The Basic Laws of Israel – The Constitution • Constitution.com

NOTE – Israel is governed by The Basic Laws instead of a Constitution.

Basic Law: The President of the State

June 25, 1964

Status

1- A President shall stand at the head of the State.

Place of residence.

2- The place of residence of the President of the State shall be Jerusalem.

Election and period of tenure

(a) The President of the State shall be elected by the Knesset for seven years.

(b) The President will serve for one term only.

Eligibility

4- Every Israel national who is a resident of Israel is qualified to be a candidate for the office of President of the State.

Date of election

5- The election of the President of the State shall be held not earlier than ninety days and not later than thirty days before the expiration of the period of tenure of the President in office. If the place of the President of the State falls vacant before the expiration of his period of tenure, the election shall be held within forty-five days from the day on which such place falls vacant. The Speaker of the Knesset, in consultation with the Deputy Speaker, shall fix the day of the election and shall notify it to all the Members of the Knesset in writing at least twenty days in advance. If the day of the election does not fall in one of the session terms of the Knesset, the Speaker of the Knesset shall convene the Knesset for the election of the President of the State.

Proposal of candidates

(a) When the day of the election has been fixed, any ten or more Members of the Knesset may propose a candidate. The proposal shall be in writing and shall be delivered to the Speaker of the Knesset, together with the consent of the candidate in writing or by telegram, not later than ten days before the day of the election. A member of the Knesset shall not sponsor the proposal of more than one candidate.

(b) The Speaker of the Knesset shall notify all the members of the Knesset, in writing, not later than seven days before the day of the election, of every candidate proposed and of the names of the Members of the Knesset who have proposed him, and shall announce the candidates at the opening of the meeting at which the election is held.

Voting

7- The election of the President of the State shall be by secret ballot at a meeting of the Knesset assigned only for that purpose.

Election by majority of votes

8- The candidate who has received the votes of a majority of the Members of the Knesset is elected. If no candidate receives such a majority, a second ballot shall be held. If there is no majority as aforesaid at the second ballot, either, voting shall be continued. At the third and every subsequent ballot, the candidate who at the preceding ballot received the smallest number of votes shall no longer stand for election. The candidate who at the third or any subsequent ballot receives a majority of the votes of the Members of the Knesset who take part in the voting and vote for one of the candidates is elected. If two candidates receive the same number of votes, voting shall be repeated.

Declaration of allegiance

9- The President-Elect shall make and sign before the Knesset the following declaration of allegiance:

“I pledge myself to bear allegiance to the State of Israel and to its laws and faithfully to carry out my functions as President of the State.”.

Making of declaration and commencement of period of tenure

10- The President-Elect shall make his declaration of allegiance and begin to hold office upon the expiration of the period of tenure of the preceding President of the State. If the place of the preceding President of the State falls vacant before the expiration of his period of tenure, the President-Elect shall make his declaration of allegiance as soon as possible after his election and shall begin to hold office upon making his declaration of allegiance.

Functions and powers

11-

(a) The President of the State –

(1) shall sign every Law, other than a Law relating to its powers;

(2) shall take action to achieve the formation of a Government and shall receive the resignation of the Government in accordance with Law;

(3) shall receive from the Government a report on its meetings;

(4) shall accredit the diplomatic representatives of the State, shall receive the credentials of diplomatic representatives sent to Israel by foreign states, shall empower the consular representatives of the State and shall confirm the appointments of consular representatives sent to Israel by foreign states;

(5) shall sign such conventions with foreign states as have been ratified by the Knesset;

(6) shall carry out every function assigned to him by Law in connection with the appointment and removal from office of judges and other office-holders.

(b) The President of the State shall have power to pardon offenders and to lighten penalties by the reduction or commutation thereof.

Counter-signature

12- The signature of the President of State on an official document, other than a document connected with the formation of a Government, shall require the countersignature of the Prime Minister or of such other Minister as the Government may decide.

Immunity with regard to discharge of functions

13-

(a) The President of the State shall not be amenable to any court or tribunal, and shall be immune from any legal act, in respect of anything connected with his functions or powers.

(b) The President of the State shall not, in giving evidence, have to disclose anything which came to his knowledge in the discharge of his functions as President of the State.

(c) The immunity of the President of the State under this section shall continue after he has ceased to be President of the State.

Immunity from criminal proceedings

14- The President of the State shall not be criminally prosecuted. The period during which, by virtue of this section, the President of the State cannot be prosecuted for an offence shall not be counted in calculating the period of prescription of that offense.

Evidence

15- If the President of the State is required to give evidence, his evidence shall be taken at such place and time as shall be determined with his sanction.

Salary and other payments

16- The salary of the President of the State, and other payments to be made to him during or after his period of tenure, including payments to be made to his survivors, shall be fixed by resolution of the Knesset, which may empower the Finance Committee in that behalf. Resolutions under this section shall be published in Reshumot.

President to hold no other office

17-

(a) Save with the sanction of the House Committee of the Knesset, the President of the State shall not hold any post, or exercise any function, other than the post and functions of President of the State.

(b) The President of the State shall be exempt from all compulsory service.

Departure for abroad

18- The President of the State shall not leave the territory of the State save with the sanction of the Government.

Resignation

19- The President of the State may resign his office by submitting a letter of resignation to the Speaker of the Knesset. The letter of resignation shall not require a countersignature. The place of the President of the State shall become vacant forty-eight hours after the letter of resignation reaches the Speaker of the Knesset.

Removal of President from office

20-

(a) The Knesset may, by resolution, remove the President of the State from office if it finds that he is unworthy of his office owing to conduct unbecoming his status as President of the State.

(b) The Knesset shall not remove the President of the State from office, save following a complaint brought before the House Committee by at least twenty members of the Knesset and upon the proposal of the House Committee passed by a three-quarters majority of the members of the Committee. A resolution by the Knesset to remove the President from office shall require a three-quarters majority of the Members of the Knesset.

(c) The House Committee shall not propose the removal of the President of the State from office before he has been given an opportunity to refute the complaint in accordance with procedure prescribed by the Committee with the approval of the Knesset, and the Knesset shall not resolve to remove the President of the State from office before he has been given an opportunity to be heard in accordance with procedure prescribed by the House Committee with the approval of the Knesset.

(d) The President of the State may be represented before the House Committee and before the Knesset by an authorised representative. A Member of the Knesset shall not act as the representative of the President. The House Committee and the Knesset may summon the President of the State to be present at proceedings under this section.

(e) Proceedings of the Knesset under this section shall be taken at a meeting, or successive meetings, assigned solely for that purpose. The proceedings shall begin not later than twenty days after the resolution of the House Committee. The time of their beginning shall be notified by the Speaker of the Knesset to all the Members of the Knesset, in writing, at least ten days in advance. If the beginning of the proceedings does not fall in one of the session terms of the Knesset, the Speaker of the Knesset shall convene the Knesset for the proceedings.

Vacation of post for reasons of health

21-

(a) The Knesset may, by resolution passed by a majority of its members, declare that for reasons of health the President of the State is permanently unable to carry out his functions.

(b) The Knesset shall not pass a resolution as aforesaid save upon the proposal of the House Committee passed by a two-thirds majority of its members on the strength of a medical opinion given in accordance with rules prescribed by the Committee.

(c) If the Knesset resolves as aforesaid, the place of the President of the State shall become vacant on the day of the resolution.

Temporary cessation of exercise of office

22-

(a) The President of the State shall temporarily cease to carry out his functions and exercise his powers –

(1) if he leaves the territory of the State – from the time of his leaving until his return

(2) if he notifies the House Committee that for reasons of health he is temporarily unable to carry out his functions and the Knesset Committee approves his notification by a majority of votes — from the time of the approval of the notification until the expiration of the period fixed by the Committee in its resolution or until the President of the State notifies the House Committee that he is no longer unable to carry out his functions, whichever is the earlier date;

(3) if the House Committee, by a two-thirds majority of its members, on the strength of a medical opinion given in accordance with rules prescribed by the Committee, resolves that for reasons of health the President of the State is temporarily unable to carry out his functions — from the passing of the resolution until the expiration of the period fixed by the House Committee in the resolution or until the House Committee resolves that the President is no longer unable to carry out his functions.

(b) The House Committee shall not, under subsection (a)(2) or (3), fix a period exceeding three months. It may extend the period, without a break, up to a maximum of three additional months. Any further extension shall require a resolution of the Knesset passed by a majority of the Members of the Knesset upon the proposal of the House Committee.

Interim President and Acting President

23-

(a) If the place of the President of the State has fallen vacant, and so long as the new President has not yet begun to hold office, the Speaker of the Knesset shall hold office as Interim President of the State.

(b) During a period in which the President of the State has temporarily ceased to carry out his functions and exercise his powers, the Speaker of the Knesset shall hold office as Acting President of the State.

(c) While holding office as Interim President of the State or Acting President of the State, the Speaker of the Knesset shall carry out the functions assigned to the President of the State by Law and shall exercise the powers vested in the President of the State by Law.

Notices in Reshumot

24-

(a) The Speaker of the Knesset shall publish a notice in Reshumot as to –

(1) the commencement of the tenure of the President of the State;

(2) the vacancy of the place of the President of the State;

(3) the commencement and termination of the tenure of the Speaker of the Knesset as Acting President of the State under section 22(a)(2) and (3).

(b) The Prime Minister shall publish a notice in Reshumot as to the President’s leaving the territory of the State and as to his return.

Law not to be affected by emergency regulations

25- Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, this Law cannot be varied, suspended, or made subject to conditions, by emergency regulations.

Repeal

26-

(a) There are hereby repealed –

(1) sections 2(c), 6 and 7 of the Transition Law, 5709-1949(1);

(2) the State President (Tenure) Law, 5712-1951(2);

(b) The State President, Government Members and Chief Rabbis of Israel (Fixing of Salaries) Law, 5711-1950(3), shall no longer apply to the salary of the President of the State or to payments due to him or his survivors.

Transitional provision

27- The President of the State who was elected by the Knesset on the 27th Iyar, 5723 (21st May, 1963) shall be deemed to have been elected, and to hold office, under this Law.

