Basic Law

Israel’s next government must save the country before it is too late - opinion

Israel faces a historic crisis, and its next government must act urgently to restore democracy, rebuild alliances, reform society and secure the country’s future.

|ByDAN PERRY
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara arrive to cast their vote at a polling station in Jerusalem, August 17, 2026
THE KNESSET plenum meets this week. Israel’s rules of the game are not anchored in a constitution and can be changed by a simple Knesset majority, the writer notes.

Is Israel too polarized for a constitution? That’s why we need one - opinion

Today, however, we are more divided than ever. We struggle to agree on almost anything, certainly not on our fundamental values. However, polarization is precisely why we cannot wait.

|ByKEREN WEINSHALL-MARGEL
Rabbi Meir Kahane at a New York news conference, Aug. 31, 1984.

Under Netanyahu, Meir Kahane’s doctrine has contaminated Likud - opinion

The Left convinced themselves and others that the gun tucked into Arafat's belt would no longer be used for killing, that he now carried an olive branch, and that he had abandoned his grand vision...

|ByAVINADAV BEGIN
Opposition members of Israel's Knesset leave during a preliminary vote to establish a political commission of inquiry, December 24, 2025; Illustrative.

Knesset to High Court: Judicial-selection overhaul does not justify striking down Basic Law

Under the current system, the committee includes three Supreme Court justices, two ministers, two MKs, and two representatives of the Israel Bar Association.

|BySARAH BEN-NUN

NGO to attorney general: Does reasonableness law apply to West Bank?

Yesh Din argued that only the military had the authority to set rules and regulations in the West Bank.

JULY 30, 2023ByMICHAEL STARR
PRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu is flanked by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Justice Minister Yariv Levin in the Knesset on Monday, before the vote on the reasonableness bill.

High Court hearing on new law set for after summer recess

A barrage of petitions was filed against the reasonableness bill on Monday and Tuesday, after it had passed in a dramatic Knesset voting session on Monday.

JULY 26, 2023ByMICHAEL STARR
OPPOSITION MKS wrap themselves in Israeli flags during the Knesset vote on judicial reform on Monday night.

Can Israel's High Court cancel the newly-passed judicial reform law?

The basic laws are the fundamental legal framework under which the power of judicial review exists.

JULY 25, 2023ByMICHAEL STARR
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and National Unity leader MK Benny Gantz are seen moving to shake hands in the Knesset amid the vote on the controversial reasonableness standard bill, in Jerusalem, on Monday, July 24, 2023.

Israel needs a constitution to avoid crisis - analysis

Opposition and protest leaders said immediately after the Knesset vote that the real struggle begins now. 

JULY 25, 2023ByHERB KEINON
Protest against the government's judicial reform, July 24, 2023.

Israel's Bar joins barrage of High Court petitions against new law

The purpose of the law, the Israeli Bar contended, was to "immunize" the heads of the executive authority from acting within the bounds of reason.

JULY 25, 2023ByMICHAEL STARR
Judicial reform opponent Amit Becher casts his ballot for the head of the Israeli Bar Association, at a voting station in Tel Aviv on June 20, 2023.

NGOs prepare High Court petitions against reasonableness

If the petition is accepted, it would be the first time the court heard arguments to abolish a matter of a Basic Law.

JULY 24, 2023ByMICHAEL STARR
THE HIGH Court of Justice has been a paper tiger in everything concerning the Netanyahu bloc’s interests, says the writer

Reasonableness issue requires serious and consensual discussion - opinion

A government that wants to act in its citizens’ interests, in a professional manner and on the basis of appropriate considerations, has nothing to fear from the test of reasonableness.

JULY 14, 2023BySUZIE NAVOT
PRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu congratulates Justice Minister Yariv Levin and other coalition members on Monday night, after the passage in first reading of the reasonableness bill.

The major legal issues of the last 75 years that altered Israeli society

LEGAL AFFAIRS: Consulting with Israel's legal professionals has exposed major issues that have plagued the Israeli public since the state was founded.

APRIL 29, 2023ByMICHAEL STARR
THE SUPREME COURT in Jerusalem – a focus of change in Israeli society over the last 75 years.

Will the Knesset be back to judicial reform mayhem post-recess?

Political affairs: The new Knesset’s first session was dominated by the judicial overhaul controversy. What should we expect when it resumes its activity on April 30?

APRIL 8, 2023ByELIAV BREUER
MEMBERS OF THE opposition react during a past speech by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir in the Knesset.

What is in Herzog’s judicial reform ‘People’s Outline?’ - explainer

President Isaac Herzog presented his judicial reform outline on Wednesday night

MARCH 15, 2023ByMICHAEL STARR
The High Court of Justice during a hearing