Articles

"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.

IDI Vice President Yedidia Stern responds to government's January 31, 2016 decision to allow egalitarian prayer at some parts of the Western Wall.

At roundtable event, government officials and researchers say time to move dialogue from quantity of Haredim in the workforce to the quality of their jobs.

The law is not similar to the American law. It discriminates and is likely to lead to lawsuits against Israel in the international criminal court.

Reform was written based on extensive research done by IDI.

Ahead of Sunday's vote on an 'Arab exclusion' bill by Yisrael Beiteinu Minister of Knesset Oded Forer, IDI's Prof. Mordechai Kremnitzer and Dr. Amir Fuchs sent a policy statement to the committee against the bill.

The Israel Democracy Institute's Dr. Shuki Friedman took part in a "Nation, Religion and State" coalition meeting  under the oversight of Knesset Members (MKs) Aliza Lavie and Elazar Stern (Yesh Atid). The topic: Finding alternatives to marrying through the Israeli Rabbinate.

The index, polled between Dec. 29 and 30, 2015 – before the Jan. 1 Tel Aviv terror attack and before the indictments against the Jewish suspects were handed down – focuses on the Israeli public’s positions on aspects of the efforts to prevent terror attacks and on issues in the background of these incidents, such as the current level of support for the two-states-for-two-peoples solution, the relative bond to the land among Jews and Palestinians, and the balance between Israel’s Jewish and democratic components.  

Policy statement: "The current law from 1959 does not jibe in the current media and political reality of the 21st century and causes discrimination between different forms of media and political forces."

As 2015 draws to a close, we are glad to present some of our biggest events of 2015 in photos.

Ahead of Monday's deliberations and expected vote on the final draft of the World Zionist Organization settlement division bill in the House Committee of the Knesset, a representative of the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) sent a sharply worded policy statement to the committee asking that it make fundamental changes to the bill. In the policy statement, Dr. Tehilla Shwartz-Altshuler, the head of IDI's Open Government project, said the bill is a dramatic failure in its lack of willingness to subject the WZO division to certain administrative laws.

Professor Mordechai Kremnitzer and Dr. Amir Fuchs of the Israel Democracy Institute continue to oppose an amendment to the Non-profit Organization Law (Duty of Disclosure for those Supported by Foreign State Entities) on grounds that it reduces freedom of association and expression, and is directed at restricting the activities of human rights organizations.

Other finding: image of present Knesset members is, in the vernacular, "lousy"

Following the advancement of an amendment to a Basic Law on the issue of removing the authority of the Supreme Court to intervene in decisions of the Central Elections Committee to cancel candidates or lists from participating in elections, the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) sent out a sharply worded policy paper opposing this proposal. 

Regarding today's vote on the state budget: The Israel Democracy Institute calls for cancelling the law by which governments fall apart (vote of no confidence) if state budgets are not passed.  The current system negatively impacts the ability of members of Knesset to make sound decisions on behalf of the country, leads to corruption and members acting for personal and party gain.

Upholding human rights means police can only search a person when there is solid suspicion. This was the message that Israel Democracy Institute's Professor Mota Kremnitzer and Dr. Amir Fuchs delivered in a policy statement on Nov. 11.

The Israeli Democracy Institute (IDI) released the Israeli Democracy Index 2015 on Nov. 10, 2015. This year's public opinion poll, a project conducted by the Guttman Center for Surveys, found that Israeli's are more content than the news reports might make them appear.

This month's peace index survey focused on the ongoing wave of terror attacks and how they are affecting the feelings and behaviors of the Israeli public. Overall, the study found a Jewish public that is tense but not hysterical.

The Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) spoke out strongly against the graffiti painted on the Supreme Court building, discovered Nov. 4, and said it is a direct result of the slander that has been recently put out there against the court system by Israeli public activists. IDI stressed that it is the job of the Prime Minister and the parties to defend the rule of law. 

IDI responds to MK Aryeh Deri's resignation from the Economy Ministry, calls it, "a symptom of a governmental system that must undergo several structural changes in order to create long-term stability."

Policy statement explains ordinance harms rights of individuals suspected of security crimes.

Bill is as an attempt to destabilize the balance between Israel's democratic character and its Jewish character.

More than 200 people attended a Tuesday symposium on the assassination of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. At the event, former Mk Gideon Sa'ar said, "We are sick of words."

A sharply worded policy statement by Israel Democracy Institute experts was sent last week to members of the Ministerial Committee on Legislation against the proposed amendment to the party funding law that allow a committee to halt funding to parties that call for placing a boycott on the state of Israel or any area of Israel, including the West Bank.

Peace Index - Sept. 2015

Prof. Amichai Cohen responds to the decision by the judges of International Criminal Court in The Hague to reopen the investigation into the events of the Mavi Marmara. 

Upon the release of the findings of the international investigation of Operation Protective Edge: IDI warns that the intervention by international bodies in the investigation of the events of the Operation in Gaza undermines the basis of the international demand to establish investigative mechanisms and weakens the Israeli legal system.