LEVI ESHKOL

Prime Minister

* Passed by the Knesset on the 6th Tamuz, 5724 (16th June 1964) and Published in Sefer Ha-Chukkim No. 428 of the 15th Tammuz, 5724 (25th June, 1964), p. 118; the Bill and an Explanatory Note were published in Hatza’ot Chok No. 543 of 5723, p. 136.

Basic Law: The Knesset

1958 (Updated January 2003)

What the Knesset is

1- The Knesset is the parliament of the state.

Place of sitting

2- The Knesset sits in Jerusalem.

Composition

3- The Knesset shall, upon its election, consist of one hundred and twenty members.

Electoral system

4- The Knesset shall be elected by general, national, direct, equal, secret, and proportional elections, in accordance with the Knesset Elections Law; this section shall not be altered save by a majority of the members of the Knesset.

The right to vote

5- Every Israel national of or over the age of eighteen years shall have the right to vote in elections to the Knesset unless a court has deprived him of that right by virtue of any law; the Elections Law shall determine the time at which a person shall be considered to be eighteen years of age for the purpose of the exercise of the right to vote in elections to the Knesset.

5A- The list of candidates for the Knesset shall be submitted only by a party; the means of association and registering of the parties and the conditions for submitting a list of candidates shall be determined by law.

The right to be elected

(Amendments

Nos. 8, 10, 22, 26)

(a) Every Israel national who on the day of the submission of a candidates list containing his name is twenty-one years of age or over shall have the right to be elected to the Knesset, unless a court has deprived him of that right by virtue of the law or he has been sentenced, by a final verdict, to actual imprisonment for a term of over three months and on the day of submission of the list of candidates seven years have not passed since the day he concluded serving his term of imprisonment, unless the chairman of the Central Elections Committee has determined that the crime of which he has been convicted, in accordance with the circumstances, does not bear moral turpitude.

(b) [Annulled]

(c) A candidate for the Knesset who has been sentenced as stated in Section (a) and whose sentence was finalized after the submission of the list of candidates and before he has begun to serve as a Knesset member, shall be treated as one who has withdrawn from the list of candidates that included his name, or from his membership in the Knesset, whichever the case, unless the chairman of the Central Elections Committee has determined that the crime of which he has been convicted, in accordance with the circumstances, does not bear moral turpitude.

(d) The determination of the chairman of the Central Elections Committee, in accordance with Sections (a) and (c) will not be required if the court has ruled by law that the offense, in accordance with the circumstances, does bear moral turpitude.

(e) For the purpose of this section, “actual imprisonment” is the sum of all terms of actual detention which the convicted person must serve in a single continuous period, even if other sentences have been imposed, including suspended sentences that have been activated;

“offense” is each offense for which a period of actual imprisonment has been imposed.

Restriction of candidacy for MK who leaves his faction

(Amendments

Nos. 12 and 21)

6A-

(a) A member of Knesset who leaves his faction and does not resign from office at the time of his leaving, shall not be included, in the election of the next Knesset, in the list of candidates submitted by a party that was represented by a faction of the outgoing Knesset; this regulation shall not apply to a faction split under circumstances determined by the Knesset Election Law.

(b) For the purposes of this section:

“resignation from a faction” – including a vote in the Knesset plenum not in accordance with the position of the faction concerning the expression of confidence or no confidence in the government; voting shall not be construed as resignation if the Knesset member has not received compensation in exchange for his vote;

“compensation” – directly or indirectly, by a promise or future commitment, including the assurance of a place on the list of Knesset candidates, or the appointment of the Knesset member himself or someone else to whatever position.

Who shall not be a candidate

(Amendments

No. 2, 21, and 33)

7- The following shall not be candidates for the Knesset:

(1) the president of the state;

(2) the two chief rabbis;

(3) a judge;

(4) a religious court judge;

(5) the state comptroller;

(6) the chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces;

(7) rabbis and ministers of other religions while holding paid office;

(8) senior civil servants and senior IDF officers of such ranks and positions as shall be determined by law;

(9) policemen and prison warders of such ranks and positions as shall be determined by law;

(10) employees of corporations established by law of such ranks and positions as shall be determined by law;

unless they have ceased to serve in that position or job, as stated, before the deadline for submitting lists of candidates for the Knesset, and unless an earlier date has been set by law.

Prevention of participation of candidates list

(Amendments

Nos. 9 and 35)

7A- A candidates list shall not participate in elections to the Knesset, and a person shall not be a candidate for election to the Knesset, if the goals or actions of the list or the actions of the person, expressly or by implication, include one of the following:

(1) negation of the existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state;

(2) incitement to racism;

(3) support for armed struggle by a hostile state or a terrorist organization against the State of Israel.

Term of office of the Knesset

8- The term of office of the Knesset shall be four years from the day on which it is elected.

Date of elections

(Amendment No. 1)

9- The elections to the Knesset shall take place on the third Tuesday of the month of Cheshvan in the year in which the tenure of the outgoing Knesset ends, but if the year which preceded that year was a leap year, the elections shall take place on the first Tuesday of that month.

Extending the Knesset’s term

(Amendment No. 15)

9A-

(a) The Knesset shall not extend its term except by passing a law by a majority of 80 members and unless special circumstances exist that prevent the holding of elections at their proper time; the extension shall not exceed the time required by the above-mentioned circumstances; the election date shall be set by law.

(b) Without impinging Section 34, the Knesset is entitled, by a majority decision of its members, to advance the date of elections as determined in accordance with Sub-section (a) above, on condition that the new date is not earlier than the date set for Knesset elections in accordance with Section 9.

Election day is public holiday

10- Election Day shall be a public holiday, but transportation services and other public services shall function normally.

Publication of election results

(Amendment No. 20)

11- The results of the elections shall be published in the government gazette Reshumot within eight days of Election Day.

Convening of the Knesset

12- The Knesset shall convene for its first meeting on Monday of the second week following the week in which the election results are published, at four o’clock in the afternoon, or, if that day is a festival or the eve of festival, on the first workday following the festival.

Opening of the Knesset

(Amendment No. 27)

13- The Knesset shall be opened by the president of the state or, in his absence, by the most veteran Knesset member present; if the president of the state opens the Knesset, he shall hand over the chairmanship of the meeting to the most veteran Knesset member present; under this basic law the “most veteran” is the one whose membership in the Knesset is the longest, whether continuously or cumulatively, and among those of equal seniority, the oldest.

The opening session

(Amendment No. 23)

14- Arrangements for the opening session shall be determined by law and shall express the character of the State of Israel and its heritage.

Declaration of allegiance by members of the Knesset

(Amendment No. 23)

15-

(a) A Knesset member shall make a declaration of allegiance as follows:

“I pledge myself to bear allegiance to the State of Israel and faithfully to discharge my mandate in the Knesset.”

(b) Arrangements for the declarations shall be set by law.

Non-declaration

16- If the speaker of the Knesset has called upon its members to make their declarations of allegiance and a member has not done so, that member shall not enjoy the rights of membership as long as he has not made the declaration.

Non-declaration due to double citizenship

(Amendment No. 22)

16A- If a Knesset member holds an additional, non-Israeli citizenship, and the laws of the country whose citizenship he holds permit him to be released from such citizenship, he shall not declare allegiance until after he has done everything required on his part to be released from such citizenship, and he shall not enjoy the rights of a Knesset member until he makes his declaration.

Immunity of Knesset members

17- The members of the Knesset shall have immunity; particulars shall be prescribed by Law.

Immunity of Knesset buildings

18- The buildings of the Knesset shall have immunity; particulars shall be prescribed by Law.

Procedures and rules

19- The Knesset shall determine its procedures; in so far as such procedures have not been prescribed by law, the Knesset shall prescribe it by rules; so long as the procedure has not been prescribed as aforesaid, the Knesset shall follow its accepted custom and practice.

Speaker and Deputy-Speakers

(Amendments Nos. 24, 27, and 34)

20-

(a) The Knesset shall elect from among its members a speaker and deputy-speaker; until the speaker is elected, the most veteran Knesset member who is not the prime minister, the prime minister-elect, a minister or deputy minister, shall serve as acting speaker.

(b) The Knesset shall be entitled by its rules to determine restrictions on the election of a Knesset member to serve as speaker of the House or deputy speaker.

(c) The Knesset shall be entitled, by a majority vote of its members, to suspend the speaker or a deputy speaker or to determine restrictions on their office; particulars to be set by law.

(d) The Knesset shall be entitled, by a majority vote of its members or by a larger majority to be determined by law, to dismiss the speaker or a deputy speaker; particulars to be set by law.

Acting Speaker and Interim Speaker of Knesset

(Amendments Nos. 4, 24, and 27)

2OA-

(a) Whenever the speaker of the Knesset leaves the territory of the state, a deputy speaker shall serve as acting speaker until his return.

(b) Whenever the speaker of the Knesset notifies the House Committee, or if the House Committee determines, that for reasons of health the speaker of the Knesset is temporarily unable to perform his duties, or the speaker announces that he is temporarily unable to perform his duties and the House Committee acknowledges his announcement, a deputy speaker shall serve as acting speaker until the speaker notifies the House Committee or until the House Committee determines that the speaker is no longer unable to perform his duties.

(c) When the post of speaker of the Knesset has fallen vacant – because the speaker has resigned or has died or because the House Committee has determined that for reasons of health he is permanently unable to perform his duties – a deputy-speaker shall serve as acting speaker until the Knesset elects a new speaker.

(c1)

(1) If the speaker of the Knesset is suspended from his post by a decision in accordance with Section 20(c), a deputy speaker shall serve as acting speaker until the suspension is lifted or until the election of a new speaker, which ever the case may be.

(2) If the speaker of the Knesset is removed from his post by a decision in accordance with Section 20(d), a deputy speaker shall serve as acting speaker until the election of a new speaker.

(d) The deputy speaker who is to serve as substitute speaker or acting Knesset speaker shall be elected in that behalf by the House Committee.

(e) During his tenure as substitute speaker or acting speaker of the Knesset, the deputy speaker shall serve in every capacity assigned to the speaker of the Knesset by law, shall perform every duty given the speaker of the Knesset by law, and shall exercise every power vested in the speaker of the Knesset by law.

