SGI 2024 | Israel | Executive Summary

Executive Summary

Recent Governments Experts

SGI experts on Israel

Ilana Shpaizman

Ilana Shpaizman is a Senior Lecturer (US Assistant professor) at the Department of Political Studies, Bar Ilan University. She holds a PhD from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and she did a post doc at the University of Austin at Texas. Her research interests are gradual policy changes, policy ideas, agenda setting, the policy process, immigration policy, and American and Israeli policy.

Ronen Mandelkern

Dr. Ronen Mandelkern is a faculty member at the School of Political Science, Government and International Affairs at Tel Aviv University. Mandelkern was a Fellow of the Polonsky Academy at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute (2011-2016) and a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies in Cologne (2010-2011). His research deals with the political analysis of economic liberalization processes and the neoliberal economy, and focuses on the influence of experts, ideas and institutions on the evolution of these processes in Israel and abroad.

César Colino (Coordinator)

César Colino is associate professor at the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at the Spanish National Distance-Learning University (UNED) in Madrid. He has taught at the University of Salamanca and the Autonomous University of Madrid and has been visiting researcher at the Max-Planck Institute for the Study of Society (MPIfG) in Cologne and Research Officer at the Institute for Research in Public Administration (FöV) in Speyer, Germany. His recent research and publications have addressed issues of comparative public policy and administration, comparative federalism, and constitutional reform in federations with a focus on the Spanish, German and Canadian federal systems. He has published in journals such as Policy & Politics; Comparative European Politics; Public Administration; Regional & Federal Studies; and Publius: The Journal of Federalism. He has recently published a book on comparative administration (in Spanish) Gobiernos y administraciones públicas en perspectiva comparada, Valencia: 2013 (with S. Parrado y J. Olmeda), and is the author of the forthcoming chapter “National and European patterns of public administration and governance,” in the Handbook of European Politics, José M. Magone ed. London: Routledge (with Eloísa del Pino).

The past year has been troubling, and posed many challenges to democracy and the sustainability of governance in Israel. Since January 2023, the government has been promoting a judicial overhaul, and democratic backsliding is evident in all aspects of politics and policymaking. The government has also weakened the civil service, and undermined professional and scientific knowledge. In particular, the government has decreased public investment in innovation, scientific knowledge and evidence-based policymaking.

The electoral and party systems allow for the broad representation of interests and groups. Civil society remains vibrant and has even gained significance since October 7. At the same time, party and government accountability have decreased. Many parties do not publicly communicate their agendas, and the government fails to comprehensively and transparently share its plans. Moreover, there has been a noticeable decline in press freedoms, as the media has become more reluctant to criticize the government and public trust in the media has waned.

Oversight of government activities has become less effective due to a weak legislature and the powerlessness of the state comptroller. Furthermore, the government has weakened law enforcement agencies and the court system. This endangers civil rights and liberties, which are not constitutionalized for the most part.

Israel’s war with Hamas, which began on October 7, and its impact on domestic issues have highlighted the weakness of horizontal coordination between government departments. Similarly, the weakness of the Prime Minister’s Office has resulted in a lack of comprehensive policy and affected services provided to those impacted by the war.

At the same time, access to government information and freedom of information has improved. The government and public services have become more open and accessible, while participation and collaboration between governmental and non-governmental actors across all fields have improved. In addition, the analytical capacities of members of the Knesset have increased thanks to the Knesset’s research center. Similarly, the regulatory impact assessment framework has improved significantly following the establishment of the Regulatory Authority. The independence of these two organizations should be maintained.

Strategic planning is frequently undertaken in fields to which Israel is committed due to its OECD membership and ratification of international treaties. However, even in areas where a strategic plan exists, there has been little progress in implementation and monitoring. For example, many other areas, such as gender equality and the circular economy, lack strategic planning and comprehensive policymaking.

Israel lacks clear sustainable governance goals. This is evident in social, economic and environmental policy issues. Nevertheless, systems in some areas function better, and more adequately address current social and economic risks. However, this is primarily due to past policymaking and well-built systems (e.g., healthcare and immigration) rather than strategic planning. In fields that lack comprehensive, resilient systems (e.g., the pension system), there is a discrepancy between social and economic risks, and the policies enacted. These discrepancies are widening, exposing more citizens to social, economic and environmental risks.

The last year has shown that many Israeli policymakers are not strongly committed to democratic values and the protection of civil liberties, and have failed to promote sustainable governance and policymaking. In contrast, civil society has demonstrated its viability and strength, as seen in the large-scale protests against the government’s judicial overhaul and following October 7. Civil society has proven that Israeli citizens are dedicated to democratic values and building a more sustainable government.