Articles

In this article, reprinted from Nationalism and Binationalism: The Perils of Perfect Structures, Prof. Sammy Smooha presents three models of Israel's national character, focusing on Israel's identity as a Jewish and democratic state.

IDI's Prof. Mordechai Kremnitzer critiques various aspects of the proposals for integrating the ultra-Orthodox into the army and calls on the Israeli public to stand firm on its demand for an arrangement that is fair and equitable.

IDI Researcher Dr. Ofer Kenig surveys the percentage of women in the Israeli cabinet since the founding of the State and calls for a change for the better.

Prof. Yedidia Stern calls for a historic alliance between religious and secular moderates that will yield a solution that will  that will yield a solution that addresses the need for ultra-Orthodox army service while taking into account the most important values of the Haredi community.

In an op-ed in Haaretz, IDI Researcher Attorney Amir Fuchs asserts that as Justice Minister, Tzipi Livni will have to restore confidence between the judicial system and political system and will have to serve as the representative of the judicial system to politicians.

In an article specially written for the IDI website, Dr. Ofer Kenig explains the basic principles of the process of coalition building, sharing facts, figures, and comparative data.

The need for the ultra-Orthodox community in Israel to share the burden of military service and participate equally in the Israeli economy was a central issue in the 2013 elections. IDI researcher Dr. Benny Porat shares his thoughts on how to bring about this change in the Haredi community.

IDI researcher Dr. Benjamin Brown discusses the sense of attack experienced by the Haredi community in the 2013 election campaign and calls for a process of gradual change in integrating the ultra-Orthodox in the Israeli army and workforce.

What explains the extraordinary accomplishment of Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party in the 2013 Knesset elections? IDI researcher Attorney Amir Fuchs points to one factor that is sometimes overlooked: the fact that the liberal right was left without a political home in the elections of 2013. 

Following the elections of 2013, IDI Vice President Prof. Yedidia Z. Stern hails the incoming Knesset as a unique opportunity to change the nature of the State of Israel so that it is both more Jewish and more democratic at the same time. 

Israeli voters are increasingly influenced by the personality of the party head rather than by the party's ideology. In this op-ed, written before the 2013 Knesset elections, Prof. Gideon Rahat, head of IDI's Political Reform project, shares his thoughts on the cult of personality in Israeli politics. 

IDI researcher Dr. Ofer Kenig draws conclusions from the trends that emerged on Election Day and sketches the anticipated nature of the 19th Knesset.

The 19th Knesset is expected to have a record number of women MKs. Nonetheless, the percentage of women in the Knesset is lower than that found in the parliaments of most other established democracies. IDI researcher Dr. Ofer Kenig provides an overview of the situation.

The findings of the Party Democracy Index, a new tool designed to evaluate the level of democracy within political parties, which was designed by IDI's political reform research team and released in advance of the 2013 Knesset elections.

Naftali Bennett's statement that he would refuse orders if commanded to evacuate settlements raises questions about the type of insubordination that he and his party condone. In an op-ed in Yedioth Ahronoth, Prof. Yedidia Stern calls on Habayit Hayehudi to clarify its position on the matter.

On the occasion of International Migrants Day and an IDI roundtable on Israeli immigration policy, IDI researcher Adv. Reuven (Ruvi) Ziegler provides an overview of the treatment of African asylum seekers who have crossed into Israel via its southern border.

In an article written before the elections for the 19th Knesset, IDI researchers Ofer Kenig and Nir Atmor focus on five elements of Israel’s political system that they believe are in dire need of change.  

The statistics and graphs below pertain to the upcoming Knesset elections, which will be held on March 17, 2015. The data were collected and analyzed by Dr. Ofer Kenig of IDI's Political Reform project.

On December 4, 2012, the Israeli Supreme Court heard a petition arguing that the “Admissions Committee Law” is discriminatory and unconstitutional. Attorney Amir Fuchs explains why he sees this law as an insult to Israel's democracy.

IDI Vice President Mordechai Kremnitzer and Doron Navot, author of Political Corruption in Israel, discuss whether politicians convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude should be allowed to return to the Knesset.

IDI researchers Dr. Ofer Kenig and Assaf Shapira review the different ways in which Israeli parties choose their candidates for the Knesset, while focusing on the three parties that had primary elections this year: Habayit Hayehudi, Likud, and the Labor Party.

What is the significance of the UN decision to grant the Palestinian Authority the status of a non-member observer state? IDI Research Fellow Dr. Amichai Cohen explores this question from a legal standpoint.

In an op-ed published in Haaretz, IDI Vice President Mordechai Kremnitzer and researcher Attorney Amir Fuchs point out that despite the assault on democratic values witnessed in the outgoing Knesset, "democracy" does not seem to be on the agenda in the current election campaign.

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.