Courts Politics and Culture in Israel Constitutionalism and Democracy

In this clearly written and tightly argued analysis of the various Israeli court systems, Martin Edelman probes a fundamental issue: whether those courts protect human rights while fostering the development of a common, inclusive national culture. Edelman's work is based on the assumption that courts are important agencies of government and that, like other governmental institutions in a democracy, courts have an interactive relationship with a society's political culture. Israel does not have an integrated court system. The courts of the fourteen recognized religions have exclusive jurisdiction over members of their communities on matters of marriage and divorce. The civil courts have basic jurisdiction over criminal, civil, and public law controversies. Palestinians in the occupied areas who are accused of acts against Israeli security are tried in the military courts. Moreover, Israel lacks the organizing structure and directing force provided by a written constitution. Edelman describes the origins of Israel's courts and places them within the broader context of Israel's unique history. He examines Israel's commitment to the rule of law and the various pressures upon the Israeli Supreme Court to define its legal and political culture in the absence of a written constitution and the power of American-style judicial review. He charts the pressures created by Israel's attempt to accommodate the interests of orthodox and nonorthodox Jews, Muslims, and Druzes as well as the pressures generated by national security needs. Edelman demonstrates how the military and religious courts reinforce Israel's character as an ethnic democracy - a Jewish state that recognizes and protects individualrights while simultaneously permitting group identity to affect citizen status. Courts, Politics, and Culture in Israel is a major contribution to the study of comparative constitutionalism and judicial politics.