Governance Law

The Center for Security and Democracy and the Viterbi Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research at the Israel and personal security—the present release focuses on internal security; a press release will follow tomorrow focusing on national security.

The recently proposed bill runs counter to accepted budgeting principles and undermines the autonomy of local governance. 

In recent days the Attorney General has issued several warnings that decisions are being made using "flawed work processes." This explainer provides an overview of the role and importance of the Attorney General in Israeli democracy, and the current criticism directed by the AG at the government.

New Study by Tomer Lotan and Vered Constantini at the Israel Democracy Institute

Knesset members should be available for parliamentary legislation and oversight

After 18 months of political deadlock, Israel’s 35th government was sworn in - and in many ways it's quite unique.

The rotation mechanism agreed upon creates a governmental structure, unprecedented neither in Israel or anywhere else

In light of the Movement Towards a National Emergency Government: 30 Ministers Would be Excessive in Comparison to other Parliamentary Democracies; The cap on the number of ministers and their deputy minister should remain in place.

IDI experts issue a statement calling for the Knesset to form a special House Committee to debate immunity

Granting the government additional power, which will enable overriding Basic Laws in simple legislation must not be allowed, lest the defense of basic civil rights in Israel are compromised

The Knesset once again renewed the declaration of a state of emergency. This practice has been around since the establishment of the State - is it still necessary?

First thoughts on early elections with Yohanan Plesner - how did we get here and what to expect next

A special survey finds that the 62% of the Israeli public is opposed to the Immunity Law, 47% think that if the law passes it should only be applied to new cases, and 39% oppose strengthening the Knesset at the expense of the courts

The Override Clause would not alter the balance between the branches of government – it would shift the balance of power between the government and the governed

Will Israel's democratic institutions prove resilient? How is the party system changing and is Israel headed for a tyranny of the majority? Yohanan Plesner, President of the Israel Democracy Institute, examines the ramifications of the unprecedented indictment of an incumbent Prime Minister in Israel

“The great task before all — right and left, religious and secular, Jew and Arab — is to break down the veto power that the extremists among us wield over the center on various fronts”

Despite a solid decade with the same prime minister, other cabinet posts have switched hands at alarming rates.

One fact is clear: the moment the attorney-general announces his decision, half of the public will reject it, to the point of accusing him of serving political interests and not really seeking the truth.

In an interview Prof. Yuval Feldman, discusses his new book "The Law of Good People" and sheds light on the connection between good people and corruption.

A Special Analysis by the Israel Democracy Institute on which MKs make the most use of the parliamentary tools available to them.

“Pray for the welfare of the government. For if it were not for fear of it, one man would swallow his fellow alive (Avot 3:3).”

To tackle the crisis of democracy we must restore the public's faith in its governing institutions.

The ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) that a company is permitted to terminate its worker for wearing religious dress is a sad demonstration of the words of Ecclesiastes: “And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.”

Ahead of Wednesday’s (January 4) deliberations on the changes in the V-15 Bill, scholars from the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) sent a letter to members of a joint committee of the Knesset’s House and Law Committees calling on them to amend the bill significantly.

In an op-ed in the Jerusalem Post, Yehoshua Oz, IDI's Director of International Communications, argues that pundits eager to crown a victor in the 2015 elections have lost sight of the fact that winning one-fifth of the Knesset seats is no victory.

IDI researcher Attorney Amir Fuchs asserts that the only way for Israel to ensure good governance is by adopting a constitution.

A professional assessment of proposed changes to Basic Law: The Government and the Election Bill, which was submitted by Prof. Gideon Rahat to MK David Rotem, Chairman of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee.

A video in which IDI researchers discuss some of the pros and cons of the Governance Bill being considered by the Knesset. 

The Israeli public is increasingly demanding a more effective system of government. In this op-ed from Israel Hayom (February 2, 2012), IDI Former President and Founder Dr. Arye Carmon asserts that reforming the system of government is the only answer to stabilizing the executive so that a party that has been voted into power can actually govern, and points to two types of necessary change: structural and perceptual.

In 2009, IDI Former President and Founder Dr. Arye Carmon established The Forum for Political Reform in Israel in response to "the urgent need to generate significant improvement in the capabilities and functioning of the Knesset." On March 28, 2011, Forum Chairman Meir Shamgar, Former President of the Israeli Supreme Court, submitted the Forum's recommendations to the Knesset. In this video interview, Dr. Carmon speaks about the Forum, its key recommendations, and obstacles to political reform in Israel. 

IDI Former President and Founder Dr. Arye Carmon, one of Israel's foremost experts on political reform, sums up the Israeli political scene at the end of the first decade of the third millennium in an article that was published in collaboration with Walla!, a popular Israeli website.

At joint Israel Democracy Institute-Makor Rishon conference, ministers also addressed chemical weapons tragedy in Syria.