The vision set out in Israel's Declaration of Independence forms the foundation of Israel's character, the principles by which the state is governed and the liberties granted to all of its citizens. The Declaration is clear in its intention to serve as a manifesto for the establishment of a democratic state with all of the fundamental freedoms that enable this type of government to flourish. These sentiments are gradually being codified in the Basic Laws, the compilation of which serves as a precursor to a final constitution as envisioned by the founders in the Declaration. In the interim, alongside the Basic Laws, Israel has developed a set of social policies and legal norms to carry out the statements expressed in its Declaration.

Following their expulsion from the Land of Israel some 2,000 years ago, the Jews were dispersed to other countries, mainly Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Although the Jews at times prospered in the countries in which they resided, they also suffered periods of harsh discrimination, pogroms and total or partial expulsions. Yet the dream of returning to their ancestral homeland and the belief in the concept of the eventual "ingathering of the exiles" were kept intact by the Jewish nation throughout the centuries. The Zionist movement, founded at the end of the 19th century, transformed the concept into a concrete political goal, the rebirth of Jewish sovereignty, and the State of Israel translated it into law, granting citizenship to every Jew wishing to settle in the country.

In the decade following Israel's declared independence in 1948, approximately 687,000 Jews, over 300,000 of them refugees from Arab lands, immigrated to Israel. Many were Holocaust survivors from European countries. They joined the previous waves of mostly Russian and Polish immigrants who had arrived in the beginning decades of the century. These earlier immigrants had already laid the foundations of a comprehensive social and economic infrastructure, developed agriculture, established kibbutzim and moshavim (unique communal and cooperative forms of rural settlement), and provided the labor force for building the nation's houses and roads. Immigrants from Western and Central Europe, who had arrived in the 1930's with education, skills and experience, had raised business standards, improved urban and rural amenities and broadened the existing Jewish population's cultural life.

Over the years, Israel has continued to receive new immigrants in larger and smaller numbers, coming from the free countries of the western world as well as from areas of distress. Since 1989 over one million new immigrants from the former Soviet Union have settled in Israel. Among them are many highly educated professionals, well-known scientists and acclaimed artists and musicians, whose expertise and talents are contributing significantly to Israel's economic, scientific, academic and cultural life.

The 1980's and 1990's witnessed the arrival of two massive airlifts of the ancient Jewish community of Ethiopia, popularly believed to have been there since the time of King Solomon. The state has been working to ease the transition of these 50,000 immigrants from an agrarian African environment to an industrialized western society.

Israel has established agencies and bodies over the years to help facilitate the integration of the different groups of immigrants into Israeli society. While some immigrants find it easier to acclimate on their own to Israel's particular political and social climate, others still rely on the state's welfare assistance to attend to their economic and social needs. Private and volunteer organizations, of which there are many, are also instrumental in attending to the needs of the various immigrant as well as minority populations.

Israel is home to a widely diverse population from many ethnic, religious, cultural and social backgrounds. Of its approximately 6.6 million people, 77 percent are Jews, 19 percent are Arabs (mostly Moslem) and the remaining 4 percent comprise Druze, Circassians and others not classified by religion.

Unlike other societies, where new immigrants are absorbed into a predominant cultural "melting pot", Israel can best be described as a mosaic, comprised of individual groups, each contributing its own cultural identity, ethnicity and linguistic character to the overall design of the society. Israel's official languages are Hebrew and Arabic. English is widely used, and other languages - especially Russian, Spanish, French, Yiddish and Amharic - are spoken by the various ethnic and religious groups who represent large sections within Israeli society and also retain their own cultural background. As a result of the mass immigration after the founding of the state and the ensuing decades since, the structure and fabric of Israeli society changed dramatically. The resultant social grouping amongst the Jews, who comprised the largest segment of the population, was composed of two main elements: a majority comprised of the established Sephardic community, veteran Ashkenazic settlers and Holocaust survivors; and a large minority of recent Jewish immigrants from the Islamic countries of North Africa and the Middle East.