(f) The provisions of this section shall also apply, mutatis mutandis, if the circumstances envisaged in Subsections (a), (b), (c), or (c1) with regard to the speaker of the Knesset exist with regard to a deputy speaker who is serving as substitute speaker or acting speaker.

Committees

(Amendments Nos. 13, 14, 16, and 28)

21-

(a) The Knesset shall elect permanent committees from among its members and it may also elect committees from among its members for specific matters; the functions, powers, and procedures of the committees shall, in so far as they are not prescribed by law, be prescribed by the rules.

(b) The rules may determine regulations concerning the authority of the committees to summon an office holder or functionary of the Civil Service, a local authority, a religious council, a corporation established by law or a government corporation, and to require him to provide information on the activities of the body which he serves, unless such disclosure entails some violation of the law, of a professional commitment, or of an obligation of trust to which he is bound by law, and he shall be assured the rights of a witness before the court; the summons shall be issued via the minister concerned or with his knowledge, and for someone who is not in the Civil Service this shall be done by the head of the body in which the invitee serves; and the minister or the head of the body in which the invitee serves may inform the committee that he himself will appear in place of the invitee.

Knesset control over regulations

(Amendment No. 30)

21A-

(a) Regulations that are set by a minister and that determine criminal punishment if they are violated shall not take effect unless they are approved, before being issued, by the Knesset committee responsible for the subject matter; if the committee has not decided to approve or reject the regulations within 45 days from receiving them, the regulations shall be considered as approved.

(b) This section does not encroach upon the regulations of a Basic Law or other law.

Commissions of inquiry

22- The Knesset may appoint commissions of inquiry – either by empowering one of the permanent committees in that behalf or by electing a commission from among its members – to investigate matters designated by the Knesset; the powers and functions of a commission of inquiry shall be prescribed by the Knesset; every commission of inquiry shall also include representatives of factions which do not participate in the government, in accordance with the relative strength of the Knesset factions.

Cabinet member who is not a member of the Knesset

23- A cabinet member who is not a member of the Knesset shall, as to everything relating to the Knesset, have the same status as a cabinet member who is a member of the Knesset, except that he shall not have the right to vote.

Quorum

(Amendment No. 6)

24- The Knesset shall hold debates and pass decisions whatever the number of members present, save as otherwise provided by law.

Majority

25- The Knesset shall pass its decisions by a majority of those participating in the voting – those abstaining not being reckoned as participating – and the voting procedure shall be prescribed by the rules, unless otherwise provided by law.

Meetings

26- The meetings of the Knesset shall be held at its place of sitting; however, in special circumstances the speaker of the Knesset may, in consultation with the deputy speakers, convene the Knesset elsewhere. The meetings of the Knesset shall take place on workdays.

Openness of meetings

(Amendment No. 17)

27- The Knesset shall meet publicly.

Publication

(Amendment No. 17)

28- The publication of proceedings taken and utterances made at a Knesset session is not restricted and does not entail any criminal or civil liability.

29- [Annulled by Amendment No. 17.]

30- [Annulled by Amendment No. 17.]

Sessions

(Amendments Nos. 5 and 29)

31- Regulations concerning the periods of Knesset sessions and the convening of the House out of session shall be set by law.

32- [Annulled by Amendment No. 31.]

33- [Annulled by Amendment No. 29.]

Dissolution of the Knesset

(Amendment No. 15)

34- The Knesset shall not decide to dissolve itself before the expiration of its term of office, unless by passing a law for that purpose by a majority of members.

Date of elections after dissolution of the Knesset

(Amendment No. 30)

35- The law concerning the dissolution of the Knesset shall contain a provision that the date of the elections to the next Knesset shall not be later than five months from the day the law is passed.

Term of office of the Knesset after dissolution

36- Once the Knesset decides to dissolve itself, the term of office of the next Knesset shall run until the next month of Cheshvan following the termination of four years from the day of its election.

Dissolution due to non-passage of the budget bill

(Amendment No. 30)

36A-

(a) If the state budget bill has not been passed within three months of the beginning of the fiscal year, the day following the conclusion of the above period (to be known as the determining day) shall be considered as if the Knesset had decided to dissolve itself before the end of its term, and early elections shall be held on the last Tuesday before the end of 90 days from the determining day, unless the Knesset has decided by a majority of its members, within five days of the determining day, due to the proximity of the election date to a festival, holiday, or memorial day, to hold elections at a later date, but no later than 100 days from the determining day.

(b) Notwithstanding the regulations of Sub-section (a), if the state president has initiated measures to form a new government in accordance with Section 30 of the Basic Law: The Government, or elections to the Knesset have been held after the deadline for submitting the budget bill in accordance with Section 3 of the Basic Law: The State Economy, and before the end of three months from the beginning of the fiscal year, the determining day shall be as in Sub-section (a), three months from the beginning of the fiscal year or 45 days from the day the government is established, whichever is later.

Continuity of the Knesset

37- The outgoing Knesset shall continue to hold office until the convening of the incoming Knesset.

Extension of validity of enactments

38- Any enactment due to expire during the last two months of the term of office of the outgoing Knesset or within four months after the Knesset has decided to dissolve itself or during the first three months of the term of office of the incoming Knesset shall continue in force until the expiration of the said three months.

Salary of Knesset members

39- A Knesset member shall receive a salary as provided by law.

Resignation of Knesset member

40- A member of the Knesset may resign his office; resignation shall be by personal presentation of a letter of resignation by the resigning member to the speaker of the Knesset or, if the member is unable to present the letter personally, by delivery thereof in the manner prescribed by the rules; the letter of resignation shall be signed on the day of the presentation or delivery.

Consequences of resignation

41- If a member of the Knesset tenders his resignation, his Knesset membership shall expire forty-eight hours after the letter of resignation reaches the speaker of the Knesset, unless the member withdraws the resignation before then.

Termination of tenure or candidacy

(Amendment No. 33)

42- If a member of the Knesset or an elected candidate for Knesset membership has been appointed to a position whose holder is barred from being a candidate for the Knesset, his membership in the Knesset or candidacy for the Knesset, whichever applies, ceases upon his election or his appointment to one of the above positions; for this purpose, “a candidate for the Knesset” is one whose name is included in the list of candidates for the Knesset, from the day the list is submitted until the day of the beginning of his tenure as a member of the Knesset.

Knesset Member who has been convicted

(Amendments Nos. 7, 18, 26, 32)

42A-

(a) If a Knesset member has been convicted of a felony by a final verdict, and the court by its own initiative or at the request of the attorney-general has determined that the offense bears moral turpitude, his membership in the Knesset shall end on the day the court issued its final verdict, no matter if the offense was committed when he was a member of that same Knesset, a member of a previous Knesset, or before he was a member of Knesset.

(b) Sub-section (a) shall apply also to a Knesset member whose verdict was made final after he began to serve as a member of Knesset; the request of the attorney-general in accordance with Sub-section (a) may be submitted as long as the verdict has not been made final; the request shall be submitted to the court that issued the verdict, and if an appeal has been filed, to the court of appeal.

Suspension

(Amendments

Nos. 7 and 26)

42B-

(a) If a Knesset member has been convicted of a felony, the House Committee may, upon the proposal of any Knesset member, suspend him from office as a Knesset member for the period during which the verdict is not final.

(b) If a Knesset member has been convicted of a felony and sentenced to imprisonment, the House Committee may, upon the proposal of any Knesset member, suspend him from office as a Knesset member for the period during which he is serving his sentence.

(b1) The regulations of this section shall also apply to a Knesset member who has been convicted of an offense as stated in Sub-section (a) or (b) before becoming a Knesset member.

(c) The House Committee shall not pass a resolution under this section before the Knesset member has been given an opportunity to be heard.

Replacement of Knesset member

(Amendment No. 7)

43-

(a) If a Knesset member’s position falls vacant, he shall be replaced from the list of candidates that included his name by the candidate whose name appears immediately after the last of the elected candidates.

(b) If a person’s membership in the Knesset has been suspended under section 42B, his position shall become vacant for the period of the suspension and his place shall be taken by the candidate referred to in Sub-section (a). If he resumes his position, the last person on the list of candidates who became a Knesset member shall cease to hold office, but his right to become a Knesset member thereafter, under Sub-section (a), shall not be impinged.

Stability of the law

44- Notwithstanding the provision of any other law, this law cannot be altered, suspended, or made subject to conditions, by emergency regulations.

Rigidity of sections

45- Section 44, or this section, shall not be altered except by a majority of eighty Knesset members.

Application of rigidity

(Amendment No. 15)

45A- Section 45 shall also apply with regard to altering Section 9A (a).

When a special majority is required

(Amendments Nos. 3, 11, and 15)

46- Under this law, changing Sections 4, 9A, 34, 44, or 45 shall require a majority vote by the Knesset plenum for first, second, and third readings; under this section, “change” is either explicit or implicit.”

DAVID BEN-GURION

Prime Minister

YITZCHAK BEN-ZVI

President of the State

* Passed by the Knesset on the 22nd Shevat, 5718 (12th February, 1958) and published in Sefer Ha-Chukkim No, 244 of the 30th Shevat. 5718 (20th February. 1958). p. 69; the Bill was published in Hatza’ot Chok No, 180 of 5714, p. 18.

Basic Law: The Government

March 7, 2001

Note: The former Basic Law: The Government 5752-1992 entered into effect with the elections to the 14th Knesset (1996), replacing the original Basic Law: The Government 1968.

On March 7, 2001, the Knesset voted to change the system of direct prime-ministerial elections and restore the one-vote parliamentary system of government that operated until 1996, approving a reformed version of the original law. The Basic Law: The Government (2001) entered into effect with the elections to the 16th Knesset (January 28, 2003).

What the Government is.

1- The Government is the executive authority of the State.

Seat of Government.

2- The seat of the Government is Jerusalem.

Confidence of the Knesset.

3- The Government holds office by virtue of the confidence of the Knesset.

Responsibility.

4- The Government is collectively responsible to the Knesset; each Minister is responsible to the Prime Minister for the field of responsibility with which the Minister has been charged.

Composition.

(a) The Government is composed of a Prime Minister and other Ministers.

(b) The Prime Minister shall be a member of the Knesset. A Minister need not be a member of the Knesset.

