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Historian Elie Barnavi defines Israel as “a modern parliamentary democracy with a biblical foundation”. On 14 February 1949, the Constituent Assembly held its first session. A transitional law was to establish the structures of the state until the assembly drafted a constitution. This constitution never saw the light of day due to opposition from religious parties, which are essential partners in any government coalition. In fact, the electoral system that was adopted is strictly proportional, based on lists presented by the parties, with the entire country considered as a single electoral district. This system places small parties, especially religious ones, in a position of power. For these parties, the constitution of the State of Israel already exists : it is the Torah.

The ambiguity of the situation lies in the fact that, on the one hand, the Zionist project, which is fundamentally secular in nature and to which religious groups were fiercely opposed, was carried out by socialist and atheist pioneers, but on the other hand, the State of Israel sees itself as the state of the Jewish people.