[stamp] Received by ACRI on 4 August, 2010
Knesset Speaker’s Office
Jerusalem – 3 August 2010
Ref: 02859010
Attn: Mr. Hagai Elad
Executive Director – ACRI
Dear Sir,
It is no secret that I am very uneasy with several of the proposed laws that you address in your letter. I believe that the State of Israel as the state of the Jewish people – a Jewish and democratic state – is sufficiently strong and does not require the “reinforcements” offered in some of the proposed laws that you mention, which may unintentionally weaken Israel rather than strengthen her.
Nonetheless, from an examination of the proposed laws listed in your letter, we find that some of these proposals were tabled in the Knesset and were not advanced, amongst other reasons, because of government opposition. Others of these proposed laws are currently in various Knesset committees, and I trust that the legislative process will give expression to all the various legal and constitutional aspects that are involved in approving and advancing such legislation.
Finally, I would like to note that I do not count the Cessation of Legal Proceedings and Clearing of Criminal Records Regarding the Disengagement Plan Law 5770-2010 – legislation which I helped initiate – among those laws “harming democracy” which you enumerate in your letter. In my opinion, this law will stand up to every constitutional test, and its purpose is to deal with the crisis that Israeli society experienced in the wake of the Disengagement Plan. In any event, the constitutionality of this legislation is currently being clarified in the Supreme Court.
Sincerely,
Reuven Rivlin
Speaker of the Knesset