(d) One of the Ministers who is a member of Knesset may be designated as Acting Prime Minister.

(e) A Minister may be Deputy Prime Minister.

Eligibility of Ministers.

(a) A Minister must be an Israeli citizen and a resident of Israel.

(b) A person shall not be appointed Minister if he is serving in a position or role as specified in section 7 of The Basic Law: The Knesset, unless he ceased functioning in the said position or role upon or prior to his appointment, as prescribed by law.

(c)

(1) If a person was convicted of an offense and sentenced to prison and if seven years have not yet passed since the day he on which he finished serving his period of punishment, or since the handing down of his sentence – whichever was later – shall not be appointed Minister, unless the Chairman of the Central Election Committee states that the circumstances of the offense do not involve moral turpitude.

(2) The Chairman of the Central Election Committee shall not so rule if the court determined that the offense involved moral turpitude.

(d) If a person holds a citizenship other than Israeli, and if the law of the country of which he is a citizen allows him to be released from such citizenship, he shall be appointed Minister only after he has taken all measures necessary to be released from such citizenship.

(e) A Knesset member seceding from his faction and failing to tender his resignation as a Knesset member may not be appointed as a Minister during the period of service of that Knesset. This does not apply to the splitting of a faction as defined by law. “Secession from a faction” is defined in section 6(a) of The Basic Law: The Knesset.

Assignment of task of forming Government.

(a) When a new Government has to be constituted, the President of the State shall, after consultation with representatives of party groups in the Knesset, assign the task of forming a Government to a Knesset Member who has notified him that he is prepared to accept the task; the President shall do so within seven days of the publication of the election results, or should the need arise to form a new government; and in the case of the death of the Prime Minister, within 14 days of his death.

(b) Should these consultation take place before the new Knesset is convened, the President will consult the representatives of the lists of candidates to be represented in the new Knesset.

(c) This section shall not apply to the formation of a Government following a no confidence vote according to section 28; in the event of an application to the President under section 29(b), the provisions specified in those sections shall apply.

Periods for formation of Government.

8- The Knesset Member to whom the President has assigned the task of forming a Government under section 7 shall have a period of 28 days for the fulfilment of such task. The President of the State may extend the period by additional periods not exceeding in the aggregate 14 days.

Re-assignment of task.

(a) Where the periods referred to in section 8 have passed and the Knesset Member has not notified the President of the State that he has formed a Government, or where he has notified him before then that he is unable to form a Government, or where he presented a Government and the Knesset rejected his request for confidence under section 13(d), the President may assign the task of forming a Government to another Knesset Member who has notified him that he is prepared to accept the task, or may inform the Speaker of the Knesset that he sees no possibility of forming a Government – all within three days from the end of the period, or from the day of the Knesset member’s statement that he cannot form a government, or from the rejection of confidence in the Government, as applicable.

(b) Before assigning the task of forming a Government under this section, or before he informs the Speaker of the Knesset that he sees no possibility of forming a Government, the President may again consult with representatives of factions in the Knesset.

(c) A Knesset Member to whom the task of forming a Government has been assigned under this section shall have 28 days in which to do so.

Assignment of task at the request of party groups.

10-

(a) Where the President of the State has informed the Speaker of the Knesset, under section 9(a) that he sees no possibility of forming a Government, or where he has assigned the task of forming a Government to a Knesset Member under the same section and the Knesset Member has not notified him within 28 days that he has formed a Government, or has notified him before then that he is unable to form a Government, or presented a Government and the Knesset rejected his request for confidence under section 13(d), a majority of the members of the Knesset may request, in writing, that the President of the State assign the task to a particular member of the Knesset, who so agreed in writing, all within 21 days of the President’s announcement, or from the end of the period designated in section 9(c), or from the statement by the Knesset Member that he cannot form a Government, or from the rejection of confidence in the Government, as relevant.

(b) Where a request as aforesaid has been submitted to the President, the President shall assign the task of forming a Government to that Knesset Member within two days.

(c) A Knesset Member to whom the task of forming a Government has been assigned under this section shall have a period of fourteen days for its fulfilment.

Early elections in the event of failure to form a government.

11-

(a) Should no request be submitted under section 10(a), or should a Knesset Member fail to form a Government within the period defined in section 10(c), or if he should prior to that time inform the President that he cannot form a Government, the President shall so inform the Knesset Speaker.

(b) Should the President so inform the Knesset Speaker, or should a Knesset Member charged with forming a Government under section 10(a) present a Government and fail to win the confidence of the Knesset under section 13(d), then the Knesset shall be deemed to have decided to disperse prior to the completion of its period of service, and elections for the Knesset will be held on the last Tuesday before the end of 90 days of the President’s announcement, or of the rejection of the request for confidence in the Government, as relevant.

Discontinuance of proceedings for formation of Government.

12- When a Law for the dissolution of the Knesset has been adopted, the proceedings for the formation of a Government shall cease.

Formation of Government.

13-

(a) Where the President of the State has assigned to a Knesset Member the task of forming a Government, he shall notify the Speaker of the Knesset to such effect, and the Speaker of the Knesset shall notify the Knesset.

(b) Where the Knesset Member has formed a Government, he shall notify the President of the State and the Speaker of the Knesset to such effect, and the Speaker of the Knesset shall notify the Knesset and set a date for the presentation of the Government to the Knesset within seven days of such notification.

(d) When a Government has been formed, it shall present itself to the Knesset, shall announce the basic lines of its policy, its composition and the distribution of functions among the Ministers, and shall ask for an expression of confidence. The Government is constituted when the Knesset has expressed confidence in it, and the Ministers shall thereupon assume office.

Declaration of allegiance.

14- As soon as, or as soon as possible after, the Knesset has expressed confidence in the Government, the Prime Minister shall make before the Knesset the following declaration of allegiance:

“I (name) as Prime Minister undertake to uphold the State of Israel and its laws, to faithfully fulfil my role as the Prime Minister and to comply with the decisions of the Knesset”;

and each of the other Ministers shall make the following declaration of allegiance:

“I (name) as a member of the Government, undertake to uphold the State of Israel and its laws, to faithfully fulfil my role as a member of the Government, and to comply with the decisions of the Knesset.”

Cooption of a Minister.

15- The Government may, upon the proposal of the Prime Minister, coopt an additional Minister to the Government. When the Government has decided to coopt a Minister, it shall notify such fact and the function of the additional Minister to the Knesset. Upon the approval of the notification by the Knesset, the additional Minister shall assume office, and as soon as possible after the approval he shall make his declaration of allegiance.

Acting Prime Minister.

16-

(a) Should the Prime Minister be absent from Israel, meetings of the Government will be convened and conducted by the designated Acting Prime Minister.

(b) Should the Prime Minister be temporarily unable to discharge his duties, his place will be filled by the Acting Prime Minister. After the passage of 100 days upon which the Prime Minister does not resume his duties, the Prime Minister will be deemed permanently unable to exercise his office.

(c) Failing the appointment of a designated Acting Prime Minister, or should the Acting Prime Minister be prevented from fulfilling his duties under sections (a) and (b) above, the Government shall designate another Minister to exercise that office.

Interrogation and impeachment of the Prime Minister

17-

(a) Criminal proceedings shall not be commenced against the Prime Minister save with the agreement of the Attorney General.

(b) Criminal proceedings shall not be commenced against someone who served as Prime Minister on suspicion of an offense committed while in office or within a year after serving in office, save with the consent of the Attorney General.

(b) An indictment against the Prime Minister will be filed and presided over in the Jerusalem District Court, in a presidium of three judges; proceedings regarding an indictment filed before the Prime Minister begins his term of office shall be prescribed by law.

(c) Should the Court convict the Prime Minister of an offense, it will state in its decision whether the offense involved moral turpitude.

Removal from office pursuant to an offense

18-

(a) Should the Prime Minister be convicted of an offense which the court defined as involving moral turpitude, the Knesset may remove him from office, pursuant to a decision of a majority of the Knesset members. Should the Knesset so decide, the Government shall be deemed to have resigned.

(b) Within 30 days of the verdict becoming final, the Knesset Committee of the Knesset will render its decision regarding its recommendation pertaining to the removal of the Prime Minister from office, and shall present its recommendation to the Knesset plenum; should the committee fail to bring its recommendation to the plenum during the prescribed period, the Speaker will raise the issue in the Knesset plenum.

(c) No decision shall be made by either the Knesset or the Knesset Committee regarding the removal of the Prime Minister from office, before the Prime Minister has been given an opportunity to state his case before them.

(d) Should the Knesset decide not to remove the Prime Minister from office, and should the verdict as per section (a) above become final, the Prime Minister will cease to serve in office and the Government shall be deemed to have resigned.

(e) The provisions of sections 42(a) and 42(b) of the Basic Law: the Knesset, shall not apply to the Prime Minister.

Resignation of Prime Minister.

19- The Prime Minister may, after notifying the Government of his intention to do so, resign by submitting a letter of resignation to the President of the State. The resignation of the Prime Minister shall be deemed to be the resignation of the Government.

Death or permanent incapacity of Prime Minister.

20-

(a) If the Prime Minister dies, the Government shall be deemed to have resigned on the day of his death.

(b) Should the Prime Minister be permanently incapacitated, the Government shall be deemed to have resigned on the 101st day during which the Acting Prime Minister served in his place.

Prime Minister or Acting Prime Minister ceasing to function as member of Knesset.

21-

(a) Should the Prime Minister cease to function as a member of the Knesset, he will be deemed to have resigned; the Government shall be deemed to have resigned the same day.

(b) Should an Acting Prime Minister cease to be a Knesset Member, he shall cease to serve as Acting Prime Minister.

Termination of tenure of Minister.

22-

(a) A Minister may resign from the Government by submitting a letter of resignation to the Prime Minister. His service in the Government will be terminated upon the passage of 48 hours from the time the letter of resignation reached the Prime Minister, unless he retracts prior to such time.

(b) The Prime Minister may, by way of written notification, remove a Minister from his post; the removal of Minister will take effect 48 hours after the letter notifying thereof was given to the Minister, unless the Prime Minister retracts prior to such time.

(c) The tenure of a Minister in the Government ceases upon his election or appointment to one of the function the holders of which are debarred from being candidates for the Knesset.

