Articles

Creating a gender-equal military is a complicated task, but the IDF must not forget its responsibility, nevertheless many Israeli soldiers have not been trained on gender equality says Idit Shafran Gittleman.

Excerpts from the presentation of Prof. Karnit Flug, IDI’s newly appointed Vice President, at the ‘Globes’ Governors Conference”

The August 2019 Israeli Voice Index found that Jewish Israelis show a strong preference for a unity government while Arab Israelis prefer a center-left wing government led by Gantz and that over the past five months there has been a steady decline in the public’s optimism about the future of Israel’s democracy and security

Two and a half weeks ahead of the elections, a special IDI survey reveals that the Israeli public gives government economic policies a failing grade and supports increasing the budgets allocated to health, education, welfare, and public transportation services

The majority of the public would prefer to pay more taxes, in exchange for funding of education from birth for all Israeli children; The respondents defined the main factor impacting the quality of education, is the quality of teaching in schools; Moreover, most Israelis would not encourage their children to work as teachers in the future

In light of their demographic growth, the ultra-Orthodox community in Israel have to attempt to become part of in the broader Israeli society.

Vocational training in Israel used to be a success story, but lack of funding and management has severely compromised its effectiveness. Dr. Eitan Regev explains how this in turn impairs productivity and wages and what should be done to improve this important program.

Secular studies should be incorporated into the curriculum in ultra-Orthodox schools for boys, says Dr. Gilad Malach. It is vital to the future of Israeli economy and society and can be done without compromising Torah study.

On claims that the High Court ties the security establishment's hands, Dr. Amir Fuchs says "the truth is that when authoritative figures from the defense establishment appear before the court to support some important security requirement, the court almost always adopts their argument".

The Israel Democracy Institute offers a look inside efforts to reduce politicization of Israel's Supreme Court.

Even though most Israelis support opening businesses & public transportation on Shabbat issues of religion and state will not decide the September elections

This special survey examines attitudes of right wing voters on a number of issues related to September's election including the possibility of a unity government and recent proposals that would limit judicial review and oversight of Knesset and government decisions. 

A special IDI survey examined attitudes of right wing voters and found that 42% of right-wing voters support a unity government and that 43% oppose additional political power for elected officials at the expense of the Judicial Branch of government.

Jewish solidarity is an existential imperative. As we mark the solemn day of Tisha B'Av, Dr. Friedman reflects on the importance of strengthening the common denominator among all Jewish communities. 

Strengthening the norms that are founded on our shared national traditions can help fortify our shared national identity - but any attempt to impose religious norms on a public when the majority does not identify with them will only lead to division and hate, says Yair Sheleg as we mark the mourning day of Tisha BÁv.

New IDI Campaign to Warn Against Attempts to Decimate Supreme Court and Grant Unlimited Power to Politicians

"Israel and other Western Democracies must carefully consider the negative ramifications of excelling in technology while disregarding moral and ethical questions." Read Dr. Tehilla Shwartz Altshuler's latest in Techcrunch

All in all, the human landscape of the Knesset continues a trend of an improved representation, which better reflects the heterogenous Israeli society. Still, several groups are still under-represented, mainly women, non-Jews, young adults and “Russians”.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is awarded high grades for improving Israel’s international standing (60%), enhancing the country's military strength (56%), and successfully contending with the Iranian threat (50.5%) but poor grades for failing to increase solidarity between Israel's different segments of society (51%) and on the question of personal integrity (49%).

A year has passed since, The Basic Law: Israel the Nation-State of the Jewish People, was passed. What, if anything, has changed in that time?

The public - your employer - has the right to know how often you skip the Knesset plenum or travel abroad. Election date is getting closer and there is no better time than now, to give some thought to the public’s right to information

Arab parties can surge if they shake off the old politics - a significant number of Arabs who stayed home in April will vote if they are persuaded their leaders have integrity

An unflattering US report on freedom of religion would have us believe that Israel is being run by an ayatollah-like regime. While some limits to freedom of religion exist, Israel is a free country

Could economic compensation provide a basis for promoting equality for all IDF soldiers and for the ultra-Orthodox sector as well?

Calls for applying "Torah Law"in Israel lay bare the the much larger problem posed by the substantial clash of the world of Halacha with two fundamental principles of the modern liberal world: individual freedom and equal rights

The real story of the April 2019 elections took place outside the polling booth. In the Arab sector, the Movement to Boycott the Knesset Elections, a grassroots group based on Arab young adults and university students, working on the social networks with a shoestring budget, conducted an effective campaign with a simple and catchy slogan: “Boycott: The People’s Will.” This message stood in utter contradiction to the motto of the elections in 2015: “The Joint List: The People’s Will.”

Those who are not familiar with the Knesset’s day-to-day activities may mistakenly believe that it normally functions efficiently.

Despite the fact that the State of Israel and its central institutions are essentially secular and reflect a Zionist self-image, according to data from the 2016 Democracy Index only two-thirds (64%) of ultra-Orthodox Israelis report having a strong sense of belonging to the state. 

Many Israeli policies only influence Israeli citizens. But when it comes to questions of Jewish identity, every decision and every statement made reverberates throughout the Jewish world.

On July 19th 2019, Netanyahu’s total days in office as Israel’s prime minister equals Ben-Gurion’s and on July 20th he will hold the title of the Israeli prime minister with the longest term in office. This also will make him the third most 'veteran' leader among the OECD countries.