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which is so characteristic of the present population of Israel. The founders also certainly
would never have imagined the lack of caring, the apathy and disdain among the citizens,
nor the material and moral corruption that have seeped into many parts of the public
service. These and other such phenomena are the great inner problem of the state in our
time, and it must deal with the problem in order to ensure its sound existence into the
future, and the fulfillment of its historic destiny.
The other elements included in the Scroll of Independence are more or less extant, and
their future, too – or so we hope – is assured.
Vision, not law
This brings me to the question of the meaning and legal validity of the Scroll of
Independence. Everyone knows that the Scroll is not a Constitution; it is not a supreme
law to which the regular laws of the state are subservient. The Scroll itself states that the
initial ruling institutions will serve and operate until an elected formative gathering
establishes a Constitution. In a discussion that took place at a meeting of the State Council,
which approved the proclamation of the establishment of the state, the chairman, David
Ben-Gurion, responded to the arguments over its content and essence with the following
words: "It's not a Constitution. There'll be a separate constitution… We introduced here
the fundamental elements that we had to have for the UN; I am certain that in the full
constitution these matters will be included along with others."
In truth, in discussing the various directives of the Scroll, the Supreme Court has often
expressed with conviction its opinion that the Scroll lacked even the validity of a regular
law, and that it simply "expresses the nation's vision and its manifesto." In the above-
mentioned episode of the couples that sought the court's recognition as being married, on
the basis of a civil ceremony that had been performed before two witnesses, after stating
in my ruling the general principle that the Scroll is not a Constitution to which the laws of
the state are subservient, I went on to explain: "Its legal validity lies in the fact that every
legal directive must be interpreted in its light, and – to the extent that this is possible –
in keeping with its guiding principles, and not contrary to them. However, when there
is an explicit statutory directive of the Knesset that leaves no room for doubt, then it
must be followed, even if it does not conform to the principles set down in the Scroll of
Independence." Accordingly, the ruling was that the law of the country, which had handed
over matters of marriage and divorce of Jews in Israel, whether citizens or residents, to the
jurisdiction of the rabbinic courts, and directed that such marriages and divorces would
be held in accordance with religious law, took precedence over the principle of freedom
of conscience, just as any other explicit directive would take precedence over any other
matter mentioned in the Scroll of Independence.
Indeed, there are those – like Prof. Benjamin Akzin, in his fascinating article about
the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel, published in the Jubilee
248 The Friday That Changed Destiny
would never have imagined the lack of caring, the apathy and disdain among the citizens,
nor the material and moral corruption that have seeped into many parts of the public
service. These and other such phenomena are the great inner problem of the state in our
time, and it must deal with the problem in order to ensure its sound existence into the
future, and the fulfillment of its historic destiny.
The other elements included in the Scroll of Independence are more or less extant, and
their future, too – or so we hope – is assured.
Vision, not law
This brings me to the question of the meaning and legal validity of the Scroll of
Independence. Everyone knows that the Scroll is not a Constitution; it is not a supreme
law to which the regular laws of the state are subservient. The Scroll itself states that the
initial ruling institutions will serve and operate until an elected formative gathering
establishes a Constitution. In a discussion that took place at a meeting of the State Council,
which approved the proclamation of the establishment of the state, the chairman, David
Ben-Gurion, responded to the arguments over its content and essence with the following
words: "It's not a Constitution. There'll be a separate constitution… We introduced here
the fundamental elements that we had to have for the UN; I am certain that in the full
constitution these matters will be included along with others."
In truth, in discussing the various directives of the Scroll, the Supreme Court has often
expressed with conviction its opinion that the Scroll lacked even the validity of a regular
law, and that it simply "expresses the nation's vision and its manifesto." In the above-
mentioned episode of the couples that sought the court's recognition as being married, on
the basis of a civil ceremony that had been performed before two witnesses, after stating
in my ruling the general principle that the Scroll is not a Constitution to which the laws of
the state are subservient, I went on to explain: "Its legal validity lies in the fact that every
legal directive must be interpreted in its light, and – to the extent that this is possible –
in keeping with its guiding principles, and not contrary to them. However, when there
is an explicit statutory directive of the Knesset that leaves no room for doubt, then it
must be followed, even if it does not conform to the principles set down in the Scroll of
Independence." Accordingly, the ruling was that the law of the country, which had handed
over matters of marriage and divorce of Jews in Israel, whether citizens or residents, to the
jurisdiction of the rabbinic courts, and directed that such marriages and divorces would
be held in accordance with religious law, took precedence over the principle of freedom
of conscience, just as any other explicit directive would take precedence over any other
matter mentioned in the Scroll of Independence.
Indeed, there are those – like Prof. Benjamin Akzin, in his fascinating article about
the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel, published in the Jubilee
248 The Friday That Changed Destiny