Both groups initially co-existed without much social and cultural interaction. Unlike the majority of the Sephardic community, Ashkenazi Jews involved themselves early on in the state's political life and held many key positions in government offices and institutions. Over time, however, the Sephardic population became more politically active and gradually entered into Israel's political leadership. Although some disparity remains between the two groups, common denominators of religion, Jewish history, and national cohesion have, for the most part, succeeded in overcoming the barriers between both populations.

Alongside these cultural tensions, are those generated by the various movements of Judaism. Each movement is steadfast in its commitment to its own individual practice of Judaism as a religious and nationalistic creed, and its perceptions of the role Judaism should play in the national character of the state as a whole.

Likewise, Jewish society in Israel is made up of observant and non-observant Jews, comprising a spectrum that runs from the ultra-Orthodox, who live in separate isolated communities, to those who regard themselves as secular. Yet, this distinction is not clear cut. A great many Jews who do not describe themselves as orthodox follow traditional Jewish religious laws and customs to varying degrees. As Israel was conceived as a Jewish state, the Sabbath (Saturday) and all Jewish festivals and holy days have been instituted as national holidays and are observed by the entire Jewish population, to a greater or lesser extent.

While Jews comprise the majority of the population of the State of Israel, some 1.5 million people, approximately 23 percent of Israel's population, are non-Jews. Although the majority of non-Jews are defined collectively as Arab citizens of Israel, non-Jews also include a number of different, primarily Arabic-speaking, groups, each with distinct characteristics.

Moslem Arabs, almost one million people, most of whom are Sunni, reside mainly in small towns and villages, over half of them in the north of the country. Bedouin Arabs, also Moslem (estimated at some 170,000), belong to some 30 tribes, a majority scattered over a wide area in the south. Formerly nomadic shepherds, the Bedouin are currently in transition from a tribal social framework to a permanently settled society and are gradually entering Israel's labor force.

Christian Arabs, some 113,000, live mainly in urban areas. Although many denominations are nominally represented, the majority are affiliated with the Greek Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Roman Catholic churches.

The Druze, some 106,000 Arabic-speakers living in 22 villages in northern Israel, constitute a separate cultural, social, and religious community. While the Druze religion is not accessible to outsiders, one known aspect of its philosophy is the concept of taqiyya, which calls for complete loyalty by its adherents to the government of the country in which they reside.

The Circassians, comprising some 3,000 people concentrated in two northern villages, are Sunni Moslems, although they share neither the Arab origin nor the cultural background of the larger Islamic community. While maintaining a distinct ethnic identity, they participate in Israel's economic and national affairs without assimilating either into Jewish society or into the Moslem community.

Of the Christian population in Israel, while the large majority are Arab, 23,000 are non-Arab, many of whom came to Israel with their Jewish spouses during the waves of immigration in the 1980's and 1990's, mainly from the former Soviet Union and Ethiopia.

Although most Christians are Arab, their demographic profile differs from the Muslim population, and more closely resembles the Jewish population. Most Christians live in urban areas and the Christian community is characterized by a high level of education, particularly among the younger generation. The majority of Christian men are employed and one third of Christian women are in the civilian work force, many in academic, free and technical professions.

Despite differences, economic disparities and an often heated political life, Israeli society is quite balanced and stable. The fact that socio-economic, and at times political, tension between the different groups is kept to a moderate or even low level, can be attributed to the country's judicial and political systems, which represent strict legal and civic equality within the framework of a democratic state. Israel's party-based, proportional representation political system enables the many different segments of the population to be represented in Israel's democracy.

All of Israel's residents benefit from a wide range of social welfare legislation. Israel has also produced some of the most progressive court rulings and legislation in the western world involving gay and lesbian rights, discriminatory practices and sexual harassment in the workplace.

Israel's institutions and bodies are careful to defend the freedom of expression and speech for all of its citizens. Likewise, Israel's media has absolute freedom and operates as an independent watchdog on the government. Israel also has many governmental and non-profit organizations that guard against the infringement of human rights. The enactment and resulting interpretation by the courts of the  Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty, has transformed many of Israel's accepted social policies into securely established law.