Termination of tenure of Minister pursuant to an offense.

23-

(a) An indictment against a Minister, except for offenses to be determined by law, will be presented and judged in a district court; procedures regarding indictments filed before a Minister assumed tenure will be determined by law.

(b) Should a Minister be convicted by the court, it shall state in its verdict whether the offense involves moral turpitude; should the court so state, the Minister’s tenure shall cease on the day of such verdict.

Acting Minister.

24-

(a) Should a Minister, except for the Prime Minister, be absent from the country, the Government can charge another Minister to take his place. The Acting Minister will discharge the Minister’s duties, in all or in part, as determined by the Government.

(b) Should a Minister be temporarily incapable of discharging his duties, the Prime Minister or another Minister appointed by the Government will discharge his duties.

Deputy Ministers

25-

(a) The Minister in charge of an office, may, with the consent of the Prime Minister and the approval of the Government, appoint one Deputy Minister for the office from among the Knesset members. A Deputy Minister shall assume his role after notice of his appointment has been given by the Government to the Knesset; a Deputy Minister appointed by the Prime Minister shall be entitled “a Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s office”.

(b) The Deputy Minister shall act both in the Knesset and in the ministry, on behalf of the Knesset member who appointed him and within the parameters allocated to him.

(c) A Knesset member seceding from his faction may not be appointed to the position of Deputy Minister during the period of service of the same Knesset. This provision does not apply to the splitting of a faction under the conditions prescribed by law; for the purposes of this subsection, “secession from a faction” is defined by section 6(a) of The Basic Law: The Knesset.

Termination of service of a Deputy Minister

26- The service of a Deputy Minister will be terminated in any of the following cases:

(1) The Deputy Minister resigned by submitting a letter of resignation to the Minister who appointed him;

(2) The same Minister ceased being a Minister or being in charge of the same office.

(3) The Prime Minister, the Government or the appointing Minister decide to terminate the service of the Deputy Minister; however, the Prime Minister will not dismiss a Deputy Minister without first informing both the Government and the appointing Minister of his intention to do so.

(4) A new Government was formed.

(5) The Deputy Minister ceased being a Knesset member.

Termination of tenure of Deputy Minister pursuant to an offense.

23-

(b) Should a Deputy Minister be convicted by the court, it shall state in its judgment whether the offense involves moral turpitude; should the court so state, the Deputy Minister’s tenure shall cease on the day of the judgment.

Expression of no confidence in the Government.

28-

(a) The Knesset may adopt an expression of no confidence in the Government.

(b) An expression of no confidence in the Government will be by a decision adopted by the majority of the Members of Knesset to request that the President assign the task of forming a Government to a certain Knesset member who gave his written consent thereto.

(c) If the Knesset has expressed no confidence in the Government, the Government shall be deemed to have resigned on the day of the expression of no confidence. The President will, within two days, charge the Knesset Member so named with the task of forming a Government.

(d) A Knesset Member to whom the task of forming a Government has been assigned under this section shall have a period of 28 days for its fulfilment. The President of the State may extend the period by additional periods not in the aggregate exceeding 14 days.

(e) Where the periods referred to in subsection (d) have passed and the Knesset Member has not notified the President of the State that he has formed a Government, or where he has notified him before then that he is unable to form a Government, the President will so notify the Speaker of the Knesset.

(f) If the President so informed the Speaker of the Knesset as per subsection (e) or where he presented a Government and the Knesset rejected his request for confidence under section 13(d), it will be deemed to be a Knesset decision to disperse prior to the completion of its period of service, and elections to the Knesset will be held on the last Tuesday before the end of 90 days of the President’s announcement, or of the rejection of the request for confidence in the Government, as relevant.

Authority to disperse the Knesset.

29-

(a) Should the Prime Minister ascertain that a majority of the Knesset opposes the Government, and that the effective functioning of the Government is prevented as a result, he may, with the approval of the President of the State, disperse the Knesset by way of an order to be published in Reshumot. The order will enter into effect 21 days after its publication, unless a request is submitted under subsection (c), and the Government will be deemed to have resigned on the day of the order’s publication.

(b) Within 21 days of the publication of the order, a majority of the Knesset Members may request that the President charge one of its members, who has so agreed in writing and who is not the Prime Minister, with the task of forming a government.

(c) Where a request as aforesaid has been submitted to the President, the President shall inform the Speaker of the Knesset. The President shall assign the task of forming a Government to the Knesset Member named in the request within two days.

(e) Should no such request be submitted under subsection (b), or if the period defined in subsection (d) passed, and the Knesset Member did not inform the President that he formed a government or where he presented a Government and the Knesset rejected his request for confidence under section 13(d), it will be deemed to be a Knesset decision to disperse prior to the completion of its period of service, and elections to the Knesset will be held on the last Tuesday before the end of 90 days of the President’s announcement, or of the rejection of the request for confidence in the government, as relevant.

(f) If the President gave notice under subsection (3) or if the Knesset member presented a Government and the Knesset rejected the request that it express confidence in it under section 13(d), then the Knesset is deemed to have decided to disperse before the end of its term of office, and elections to the Knesset will be held on the last Tuesday before the end of 90 days of the President’s announcement, or of the rejection of the request for confidence in the government, as relevant.

(g) The Prime Minister may not exercise his authority according to this section –

(1) From the beginning of the period of service of the incoming Knesset and until the establishment of the new Government.

(2) After the Knesset has expressed no confidence in the Government under section 28.

(3) After the resignation of the Prime Minister, or from the day on which the Knesset committee of the Knesset decided to recommend that he be removed from service and until the day the Knesset plenum renders its decision in the matter in accordance with the provisions of section 18(a).

(h) An Acting Prime Minister shall not be entitled to exercise the authority of the Prime Minister under this section.

Continuity of Government.

30-

(a) When a new Knesset has been elected or the Government has resigned under sections 18, 19, 20, 21 or 29, or if a request is submitted under section 29(b), the President of the State shall begin proceedings for the formation of a new Government, as laid out in this Basic Law.

(b) When a new Knesset has been elected or the Government has resigned (sections 18, 19, 20, 21 or 29), the outgoing Government shall continue to carry out its functions until the new Government is constituted.

(c) A Prime Minister who has resigned shall continue to carry out his functions pending the constitution of the new Government. If the Prime Minister has died, or is permanently incapacitated, from carrying out his duties, or if his tenure was ended because of an offense, the Government shall designate another of the Ministers who is a member of the Knesset and of the Prime Minister’s faction to be Interim Prime Minister pending the constitution of the new Government.

(d) A Government that serves under subsection (b) may appoint a Knesset Member as a Minister in place of a Minister who has ceased to serve; the appointment of a Minister under this subsection does not require the approval of the Knesset.

Functioning of the Government

31-

(a) The Government may, with the approval of the Knesset, change the division of roles among the Ministers, with the exception of the role of the Prime Minister.

(b) The Government may, with the approval of the Knesset, transfer authorities and duties legally belonging to one Minister, in all or in part, to another Minister.

(c) The Government may, with the approval of the Knesset, unite or divide Government ministries, abolish or establish new ministries.

(d) The Government may transfer areas of actions from one ministry to another.

(e) The Government may establish permanent or temporary Ministerial committees , or for particular matters; after the appointment of a committee the Government may conduct its operations through it.

(f) The Government will set work and debate procedures, and decision-making processes in the Government, whether permanent or for a specific matter.

Residual powers of Government

32- The Government is authorized to perform in the name of the State and subject to any law, all actions which are not legally incumbent on another authority.

Delegation of powers

33-

(a) Powers granted by law to the Government may be delegated to one of the Ministers; this does not apply to powers granted in accordance with this Basic Law, except for powers under section 32.

(b) Powers granted to a Minister by law, transferred to him under the provisions of section 31(b), with the exclusion of the authority to make regulations, may be delegated by the Minister either totally or partially or subject to conditions to a civil servant.

(c) Powers delegated by the Government to a Minister, with the exception of the power to make regulations, may be delegated by the Minister either totally or partially or subject to conditions to a civil servant provided that the Government empowered him to do so.

(d) For the purposes of this section and section, the power granted to the Government or a Minister also refers to duties incumbent upon them.

(e) The provisions of this section will apply provided no other intention is evidenced by the law conferring the power or imposing the obligation.

Assumption of powers

34- A Minister charged the implementation of the law, may assume any power, with the exception of powers of a judicial nature, granted by law to a civil servant, provided that no other intention is evidenced by the law; the Minister may do the above for a particular matter or for a specific period.

Secrecy

35-

(a) The debates and decisions of the Government and those of the Ministerial committees regarding the following matters are secret and their disclosure and publication is prohibited:

(1) State security;

(2) Foreign relations of the State;

(3) Matters regarding which the Government deems secrecy to be essential to the State, a notification thereof having been declared in an order, for the purposes of this law;

(4) A matter that the Government has decided to keep secret; the disclosure and publication of such matters is forbidden only to persons who were aware of the decision.

(b) The provisions of subsection (a) shall not apply to matters regarding which the Government or the Prime Minister, or such persons that the Government or the Prime Minister have specifically authorized, have permitted their publication or matters the publication of which is legally mandatory.

Salaries and pensions

36- The salaries of the Ministers and the Deputy Ministers and other payments paid to them during their period of service or thereafter, or to their next of kin after their deaths, will be specified by law, or by virtue of a decision of the Knesset, or a public committee appointed by the Knesset for that purpose.

Regulations

37-

(a) The Minister charged with the implementation of a law, is empowered to make regulations for its implementation.

(b) A law may empower the Prime Minister or a Minister to make regulations in a matter decided by agreement.

Declaration of a state of emergency

38-

(a) Should the Knesset ascertain that the State is in a state of emergency, it may, of its own initiative or, pursuant to a Government proposal, declare that a state of emergency exists.

(b) The declaration will remain in force for the period prescribed therein, but may not exceed one year; the Knesset may make a renewed declaration of a state of emergency as stated.

(c) Should the Government ascertain that a state of emergency exists in the State and that its urgency necessitates the declaration of a state of emergency, even before it becomes possible to convene the Knesset, it may declare a state of emergency. The declaration’s validity shall expire upon 7 days from its proclamation, if not previously approved or revoked by the Knesset, pursuant to a decision by a majority of its members; should the Knesset fail to convene, the Government may make a renewed declaration of a state of emergency as stated in this subsection.

