Goals Of Netanyahu's Likud Party Affecting Vance And Trump ?

 Nadene Goldfoot                                       

Benjamin Netanyahu and other Likud members make a number four gesture (credit: LIKUD SPOKESPERSON)

The Likud party aims to secure the northern border against Hezbollah by maintaining military deterrence, pushing for enforcement of truce agreements requiring Hezbollah to leave southern Lebanon, and refusing to restrict IDF operations. 

Currently, five countries operate without a single codified, written constitution: Canada, Israel, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom. 

"Unwritten" (or uncodified) doesn't mean these countries lack constitutional laws; instead, they rely on a collection of separate foundational documents, statutes, judicial precedents, and unwritten traditions rather than one unified text.                                 

Rooted in Revisionist Zionism, the party views the Land of Israel as an eternal birthright and advocates for uncompromising state security and the defense of all Jewish communities.

Likud (Hebrew: הַלִּיכּוּד,  'The Consolidation'), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement is a major right-wing political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon in an alliance with several right-wing parties. 

Likud emphasizes national security policy based on a strong military force when threatened with continued enmity against Israel. It has shown reluctance to negotiate with its neighbors whom it believes continue to seek the destruction of the Jewish state, that based on the principle of the party founder Menachem Begin concerning the preventive policy to any potential attacks on State of Israel. Its suspicion of neighboring Arab nations' intentions, however, has not prevented the party from reaching agreements with Israel's neighbors, such as the 1979 peace treaty with Egypt. Likud's willingness to enter mutually accepted agreements with neighboring countries over the years is related to the formation of other right-wing parties. Like other right-wing parties in Israel, Likud politicians have sometimes criticized particular Supreme Court decisions, but it remains committed to rule of law principles that it hopes to entrench in a written constitution.

Israel does not have a single, formal, written constitution. Instead, it operates under an uncodified constitutional system.  Instead of a single document, Israel relies on a collection of "Basic Laws". These laws, such as those defining the structure of the government and protecting human rights, hold a semi-constitutional status. 

This piecemeal constitutional framework came about for a few key reasons:

• The Harari Resolution: Under the 1950 Harari Resolution, the Israeli legislature (the Knesset) decided to pass Basic Laws individually, with the intention of eventually compiling them into a single, formalized constitution. This unified compilation has never been completed.
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  David Ben Gurion, to become Prime Minister of Israel,  reading the Declaration of Independence of the State of Israel © GPO/Hans Pin. 

• On May 14, 1948, on the day in which the British Mandate over a Palestine expired, the Jewish People's Council gathered at the Tel Aviv Museum, and approved the following proclamation, declaring the establishment of the State of Israel. The new state was recognized that night by the United States and three days later by the USSR.

• Religious and Political Divisions: Early leaders, including David Ben-Gurion, faced deep disagreements between secular groups and religious factions regarding the role of Jewish religious law (Halacha) and state identity, leading them to avoid a rigid constitutional document.  Because Israel's system of proportional representation means no single party ever wins an outright majority in the 120-seat parliament (Knesset), Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has historically relied on coalitions built with ultra-Orthodox and extreme right-wing religious parties to secure and maintain power.
• Judicial Review: Over time, the Israeli Supreme Court determined that because these Basic Laws function as a constitution, the court has the power of judicial review and can strike down laws that contradict them.
• The national identity of Israel was most recently restated on July 19, 2018, when the Knesset (Israel's parliament) passed the Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People.  (#1 below)
• In July 2018, the Israeli Knesset passed the highly controversial "Nation-State" Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People. 
  The law constitutionally anchored Israel's character as the nation-state of the Jewish people. It was "shook up" and passed for the following reasons: 
  • National Self-Determination: It explicitly established that the right to national self-determination in Israel is "unique to the Jewish people".
  • Hebrew Language: It made Hebrew the country's sole official language, downgrading Arabic from an official language to one with a "special status". 
  • Jewish Settlement: It established the development of Jewish settlements as a national value and mandated that the state promote it.

• Basic Law: Israel as the Nation State of the Jewish People

  1 — Basic principles

  A. The land of Israel is the historical homeland of the Jewish people, in which the State of Israel was established.

  B. The State of Israel is the national home of the Jewish people, in which it fulfills its natural, cultural, religious and historical right to self-determination.

  C. The right to exercise national self-determination in the State of Israel is unique to the Jewish people.

• Netanyahu had reason enough to defend Israel's land from Hezbollah.  At the same time, his act might have strengthened Lebanon into fighting Hezbollah as well. 

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