Jewish and democratic state

"[2] The Israeli Declaration of Independence identifies Israel as a "Jewish state"[3] in the sense that, as an ethnicity,[4] Jews can exercise their right to self-determination in their homeland.

The law outlines a number of roles and responsibilities by which Israel is bound in order to fulfill the purpose of serving as the Jews' nation-state.

Other aspects are Hebrew being the main official language of the State and the inextricable link to Jewish culture in public life.

The State of Israel is democratic in the following sense: the sovereign is the entire community of the nation's citizens (and it alone), irrespective of ethnic-national origin.

Democracy's basic principles require equal treatment of all those included as citizens of the State, without regard to their ethnic, religious, cultural, and linguistic affiliations.

Already in 1994, the question whether Israeli Government (i.e. the Cabinet) is permitted to limit the import of Non-Kosher meat, despite the Basic Law: Freedom of Occupation arose.

Initially, the Israeli High Court of Justice ruled that the government is not permitted to limit such import of non-Kosher meat.

[citation needed] Another debate was on the issue of whether the state is permitted to limit the leasing of national land in certain areas of Israel exclusively to Jews.

At their center stands the right of every Jew to immigrate to the State of Israel, where the Jews will constitute a majority; Hebrew is the official and principal language of the State and most of its fests and symbols reflect the national revival of the Jewish People; The heritage of the Jewish People is a central component of its religious and cultural legacy.According to Chief Justice Barak the minimal definition of "a Democratic State" is: Recognition of the sovereignty of the people manifested in free and egalitarian elections; recognition of the nucleus of human rights, among them dignity and equality, the existence of separations of powers, the rule of law, and an independent judiciary systemTherefore: A list of candidates or a candidate may not participate in the elections if the cancellation or denial of these characteristics is central and dominant among their ambitions and activities; and they act decisively to realize these ambitions; and provided all can be persuasively, clearly and unequivocally proved by the established evidence.Chief Justice Barak pondered whether every candidates list objecting the existence of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state should be disqualified, or a "Probabilistic standard" should be adopted, wherein according to this standard, a candidates list may be disqualified only if there is a real chance that it will actually succeed in promoting its goals that are in contradictory to the nature of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.