The Israeli Concept of Equality
Pnina Lahav, Professor of Law, Emerita, Boston University
This series presents the concept of equality as it is conceived under Israeli Law. We shall begin by exploring the nature of the emerging Israeli Constitution as it is articulated in several Basic Laws (none recognizes explicitly the right to equal protection of the laws.) We shall then review a recent Basic Law addressing the status of Israeli Arabs (as distinct from residents of the occupied territories) – Israel’s nationality law – and finally discuss the issue of gender equality in the context of the family. We shall review the “Rabbinical Courts’ Law,” and ask how it affects the status of women in Israel. In particular we shall dwell on a recent case known as the case of the adulteress, where a woman was deprived of her right to marital property because the rabbinical court declared her to be an adulteress and how the High Court of Justice addressed the issue.
1) Oct 7th: Equality Under Israeli Law: Does Israel have a formal commitment to equality?
2) Oct 14th: Equality of Spouses: The Rabbinical Courts, the High Court of Justice and Marital Property Rights and the Case of the “Adulteress.”
3) Oct 21st: Equality of Israeli Arabs: Basic Law- Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People
Meeting ID: 831 0969 2853
Passcode: 000870