(d) The Knesset and Governmental declarations of a state of emergency will be published in Reshumot; should publication in Reshumot not be possible, another appropriate manner will be adopted, provided that notification thereof be published in Reshumot at the earliest possible date.

(e) The Knesset may at all times revoke the declaration of the state of emergency; notification of its revocation will be published in Reshumot.

State of emergency

39-

(a) During a state of emergency the Government may make emergency regulations for the defense of the State, public security and the maintenance of supplies and essential services; emergency regulations will be submitted to the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee at the earliest possible date after their enactment.

(b) Should the Prime Minister deem it impossible to convene the Knesset, given the existence of an immediate and critical need to make emergency regulations, he may make such regulations or empower a Minister to make them.

(c) Emergency regulations may alter any law temporarily suspend its effect or introduce conditions, and may also impose or increase taxes or other compulsory payments unless there be another provision by law.

(d) Emergency regulations may not prevent recourse to legal action, or prescribe retroactive punishment or allow infringement upon human dignity.

(e) Emergency regulations shall not be enacted, nor shall arrangements, measures and powers be implemented in their wake, except to the extent warranted by the state of emergency.

(f) The force of emergency regulations shall expire three months after the day of their enactment unless their force is extended by law, or they are revoked by the Knesset by law, or pursuant to a decision of a majority of the members of Knesset.

(g) Emergency regulations shall come into force on the day of their publication in Reshumot; should publication in Reshumot not be possible another appropriate means of publication will be adopted provided that they be published in Reshumot as soon as possible.

(h) Should the state of emergency cease to exist, the regulations enacted will remain in force for the duration of the prescribed period, however not longer than for 60 days after the termination of the state of emergency; state of emergency regulations whose force was lengthened by law shall remain in force.

Declaration of war

40-

(a) The state may only begin a war pursuant to a Government decision.

(b) Nothing in the provisions of this section will prevent the adoption of military actions necessary for the the defence of the state and public security.

(c) Notification of a Government decision to begin a war under the provision of subsection (a) will be submitted to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security Committee as soon as possible; the Prime Minister also will give notice to the Knesset plenum as soon as possible; notification regarding military actions as stated in subsection (b) will be given to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security Committee as soon as possible.

Inapplicability of emergency laws

41- Notwithstanding the provisions of any law, emergency regulations cannot change this Basic Law, temporarily suspend it, or make it subject to conditions.

The Government and Knesset committees

42-

(a) The Government will provide the Knesset and its committees with information upon request and will assist them in the discharging of their roles; special provisions will be prescribed by law for the classification of information when the same is required for the protection of state security and foreign relations or international trade connections or the protection of a legally mandated privilege.

(b) The Knesset may, at the request of at least forty of its members, conduct a session with the participation of the Prime Minister, pertaining to a topic decided upon; requests as stated may be submitted no more than once a month.

(c) The Knesset may obligate a Minister to appear before it, similar authority is granted to any of the Knesset committees within the framework of their tasks.

(d) Any of the Knesset committees may within the framework of the discharging of their duties, and under the auspices of the relevant Minister and with his knowledge, require a civil servant or any other person prescribed in the law, to appear before them.

(e) Any Minister may speak before the Knesset and its committees.

(f) Details regarding the implementation of this section may be prescribed by law or in the Knesset articles.

Change in election date.

43- When a the date for elections to the Knesset has been set under sections 11, 28, and 29, the Knesset may – by a majority vote adopted within five days after grounds for holding the elections arose – decide that because of the proximity of the date of elections to a holiday or memorial day, the elections will be postponed to a date no later than 100 days after the day on which such grounds arose .

Permanence of the Law.

44-

(a) This Basic Law can only be changed by a majority of the Knesset members; the majority under this subsection will be required for decisions of the Knesset plenum in the first, second and third readings; for purposes of this subsection, “change” is either explicit or by implication.

(b) The provisions of this subsection will not apply to sections 45 and 46.

Amendment of Basic Law: The Knesset – No. 30

45- In the Basic Law: The Knesset –

(1) The following will be added after section 21:

“Knesset supervision of secondary legislation

21(a)-

(a) Regulations enacted by a Minister whose violation entails criminal punishment shall not enter into force until they have been approved by a responsible Knesset committee; should the committee fail to approve or reject the regulations within 45 days of receiving the regulations, the regulations will be deemed approved.

(b) The provisions of this subsection do not prejudice the provisions of any Basic Law or other law regarding regulations.”

(2) Section 35 shall conclude “not later than five months from the adoption of the law.”

(3) The following will be added after section 36:

36(a)- “Dispersion due to failure to adopt budget”

(a) Non-adoption of the Budget Law within three months subsequent to the beginning of the fiscal year will be considered to be a Knesset decision on its dispersion, prior to the completion of its term of service, on the day following the end of this period (hereafter: the determining date), and early elections will be held on the last Tuesday before the end of 90 days of the determining date, unless the Knesset decides, within five days of the determining date, may decide that because of the proximity of the date of elections to a holiday or memorial day, to postpone the elections to a date no later than 100 days from the determining date.

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), should the President begin procedures to form a new Government under section 30 of The Basic Law: The Government, or should a law be adopted to disperse the Knesset, or should elections to the Knesset be held after the submission of the Draft Budget under section 3 of The Basic Law: The State Economy, and before the passage of three months from the beginning of the fiscal year, the determining day under subsection (a), shall be “three months from the beginning of the fiscal year or 45 days from the constitution of the Government, whichever is later.”

Repeal of The Basic Law: The Government.

46- The Basic Law: The Government (1992) is repealed.

Effect and applicability.

47-

(a) The provisions of this Basic Law shall apply to elections and to formation of the Government, beginning with elections to the 16th Knesset.

(b) Subject to the provisions of subsection (a), this Law shall go into effect on the day the Government is formed as said in subsection (a).

(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (b), section 44 shall go into effect on the day on which this Law is published.

ARIEL SHARON

Prime Minister

MOSHE KATSAV

President of the State

AVRAHAM BURG

Speaker of the Knesset

* Passed by the Knesset on the 12th Adar, 5761 (7th March, 2001) and published in Sefer Ha-Chukkim No. 1780, p. 158; the Bill and an Explanatory Note were published in Hatza’ot Chok No. 2756 of 5758, p. 72.

Basic Law: The Judiciary

Feb. 28, 1984

Chapter One: Basic Provisions

Judicial power

(a) Judicial power is vested in the following courts**:

(1) the Supreme Court;

(2) a District Court;

(3) a Magistrate’s Court;

(4) another court designated by Law as a court.

In this Law, “judge” means a judge of a court as aforesaid.

(b) Judicial power is vested also in the following:

(1) a religious court (beit din);

(2) any other court (beit din):

(3) another authority all as prescribed by Law.

Independence

2- A person vested with judicial power shall not, in judicial matters, be subject to any authority but that of the Law.

Publicity of proceedings

3- A court shall sit in public unless otherwise provided by Law or unless the court otherwise directs under Law.

Chapter Two: Judges

Appointment of judges

(a) A judge shall be appointed by the President of the State upon election by a Judges’ Election Committee.

(b) The Committee shall consist of nine members, namely, the President of the Supreme Court, two other judges of the Supreme Court elected by the body of judges thereof, the Minister of Justice and another Minister designated by the Government, two members of the Knesset elected by the Knesset and two representatives of the Chamber of Advocates elected by the National Council of the Chamber. The Minister of Justice shall be the chairman of the Committee.

Nationality

5- Only an Israeli national shall be appointed judge.

Declaration of allegiance

6- A person appointed judge shall make a declaration of allegiance before the President of the State. The declaration shall be as follows:

“I pledge myself to be in allegiance to the State of Israel and to its laws, to dispense justice fairly, not to pervert the law and to show no favour.”.

Period of tenure

7- The tenure of a judge shall begin upon his declaration of allegiance and shall end only –

(1) upon his retirement on pension; or

(2) upon his resignation; or

(3) upon his being elected or appointed to one of the positions the holders of which are debarred from being candidates for the Knesset; or

(4) upon a decision of the Judges’ Election Committee prepared by the chairman of the Committee or the President of the Supreme Court and passed by a majority of at least seven members; or

(5) upon a decision of the Court of Discipline.

Retired judge

8- A judge who has retired on pension may be appointed to the position of a judge for such time, in such manner and on such conditions as may be prescribed by Law.

Restriction on re-posting

(a) A judge shall not be permanently transferred from the locality where he is serving to a court in another locality save with the consent of the President of the Supreme Court or pursuant to a decision of the Court of Discipline.

(b) A judge shall not without his consent be appointed to an acting position at a lower court.

Salary and benefits

10-

(a) The salaries of judges and other payments to be made to them during or after their period of tenure or to their survivors after their death shall be prescribed by Law or by a decision of the Knesset or of a Knesset committee empowered by the Knesset in that behalf.

(b) No decision shall be passed reducing the salaries of judges only.

Judge not to engage in additional occupation, etc.

11- A judge shall not engage in an additional occupation, and shall not carry out any public function save with the consent of the President of the Supreme Court and the Minister of Justice.

Criminal proceedings

12-

(a) No criminal investigation shall be opened against a judge save with the consent of the Attorney-General, and no information shall be filed against a judge save by the Attorney-General.

(b) A criminal charge against a judge shall not be tried save before a District Court consisting of three judges unless the judge has consented that the charge be tried in the ordinary manner.

Disciplinary proceedings

13-

(a) A judge shall be subject to the jurisdiction of a Court of Discipline.

(b) A Court of Discipline shall consist of judges and judges retired on pension appointed by the President of the Supreme Court.

(c) Provisions as to the grounds for instituting disciplinary proceedings, the modes of filing complaints, the composition of the bench, the powers of the Court of Discipline and the disciplinary measures it shall be authorised to impose shall be prescribed by Law. The rules of procedure shall be in accordance with Law.

Suspension

14- Where a complaint or information is filed against a judge, the President of the Supreme Court may suspend him from office for such period as he may prescribe.

