Shlomo Sand, The Invention of the Jewish People - Rafapal

300 THE INVENTION OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE
characterize Jewish democracy, he made no reference to the 20 percent of
its citizens who are Arab, nor to the 5 percent meticulously registered by the
Ministry of the Interior as non-Jews, even though they speak Hebrew and pay
their taxes.
Aharon Barak, a former president of the Supreme Court and yet another
Israel Prize laureate, was also thought of as one of the most liberal and
scholarly judges in the history of Israeli law. Addressing the Thirty-fourth
Zionist Congress in 2002, he spoke about "the values of Israel as a Jewish
and democratic state." 79 What were the state's Jewish norms? A combination
of Halakhic and Zionist elements. The world of the Halakhah is "an endless
ocean," while the world of Zionism is the language, the national symbols, the
flag, the anthem, the festivals and the Law of Return—yet Israel also "liberates
state lands for Jewish settlement." What were the state's democratic values?
The separation of powers, the rule of law, and the protection of human rights,
including the rights of the minority. It was necessary to seek a synthesis and
a balance between the two sets of values: "Giving Jews the right to immigrate
does not discriminate against those who are not Jews. It recognizes a nondiscriminatory
difference. But a person who lives in our national home is
entitled to equality, irrespective of religion and nationality." 80 That was why the
judge strove to do justice to the Arab minority, being much more aware than
other jurists that equality is the heart of modern democracy.
Is there equality in the state when one of its values is "liberating state lands
for Jewish settlement"? Supreme Court Justice Barak did not have to answer
this question to the participants of the Zionist Congress in Jerusalem. Nor
was his audience astonished, since on an earlier occasion the democratic judge
defined the character of the State of Israel in similar terms: "A Jewish state is
one for which Jewish settlement in its fields, cities and villages comes before
anything else ... A Jewish state is one in which Hebrew Law plays an important
part, and in which the laws of marriage and divorce of Jews are based on the
Torah." 81 In other words, for the secular liberal Aharon Barak, Israel is Jewish
thanks to such projects as the famous "Judaization of the Galilee," which rests
on the long-standing judicial segregation of Jews and non-Jews.
Daniel Friedman was not a judge, but he was appointed minister of justice
by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Prior to that, he had been a law professor at
Tel Aviv University, and had of course received the Israel Prize. Responding
to an article of mine in 2000, after thirteen Palestino-Israelis had been killed
79 Available at www.nfc.co.il/archive/003-D-1202-00.html?tag=21-53-48#PTEXT1767.
80 Ibid.
81 See in Margolin (ed.), The State of Israel, 11.