Restriction of Rights in the Framework of Section 4 of the Basic Law: Freedom of Occupation or Section 8 of the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty – for national reasons is possible, even in light of the fact that in the history of the Jewish people the national element and the religious element have joined together and between these two foundations an inseparable connection has been created, and taking into account that throughout the long history of the Jewish people the people has carried the character of a nation-religion, two elements that are intertwined and cannot be separated – the words of President Agranat in the case of the High Court of Justice 58/68 Shalit et al. v. Minister of the Interior et al. [8], at pp. 580-581.
Thus, even before the enactment of the Basic Laws, there was no dispute among the poskim that the values of the state are the values of a Jewish and democratic state.
This iron rule found expression in many laws apart from the two authorization laws mentioned above; I was referring to, for example, the Law of Return, 5710-1950, the Hours of Work and Rest Law, 5711-1951, the Festival of Matzot Law (Prohibitions of Chametz) 5746-1986, the Kosher Food Ordinance for Soldiers, 5719-1948, the Prohibition of Fraud in Kashrut Law, 5743-1983, Section 18(a) of the Government and Legal Procedures Ordinance, 5708-1948, which stipulated that the Sabbath and Jewish holidays are the official days of rest of the state. In this last matter, I will quote words written by the Honorable Justice E. Levy in criminal appeal (Tel Aviv) 1925/86, supra [21], at p. 145:
"Our eyes see that the chief legislator was of the opinion that a day of rest should be granted to the employee, and when he was required to choose one of the days of the week, he chose the day of the Sabbath specifically. The legislature acted for social reasons and chose the Sabbath because there is a consensus among the Jewish people that the appropriate day is Shabbat. The explanation is that the public is mostly secular, and therefore its choice of Shabbat did not stem from the religious commandment, and the explanation for this is that over the generations Shabbat became a national, social, and cultural asset, to the point that there is no longer any dispute that it is a day of rest for the people.