Israel’s Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked Says Law Should Be ‘More Jewish’

Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
JERUSALEM — The more Jewish Israel is, the more democratic it will become, the nation’s justice minister wrote in a new journal.
The legal system in Israel should strengthen its Jewish nature, Ayelet Shaked wrote in the inaugural issue of the Hebrew language policy journal Hashiloach, published by the Tikva Fund.
“When we wish to put Israel through advanced democratization processes, we must simultaneously deepen its Jewish identity,” Shaked wrote. “These identities are not contradictory. On the contrary: I believe they reinforce one another. I believe the more Jewish a state we are, the more democratic a state we will be, and that the more democratic a state we are, the more Jewish a state we will be.”
The legal system must take the Jewishness of the state into account in concrete ways, Shaked also wrote.
She also called for more separation of powers, and to strengthen Israel’s legislative branch vis-a-vis the judicial branch.
"Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief"
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
