Constitutional Legal and Political Institutions of the State of Israel

Abstract

The article analyzes constitutional, legal and political institutions of Israel, their correlation and interconnection. The author offers an in-depth analysis as to the deliberation, implementation and evolution of these institutions.
First, the article dwells on the constitutional system of Israel pointing out that there is no written constitution, which is substituted by several constitutional laws and certain mechanisms, which sustain the state from falling into constitutional vacuum. The major actor in this field is the Parliament of Israel – Knesset, which possesses a wide range of powers including the power to elect prime minister and president. Further, the author describes how Knesset works, pinpoints its peculiarities and demonstrates how it has been evolving.
As the second factor influencing political and legal system of Israel the author names the correlation between state and political institutions. In this regard, attention is drawn to the work of the Supreme Court, which apart from supervising constitutionality of the laws also controls the activity of the Parliament. An important place in the Israeli political system is occupied by political parties. Their main characteristics and overall impact on the system are also given in the article.
Other factors influencing the political system of Israel are the sociocultural ones, such as relationship between religious and state authorities, different cultural groups within Israel (ashkenazi and sefards). The author concludes that the prominent feature of the Israeli political system is its heterogeneity, which in no way inhibits political process due to the consensus inside the Israeli society.