Amnon Rubinstein
אמנון רובינשטיין‎
Rubinstein in 1982
Ministerial roles
1984–1987	Minister of Communications
1992	Minister of Science & Technology
1992–1993	Minister of Energy & Infrastructure
1993–1996	Minister of Education, Culture & Sport
Faction represented in the Knesset
1977–1978	Democratic Movement for Change
1977–1992	Shinui
1992–2002	Meretz
Personal details
Born	(1931-09-05)5 September 1931 Tel Aviv, Mandatory Palestine
Died	18 January 2024(2024-01-18) (aged 92) Tel Aviv, Israel
Signature

Amnon Rubinstein (Hebrew: אמנון רובינשטיין, 5 September 1931 – 18 January 2024) was an Israeli legal scholar, politician and recipient of the Israel Prize. A member of the Knesset between 1977 and 2002, he served in several ministerial positions. He is referred to as the “founding father of Israeli Constitutional Law”^[1] In later life he was dean of the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) in Herzliya and a patron of Liberal International.

Rubinstein was born in Tel Aviv to Aharon, a building contractor and founder of the "Rubinstein Group", and Rachel, who immigrated from Poland to Israel in the early 1920s. His family opposed the Labor Movement, and in his youth, he supported the Irgun.^[2] Rubinstein was active in public life from a young age, and in the early 1950s, he was a member of the Volunteers' Row, a public organization aimed at fighting corruption and helping new immigrants. He studied at the Geula Commercial High School in Tel Aviv and later at a high school in Baltimore, United States. In the IDF, he served as an officer in the Artillery Corps.^[3] He later retrained and served in the anti-aircraft unit, continuing his service there in the reserves.

After his military service, Rubinstein pursued studies in law, economics, and international relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.^[4] He did his legal internship at the State Attorney's Office^[5] and also with attorney Chaim Zadok, who later became the Minister of Justice. He was licensed as a lawyer in 1961.^[6] He received his Ph.D. in law from the London School of Economics in 1960.^[7] His doctoral dissertation, titled "Void and Voidable Actions in Administrative Law", was published as a book by Oxford University Press.

At the age of 25, during his studies, he married Roni (granddaughter of Jacob and Perla Shlush, Founders of Tel Aviv), also a student. The two met at Kibbutz Afikim, where he was sent for fortification work before the Suez Crisis. Later, his wife also became a lawyer. They had a son and a daughter.

Rubinstein returned to public activism after the Yom Kippur War, and in March 1974, he was one of the founders of the Shinui Party as part of the protest movements that emerged during this period.^[8][9] Later, he joined with Yigael Yadin to form the Democratic Movement for Change (Dash). The main agenda of the party focused on electoral reform, advocating for regional elections, combating corruption, ensuring equal burden-sharing, establishing a constitution, and separation of religion and state. Dash won 15 seats in the 1977 elections, but its hope of becoming a kingmaker was thwarted as Menachem Begin succeeded in forming a government without Dash. A few months later, Dash joined Begin’s government, but Rubinstein refused to enter the coalition because, in his view, a significant portion of Dash's platform was not reflected in the coalition agreement. On September 14, 1978, Dash split, and Rubinstein headed the faction called the "Movement for Change and Initiative," which later became "Shinui – Center Party." The Shinui faction was elected to the 10th Knesset, the 11th Knesset, and the 12th Knesset. In 1992, Shinui merged with the Ratz and Mapam parties to form Meretz, a joint list of parties advocating for peace and socioeconomic reform.

Rubinstein significantly advanced the Israeli Constitution Project.^[10] During the 12th Knesset, he initiated the proposal for the Basic Law on Human Rights and suggested splitting it into four separate proposals, including the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty and the Basic Law: Freedom of Occupation. This division led to a breakthrough, and the two proposals were eventually passed by the Knesset as Basic Laws.

In 1977, he was elected for the first time to the 9th Knesset and served continuously until 2002. During his tenure as a member of the Knesset, he served as the chairman of the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee (in the 15th Knesset), the chairman of the Economic Affairs Committee (in the 14th Knesset), the chairman of the State Control Committee (in the 15th Knesset), and also as a member of the Judicial Selection Committee.

In 1999, in what is considered one of the embarrassing events in Knesset history, following a false message received (from Zalman Shoshi) by Avraham Burg, the Speaker of the Knesset, that he had died, the Knesset members observed a moment of silence in memory of Rubinstein while he was still alive. Burg delivered a eulogy and even recited the Kel Maleh Rachamim prayer.^[11]

In July 2002, Rubinstein announced his resignation from the Knesset.^[12] His resignation took effect at the end of October that year.

Rubinstein served as the patron of the Liberal International and previously as a vice president of the organization.

