ABSTRACT
In a parliamentary system, the parliament’s supremacy over the government also has a symbolic dimension. Since the source of sovereignty resides in the parliament, symbolically it stands above the government. One of the ways that Ben-Gurion impinged upon the status of the Knesset was in the symbolic realm. He relegated it to the sidelines and attempted to pare down its symbolic superiority Probably one of the reasons, although certainly not the most important, for his objection to the framing of a constitution was his reluctance to allow the Knesset, or the Constituent Assembly, to perform this task rather than him. Since a constitution carries great symbolic importance, he wanted to prevent the Knesset from doing anything that would leave a strong imprint on Israeli society and might outweigh another symbolic act-the declaration of independence, which, in his view, was identified with him and attributed to him.1
