ABSTRACT
The right to “freedom of religion” – as well as the “ancillary” rights and its various derivatives, including freedom of religious belief, freedom of conscience, freedom of religion, freedom of worship, the right to access and worship the holy places – is recognized today in the law of the State of Israel as a constitutional right of the highest order.
Although it has no explicit name anchored in the law, there are many laws and, more than that, many dozens of rulings that recognized the right indirectly and implicitly anchored it, and worked to develop and preserve it.
The lack of the right to freedom of religion anchored in an explicit law stems both from the lack of a formal “constitution” document in the State of Israel and mainly from political considerations.
In view of this state of affairs, over the years, attempts have been made to establish the status of the right and to expand it through court rulings, especially the Supreme Court and High Court of Justice. These efforts have been crowned with success on the practical level, and there is hardly any case (except in cases where the right to freedom of religion is withdrawn from other rights and values, within the framework of the balance between them, as is customary in other legal systems) that points to an unjustified and disproportionate violation of this right.
It is possible that with the completion of the constitutional process in Israel, which has been ongoing since its establishment more than 75 years ago, there will also be a remedy for anchoring the right in an orderly constitutional document and in an explicit manner. Time will tell if the end of such a process will take shape. Until then, the right to be carried on the ship of ruling, here and there, was discussed, while its sailors did everything possible to strictly guard it and prevent damage to it.
