The main purpose of the Democracy Award is educational: to shed light on a unique figure whose lifework and achievements serve as a model for a democratic society in general, and for our younger generation in particular: Meir Shamgar – a noble-minded leader, a sincere and compassionate fighter, a legal innovator and a visionary, a judge, and above all – a man who loves his people. It is in fact Meir Shamgar, whom we are honoring with the presentation of the Democracy Award, who does honor to the award a thousand times over.
We, the members of the Israel Democracy Institute, have had a rare privilege – a decade of working together with Justice Shamgar. The beginning of this cooperative effort began just as he was concluding his term as President of the Supreme Court. On Monday, November 6, 1995, the office of the late Prime Minister Rabin was to have fixed a date for the convening of the “Forum of the Heads of the Authorities,” comprising the then Speaker of the Knesset Shevah Weiss, Prime Minister Rabin and outgoing Supreme Court President Meir Shamgar. About a year before that we had planned the convening of the forum with these prestigious figures, and we had hoped that the first meeting would begin a wide-ranging constitutional process for the State of Israel. That Monday, the funeral was held for the Prime Minister who had been murdered two days earlier. Since then, the guidance and actions of President Emeritus Shamgar have been directed towards the efforts of the Israel Democracy Institute to establish a meaningful constitutional dialogue, whose crowning triumph will be the establishment of a constitution.
This rich cooperation, within the framework of the Israel Democracy Institute, has brought to light some hints of the sterling characteristics of Meir Shamgar – those same qualities which we seek to impart to a society as it lays the foundation for democracy in Israel. At the end of a decade of true cooperation, and in anticipation of the challenges still before us, Justice Shamgar’s leadership is especially relevant. This leadership has in the past led the Supreme Court through the stormy waves of controversial seas within Israeli society and has preserved the central status and credibility of the Supreme Court among the various sectors that compose the Israeli collective. On this important day, in which we humbly and respectfully present the Democracy Award to Meir Shamgar, our eyes look to the future: to the important challenge of establishing a constitution by consensus for Israel. We are certain that the leadership of the recipient of this Award will guide our path with a bright, shining light.