Articles

The judicial overhaul is forcing Jewish Israelis to choose to identify, in an almost dichotomic manner with one of two camps. As they clash, the real loser is our unifying, complex, diverse, and open Jewish identity. 

The Supreme Court hearing on September 28th, 2023 will focus on the question of whether the amendment should be interpreted as being valid only in the future, to remedy the perception of personal benefit for the current prime minister.

As it is widely known that negotiations have been underway between Israel and Saudi Arabia under the auspices of the United States, we asked two questions regarding the expected impact of the negotiations and a possible agreement on domestic matters.

While technology cannot eliminate uncertainty or surprise, it can help decision-makers think about the future.

One of the important lessons learned from the Yom Kippur War was that the authority of government ministers to decide on security-related matters must be strengthened; However, even after five decades, the proper balance between the authority of the prime minister and the members of the security cabinet has not yet been properly regulated.

On the question of Unreasonableness, it appears that the dispute is not only between the Knesset and the Supreme Court, but also among the justices themselves. There are many possibilities, but only one ruling, which will be handed down no later than mid-January 2024.

The government is advancing a bill that will enable the police to use facial recognition technology by the police. Use of such technology by the police raises a number of critical issues. 

Yohanan Plesner, President of IDI, Prof. Suzie Navot, VP of Research, Prof. Karnit Flug, VP of Research and William Davidson Senior Fellow for Economic Policy, and the entire IDI team wish you all a happy New Year. Shana Tova!

Yohanan Plesner, president of IDI and Prof. Yuval Shany, a Senior Fellow at the Center for Democratic Values and Institutions met with reporters to discuss the historic Supreme Court hearing on the repeal of the reasonableness doctrine.

41.5% of coalition voters and 6% of opposition voters said that the Court lacks the authority to perform judicial review over Basic Laws passed by Knesset. 73% of Israelis agree that in order to bridge the divisions between the political camps, attempts should be made to reach a compromise. 

Three petitions before the Israeli Supreme Court are transforming the usually slow month of September into a pivotal one in Israel’s ongoing judicial crisis.

On September 12, 2023, an unprecedented panel of 15 Supreme Court Justices will convene to hear petitions requesting to strike down the recent amendment to the "Basic Law: The Judiciary."

The Judicial Selection Committee has not met for more than a year, and during this period, various positions held by judges have been vacated.

Marking the beginning of the new school year, a special survey was conducted asking the public whether they agree that it is the teacher's role to education for democracy. Almost three-quarters of the respondents agree that it is. 

Earlier this year, we published an article warning against the dangers of the judicial reforms, to our regret, many of the negative developments about which we warned at the beginning of the year have already come to pass.

Minister of Communications Shlomo Karhi has proposed reforms to Israel's broadcast system. The components of the reforms, alongside the context in which they are being proposed, make clear that their objective is a politicization and government control of regulatory bodies.

A volunteer civilian army is possible only when a shared core of social values exists among citizens. But deepening social and political tensions has threatened this system.

All too often the Knesset amends Israel's Basic Laws - how does this compare with other parliamentary democracies?

In an effort to create uniformity, populists are ready to destroy the state.

Ditching the 5-year plan for the Arab sector will have adverse long-term effects on the Arab's sector ability to integrate into Israel's shared society.

The July 2023 edition of the Israeli Voice Index finds that 58% of Israelis believe the country is in a "state of emergency." Only a small minority of Israelis believe that IDF reservists, who fail to report for duty in protest of the judicial overhaul, should be dismissed.

The term "incapacitation" refers to a situation in which a government official is unable to perform their duty. The previous version of the law did not detail what constitutes incapacitation, nor who is authorized to declare incapacitation. The current version is accused of being personal and political.  

Less than 24 hours after the Knesset passed the “Reasonableness Law” the attorney general filed her professional opinion to the Supreme Court on an entirely different matter: the “Incapacitation Law.” What do the two amendments share in common?

The broadcast system in Israel certainly needs to be reformed in various ways, but Communications Minister Karhi's proposals all include a political twist that transform reform into ruination.

When Israeli liberals depend solely on the Supreme Court for checks and balances, they are taking a big risk. It is essential to add veto points as human rights in Israel should not depend on the Supreme Court alone - decentralization of government is key. 

This paper seeks to elucidate the economic consequences of the judicial overhaul. It approaches the topic through the lens of the new institutional literature in economics, which has extensively addressed the link between democratic institutions and the economy in recent decades.

The coalition launched the first stage in its judicial overhaul. The process by which the amendment to the Basic Law: The Judiciary was passed, releasing the government and its ministers from the duty to act with reasonableness, is the best possible evidence for what we can now expect.

On Monday, the Knesset voted 64-0 to amend the Basic Law governing Israel’s judiciary and strip the Supreme Court of its power to block government decisions on the basis of the standard of “extreme unreasonableness.”  The decision has potentially fateful consequences because of its immediate implications,

The protest by reserve soldiers has sparked a fierce political and public debate in Israel. Who are these reservists, what are their motivations and what are the implications of their choice? Find the answers here. 

The Israeli governing coalition is now “only” trying to strip the Supreme Court of its power to conduct reasonableness review of cabinet decisions.