Chapter Three: The Courts

Supreme Court

15-

(a) The seat of the Supreme Court is Jerusalem.

(b) The Supreme Court shall hear appeals against judgments and other decisions of the District Courts.

(c) The Supreme Court shall sit also as a High Court of Justice. When so sitting, it shall hear matters in which it deems it necessary to grant relief for the sake of justice and which are not within the jurisdiction of another court (beit mishpat or beit din).

(d) Without prejudice to the generality of the provisions of subsection (c), the Supreme Court sitting as a High Court of Justice shall be competent –

(1) to make orders for the release of persons unlawfully detained or imprisoned.

(2) to order State and local authorities and the officials and bodies thereof, and other persons carrying out public functions under law, to do or refrain from doing any act in the lawful exercise of their functions or, if they were improperly elected or appointed, to refrain from acting;

(3) to order courts (batei mishpat and batei din) and bodies and persons having judicial or quasi-judicial powers under law, other than courts dealt with by this Law and other than religious courts (batei din), to hear, refrain from hearing, or continue hearing a particular matter or to void a proceeding improperly taken or a decision improperly given;

(4) to order religious courts (batei din) to hear a particular matter within their jurisdiction or to refrain from hearing or continue hearing a particular matter not within their jurisdiction, provided that the court shall not entertain an application under this paragraph is the applicant did not raise the question of jurisdiction at the earliest opportunity; and if he had no measurable opportunity to raise the question of jurisdiction until a decision had been given by a religious court (beit din), the court may quash a proceeding taken or a decision given by the religious court (beit din) without authority.

(e) Other powers of the Supreme Court shall be prescribed by Law.

Other courts

16- The establishment, powers, places of sitting and areas of jurisdiction of the District Courts, the Magistrates’ Courts and other courts shall be in accordance with Law.

Appeal

17- A judgment of a court of first instance, other than a judgment of the Supreme Court, shall be appealable as of right.

Further hearing

18- In a matter adjudged by the Supreme Court by a bench of three, a further hearing may be held by a bench of five on such grounds and in such manner as shall be prescribed by Law.

Retrial

19- In a criminal matter adjudged finally, a retrial may be held on such grounds and in such manner as shall be prescribed by Law.

Established rule

20-

(a) A rule laid down by a court shall guide any lower court.

(b) A rule laid down by the Supreme Court shall bind any court other than the Supreme Court.

Registrar

21- A court may have a registrar, who may or may not be a judge.

Chapter Four: Miscellaneous Provisions

Law not to be affected by emergency regulations

22- This Law cannot be varied, suspended, or made subject to conditions by emergency regulations.

Provisions to be prescribed by Law

23- Provisions as to the following matters shall be prescribed by Law:

(1) the manner of electing, and duration of the tenure of, the members of the Judges’ Election Committee;

(2) qualifications for the posts of judges of the various grades;

(3) the manner of appointing the President of the Supreme Court, the Deputy President of the Supreme Court and the President and Vice-president of a District Court and a Magistrate’s Court;

(4) the conditions and procedures for terminating the tenure of a judge;

(5) the manner of appointing a judge to an acting assignment at another court and of transferring a judge, temporarily or permanently, from the locality where he is serving to a court in another locality;

(6) proceedings for the suspension of a judge from office, and review of the suspension;

(7) the matters which the courts of the different grades are to hear by a single judge or by three or more judges;

(8) the manner of designating the judge or judges who is or are to hear a particular matter.

Provisions to be prescribed under Law

24- Provisions as to the following matters shall be prescribed under Law:

(1) rules as to the administration of the courts, the making thereof and responsibility for their implementing;

(2) the rules of procedure of the Judges’ Election Committee;

(3) procedure for the resignation of a judge;

(4) procedure for the appointment and the powers of the registrar of a court;

(5) the number of judges who are to serve in the courts of the different grades and location.

YITZCHAK SHAMIR

Prime Minister

CHAIM HERZOG

President of the State

* Passed by the Knesset on the 25th Adar Alef, 5744 (28th February, 1984) and published in Sefer Ha-Chukkim No. II 10 of the 4th Adar Bet, 5744 (8th March, 1984), p. 78; the Bill and an Explanatory Note were published in Hatza’ot Chok No. 1348 of 5748, p. 237.

** The Hebrew for “court” is beit mishpat (plural: batei mishpat) or beit din (plural: batei din). In the translation of this Law, “court” stands for beit mishpat unless the expression beit din is added in brackets.

Basic Law: The Army

Mar. 31, 1976

Defence Army of Israel

1- The Defence Army of Israel is the army of the State.

Subordination to civil authority

(a) The Army is subject to the authority of the Government.

(b) The Minister in charge of the Army on behalf of the Government is the Minister of Defence.

Chief of the General Staff

(a) The supreme command level in the Army is the Chief of the General Staff.

(b) The Chief of the General Staff is subject to the authority of the Government and subordinate to the Minister of Defence.

(c) The Chief of the General Staff shall be appointed by the Government upon the recommendation of the Minister of Defence.

Duty to serve and recruitment

4- The duty of serving in the Army and recruitment for the Army shall be as prescribed by or by virtue of Law.

Instructions and orders in the Army

5- The power to issue instructions and orders binding in the Army shall be prescribed by or by virtue of Law.

6- No armed force other than the Defence Army of Israel shall be established or maintained except under Law.

YITZCHAK RABIN

Prime Minister

EFRAYIM KATZIR

President of the State

* Passed by the Knesset on the 29th Adar Bet, 5736 (31st March, 1976) and published in Sefer Ha-Chukkim No. 806 of the 9th Nisan, 5736 (9th April, 1976), p. 154; the Bill and an Explanatory Note were published in Hatza’ot Chok No. 1197 of 5735, p. 418.

Basic Law: Jerusalem, Capital of Israel

July 30, 1980

Jerusalem, Capital of Israel

1- Jerusalem, complete and united, is the capital of Israel.

Seat of the President, the Knesset, the Government and the Supreme Court

2- Jerusalem is the seat of the President of the State, the Knesset, the Government and the Supreme Court.

Protection of Holy Places

3- The Holy Places shall be protected from desecration and any other violation and from anything likely to violate the freedom of access of the members of the different religions to the places sacred to them or their feelings towards those places.

Development of Jerusalem

(a) The Government shall provide for the development and prosperity of Jerusalem and the well-being of its inhabitants by allocating special funds, including a special annual grant to the Municipality of Jerusalem (Capital City Grant) with the approval of the Finance Committee of the Knesset.

(b) Jerusalem shall be given special priority in the activities of the authorities of the State so as to further its development in economic and other matters.

MENAHEM BEGIN

Prime Minister

YITZCHAK NAVON

President of the State

* Passed by the Knesset on the 17th Av, 5740 (30th July, 1980) and published in Sefer Ha-Chukkim No. 980 of the 23rd Av, 5740 (5th August, 1980), p. 186; the Bill and an Explanatory Note were published in Hatza’ot Chok No. 1464 of 5740, p. 287.

Basic Law: Israel Lands

July 19, 1960

Prohibition of transfer of ownership

1- The ownership of Israel lands, being the lands in Israel of the State, the Development Authority or the Keren Kayemet Le-Israel, shall not be transferred either by sale or in any other manner.

Permission by Law

2- Section 1 shall not apply to classes of lands and classes of transactions determined for that purpose by Law.

Definition

3- In this Law, “lands” means land, houses, buildings and anything permanently fixed to land.

DAVID BEN-GURION

Prime Minister

YITZCHAK BEN-ZVI

President of the State

*Passed by the Knesset on the 24th Tammuz, 5720 (19th July, 1960) and published in Sefer Ha-Chukkim No. 312 of the 5th Av, 5720 (29th July, 1960), p. 56 ; the Bill and an Explanatory Note were published in Hatza’ot Chok No. 413 of 5720, p. 34.

Basic Law: The State Comptroller

Feb. 15, 1988

Essence

1- The State Audit shall be implemented by the State Comptroller.

State Audit

(a) The Comptroller will audit the economy, the property, the finances, the obligations and the administration of the State, of Government Ministries, of all enterprises, institutions, or corporations of the State, of Local Authorities, and of bodies or other institutions which were defined by law as subject to audit by the State Comptroller.

(b) The State Comptroller shall inspect the legality, integrity, managerial norms, efficiency and economy of the audited bodies, as well as any other matter which he deems necessary.

Duty to provide information

3- A body subject to State Audit will upon request, immediately provide the State Comptroller with information, documents, explanations, or any other material which the Comptroller deems necessary for audit purposes.

Comptroller as Commissioner for Complaints

4- The State Comptroller will investigate complaints from the public about bodies and persons, as provided by law: in this capacity the State Comptroller shall bear the title ‘Commissioner for Complaints from the Public’.

Additional tasks

5- The State Comptroller shall undertake additional tasks as provided by law.

Accountability to the Knesset

6- In carrying out his functions, the State Comptroller shall be accountable only to the Knesset and not to the Cabinet.

Election

(a) The State Comptroller shall be chosen by the Knesset in a secret ballot; the exact arrangements shall be set by law.

Term of office

(b) The term of office of the State Comptroller shall be five years.

Qualifications

8- Any Israeli citizen, residing in Israel, shall be eligible to serve as State Comptroller; any additional qualifications may be determined by law; a person who has served two consecutive terms as State Comptroller may not be a candidate for election to a third consecutive term.

Pledge of allegiance

9- The State Comptroller-elect shall make and sign before the Knesset the following declaration:

‘I pledge allegiance to the State of Israel and to its laws, and will faithfully carry out my duties as State Comptroller’.

Budget

10- The budget of the State Comptroller’s Office shall be determined by the Appropriations Committee of the Knesset, upon the recommendation of the State Comptroller, and will be published together with the State Budget.

Salary and emoluments

11- The salary of the State Comptroller and other payments made to him during his term of office or subsequently, or to his survivors upon his demise, shall be determined by law or by a Knesset Resolution or by a duly authorized committee of the Knesset.

Contact with Knesset and issuance of reports

12-

(a) The State Comptroller shall maintain contact with the Knesset, as determined by law.

(b) The State Comptroller shall issue reports and opinions within the scope of his duties and shall publish them, subject to any restrictions determined by law.

