Decision Time: Democracy and Society Conference

Decision Time: Democracy and Society Conference

On Wednesday, September 2, top candidates for the upcoming election, leading academics, civil society leaders and IDI experts gathered for “Decision Time: Democracy and Society,” a conference hosted by the Israel Democracy Institute in partnership with the Yedioth Ahronoth Group. The conference examined the biggest challenges facing Israel ahead of the election and explored solutions that will shape the future of Israeli democracy.

 Israel is at a moment of decision. Nearly three years after October 7, and amid upheaval in the country’s political and social landscape, and ahead of October's election, the question of Israeli democracy is no longer theoretical, but practical: How can Israel safeguard its state institutions? How can public trust be restored? And what solutions can ensure a strong and functioning democracy for decades to come?

Together with the Yedioth Ahronoth Group, the Israel Democracy Institute held a special conference entitled “Decision Time: Democracy and Society.” The conference brought together elected officials and candidates contending in the election from across the political spectrum, government ministers, academics, and representatives of civil society together with experts from the Israel Democracy Institute. Throughout the discussions, interviews and moderated panels, participants focused on injecting substantive debate on the key issues at stake in the election. 

Photos courtesy of: Yariv Katz and Ryan Frois

Select quotes from the conference:

Yohanan Plesner, IDI President, at the opening session on issues under debate in the election: "There is a feature of the Israeli electoral system that does not exist in all parliamentary democracies. Our system for forming a government is unusual in the sense that you might succeed, or you might not, and then you simply go back to another election… There are systems elsewhere in which the largest possible majority [or plurality] can form a government regardless. In other words, there is no situation in which no government is formed. This is a matter of choice. If we want elections to produce a decision, that is up to us. We can design a system that does so."

Prof. Amichai Cohen, IDI Vice President of Research on a panel on the need for constitutional reform: “Even in biblical times, the prophets envisioned a well-ordered society based on equality. Much of the disagreement between us is not ideological polarization, but affective polarization. When drafting a constitution, the process has to be inclusive. Part of what happened during the judicial overhaul was an attempt by a small group of people to reach a new order on their own. We need to strive for the broadest possible consensus. A social contract cannot be created without a genuine discussion taking place.”

Shlomit Ravitsky Tur-Paz, Director, IDI's Joan and Irwin Jacobs Center for Shared Society, on a panel on the enlistment crisis: “The sociological structure of Haredi society today is the result of the distorted incentives the state created and the number of exemptions it granted. There are now about 100,000 Haredi men who are liable for military service. Arrests can be suspended, but only as part of an integrated process lasting several years: stop the arrests, while at the same time establishing a universal obligation to serve and imposing significant, long-term personal sanctions. There are people here who have chosen a particular way of life, but expect the state to structure its entire system of incentives around that choice.”

Defense Minister Israel Katz (Likud): “The very small segment of the settler movement that tarnishes [their name] and engages in violence must be dealt with. At my request, the IDF is preparing a plan for transferring responsibility for civilian law enforcement to the police. The IDF should be focused on fighting terrorism and defending the borders. We will not tolerate violations of the law.”

Lt. Gen. (res.) Gadi Eisenkot, Chair of the Yashar party: “The challenges facing the next government will be enormous: strategic and security-related, economic and social, and international. We will need to build the broadest possible consensus in order to advance a conscription law, establish a state commission of inquiry, change the priorities of Israeli society, improve the security situation, and fully realize the achievements of the war.”

Naftali Bennett, Chair, Together party: "The Declaration of Independence was signed by Haredim, secular Jews, left-wingers, right-wingers, revisionists, and communists. It anchors Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people, while also enshrining the values of civic equality and democracy.”

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (Religious Zionist Party): “I am determined to bring about a historic change on the issue of Haredi conscription. Unfortunately, we did not succeed because maximalists in our own camp prevented the passage of a good law. The media cynically tried to brand it as a ‘draft-dodging law.’ The law would have passed with the mainstream Haredi leadership, backed by the rabbis, raising its hand in support. That would have amounted to Haredi legitimization of military service for the first time since the establishment of the state. Haredim can be brought into military service through a gradual process and by agreement.”

Former IDF Deputy Chief of Staff Yair Golan, Chair of The Democrats, who went to the south of his own volition on October 7 to save people stranded during the attack, addressed recent rumors spread about him that have been dominating the headlines in Israel: “This is not only directed at me personally. It is about delegitimizing the entire public that went out to fight for Israeli democracy, and then, after October 7 went out to defend the State of Israel. That is also being done through personal attacks against me. That is the political logic behind these statements."

Avigdor Liberman, Chair, Yisrael Beitenu party: “I expect all of my colleagues in the opposition to make an effort to unite all of the lists… As far as I am concerned, anyone who was part of the government responsible for the October 7 massacre cannot be part of the next government.”

MK Yaakov Asher, United Torah Judaism: "If anyone thinks that an enlistment law that affects one and a half million people can be passed without consensus, dialogue, and an avoidance of heavy-handed tactics, they are pulling the wool over the public's eyes. Including the eyes of the reservists. We sat through more than a hundred Knesset committee meetings. We knew this wasn't a law we particularly wanted or liked, yet we knew we needed to reach an agreement. But then the other side hardened their stance."

Dr. Yael Litmanovitz, Head of IDI's Program on Policing and Law Enforcement on a panel on rising levels of crime: "When the minister says, ‘The police will carry out my policy,’ that is incompatible with democratic policing, because a democratic police force is a professional police force.”