08 February 2022
When Your Own Spyware Hits Home
A newspaper report from January 18, 2022, revealed that the Israeli police has been using a spy software to spy on its own citizens. This affair illustrates how existing Israeli privacy law is inadequate for dealing with the types of privacy violations enabled by new technologies. But the ease with which these technologies are used also speaks volumes about the militarization of Israeli society. Continue reading >>
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20 July 2021
Does Where You (Legally) Stand Depend On Where You Sit?
On July 8, 2021, the Israeli Supreme Court rejected the petitions challenging Basic Law: Israel as the Nation of the Jewish People, enacted almost three years earlier. The so-called Hasson decision not only raises important questions about the relationship between legal and political struggles, it also calls into question the constitutional foundations of equality and democracy. Continue reading >>
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13 April 2021
A Year in Review: COVID-19 in Israel
Israel’s response to the pandemic took place in an unstable and highly polarized political climate. This affected the decisions taken in several ways. First, throughout the crisis, it was difficult to achieve agreement within the government on required actions. In addition, decisions often reflected political rather than professional considerations, a problem that was exacerbated by the instability of the coalition. The prospect of additional elections also effected the political will to enforce restrictions, in particular in the Ultra-Orthodox sector, as Ultra-Orthodox parties are perceived by Netanyahu as necessary partners in any government coalition. Continue reading >>
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22 March 2021
Tracking Citizens
Israeli authorities will still be able to use military phone tracking surveillance technology in the combat against the Coronavirus – but not in a way as unbridled as the government had wished. This is the outcome of a recent decision by the Israeli Supreme Court in the case of ACRI v. the Knesset. The Court refrained from declaring the Law authorizing the General Secret Service to track contact persons of infected COVID-19 patients invalid, but limited the cases in which military phone tracking surveillance technology could be used, and required the government to establish clear criteria for such use. Continue reading >>
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14 October 2020
An Emergency within an Emergency within an Emergency
On September 17, 2020, I published a blogpost on Verfassungsblog, warning that while COVID-19 has not, at the time, been used in Israel as a justification for banning protests, there was reason for concern. The concern materialized on September 30, 2020. The Knesset amended the Coronavirus Law to allow the government to declare a “special coronavirus emergency situation” which raises an array of questions. Continue reading >>17 September 2020
Lock-Down to Avoid Lock-Up?
Whether and to what extent public demonstrations can legitimately be limited in times of a pandemic is a challenge many countries are facing these days. In Israel, however, the COVID-19 crisis is intertwined with an ongoing political crisis. Citizens take to the street against a government which uses the pandemic as an argument to restrict those very protests. With a second lock-down imminent, is freedom of assembly in danger in Israel? Continue reading >>14 June 2020
Constitutional Adjudication of International Law Violations
On June 9, 2020, the Israeli Supreme Court delivered its long-awaited decision regarding the 2017 Settlement Law. The Court invalidated the Law by an 8 to 1 majority, determining that it violated the constitutional rights to property, dignity and equality. In addition to the importance of the concrete decision, the ruling raises important issues regarding the applicability of Israeli constitutional law to the Occupied Territories, the role of international law in the context of constitutional review in Israel, and the relevance of the answers to these issues in the case of a possible upcoming annexation of the West Bank. Continue reading >>
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12 May 2020
Is it the Court’s Role to Save a Country from Itself?
On May 6, 2020, the Israeli Supreme Court rejected eight petitions against PM Netanyahu’s rule as PM and against the unity agreement between Netanyahu and his former contender, Benny Gantz (“the Unity Agreement”). The unanimous decision was delivered by an expanded panel of eleven judges, who emphasized that despite the severity of the allegations against Netanyahu, there was no basis, in Israeli law, for disqualifying him. Continue reading >>
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20 April 2020
Corona Constitutional #12: Netanyahu widerstehen
Die Bilder aus Tel Aviv vom letzten Sonntag haben viele beeindruckt: Eine Massendemonstration mitten in der Coronakrise, Tausende von Menschen, die ihren Protest gegen die Regierung Netanyahu mit ihrer physischen Präsenz unterlegen und dabei – das ist das besondere, – social distancing wahren. In Israel ist vieles besonders in diesen Tagen, die Pandemie trifft auf eine politische und eine Verfassungskrise, dem Regierungschef droht die Anklage und um ihr zu entgehen, nimmt er immer größere Schäden an der Verfassung in Kauf. Wie sich Demokratie und Rechtsstaat schlagen in diesem Konflikt, darüber spricht Max Steinbeis mit TAMAR HOSTOVSKY BRANDES. Continue reading >>
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07 April 2020
Israel’s Perfect Storm: Fighting Coronavirus in the Midst of a Constitutional Crisis
A notable characteristic of the Israeli management of the crisis is the growing reliance on the military and on national security agencies, with respect to both types of measures. The sections below will examine the measures taken, the concerns these measures raise, and the steps taken to address such concerns. Continue reading >>
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