Summary
The enacted Hebrew text of the Basic Law: Israel – The Nation-State of the Jewish People, adopted by the Knesset on 19 July 2018 and signed by Benjamin Netanyahu, Reuven Rivlin and Yuli Yoel Edelstein: the Land of Israel is the historic homeland of the Jewish people and the State of Israel is its nation-state, in which it realises its natural, cultural, religious and historic right to self-determination, a right whose national exercise in the State is unique to the Jewish people; Jerusalem, complete and united, is the capital of Israel; Hebrew is the language of the state and Arabic has a special status whose practical standing before the Law is not to be harmed; the state shall be open to Jewish immigration and the ingathering of the exiles, shall endeavour to ensure the well-being of the members of the Jewish people and of its citizens in trouble or captivity, shall act in the Diaspora to preserve affinity and heritage, and views the development of Jewish settlement as a national value; and the Law, sections 1-11, may be changed only by a Basic Law passed by a majority of the members of the Knesset (Hok-Yesod: Yisrael – Medinat ha-Le’om shel ha-Am ha-Yehudi (Hebrew original), PDF p.1-2).
What the file is
The Hebrew original as published, in one 2-page file: sections 1-6A and the passage footnote on PDF p.1, and sections 6B-11 and the signatories on PDF p.2. The text copy’s extraction reverses and scrambles line order because the text is right-to-left; the reading notes reassemble the passages in the order of the printed pages from the original, and the original was read at every section. The file carries what the English translation file in this batch does not: the passage footnote (adopted by the Knesset on 7 Av 5778, 19 July 2018, at a sitting that began on 5 Av 5778, 17 July 2018; the bill and explanatory notes published in Knesset Bills – 768, of 26 Adar 5778, 13 March 2018, p. 134, translation) and the signatories. No table or figure appears. English renderings in this page are translations of the Hebrew, marked as such where quoted matter is at issue; the companion English translation is ingested separately as Basic Law: Israel – The Nation-State of the Jewish People (English translation), and the differences between the two files are recorded on both pages, not resolved.
Section by section
- Section 1, Basic principles (PDF p.1). (א) The Land of Israel is the historic homeland of the Jewish people, in which the State of Israel was established (translation). (ב) The State of Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people, in which it realises its natural, cultural, religious and historic right to self-determination (translation). (ג) Realising the right to national self-determination in the State of Israel is unique to the Jewish people (translation).
- Section 2, Symbols of the state (PDF p.1). (א) The name of the state is “Israel” (translation, name as printed in Hebrew quotation marks in the original). (ב) The state flag is white, two blue stripes near its edges, and a blue Star of David in its centre (translation). (ג) The state emblem is a seven-branched menorah, olive leaves on both its sides, and the word “Israel” at its foot (translation). (ד) The state anthem is “Hatikva” (translation). (ה) Details regarding state symbols shall be determined by law (translation).
- Section 3, Capital of the state (PDF p.1). Jerusalem, complete and united, is the capital of Israel (translation).
- Section 4, Language (PDF p.1). (א) Hebrew is the language of the state (translation). (ב) The Arabic language has a special status in the state; regulation of the use of the Arabic language in state institutions or before them shall be by law (translation). (ג) Nothing in this section is to harm the status given in practice to the Arabic language before the commencement of this Basic Law (translation).
- Section 5, Ingathering of the exiles (PDF p.1). The state shall be open to Jewish immigration and to the ingathering of the exiles (translation).
- Section 6, Connection with the Jewish people (PDF p.1-2). (א) (PDF p.1) The state shall endeavour to ensure the well-being of the members of the Jewish people and of its citizens who are in trouble or in captivity due to their Jewishness or due to their citizenship (translation). (ב) (PDF p.2) The state shall act in the Diaspora to preserve the affinity between the state and the members of the Jewish people (translation). (ג) (PDF p.2) The state shall act to preserve the cultural, historic and religious heritage of the Jewish people among the Jewish Diaspora (translation).
- Section 7, Jewish settlement (PDF p.2). The state views the development of Jewish settlement as a national value, and shall act in order to encourage and to promote its establishment and consolidation (translation).
- Section 8, Official calendar (PDF p.2). The Hebrew calendar is an official calendar of the state and beside it the foreign calendar shall serve as an official calendar; the use of the Hebrew calendar and the foreign calendar shall be determined by law (translation).
- Section 9, Independence Day and memorial days (PDF p.2). (א) Independence Day is the official national holiday of the state (translation). (ב) Memorial Day for the Fallen in Israel’s Wars and Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day are official memorial days of the state (translation).
