MK Limor Livnat addresses the Knesset plenum at its 55th birthday festive sitting, 2004

Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin:

President and Mrs. Katsav, Chief Justice and Justices of the Supreme Court, Mrs. Ora Herzog, former Speakers of the Knesset – Berman, Hillel, Shilansky, Weiss, Tichon – and Mrs. Tichon, Ministers, Chairman of the Opposition and former Prime Minister MK Shimon Peres, former and current Members of the Knesset and their spouses, the State Comptroller, dignitaries, heads of the diplomatic corps, heads of ethnic groups in Israel, soldiers, commanders of the Israeli Police and the Police Commissioner, members of youth movements, olim, invitees of the Jewish National Fund, distinguished guests.

This special sitting on the Knesset’s birthday we have decided to dedicate to the Knesset itself: its image, its status, its relevance in the eyes of the public.

Allow me to begin with a small personal confession, which is no longer a secret. I love the Knesset, and therefore, especially because of it, I am hurting. I am hurting to often see it humiliated, mocked, scorned, sometimes scorning itself, losing its clout, losing its status in the eyes of the other authorities, in the eyes of government officials, and hence in the eyes of the public. I am hurting to see it catapulted from all sides, I am hurting to see it being disrespected, I am hurting when it becomes irrelevant, and I am hurting the most since it deserves it, as so do we all.

I am not the only one hurting here. Among us are outstanding parliamentarians, faithful representatives who have seen it all in their public lives, and their hearts – I know – are aching.

Therefore, today I would like to turn to those who own this house, our clients, each and every one of the citizens of Israel, and say to them: We are not blind; we are not disconnected from what happens and from what many of you think of us. We are aware of the image we and this house have. We do not like this image; we do not agree it is always justified; we do not believe we always deserve it, especially not us all; but we are aware of it and are worried about it. It is not only because carrying this image is unpleasant, but because disrespect brings loss of legitimacy and relevance; not only of the Members of the Knesset and the Knesset as the highest representative institute, but of the representative method as a whole, of the political and party systems, of parliamentary democracy.

We are aware of this harsh image and we are working to change it, not only in cosmetically, but in its essence. Soon after I was elected, by you, Members of the Knesset, as Speaker, it was clear to me that the Knesset must regain the public’s trust; and that there are deep changes that must be done, in multiple layers, in order to see a change for the good. Therefore, soon after I assumed my office, we began working in parallel on several projects and subjects, of which some are currently progressing.

One of these tasks is the writing of a new code of ethics, updated and relevant to the Knesset. Unlike the common thinking, this matter did not rise from that despicable affair that severely slandered the Knesset, but before it. But it is obvious, I must admit, that that affair gave an enormous push for the code of ethics.

The public committee I appointed, headed by former Supreme Court Justice Yitzhak Zamir, has been working for several months on writing of the ethical code. We established this committee with Yitzhak Zamir as chairperson, and the following are its members: Yitzhak Alyassuf, Prof. Assa Kasher, Dr. Susie Navot, chairpman of the House Committee MK Ronnie Bar-On, former MK and Minister Haim Corfo, former MK and Minister Uzi Baram, legal advisor to the Knesset Anna Schneider, and the former legal advisor to the Knesset Zvi Inbar.

The House Committee had already approved, following a comprehensive discussion, the first declarative part of the ethical code, and it will be presented in detail by the committee’s chairperson, MK Ronnie Bar-On, who also served on the public committee. I ask that it be seen as a signal for the public that the Knesset – well aware of its image – is beginning a true, comprehensive process of correction.

As I have said, further projects and moves – some dramatic and some minor – are also being developed. Most of them – not all – began during the term of the Speaker of the Fifteenth Knesset, MK Avraham Burg.

So that this change may slowly occur, we ask for a further change - that the public should see and believe in its sincerity, in the sincerity of these developments.

The public deserves it, we deserve it, the Israeli democracy deserves it, and therefore we will deliver, because we must deliver it for our people, for our country and for the shrine of Israeli democracy, the Knesset, which greatly respects the government and the Supreme Court.