Ultra-Orthodox in Israel Program

One of the biggest challenges facing Israel is how to integrate its rapidly growing ultra-Orthodox population into the economy, military and society. The Ultra-Orthodox in Israel Program seeks to address this difficult, multi-dimensional challenge by providing decision-makers, opinion shapers, philanthropists and other change agents with practicable, research-based policy proposals and smart integration strategies. 

Established in 2014 under the leadership of Dr. Gilad Malach, the program has positioned itself as a leading source of expertise on Haredi society and all aspects of the integration challenge. The program benefits greatly from its ability to draw on expertise from across IDI’s five centers of research and action, including economists, local government specialists, political scientists, and experts on education, the military, religion and constitutional law.  The program is especially known for its annual Statistical Report of Haredi Society, which monitors trends in demographics, education, employment, enlistment and other dimensions of Haredi life in Israel.

View the most recent Statistical Report on the Ultra-Orthodox in Israel>>

Together with IDI’s Military and Society Program, the Ultra-Orthodox in Israel Program is a leading source of knowledge, expertise and data on the issue of Haredi military service. Acknowledging the diversity of belief systems that characterize Israeli society alongside the imperative of preserving the IDF as a people’s army, the Program develops tailored, research-based policies that allow all Israelis to fulfill their obligation to serve while preserving their identity.

In collaboration with the Center for Governance and the Economy, the Ultra-Orthodox in Israel Program formulates data-driven policy proposals for integrating the Haredim into the Israeli workforce and sustaining Israel’s economic success story for decades to come. Among other initiatives, the program has worked to promote vocational training, educational reform, and fundamental changes to the regime of state subsidies.

In collaboration with the Religion and State Program, the Ultra-Orthodox in Israel Program conducts research on practical measures to ease the tension between religion and state and preserve Israel’s unique character as a Jewish and democratic state against the backdrop of rising extremism and polarization.

  • Default Image

    Ronny Barboy

    Head

    Read More

    [email protected]

    Ronny holds a bachelor's degree in Community Social Work and a Master's in Public Administration and Policy from the Hebrew University. She specializes in research, policy analysis, and implementation. Previously, she coordinated training programs for senior civil service personnel at Mandel Institute and served as CEO and partner at Agora policy Institute, as well as being a senior researcher at the Haredi Institute for Policy Research.

    In addition, Ronny has acted as an advisor to government ministries, foundations, and third-sector organizations, specializing in guiding policy design and implementation processes related to Haredi society.

  • Default Image

    Prof. Benjamin Porat

    Senior Fellow

    Read More

    A senior lecturer at the Faculty of Law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the director of the Matz Institute for Jewish Law. After completing his doctorate at the Hebrew University, he was hosted as a post-doctoral fellow by the University of Toronto

  • Default Image

    Dr. Gilad Malach

    Research Fellow

    Read More

    [email protected]

    Dr. Gilad Malach is a research fellow at IDI's Ultra-Orthodox in Israel program. He co-authored the Master Plan for Ultra-Orthodox Employment (along with Doron Cohen and Haim Zicherman) and was editor of the Statistical Report on Ultra-Orthodox Society in Israel (in cooperation with Dr. Lee Cahaner).

    He was director of implementation of the Gavison-Medan Covenant Project at the Avi Chai Foundation and content manager of the Committee on Sharing the Security Burden in the Eighteenth Knesset.

  • Default Image

    Dr. Lee Cahaner

    Research Fellow

    Read More

    Dr. Lee Cahaner, a social geographer, is a senior lecturer and head of the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at Oranim Academic College of Education. Cahaner is also a research associate in the Israel Democracy Institute's Ultra-Orthodox in Israel Program.

  • Default Image

    Dr. Rivka Neriya Ben-Shahar

    Senior Researcher

    Read More

    [email protected]

    Dr. Rivka Neriya Ben-Shahar is a senior lecturer at Sapir Academic College in Sderot, Israel, teaching courses in research methods, communication, religion, and gender. Her doctorate at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem was entitled "Ultra-Orthodox Women and Mass Media in Israel – Exposure Patterns and Reading Strategies."