- Section 10, Days of rest and Sabbath (PDF p.2). The Sabbath and the festivals of Israel are the established days of rest in the state; those who are not Jews have the right to keep their days of rest on their Sabbaths and their festivals; details of this matter shall be determined by law (translation).
- Section 11, Rigidity (PDF p.2). This Basic Law shall not be changed except by a Basic Law passed by a majority of the members of the Knesset (translation).
- Passage footnote and signatories (PDF p.1, p.2). Adopted by the Knesset on 7 Av 5778 (19 July 2018), at a sitting that began on 5 Av 5778 (17 July 2018); the bill and explanatory notes were published in Knesset Bills – 768, of 26 Adar 5778 (13 March 2018), p. 134 (translation). Signed by Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister; Reuven Rivlin, President of the State; Yuli Yoel Edelstein, Speaker of the Knesset (titles in translation).
Key passages
- “ירושלים השלמה והמאוחדת היא בירת ישראל” (Jerusalem, complete and united, is the capital of Israel, translation) (section 3, PDF p.1)
- “המדינה רואה בפיתוח התיישבות יהודית ערך לאומי” (The state views the development of Jewish settlement as a national value, translation) (section 7, PDF p.2)
- “המדינה תהא פתוחה לעלייה יהודית ולקיבוץ גלויות” (The state shall be open to Jewish immigration and to the ingathering of the exiles, translation) (section 5, PDF p.1)
Evidence the work relies on
A Basic Law in its enacted Hebrew text, not an evidentiary work. It cites no evidence. Its own apparatus is its passage footnote, which cites only the bill and explanatory notes as published in Knesset Bills – 768 of 13 March 2018, p. 134 (translation); that publication is not reproduced in the file.
Analysis
This is the enacted text against which the companion English translation is checked, and the check matters at four points: section 1(ב) includes religious among the rights to self-determination, section 3 calls Jerusalem complete and united — the wording of the 1980 Jerusalem Basic Law, not the translation’s greater wording — section 6(א) extends the state’s endeavour to its citizens as well as to the members of the Jewish people, in trouble or captivity for their Jewishness or their citizenship, and section 9(א) makes Independence Day the official national holiday. In substance the Hebrew confirms the translation’s structure throughout: eleven sections, the same allocations at sections 1, 4, 5 and 7, and section 11 — headed Rigidity in Hebrew, Immutability in the translation — entrenching the whole Law. The file is also the batch’s only source for the Law’s passage dates and signatories, and its footnote dates the bill’s publication to 13 March 2018, four months before passage.
People, organizations, places and events
Nation-State Law, Basic Laws, Knesset, Israel, City of Jerusalem, Benjamin Netanyahu
Concepts
Self-determination, Diaspora, Jewish National Home
How it relates to other sources
The Hebrew original of the Law whose English translation is ingested in this batch as Basic Law: Israel – The Nation-State of the Jewish People (English translation); the two files together are the primary text of the Law previously carried in the wiki only through secondary accounts, held on Nation-State Law. Its passage date, 19 July 2018, is the date the secondary accounts give for the Law’s approval — Palestine: A Socialist Introduction in its timeline and chapter, and Rethinking Statehood in Palestine at PDF p.298 — and this file supplies it from the Law’s own footnote, together with the sitting’s start date of 17 July 2018 and the bill’s publication on 13 March 2018, neither of which the secondary accounts give. Its section 3 wording, complete and united, matches section 1 of Basic Law: Jerusalem, Capital of Israel (1980) in the original Hebrew sense, where the companion English translation of this Law departs from it with the greater wording. No other ingested source gives the Hebrew text.
Open questions
- Section 1(ב) in the Hebrew lists a natural, cultural, religious and historic right; the companion English translation lists a natural, cultural, and historic right, omitting religious. Both are recorded.
- Section 3 in the Hebrew reads Jerusalem, complete and united; the companion English translation reads A greater, united Jerusalem. Both are recorded.
- Section 6(א) in the Hebrew covers the members of the Jewish people and its citizens; the companion English translation covers the Jewish people alone in that clause’s subject. Both are recorded.
- Section 9(א) in the Hebrew calls Independence Day the official national holiday of the state; the companion English translation omits “official”. Both are recorded.
- The delivery metadata for this file described its language as English; the file itself is Hebrew throughout, and it is recorded here as Hebrew.
Coverage
PDF p.1-2 of 2, read in full.