Halachic state

A halachic state (Hebrew: מדינת הלכה, Medinat Halakha) is a Jewish state governed by halakha, Jewish religious law.^[1]

Public opinion

Can Israel both be a democracy and a Jewish state?
All Israeli Jews	Yes		76%
	No		36%
Haredi (ultra-orthodox)	Yes		58%
	No		36%
Dati (orthodox)	Yes		79%
	No		17%
Masorti (traditional)	Yes		80%
	No		15%
Hiloni (secular)	Yes		76%
	No		21%
% of Israeli Jews who say Israel can be both a democracy and a Jewish state (Pew 2016).^[2]

Should halakha or democratic principles precede?
All Israeli Jews	Democracy		62%
	Halakha		24%
Haredi (ultra-orthodox)	Democracy		3%
	Halakha		89%
Dati (orthodox)	Democracy		11%
	Halakha		65%
Masorti (traditional)	Democracy		56%
	Halakha		23%
Hiloni (secular)	Democracy		89%
	Halakha		1%
% of Israeli Jews who say halakha (religious law) or democratic principles should be given preference if there is a contradiction between the two (Pew 2016).^[2]

An opinion poll released in March 2016 by the Pew Research Center found high support for a halachic state among religious Israeli Jews. The poll found that 86% of Israeli Haredi Jews and 69% of non-Haredi religious Jews support making halakha Israel's legal code while 57% of traditional Jews and 90% of secular Jews oppose such a move.^[3] At the time, the Haredim constituted 8% of all Israelis, the Dati (orthodox Jews) 10%, the Masorti (traditional Jews) 23%, and the Hiloni (secular Jews) 40%.^[2] There was a majority agreement amongst all Israeli Jewish groups that Israel could be both a Jewish and democratic state.^[2] When asked whether they would prefer democratic principles or halakha (religious law) if the two were ever in conflict, 62% of all Israeli Jews combined favoured democratic principles; however, preference for halakha was very high amongst the Haredim (89%), while very low amongst secular Jews (1%).^[2]

Support of Jewish religious leaders

Menachem Mendel Schneerson advocated the transformation of Israel into a halachic state even before the Messiah comes.^[4]

Support of Knesset members and Israeli justices

In 2009, Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman stated that "step by step, Torah law will become the binding law in the State of Israel. We have to reinstate the traditions of our forefathers, the teaching of the rabbis of the ages, because these offer a solution to all the issues we are dealing with today". He later retracted his statement.^[1] According to 2002 Israel Prize winner Nahum Rakover, who received the Yakir Yerushalayim prize for his research on the use of Jewish law in the legal system,^[5] Neeman's opinion was nothing new. He said that the idea is supported in the Foundations of Law Act, passed in 1980, which encourages judges to use Jewish law in their decisions. Yitzhak Kahan, former president of the Israeli Supreme Court, recommended that Jewish law be implemented even in cases of an existing precedent, although his opinion was not accepted and former justice ministers Shmuel Tamir and Moshe Nissim advocated teaching judges and lawyers Jewish law to provide them with the necessary knowledge to implement the law.^[1]

In June 2019, Tkuma leader Bezalel Smotrich campaigned for the Ministry of Justice, saying that he sought the portfolio to "restore the Torah justice system".^[6] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu distanced himself from the comments and appointed openly gay MK Amir Ohana to the post.^[7]

In August 2019, Smotrich stated: "We [Orthodox Jews] all would want the State of Israel to be run according to the Torah and Jewish law, it's just that we can't because there are people who think differently from us, and we have to get along with them."^[8][9][10]

National identity bill

In 2014, Israel's cabinet advanced the Nation-State Bill, which would define Israel as "the nation-state of the Jewish people" and also said that Jewish law would be a "source of inspiration" for the Knesset. This was seen by non-Orthodox Jews as a step toward enforcing Orthodox halakha as the law of the land.^[11] However, the final version of the law did not include this proposed clause.

See also

• Christian state
• Islamic state
• State of Judea
• Theocracy
• Theonomy

References

1. Wagner, Matthew (10 December 2009). "Religious Affairs: Who's afraid of a halachic state?". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
2. "Israel's Religiously Divided Society". Pew Research Center. 8 March 2016. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
3. Eichner, Itamar (3 September 2016). "Major poll: About half of Israeli Jews want to expel Arabs". Ynetnews. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
4. "Ariel Sharon and The Rebbe". JewishMedia. January 12, 2014. Archived from the original on 2021-12-14. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
5. Selig, Abe (13 May 2010). "Twelve given 'Worthy of Jerusalem' award". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
6. "Smotrich says he wants to be justice minister so Israel can follow Torah law". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
7. "Netanyahu appoints Amir Ohana justice minister, first openly gay cabinet member". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
8. Sharon, Jeremy (7 August 2019). "Smotrich says again he wants a Torah-run state". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
9. Oster, Marcy (6 August 2019). "Israeli right-wing lawmaker wants nation to be governed by Jewish law. He acknowledges it won't happen soon". Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
10. Tress, Luke (2019). "Smotrich says Israel should follow Torah law, drawing ire of Liberman". The Times of Israel.
11. Ettinger, Yair (25 November 2014). "Ultra-Orthodox and Reform Jews Share Distaste for Nation-state Bill". Haaretz. Retrieved 3 March 2019.