Removal from office

13- The State Comptroller shall not be removed from office except by a two-thirds majority of those Knesset members voting; arrangements for impeachment shall be determined by law.

14- If the State Comptroller is not able to fulfill his functions, an acting Comptroller shall be appointed, in a manner and for a period as determined by law.

YITZCHAK SHAMIR

Prime Minister

CHAIM HERZOG

President of the State

* Published in Sefer Ha-Chukkim, 5748, p. 30.

Basic Law: The State Economy

July 21, 1975

Taxes, compulsory loans, and fees

(a) Taxes, compulsory loans and other compulsory payment shall not be imposed, and their amounts shall not be varied, save by or under Law; the same shall apply with regard to fees.

(b) Where the amounts of any taxes, compulsory loans or other compulsory payments, or fees, payable to the Treasury are not prescribed in the Law itself, the amounts prescribed therefor by regulations shall require approval – in advance or within the period prescribed by the Law – by a decision of the Knesset or of a committee of the Knesset empowered by it in that behalf.

State property

2- Transactions in State property and the acquisition of rights and assumption of liabilities on behalf of the State shall be effected by a person empowered in that behalf by or under Law.

The State Budget

(a)

(1) The State Budget shall be prescribed by Law.

(2) The Budget shall be for one year and shall set out the expected and planned expenditure of the Government.

(b)

(1) The Government shall lay the Budget Bill on the table of the Knesset at the time prescribed by the Knesset or by a committee of the Knesset empowered by it in that behalf.

(2) The Budget Bill shall be accompanied by an estimate of the sources for financing the Budget.

(d) Where it appears to the Government that the Budget Law will not be adopted before the beginning of the financial year, it may bring in an Interim Budget Bill.

(e) The Minister of Finance shall submit to the Knesset every year a report on the implementation of the State Budget. Particulars shall be prescribed by Law.

Currency notes and coins

4- The printing of legal tender currency notes and the minting of legal tender coins, and the issue thereof, shall be done under Law.

Inspection

5- The State economy shall be subject to the inspection of the State Comptroller. Particulars shall be prescribed by Law.

YITZCHAK RABIN

Prime Minister

EFRAYIM KATZIR

President of the State

* Passed by the Knesset on the 13th of Av, 5735 (21st July, 1975) and published in Sefer Ha-Chukkim No. 777 of the 23rd Av, 5735 (31st July, 1975), p. 206; the Bill and an Explanatory Note were published in Hatza’ot Chok No. 1039 of 5733, p. 147.

Basic Law: The State Economy (Amendment)

Amendment of section 1

1- In section 1(b) of the Basic Law: The State Economy**, after the words “are not prescribed in the Law itself”, there shall be inserted the words “and the Law does not provide that the amounts prescribed therefor by regulations shall require approval by the Knesset or by a committee of the Knesset”.

Amendment of section 3

2- In section 3 of the Basic Law: The State Economy, at the end of subsection (b)(1), there shall be added the words “but not later than sixty days before the beginning of the financial year”.

MENAHEM BEGIN

Prime Minister

YITZHAK NAVON

President of the State

* Passed by the Knesset on the 2nd Sivan, 5742 (24th May, 1982) and published in Sefer Ha-Chukkim No. 1052 of the 10th Sivan, 5742 (1st June, 1982), p. 170; the Bill and an Explanatory Note were published in Hatza’ot Chok No. 1569 of 5742, p. 88.

** Sefer Ha-Chukkim of 5735, p. 206; LSI vol. XXIX, p. 273.

Basic Law: The State Economy (Amendment No. 2)*

Amendment of section 3

1- In section 3(b) the Basic Law: The State Economy**, paragraph (2) shall be re-marked as paragraph (4) and the following paragraph shall be inserted before it:

“(2) The Budget Bill shall be detailed.

(3) The detailed Budget Bill of the Ministry of Defence shall not be laid on the table of the Knesset but on the table of a joint committee of the Finance Committee and the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee of the Knesset.”

MENAHEM BEGIN

Prime Minister

YITZCHAK NAVON

President of the State

* Passed by the Knesset on the 7th Nisan, 5743 (21st March, 1983) and published in Sefer Ha-Chukkim No. 1079 of the 16th Nisan, 5742 (30th March, 1983), p. 58; the Bill and an Explanatory Note were published in Hatza’ot Chok No. 1611 of 5743, p. 102.

** Sefer Ha-Chukkim of 5735, p. 206 – LSI vol. XXIX, p. 273; Sefer Ha-Chukkim of 5742, p. 170 – LSI vol. XXXVI, p. 181.

Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty*

Mar. 17, 1992

Purpose

1- The purpose of this Basic Law is to protect human dignity and liberty, in order to establish in a Basic Law the values of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.

Preservation of life, body and dignity

2- There shall be no violation of the life, body or dignity of any person as such.

Protection of property

3- There shall be no violation of the property of a person.

Protection of life, body and dignity

4- All persons are entitled to protection of their life, body and dignity.

Personal liberty

5- There shall be no deprivation or restriction of the liberty of a person by imprisonment, arrest, extradition or otherwise.

Leaving and entering Israel

(a) All persons are free to leave Israel.

(b) Every Israel national has the right of entry into Israel from abroad.

Privacy

(a) All persons have the right to privacy and to intimacy.

(b) There shall be no entry into the private premises of a person who has not consented thereto.

(d) There shall be no violation of the confidentiality of conversation, or of the writings or records of a person.

Violation of rights

8- There shall be no violation of rights under this Basic Law except by a law befitting the values of the State of Israel, enacted for a proper purpose, and to an extent no greater than is required.

Reservation regarding security forces

9- There shall be no restriction of rights under this Basic Law held by persons serving in the Israel Defence Forces, the Israel Police, the Prisons Service and other security organizations of the State, nor shall such rights be subject to conditions, except by virtue of a law, or by regulation enacted by virtue of a law, and to an extent no greater than is required by the nature and character of the service.

Validity of laws

10- This Basic Law shall not affect the validity of any law (din) in force prior to the commencement of the Basic Law.

Application

11- All governmental authorities are bound to respect the rights under this Basic Law.

Stability

12- This Basic Law cannot be varied, suspended or made subject to conditions by emergency regulations; notwithstanding, when a state of emergency exists, by virtue of a declaration under section 9 of the Law and Administration Ordinance, 5708-1948, emergency regulations may be enacted by virtue of said section to deny or restrict rights under this Basic Law, provided the denial or restriction shall be for a proper purpose and for a period and extent no greater than is required.

YITZHAK SHAMIR

Prime Minister

CHAIM HERZOG

President of the State

DOV SHILANSKY

Speaker of the Knesset

* Passed by the Knesset on the 12th Adar Bet, 5752 (17th March, 1992) and published in Sefer Ha-Chukkim No. 1391 of the 20th Adar Bet, 5752 (25th March, 1992); the Bill and an Explanatory Note were published in Hatza’ot Chok, No. 2086 of 5752, p. 60.

Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty – Amendment*

In the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty (5752 – 1992):

Amendment of section 1

(1) Section 1 shall be designated 1(a) and shall be preceded by the following section:

Basic principles

1- Fundamental human rights in Israel are founded upon recognition of the value of the human being, the sanctity of human life, and the principle that all persons are free; these rights shall be upheld in the spirit of the principles set forth in the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel.

(2) At the end of section 8, the following shall be added:

“or by regulation enacted by virtue of express authorization in such law.”

YITZHAK RABIN

Prime Minister

EZER WEIZMAN

President

SHEVAH WEISS

Knesset Speaker

* Passed by the Knesset on the 21st Adar, 5754 (9th March, 1994) and published in Sefer Ha-Chukkim No. 1454 of the 27th Adar 5754 (10th March, 1994), p. 90; the Bill and an Explanatory Note were published in Hatza’ot Chok No. 2250 of 5754, p. 289.

Basic Law: Freedom of Occupation*

Mar. 9, 1994

Basic principles

Purpose

2- The purpose of this Basic Law if to protect freedom of occupation, in order to establish in a Basic Law the values of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.

Freedom of occupation.

3- Every Israel national or resident has the right to engage in any occupation, profession or trade.

Violation of freedom of occupation

4- There shall be no violation of freedom of occupation except by a law befitting the values of the State of Israel, enacted for a proper purpose, and to an extent no greater than is required, or by regulation enacted by virtue of express autorisation in such law.

Application

5- All governmental authorities are bound to respect the freedom of occupation of all Israel nationals and residents.

Stability

6- This Basic Law shall not be varied, suspended or made subject to conditions by emergency regulations.

Entrenchment

7- This Basic Law shall not be varied except by a Basic Law passed by a majority of the members of the Knesset.

Effect of nonconforming law

8- A provision of a law that violates freedom of occupation shall be of effect, even though not in accordance with section 4, if it has been included in a law passed by a majority of the members of the Knesset, which expressly states that it shall be of effect, notwithstanding the provisions of this Basic Law; such law shall expire four years from its commencement unless a shorter duration has been stated therein.

Repeal

9- Basic Law: Freedom of Occupation** is is hereby repealed.

Provisional

10- The provisions of any enactment which, immediately prior to this Basic Law would have been of effect but for this Basic Law or the Basic Law repealed in section 9, shall remain in effect two years from the commencement of this Basic Law, unless repealed earlier; however, such provisions shall be construed in the spirit of the provisions of this Basic Law.

Amendment of Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty In Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty –

(1) Section 1 shall be designated 1(a) and shall be preceded by the following section:

Basic principles

(2) At the end of section 8, the following shall be added:

“or by regulation enacted by virtue of express authorization in such law.”

YITZHAK RABIN

Prime Minister

EZER WEIZMAN

President

SHEVAH WEISS

Knesset Speaker

* Passed by the Knesset on the 26th Adar, 5754 (9th March, 1994) and published in Sefer Ha-Chukkim No. 1454 of the 27th Adar, 5754 (10th March, 1994) p. 90; the Bill and an Explanatory Note were published in Hatza’ot Chok No. 2250 of 5754, p. 289.

** This Basic Law: Freedom of Occupation repeals and replaces the former Basic Law on freedom of occupation, enacted in 1992 (Sefer Ha-Chukkim of 5752, p. 114.)