With the formation of the National Unity Government led by Shimon Peres in 1984, Rubinstein was appointed as the Minister of Communications, a position he held until 1987 in the 21st Israeli Government and the 22nd Israeli Government.^[13] During his tenure, he implemented several reforms, including the establishment of commercial television and cable television, regional radio, and the transformation of "Bezeq" into a commercial company.^[14] After the formation of Rabin’s government in the 1992 elections, he was appointed Minister of Science and Technology and Minister of Energy and Infrastructure. During his tenure, Rubinstein initiated the Electricity Sector Law, 1996,^[15] which instructed the establishment of the Public Utilities Authority – Electricity, and worked to break the monopoly of fuel companies by introducing competition in fuel imports.

In 1994, after Shulamit Aloni, leader of Meretz, was forced to resign from the Ministry of Education due to statements that angered religious elements in the government regarding the origins of humanity, Rubinstein was appointed Minister of Education, Culture, and Sport. He served in this position until 1996. As Minister of Education, he gained popularity due to his liberal stance, especially regarding high school matriculation exams, and his opinions on the Psychometric Entrance Test, stating that if such a test had existed during his time, he would not have been able to study law.

As Minister of Education, Rubinstein initiated two reforms.^[16] The first dealt with the structure of matriculation exams. Under his leadership, the Ministry of Education increased the rate of students successfully passing matriculation exams. This was achieved, among other measures, by introducing a system in which some core subjects did not require an external exam. As a result, between the 1994 and 1996 school years, the matriculation eligibility rate increased by over 5% to approximately 45% of each cohort.^[17]

The second reform initiated by Rubinstein was the establishment of academic colleges.^[18] These included both state-funded colleges, such as the Tel Aviv–Yafo Academic College, and privately funded ones, like the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya. This reform made higher education accessible to disadvantaged populations. In 2016, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported 89,944 students with Bachelor's degrees from academic colleges.^[19] According to reports from the Council for Higher Education, 97,580 students are currently enrolled in academic colleges, constituting 66% of all students in Israel.^[20]

After retiring from politics, in addition to his criticism of the Israeli right, Rubinstein became a sharp critic of the Israeli left, which he claimed had become increasingly radical in an effort to appease the Palestinians. Following the signing of the Geneva Initiative by Meretz leader Yossi Beilin, Rubinstein left Meretz, citing his opposition to the compromise on the Right of Return, which was included in the agreement.^[21]

In the legal controversy that erupted in Israel in 2007 over the initiatives proposed by Justice Minister, Daniel Friedmann, to change the judicial system, Rubinstein sided with Friedmann on several issues and was one of the initiators of a petition supporting him. He explained his stance:

"My aim was to dispel the impression that the professors in the universities had created, as if the entire academia opposed Friedmann's initiatives. Every matter should be examined on its own merit, not through personal attacks."^[22]

In 1963, Rubinstein was appointed the first dean of the Faculty of Law at Tel Aviv University.^[23][24] He served in this position until 1970. His research focused on the constitutional law of Israel, examining the nature of the state of Israel, Zionism, the status of the Law of Return, and the civil rights of Arab citizens of Israel. In 2006, he was awarded the Israel Prize for legal research. The judging panel described Rubinstein as:

"The father of Israeli constitutional law. Through his deep academic writing and diverse public activities, he promotes democracy, equality, and human rights. Few can match his contribution to the state of Israel as Prof. Amnon Rubinstein – as a public figure, as a member of the legislative and executive branches, as a researcher, and as a brilliant jurist."

After concluding his service in the Knesset in 2002, Rubinstein served as the dean of the Radzyner School of Law at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya (2002–2004) and was briefly appointed as the president of the Interdisciplinary Center.^[25]

Rubinstein served as a visiting professor at academic institutions abroad, including Stanford University and Columbia University.^[7]

Rubinstein had a media career as a columnist. In the 1960s, he wrote articles in the press against what he called religious coercion and the concessions made to the religious parties.^[26] He gained fame as a popular columnist and interviewee.^[27] From 1969 to 1972, he hosted a debate program on Israel Educational Television called "Boomerang".^[28] From 1964 until 2004, he was a member of the editorial board of Haaretz and a regular contributor to the newspaper, systematically addressing issues of religion and state and combating antisemitism, particularly that which he attributed to the political left in Europe.^[29] He also wrote regularly for the Ma'ariv weekend supplement and various international publications, including the New York Times.

