Basic Law: Freedom of Occupation חוק יסוד: חופש העיסוק
Guarantees every Israeli citizen and resident the right to engage in any occupation, profession, or trade, subject to a limitations clause. Re-enacted in 1994 after religious parties, representing a core constituency that values kashrut as a defining feature of the Jewish state, negotiated the addition of an override clause following a Supreme Court ruling on non-kosher meat imports.
Key provisions
- Every Israeli national or resident has the right to engage in any occupation, profession, or trade
- Restrictions allowed only by a law befitting the values of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, for a proper purpose, and to a proportionate extent
- Unique 'override clause' (Section 8), the Knesset may by absolute majority of 61 pass a law contradicting the Basic Law if it explicitly says so; such laws expire after four years unless renewed
- Protected from emergency regulations
Context
Passed in March 1992 alongside Human Dignity and Liberty. After the Supreme Court signaled in 1993 that it would strike down a ban on non-kosher meat imports, religious parties, defending the Jewish character of the state on a deeply symbolic issue, secured the law's complete re-enactment in 1994 with the override clause, a creative solution proposed by Justice Aharon Barak himself to allow the renewed 'Meat and Meat Products Law.' That re-enactment is the version in force today.
Notable amendments
- 1994: Wholly re-enacted with the override clause
- 1998: Extended override-law validity
Today
The override clause has been used only once (for the kosher-meat law, which protects the Jewish character of the food supply); during the 2023 judicial-reform debate, the coalition proposed extending an override mechanism to all Basic Laws as part of a broader effort to restore balance between the elected Knesset and an unusually activist Supreme Court, that proposal stalled after the October 7 war, and the Court's January 2024 ruling (8-7) struck down the related reasonableness amendment while affirming (12-3) its own power to review Basic Laws.
Why it matters
Twin pillar of Israel's 'constitutional revolution' and the only Basic Law with a built-in legislative override, the model and the central reference point for every subsequent debate about the proper balance between the Knesset and the Supreme Court in Israel's vibrant democracy.
Cite this page
Basic Law: Freedom of Occupation (1992). The State of Israel. https://thestateofisrael.com/basic-law/freedom-of-occupation