failure to gain consensual support for the basic law it is an illegitimate attempt to entrench particularistic values in a divisive society. It is only by representing the public as a whole that this law can gain constitutional legitimacy.