John Demjanjuk is dead. The man who was sentenced to death by an Israeli district court, but was later acquitted by the Supreme Court, died of natural causes at a ripe old age. Thirty years of legal proceedings in three countries have ended, more or less, with a whimper. Most of the Israeli public suspects that Demjanjuk was indeed “Ivan…

At first, the Court’s adamant refusal to get involved stemmed from its belief that the matter lacked justiciability and was beyond its authority. Later, when the nature of the Court shifted, its refusal became more hesitant and its rhetoric hinted at the possibility of intervention. Next, the Knesset enacted the Tal Law, which exempted full-time yeshiva students from military service.…

Haredim avoid the army for good reason. They fear that exposing young men who have been cloistered behind the “walls of holiness” to military service, with its high levels of adrenaline, will change their identity. Replacing the thrill of mastering a Talmudic question with the thrill of storming a building, firearm in hand, at an impressionable age when external influences…

Prof. Yedidia Z. Stern is Vice President of the Israel Democracy Institute and a member of the Faculty of Law at Bar-Ilan University. This article was originally published in Hebrew in Yedioth Ahronoth on November 10, 2011.

The imposition of mandatory military service on the citizens of Israel reflects a broad social consensus to an ethos in which individuals must risk their bodies, their freedom, and even their lives for their country. This consensus is clear to all Israelis because it is necessary for realizing our collective national interest. When our parents enlisted, when our children enlisted,…

At the center of the parliamentarians’ attention were private bills ostensibly aimed at Judaizing the Jewish state. The buzz words of the Knesset during the past year included “loyalty,” “boycott,” “Nakba,” “the New Israel Fund,” and the like. I will not use this forum to discuss the Knesset’s wisdom in engaging in such matters; it is very dubious. I will…

Professor Yedidia Z. Stern  is Vice President of IDI and former dean of the Law School at Bar Ilan University.

Political independence is not just measured quantitatively. It is made up of more than territory, a deterrent army, an impressive GNP, effective law enforcement, and representation in the United Nations. Independence also has important qualitative aspects. These are affected by psychological and cultural factors, and are reflected in the feelings and experiences of individual citizens and the nation as a…

Should clergy members be above the law when they express religious opinions? Imagine a Muslim imam in a mosque in New York giving a sermon in which he professes support for terrorism and calls for a jihad against Christians because he believes it to be a religious requirement of Islam. Imagine a priest with extremist views appearing on Austrian television…