    She was a Fulbright post-doctoral fellow and a Scholar in Residence at the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute at Brandeis University, and worked on a study of women's cultural-religious praxes.

    Dr. Neriya Ben-Shahar researches the mass media from the perspectives of religion and gender. Her most recent research project addresses the tension between religious values and new technologies among Old Order Amish women and Jewish ultra-Orthodox women.

  • Default Image

    Dr. Asaf Malchi

    Senior Researcher

    Read More

    [email protected]

    Dr. Asaf Malchi is a senior researcher at the Israel Democracy Institute, in the Ultra-Orthodox in Israel program. His research focuses on current social and economic trends  in the community, in the areas of employment,  higher education, military and Civilian National Service, and more. These studies provide important input to decision makers in crafting policy on the ultra-Orthodox.

  • Default Image

    Dr. Shlomit Shahino Kesler

    Senior Researcher

    Read More

    [email protected]

    Dr. Shlomit Shahino-Kesler is a senior researcher at the Israel Democracy Institute in the Ultra-Orthodox in Israel program.

    Shlomit holds a PhD in Political Science and has 20 years of experience in research and policy.

    Over the past decade, she has specialized in studying Haredi society.

    At the Haredi Institute for Public Affairs, she served as a senior researcher, lead researcher, and Deputy Director for Policy. In these roles, she dealt with issues such as housing, employment, education, at-risk youth, and local authorities, and worked in partnership with senior officials in government ministries, local authorities, and philanthropy.

    She teaches courses on policy and Haredi society in Israel at Sapir Academic College.

  • Default Image

    Dr. Ariel Finkelstein

    Researcher

    Read More

    [email protected]

    Dr. Ariel Finkelstein holds s bachelor's degree from the Integrated Program for Philosophy, Economics and Political Science at Hebrew University, and a Master's degree in Public Policy, with a specialization in local government administration and management from Haifa University, as part of the Ministry of Local Government's "Cadets for Local Government" program.

  • Default Image

    Gabriel Gordon

    Researcher

    Read More

    [email protected]

    He holds a Master's degree in Economics and Environmental studies.

    His research focuses on demographics and trends within the Israeli labor force.

     

     

  • Default Image

    Adi Wiener

    Research Assistant

    Read More

    [email protected]

    Adi is researching trends of leaving the Haredi community, as part of the Ultra-Orthodox in Israel Program in the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Center for Shared Society, and is set to participate in additional research projects.

    She is a PhD candidate at the School of Jewish Studies at Tel Aviv University, holds an M.A. in Talmud from Tel Aviv University, and a B.A. in Political Science and Jewish History from the Hebrew University.

    Adi took part in various research projects, including discourse monitoring in international media project at the Hebrew University, media coverage of 2011 protest project at Hadassah Academic College, and Cairo Geniza Jewish texts project at Tel Aviv University.

  • Default Image

    Eliyahu Berkovits

    Researcher

    Read More

    [email protected]

    Eliyahu is a PhD student in Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and a graduate of ‘Ateret Israel’ and ‘Mir’ yeshivas.

    He has a Masters in Jewish Thought from the Hebrew University and a BA in Humanities from the Open University of Israel.

  • Default Image

    Tehila Gado

    Researcher

    Read More

    Doctoral student in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Has an MA in Criminology from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and is a lecturer at the Ono Academic College.

    Her PhD thesis deals with religious violence between ultra-orthodox spouses. Her research in general deals with the study of the ultra-orthodox society in Israel: trends of change in this society, religious and cultural perceptions and ideology, Rabbinical leadership and interfaces between culture and religiosity.

  • Default Image

    Gilad Cohen Kovacs

    Researcher

    Read More

    [email protected]

    Gilad is an economist and a sociologist by training, a graduate of the PPE program (philosophy, economics, political science) for a bachelor's degree and the economics program for a master's degree (research track), both from the Hebrew University, and is currently a doctoral student in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the Hebrew University.

  • Default Image

    Naomi Turetzky

    Research Assistant

    Read More

    [email protected]

  • Default Image

    Ester Hershkoviz

    Research Assistant

    Read More

    [email protected]