THE PROMISED CONSTITUTION OF THE PROMISED LAND:THE ISRAELI CONSTITUTIONAL EXPERIENCE

Recently many distinguished commentators have expressed the need for a formal and written constitution in the United Kingdom. 1 The intention of this article is not to discuss the requirement of such a constitution, but rather to offer a general outline of the development of the Israeli constitution. However, the British lawyer might find the Israeli model useful as a stimulant of new ideas for constitutional reform. In reading this article, several questions should be kept in mind. The first is the frequently discussed issue of whether there is a need for a written constitution.2 The second part of the article, which discusses the establishment of the State of Israel, its Declaration of Independence and the decision to adopt a piecemeal constitution, might suggest that the answer to this question is not necessarily in the affirmative. Secondly, if one is advocating a written constitution for the U.K., one should ask how such constitution should be introduced to a state with a long-standing tradition of a non-written constitution. To this the third part, which portrays the birth of the Israeli Constitution, i.e. the enactment of the various Basic Laws, is relevant. Finally, one should be aware of the role that political interests, on the one