Of the many freedoms guaranteed by the Declaration of Independence, the freedom to practice one's own religion and act according to one's own conscience are two of the most valued fundamentals of a democracy. The Jewish people, having suffered too many times at the hands of intolerant leaders in the countries in which they resided, inherently understand the importance of these individual freedoms.

The Declaration of Independence proclaims freedom of religion for all of the state's inhabitants. Accordingly, each religious community is free, by law and in practice, to exercise its faith, observe its holidays and weekly day of rest and to administer its internal affairs. Each has its own religious council and courts, recognized by law and with jurisdiction over all religious affairs and matters of personal status, such as marriage and divorce. Each has its own unique places of worship, with traditional rituals and special architectural features developed over the centuries.

The right to these freedoms is best described by Israel's Supreme Court:

"Every person in Israel enjoys freedom of conscience, of belief, of religion, and of worship. This freedom is guaranteed to every person in every enlightened, democratic regime, and therefore it is guaranteed to every person in Israel. It is one of the fundamental principles upon which the State of Israel is based. This freedom is partly based on Article 83 of the Palestine Order in Council of 1922, and partly it is one of those fundamental rights that 'are not written in the book' but derive directly from the nature of our state as a peace-loving, democratic state."¹

"On the basis of the rules and in accordance with the Declaration of Independence every law and every power will be interpreted as recognizing freedom of conscience, of belief, of religion, and of worship."²

Israel protects the freedom of Jews and non-Jews alike to engage in their chosen form of religious practice or worship. Likewise, in most cases, the institutions of the state recognize religious precepts, such as the prohibition of work on religious days of rest, and do not compel Jews or non-Jews to violate the doctrines of their chosen faith.

Each holy site and shrine is administered by its own religious authority, and freedom of access and worship is assured by law. For example, the Kotel, the Western Wall, which is the last remnant of the retaining wall of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, is administered by the State of Israel, while the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aksa Mosque, located directly on the Temple Mount above the Kotel, is under the authority of the Jordanian Wakf. Christian authorities administer and maintain the Via Dolorosa, Room of the Last Supper, and other churches including the Church of the Annunciation (in Nazareth). Among others, Druze, Bahai, Samaritan and Karaite holy places and shrines are protected as well.

Since Israel's stated purpose is to serve primarily as the homeland of the Jewish people, much debate has been sparked over the role religion should play in the establishment of the policies and laws of the state. Israel, as a democracy, is committed to upholding the basic liberties afforded by such a political system, but, as a state with a clear Jewish heritage, struggles to retain its unique character drawn heavily from Jewish sources.

Although Israel does not have any one recognized religion, there is no clear separation of religion and state. One of the greatest sources of friction in Israeli society is the dissension between the orthodox and secular sectors regarding the extent of imposition of religious norms and restrictions on all Jews, regardless of their level of religious observance. Issues such as the definition of a Jew entitled to citizenship under the Law of Return, exclusive application of religious law in personal law, and state financing of religious schools, are examples of the involvement of religion in Israel's state affairs.

Due to the particular nature of Israel's political system, no party has ever obtained the necessary majority to win a majority of Knesset seats, thereby necessitating the formation of coalition governments. As a result, the religious parties condition their inclusion in the government on all types of religious-based legislation or policy making. This type of intervention is a source of tension between the secular and religious elements of society.

The seemingly dichotomous nature of a Jewish democratic state is only gradually being resolved through interpretation by the courts of the Basic Laws, and by demands of the secular political parties to change the status quo regarding matters of religion and state that Israel had accepted in past decades.

1. Justice Landau in H.C. 243/62 Filming Studios in Israel Ltd. V. Guery et al., 16 P.D. 2407.
2. Justice Zamir in H.C. 7128/96, Movement of the Faithful of the Temple Mount et al. v. Government of Israel et al., 97(1) Takdin-Elyon 480.