Articles

Israel's launch of Operation "Pillar of Defense" just before the elections for the 19th Knesset is reminiscent of the launch of "Operation Cast Lead" before the elections of 2009. Should the elections be postponed? Dr. Dana Blander discusses elections during times of war, in Israel and abroad, from an historical-legal perspective.

As the academic year started at Israeli universities, <em>Haaretz </em>reported that Israel's Arab population is extremely under-represented in all levels of Israeli higher education. Dr. Nabil Khattab, head of IDI's Arab-Jewish Relations project, shares his thoughts on these findings.

A bill entitled "Basic Law: Israel – The Nation State of the Jewish People" is currently being considered by the Knesset. Although it was sponsored by a large number of Knesset members from a both the coalition and the opposition, the bill is controversial as it may disrupt the delicate balance between the "Jewish" and "democratic" identities of the State of Israel. In this op-ed, IDI Vice-President Prof. Mordechai Kremnitzer and Researcher Adv. Shiri Krebs argue that the bill is unnecessary and counterproductive to the goal of a Jewish and democratic Israel. 

This abstract introduces an IDI study of economic development initiatives in Palestinian localities in Israel. The study focused on entrepreneurship, especially in the local food industry, and encourages more comprehensive research on entrepreneurship in Palestinian society in Israel.

On November 10, 2012, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu became the Israeli prime minister who has served the second longest cumulative term. Dr. Ofer Kenig explores Netanyahu's placement between record-holder David Ben-Gurion and Yitzhak Shamir.

An abstract of an article that examines the extent of the occupational mismatch among college-educated Arabs as compared to the mismatch among college-educated Jews, based on data from surveys conducted from 2000–2010.

In an op-ed published in The Jerusalem Post, IDI Director of International Communications Yehoshua Oz argues that a central group of larger parties is needed instead of the small parties that have inundated Israeli politics over the last two decades, in order to provide stability and avoid the need for coalitions of many small parties, each with their own special-interest demands.

Reflecting on the 17th anniversary of the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, IDI Research Fellow Yair Sheleg asserts that Rabin Memorial Day should be observed as "Israeli Democracy Day" and shares thoughts on political violence in Israel of 2012.

In an op-ed originally published in Yedioth Ahronoth, IDI Former President and Founder Dr. Arye Carmon welcomes the merger of the Likud and Yisrael Beiteinu, which he sees as an important milestone in a long, necessary process of repairing Israel's political system.

Research conducted by IDI's Arab-Jewish Relations project reveals a disparity between student achievement in the Jewish and Arab sectors. This abstract points to the variables that explain these disparities.

In an op-ed written in response to Rabbi Shlomo Aviner's declaration that women are forbidden to serve in the Knesset, IDI Vice President Prof. Yedidia Stern discusses the struggle between the integrationist and isolationist trends within Religious Zionism.

An analysis of Israeli public opinion on the issue of drafting ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students, as revealed in polls conducted by IDI's Guttman Center for Surveys from 1986 through 2009.

Upon the announcement of early elections, IDI researcher Dr. Ofer Kenig reviews the performance of the 18th Knesset and wonders how it will be judged by history.

In an op-ed in The Jerusalem Post, IDI's Prof. Yedidia Stern, who served on the Plesner Committee for Equality in National Service, and Mr. Jay Ruderman analyze the Haredi community's reluctance to serve in the Israeli army and present an approach that will facilitate Haredi integration into Israel's army and society.

IDI researcher Attorney Reuven (Ruvi) Ziegler argues that the response of the Israeli government to the plight of 20 Eritrean asylum seekers trapped between the fences of the Israeli-Egyptian border tests Israel's adherence to rulings of its own Supreme Court.

Israeli politicians deemed the attack of a group of Arab teens by a group of Jewish teens to be the act of "bad apples" who don't represent the norm. In the following op-ed, however, IDI researcher Attorney Amir Fuchs warns that the radicalization of Israeli youth is the fruit of a poisonous tree being cultivated in the Knesset itself.

Will the High Court of Justice’s refusal to extend the Tal Law indeed reduce the inequality of burden sharing in Israeli society? IDI Senior Fellow Prof. Momi Dahan does not think so, and argues that ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel should be exempted from the army and allowed to work, so as to assume their fair share of the tax burden.

Prof. Frances Raday and Adv. Ido Rosenzweig analyze the conclusion of the Israeli government's committee on the status of Israeli building in the West Bank, which was headed by former Justice Edmond Levy, and raise questions based on International Law and United Nations resolutions.

Are there gaps in the level of formal education required of elementary school teachers in the Arab and Jewish sectors in Israel and the level of education that they actually attain? Dr. Nabil Khattab, head of IDI’s Arab-Jewish Relations project, explores this question as part of an attempt to understand gaps in achievement between Jewish and Arab schools.

A survey of the creation of new political parties in Israel, from the state's founding through 1992, which was originally published in Hebrew in Parliament, IDI's online journal.

In response to the preliminary passage of an amendment that would exempt religious educational institutions from complying with accessibility requirement, a group of leading Israeli rabbis appealed to Israel's elected officials and requested their intervention to prevent the exemption from applying to religious schools. Rabbi Shay Piron, who directs IDI's work in this field under the auspices of IDI's Human Rights and Judaism project, coordinated this important effort. 

An analysis of the different patterns of alliances, unions, and mergers between political parties in Israel, which was originally published in Hebrew in IDI's online "Parliament" journal.

On April 4, 2012, IDI published an ad in the Hebrew Haaretz daily newspaper, appealing to the public for input that will inform the Institute's efforts to draft a proposal for regulating the activities of lobbyists in the Knesset.

In an op-ed originally published in Haaretz, IDI Senior Fellow Yuval Shany and IDI Researcher Attorney Ido Rosensweig critique an amendment that would allow interrogations of security defenders to go unrecorded, and warn that it is against public interest.

Following the dissolution of the Committee to Advance Equality in Sharing the Burden, committee head MK Yohanan Plesner submitted proposals for alternatives to the Tal Law. In this article, IDI Researcher Attorney Haim Zicherman, who served as the content coordinator of the Plesner Committee, warns that some of those measures were personal recommendations rather than recommendations of the Committee, and may reverse trends of increasing army service by ultra-Orthodox Jews.

In this video interview, IDI Former President and Founder Dr. Arye Carmon responds to Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's acquittal of most of the charges against him in July 2012.

In this video interview, IDI Vice President of Research Prof. Mordechai Kremnitzer responds to verdict in the trial of Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Eli Bahar, former legal adviser to the General Security Service, analyzes the Israeli Supreme Court’s decision to postpone ruling on a petition requesting the elimination of ethnic security checks in Israeli airports.

In an op-ed in The Jerusalem Post, Prof. Mordechai Kremnitzer and Prof. Yuval Shany discuss the need for measures, laws, and institutions designed to combat the war on terror in order to strike a balance between concern for national security and the need to safeguard democratic values such as human rights and the rule of law.

Attorney Amir Fuchs responds to Research Fellow Yair Sheleg's article "Appropriate and Inappropriate Evacuation," and takes exception to some of the arguments that it raised regarding the evacuation of settlements in Judea and Samaria on the basis of property rights.