Proclamation
of the XXXIV Zionist Congress
We,
who are assembled at the XXXIV Zionist Congress, held in Jerusalem during
the fifty-fourth year since the establishment of the State of Israel and
one hundred and five years since the convening of the First Zionist Congress
where the right of the Jewish People to national revival in Eretz Israel
was declared, hereby do call upon the legislators of the Knesset of Israel
to secure in Basic Law the fundamental values of the State of Israel that
determine it to be the State of the Jewish People and a Jewish and democratic
state;
Whereas
the State of Israel was established by the Zionist Movement to be the
National Home of the Jewish People and to achieve our two thousand year
long aspiration to bring about the Ingathering of the Exiles, national
independence, spiritual renaissance and the creation of a society in accordance
with the vision of the Prophets of Israel;
Whereas
there are those who refute the right of the Jewish People to self-determination
in Eretz Israel;
And whereas the character
of the State of Israel is determined and expressed, among others, through
the Basic Laws that serve as the foundation for the future Constitution
of Israel;
Therefore,
We
who have assembled at the XXXIV Zionist Congress, convened in Jerusalem
in the month of Tamuz in the year 5762, do proclaim that the time has
come to provide for the legal status of the Jewish, Zionist and democratic
values of the State of Israel in keeping with Israel's Declaration of
Independence and the ethos of the State since its inception, and to declare
the following principles as the basis for determining the uniqueness,
character and raison d'être of the existence of the State of Israel
as a Jewish and democratic state.
1. The State of Israel is the State of the Jewish People and its
capital is Jerusalem. It is the fulfillment of the aspirations of
the Zionist Movement and the aspirations of generations for the independence
and sovereignty of the Jewish People in the spirit of the principles
of the Declaration of Independence.
2. The State of Israel will be open to the aliyah of Jews and will
aspire to bring the Jewish People home.
3. The State of Israel is a democracy that respects basic human
rights and the heritage of the minorities living in its boundaries,
through the safeguarding of equal rights for all of its citizens, regardless
of religion, race, sex or nationality. The values of freedom, freedom
of religion and conscience, justice and peace are the Jewish heritage
of Israel.
4. The State of Israel safeguards the sites that are holy to
all religions from any desecration or other offense that would interfere
with freedom of access to members of all religions to their holy places
or their sentiments to those sites.
5. "Hatikvah" is the national anthem of the State.
The State flag and the State emblem are those determined by the Law
of the Flag and Emblem.
6. The State of Israel is a state whose history is intertwined
with the history of the Jewish people. The Shabbat is the day of
rest of the State, the national festivals are its holidays and Hebrew
is its language.
7. The State of Israel perceives the encouragement of Jewish settlement
in Israel to a basic value of Zionism and a responsibility of the
State and its authorities.
8. The State of Israel, through the fulfillment of its mission,
seeks the involvement of the Jewish People in the building of the
Land and in the Ingathering of the Exiles in accordance with the statutes
of the State.
9. The State of Israel, as the State of the Jewish People, will
act to guarantee the future existence of the Jewish People; will
promote ties between Israel and the Diaspora, and will come to the aid
of Jews throughout the world in time of need.
10. The partnership between the State of Israel and the Jewish
People shall find expression through the National Institutions as
determined by Law.
On this momentous occasion,
here in Jerusalem, we the representatives of the Zionist Movement, call
upon the Knesset to adopt these principles among the Basic Laws of the
State of Israel as the keystone for ensuring the future of the State of
Israel as the Jewish and democratic State of the Jewish People.
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