In early 2005, Rubinstein published his debut novel, "The Blanket", depicting interconnected and separate life stories of Israeli characters from pre-state days to the present. The novel explores themes central to Israeli society. In early 2006, he published another novel, "Highway No. 5", followed by three more novels – "The Sea Above Us" (2007), "Separate Entrance" (2009), and "Forbidden Loves" (2010).^[30] In recent years, Rubinstein hosted a radio program on Kol HaMusika – "A Musical Morning for Truck and Bus Drivers" (2014-2015).^[31] In 2022, he published the futuristic novel "Methuselah".^[32]

Rubinstein published several articles on the investigation and prosecution of public figures in Israel, arguing that enforcement bodies in Israel hold excessive power over elected officials, which is unrestrained.^[33] He pointed to several cases where such use of power may have occurred.^[34][35]

In 2020, Rubinstein was interviewed for "The Future Archive", a documentation project of the founding generation of intellectuals who left a significant mark on Israeli culture.^[36]

Rubinstein resided in Tel Aviv. He died on January 18, 2024.^[37] He is survived by a son and a daughter.

In 2006, Rubinstein won the Israel Prize, for law.^[38][39][40] The Israel Prize award committee provided the following endorsement for its decision:

"[Amnon Rubinstein is] the founding father of Israeli constitutional law… In the legal and public arena in Israel, there are few who can equal Prof. Amnon Rubinstein’s contribution to the State of Israel…"

In 2003, he received the title of Knight of Quality Government (in the Lifetime Achievement category) from the Movement for Quality Government.^[41]

He received numerous awards, including the Hashin Prize for Academic Excellence in Law (2010),^[42] the Gorney Prize for Public Law (2016) for his contribution to public law, the ISEF Award for social contribution in 2013, the Herzog Prize for unique contributions to Israel (2018), and the Ramat Gan Literary Award (2015). In 2022, he was awarded the EMET Prize for Law.^[43]

In 2022, the "Rubinstein Center for Constitutional Challenges" was established in his name at Reichman University.^[44]

Non-fiction books:

• 1965: Jurisdiction and Illegality (Oxford University Press) (English)
• 1969: The Constitutional Law of the State of Israel, Schocken Publishing House (sixth edition published in 2005 with Dr. Barak Medina). (Hebrew)
• 1975: Enforcing Morality in a Permissive Society, Schocken Publishing. (Hebrew)
• 1997: From Herzl to Rabin and Beyond, Schocken Publishing. (Hebrew)
• 1998: A Certain Political Experience, Yedioth Ahronoth Publishing. (Hebrew)
• 1982: From Herzl to Gush Emunim and Back Again, Schocken Publishing. (Hebrew)
• 1984: The Zionist Dream Revisited, Schocken Books, New York, and Calmann-Lévy, Paris (English) (also published in French).
• 1993: Basic Law: The Knesset, in the series Interpretation of the Basic Laws, Harry Sacker Institute, with Ran Har-Zahav. (Hebrew)
• 2000: From Herzl to Rabin: The Changing Image of Zionism, Holmes & Meier Publishers, New York (English) (also published in Russian).
• 2001: History of Zionism: From Theodor Herzl to Today. (Hebrew)
• 2001: Daat Yachid, Schocken Publishing. (Hebrew)
• 2003: Israel and the Family of Nations (with Alexander Yakobson), Schocken Publishing. (Hebrew)
• 2009: Israel and the Family of Nations – (with Alexander Yakobson), Routledge, London (English) (also published in French).
• 2012: Without Government – How to Fix the System’s Faults (with Adam Wolfson), Zmora-Bitan Publishing. (Hebrew)
• 2014: Cracks in the Academy: Academic Freedom, University Independence, Student Status, and the Right to Higher Education (with Yitzhak Pasha), Nevo Publishing and Dvir Publishing. (Hebrew)
• 2017: The Tribes of the State of Israel: Together and Apart – Liberalism and Multiculturalism in Israel, Dvir Publishing. ^[45] (Hebrew)
• 2019: The Story of Secular Jews, Kinneret Zmora-Bitan Dvir.^[46] (Hebrew)

Novels:

• The Blanket, Schocken Publishing, 2005. (Hebrew)
• Highway No. 5, Schocken Publishing, 2006. (Hebrew)
• The Sea Above Us, Schocken Publishing, 2007. (Hebrew)
• Separate Entrance (Short Stories), Zmora-Bitan, 2009. (Hebrew)
• Forbidden Loves, Zmora-Bitan, 2010. (Hebrew)
• The Black Sun, Zmora-Bitan, 2013. (Hebrew)

• "Personal Seal with Prof. Amnon Rubinstein", Dan Margalit.
• Jacob Diment, It Was Not a Dream, Tel Aviv: Yaron Golan Publishing, 2006, pp. 203.

• List of Israel Prize recipients

• Official website
• Amnon Rubinstein on the Knesset website
• The right to democracy, Fathom: For a deeper understanding of Israel and the region, 30 January 2013
• Interview on Social justice, academica and political changes, June 26, 2014
• Amnon Rubinstein at Jewish Virtual Library