Israeli politician (1931?2024)
Amnon Rubinstein
(
Hebrew
:
????? ??????????
, 5 September 1931 ? 18 January 2024) was an Israeli legal scholar, politician
and recipient of the
Israel Prize
(2006) and Cheshin Prize (2010). A member of the
Knesset
between 1977 and 2002, he served in several ministerial positions. In later life he was dean of the
Interdisciplinary Center
(IDC) in
Herzliya
and a patron of
Liberal International
.
Early life
[
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]
Rubinstein was born in
Tel Aviv
during the
Mandate era
. His family belonged to the
Revisionist Zionist
movement. Rubinstein would later split from Revisionism but remain impacted by the
classical liberalism
that influenced Revisionist founder
Ze'ev Jabotinsky
.
[1]
After serving as a captain in the IDF, he studied
economics
, international relations, and law at the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
and was called to the bar in 1963. He received a
PhD
in law from the
London School of Economics
in 1966. Between 1961 and 1975 he worked as a professor of law at
Tel Aviv University
, serving as faculty dean from 1968 until 1973.
[2]
Political career
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Rubinstein's political career began when he founded
Shinui
after the
Yom Kippur War
. Shinui joined
Yigael Yadin
's
Democratic Movement
to form
Dash
. In the
1977 elections
, Dash won 15 seats in the
Knesset
. Dash's victory came at the expense of the
Alignment
; for the first time in the 29 years since the founding of the modern state of Israel, the right wing formed the government. However, Rubinstein opposed Dash's participation in
Menachem Begin
's
Likud
government
coalition
, and Shinui broke away from Dash. Rubinstein retained his seat in the
1981 elections
, though Shinui was reduced to two seats. After winning three seats in the
1984 elections
Shinui were invited into the governing coalition, and Rubinstein was appointed
Minister of Communications
. Rubinstein was re-elected again in 1988, but Shinui were left out of the government.
Prior to the
1992 elections
Shinui
merged with
Shulamit Aloni
's
Ratz
and
Zionist
-
socialist
Mapam
to form
Meretz
, a
dovish
, social-democratic
liberal
party. Meretz joined
Yitzhak Rabin
's government in 1992, and Rubinstein was chosen as
Minister of Energy and Infrastructure
. However, early into his term he became
Minister of Education
instead, replacing
Shulamit Aloni
. As a legislator Rubinstein initiated and legislated the two basic laws that guarantee human rights in Israel (
Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty
,
Basic Law: Freedom of Occupation
).
[3]
As an Education Minister, Rubinstein lowered the bar for high school graduates to enter higher education and developed a system whereby high school students would be required to take fewer
matriculation
exams: the subjects for the exams would be chosen each year by lottery. He also spoke out against the
Psychometric Entrance Test
, required of Israeli university applicants, claiming that if he had been required to pass this exam, he would have not been accepted to law school.
Following
Likud
's victory in the
1996 elections
, Rubinstein and Meretz left the government. He was re-elected for a final time in 1999, and resigned from the Knesset at the end of October 2002.
Rubinstein lived to hear his own obituary read in 2000, when due to a practical joke,
Knesset speaker
Avraham Burg
was led to believe that he had died.
[4]
Rubinstein, who was hospitalized at the time for a minor complaint, saw his eulogy broadcast on television.
Academics and journalism
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After retiring from politics Rubinstein returned to academia. He regularly wrote opinion pieces for
Israeli newspapers
.
Rubinstein's scholarship was highly respected. His articles and books in the sphere of law in general, and especially Israeli law, enjoyed wide acclaim.
[1]
His collection
A Single Voice
(2002) outlined his "moderate, humanistic liberalism", according to a review in
Haaretz
.
[1]
Death
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]
Rubinstein died on 18 January 2024, at the age of 92.
[5]
Awards
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]
In 2006, Rubinstein won the
Israel Prize
, for law.
[6]
[7]
[8]
The Israel Prize award committee provided the following endorsement for its decision:
Amnon Rubinstein is "the founding father of Israeli constitutional law. In both his profound academic writings and his diverse public activities, he advances the values of democracy, equality and human rights. In the legal and public arena in Israel, there are few who can equal Prof. Amnon Rubinstein’s contribution to the State of Israel, as a public figure, a member of the legislative and executive branches of government, and as a brilliant researcher and legal expert."
Published works
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See also
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References
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External links
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