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IDI President Yohanan Plesner today came out against the decision to hold a rally on April 19 in support of the IDF soldier who shot dead a disarmed Palestinian attacker in Hebron last month.

IDI President Yohanan Plesner responds to a report composed today by an inter-ministerial team led by Defense Ministry Director-General Maj.-Gen. (Res.) Dan Harel suggesting that the government examine the possibility of offering discount prices on homes for members of the Haredi public who serve in the security forces.

Among those who signed are former ministers of the National Religious Party and Likud

Yair Sheleg, head of the Israel Democracy Institute's Religion and State program, today reacted to a document presented Sunday by rabbis from the nonprofit Beit Hillel urging greater acceptance of homosexuals within the Orthodox community.

Latest Peace Index shows Jewish Israelis agree Europe lacks the ability to combat terror, but favor collaborating with Turkey to fight terrorism. Plus, Israeli Jews now see Democratic frontrunner Clinton as better for Israel than Republican Trump.

Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) President Yohanan Plesner today responded to last week's Supreme Court decision that the state must recognize private Orthodox conversions, calling it inevitable, due to the continued failure of the state conversion institutes.

Yesterday, IDI held a roundtable discussion on how to appoint senior-level civil service professionals, under the direction of Eli Groner, director-general of the Prime Minister's office. At the forum, Groner discussed a dialogue that will take place Sunday in the Cabinet on the subject of establishing hiring search committees. 

As the Knesset winter session comes to a close, and a year into the 20th Knesset, the image of the Parliament and its members continues to suffer. On Tuesday, a new caucus will be launched with the purpose of proposing ways to improve the image of the Knesset and its members. 

Ahead of tomorrow's expected first reading of the MK Suspension Bill on the Knesset floor, Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) scholars sent an updated policy statement to members of Knesset, calling on them to vote against the bill.

Yesterday, a team of Israeli leaders met with President Reuven Rivlin at his residence to form a new caucus focused on restoring the public's faith in Israel's Parliament. The caucus, led by MK Elazar Stern, will work together with the Israel Democracy Institute to improve the Knesset's image.

"The Knesset is one of the most important institutions in our democracy. Improving its ability to function and its image in the eyes of the public is of extreme national importance," said IDI President Yohanan Plesner.

On March 20, the Ministerial Committee on Legislation will discuss legislation calling to lower the voting age in Israel from 18 to 17. Dr. Ofer Kenig, a researcher in IDI's Political Reform project, explains the the implications.

Ahead Sunday's vote in the Ministerial Committee on Legislation on whether or not the death penalty should be used against terrorists, two IDI scholars are calling on ministers to oppose the legislation.

Following today's advancement of the Mikveh Bill by the Knesset Plenum, IDI President Yohanan Plesner said, "The Mikveh Bill is not worthy of being included in the laws of Israel."

Yair Sheleg says head of Israel's rabbinical court should not take public stances on controversial non-religious issues.

Ahead of today's meeting of the Ministerial Committee on Legislation, the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) called for supporting a bill that will shorten the length of time allotted to form a governmnet after an election. 

Dr. Shuki Friedman, head of the IDI Center for Nation, Religion and State, said the bill's declared purpose is to attack the decision by the Supreme Court. Moreover, this bill would give the Chief Rabbinate unbridled authority over the mikvehs.

The proposed legislation was presented by Knesset Finance Committee head Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism) and would require that mikvehs be run only in accordance with the directives of the ultra-Orthodox Chief Rabbinate. 

IDI's Yohanan Plesner: "We need to look at this from a long-term perspective."

Peace Index: Israelis weigh in on which candidate is better for the Jewish State; Survey examines perceptions of Jerusalem as a divided city.

Policy statement: 'The current law already completely provides a way to deal with these kinds of issues, and there is no reason to change it.'

"The MK Suspension bill is an embarrassment to the Knesset."

IDI to Minister of Education Naftali Bennett: "Form a committee for appointing members of the Council of Higher Education, have the process overseen by the Attorney General and better coordinate with representatives from a variety of fields."

Former MKs say bill is unecessary.

International Advisory Council members from Baltimore, New York, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Toronto, England and Berlin discuss crisis of governance in the democratic world with Israeli government and economic leaders.

IDI researchers come out against MK suspension bill.

IDI event took place at the King David Hotel and included a keynote address by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The PM awarded IAC Chairman and former U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz with an award of appreciation for his service to Israel.

"We are witnessing a flood of initiatives that intend to bring about the politicization of and harm to the independence of the public sector." 

The majority of Israeli Jews (52.8%) say Israel applies the law equally toward Jews and Palestinians living in the West Bank, contrary to a statement made last month by U.S. Ambassador Dan Shapiro. However, 50.1% of respondents thought Israel would be justified in unequal application of the law toward Jews and Palestinians in the territories.