Articles

With less than a month to go to Israel’s fifth elections in three and a half years, it is clear that governmental instability has wreaked huge damage. The work of the Knesset and of the government has suffered, as Knesset members and ministers are constantly operating in a campaign mode. The rules of the game that are generating this instability must be addressed carefully and based on a broad consensus.

Will the Arab public’s belief in Knesset elections in general, and in the Arab political lists in particular, will be strengthened. The Arab voter may overcome unjust policies by the government, but not internal crises. Dr. Rudnitzky reviews the main political and ideological streams in Arab society in Israel, ahead of the November 2022 elections

Israel's Security Cabinet is set to vote on a maritime agreement with Lebanon, but with the elections coming up, can an outgoing government sign such a deal and does it have to be ratified by the Knesset or by referendum?

Diplomatic briefing with IDI President Yohanan Plesner and Researcher Dr. Arik Rudnitzky on Israel’s fifth national elections in less than four years. The briefing focused on the electoral crisis, the state of Israeli democracy as well as the latest developments regarding the political parties and voting patterns of Arab Israelis.

IDI and the Yigal Allon Center held a special election conference for over 1,200 students from pre-army gap year programs. The conference provided an opportunity for leaders from across the political spectrum to address the issues young Israelis say are most important to them including the high cost of living and matters of religion and state.

In the decades since the end of the Cold War, regional nuclear powers are adopting strategic doctrines that revolve around the first use of nuclear weapons. This should be particularly worrying for Middle Easterners contemplating their own nuclear future. 

Over the past decade average real wage of Israeli workers increased by 25% - nevertheless their purchasing power is relatively lower than the OECD average

The demographic explosion of the ultra-Orthodox sector will no doubt lead the two partners in United Torah Judaism to divorce. When that happens, the minorities including the “New Haredim,” will wield greater power and demand that their children have a future in the working world.

Only 32% of Jewish Israelis support advancing a ‘two-state’ solution as a means for resolving the conflict with the Palestinians. When it comes to thwarting the possibility of a nuclear-armed Iran, half of the public thinks Israel can attack Iran’s nuclear facilities even without American agreement.

On the eve of the Jewish New Year, what can we wish for regarding Israeli regulatory policy? Here are some possible policy proposals.

The current political instability is the result a breach of accepted rules of the game that are based on assumptions about the nature of politics—and even of human nature.

70% of Jewish Israelis do not accept patrilineal descent and therefore do not consider those born to a Jewish father and non-Jewish mother to be Jewish. The new IDI survey reveals what Israelis really think on matters of religion and state

The Israel Democracy Institute’s Biennial Statistical Report on Religion and State, which provides an overview of the latest data, trends and changes affecting the delicate balance between religion and state in Israeli society, was published today at IDI’s annual conference on Religion and State.

Notwithstanding the drama related to the question of whether the ultra-Orthodox Ashkenazi parties will continue to run together in the current election, there are voices within these communities that might render this arrangement unacceptable in the near future.

IDI’s inaugural Biennial Statistical Report on Religion and State was published ahead of the annual conference organized by the Religion and State Program in the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Center for Shared Society.

The current campaign finance system in Israel incentivizes existing parties and creates a closed club where its difficult for new parties to compete. How can the system be reformed?

On questions of religion and state the tensions between the centralized and decentralized approaches can be misleading and creative rethinking might provides opportunities for achieving new agreements and a more balanced reality

Is the insistence on preventing public transportation on Shabbat for those who would use it a lost cause - and should it even be a cause at all?

Disqualifying candidates and lists for the Knesset violates one of the most fundamental democratic rights, the right to vote and to be elected. Therefore, it must be done with the utmost care, judgment and objectivity. Who can reject candidates and lists for the Knesset, and on what is the criteria? IDI experts answer these questions.

The disintegration of the Joint List is arousing diametrically opposite reactions from the two big blocs of the Israeli political spectrum. How will this new political reality play out in the upcoming elections?

Democracy is not just majority rule, but ensuring that all segments of society are provided with the opportunity to take part in a free and fair political process. For Israel, this means ensuring that the Bedouin population has equal opportunity to place their vote in the upcoming election.

Based on her address to a special event in Basel, Switzerland, marking the 125th anniversary of the first Zionist Congress, Shlomit Ravitsky Tur-Paz, calls for today’s generation to view Zionism not only as a vehicle for building a state, but also for enhancing and enriching Israeli society.

125 years ago, Herzl failed to convince ultra-Orthodox leadership to join the Zionist movement, and while their leadership did sign the Declaration of Independence in 1948, they Haredim remained in their “enclave” communities. Now, if modern-day Israel is to continue to thrive, integration of the ultra-Orthodox is crucial

The study, by Dr. Dana Blander, finds that Israel is the only country where sitting members of parliament serve as members of the body that administers and oversees the elections, without any threshold conditions. The members of Knesset and the other members that are party representatives sitting on the Central Election Committee have the authority to make consequential decisions regarding to the election they themselves are usually competing in - including disqualifying lists and the candidates running against them in the election.

The dramatic differences among the different parties in terms of women’s representation in realistic candidate slots raise the question of what has gone wrong with the gender quota system. One simple recommendation for gradually increasing these quotas could radically change the situation and help ensure equitable representation for women

Half of Israelis intend to vote for the same party they voted for in the previous (2021) elections and almost one-quarter of respondents say that they have not yet decided which party to vote for in the November 1st election

New analysis by Dr. Or Anabi reveals a strong correlation between those who identify as left-wing and their votes for parties categorized on the left. The same applies to Israelis who places themselves in the ideological center. By contrast, the voting patterns of Israelis who identify on the right is more complicated with many voting for parties thought to fall outside of the traditionally-defined right-wing bloc.

Former Governor of the Bank of Israel Prof. Karnit Flug, explains what lies behind the recent wave of the rise in prices; what is the main tool for dealing with inflation, and how this relates to wage agreements in the public-sector. She makes is clear that we are not back where we were in the 1980s, but, we must deal with the situation without delay.

In order to make a fundamental change we must start treating teaching as a national-priority profession