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Israeli democracy

A voter casts their ballot at a polling station in the northern Israeli village of Maghar on November 1, 2022. (AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)
August 6, 2026, 2:45 pm
70% of Israelis fear for integrity of election, minority upbeat on democracy — poll
Israel Democracy Institute finds only 40% of Israelis, and only 24.5% of Arab citizens, are optimistic about the future of democracy in the country
By Sam Sokol
Ultra-Orthodox protesters demonstrate against a cafe operating on Shabbat and clash with Israeli police, while secular protesters hold a counter-demonstration in support of the cafe in central Jerusalem, August 1, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
August 5, 2026, 5:53 am
Israelis are alarmed over the threat of political violence. Can it be averted?
Amid an ugly campaign season, scholars and officials are warning of a toxic political discourse across the spectrum — and fear things could get worse before they get better
By Ben Sales
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (center), Justice Minister Yariv Levin (left), and Defense Minister Israel Katz (right), with ultra-Orthodox MKs Yitzchak Goldknopf, Moshe Gafni and Meir Porush behind them, seen in the Knesset shortly before the vote on a law banning arrests of ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers and legitimizing ongoing mass ultra-Orthodox non-enlistment, July 14, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
July 15, 2026, 4:53 pm
Netanyahu hits new lows in his battle for survival; there will be a great deal of damage for better leaders to undo
PM repairs his partnership with the blackmailing ultra-Orthodox political leadership at the terrible price of destroying equality under the law and, despite the echoes of 2023, weakening Israel’s capacity to defend itself against its enemies
By David Horovitz
Left to right: Attorney General Gali Baharav Miara attends a House committee meeting at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, June 9, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90); President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attend a memorial ceremony for Zionist leader Theodor Herzl at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem on July 5, 2026. (Alex Kolomoisky/POOL)
July 5, 2026, 9:22 pm
AG: Government pledge to disobey High Court undermines core principles of rule of law
Herzog: Disobeying court ruling crosses a red line; opposition leaders warn against weakening of democratic norms, envision ‘anarchy in the streets’; Israel Bar Association chair: ‘Israel will not survive’ if move goes unchallenged
By ToI Staff
Activists clash with police during a protest against the war in Gaza, in the northern Israeli city of Haifa, May 30, 2024. (Flash90)
June 22, 2026, 4:54 pm
State exploited October 7 to silence Arab citizens systematically, report says
Left-wing Zulat Institute argues police used the war to suppress free expression unlawfully via false arrests, protest bans, and the persecution of academics
By Avner Hofstein
Illustrative: Keshet high school students take their mathematics matriculation examination in Tel Aviv, June 29, 2020. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
September 1, 2025, 4:27 pm
Education Ministry said to excise principles of democracy from matriculation exams
Report says removed topics include parliamentary democracy and socioeconomic rights; civics teacher warns move will create ‘generation of students with a clear political bias’
By ToI Staff
Israelis protest in support of Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara outside the Justice Ministry in Jerusalem, July 14, 2025. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)
July 14, 2025, 4:55 pm
Two scholars warn of Israel’s democratic backsliding, hidden by Oct. 7’s fog of war
In their new Hebrew-language book ‘Democracy in Retreat,’ Noam Gidron and Yaniv Roznai claim the government is using populism and polarization to chip away at democracy
By Eliyahu Freedman
Demonstrators calling for a hostage deal clash with police during a protest outside the home of Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer in Jerusalem on April 13, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
April 26, 2025, 12:17 am
Poll: 61% of Israelis fear for democracy, 66% say internal rift is greatest threat
Large majority continues to favor ending Gaza war to secure hostages’ release, 54% think politics are reason for continued fighting, Channel 12 survey finds
By ToI Staff
Israelis demonstrating in Tel Aviv carry a banner in support of Ronen Bar, the Shin Bet chief fired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, March 22, 2025. (Deborah Danan / JTA)
March 24, 2025, 8:01 pm
As Netanyahu fires Shin Bet chief, right-wing Israelis join mass protests against PM
200,000 take part in the largest demonstrations since Oct. 7, reflecting a fear across the political spectrum that government moves threaten democracy, as police violence escalates
By Deborah Danan
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the Netzarim Corridor in the central Gaza Strip on November 19, 2024. (Maayan Toaf/GPO)
March 21, 2025, 2:28 pm
For Israel, everything will not be okay
Summarily fired by Netanyahu, the head of the Shin Bet is also falsely accused of knowing hours ahead of time that Hamas was going to invade and choosing not to act. The AG is next for purging by the PM. After that, the judges
By David Horovitz
Families of Israelis held hostage in the Gaza Strip and their supporters dress in white as they attend a silent protest calling for the release of the hostage, outside the Knesset in Jerusalem, November 25, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
December 17, 2024, 7:03 pm
Most Israelis worried for democracy, study finds; trust in Knesset, government down
Nearly half of Israelis think the country is in a bad place, although two-thirds believe it is still a good place to live, according to the IDI’s annual Democracy Index
By Jeremy Sharon
President Isaac Herzog addresses a memorial ceremony in memory of the late prime minister David Ben Gurion, December 8, 2024. (Haim Zach/GPO)
December 8, 2024, 9:50 pm
Herzog decries coalition’s divisive judicial agenda, warns of harm to democracy
President’s warnings come as senior members of Netanyahu’s cabinet call to revive judicial overhaul, fire attorney general Gali Baharav-Miara
By Sam Sokol
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset in Jerusalem, November 13, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
December 3, 2024, 4:46 pm
Why you should be worried for Israeli democracy
The coalition is moving to centralize ever more authority in Netanyahu’s hands – at the expense of gatekeepers including the legal system, police, Shin Bet and free press
By David Horovitz
Etgar Keret and his wife Shira Geffen speak about their work in Ness Ziona, Israel, Aug. 28, 2024. (Via Facebook)
October 1, 2024, 7:30 am
Writer Etgar Keret wants to remain useful and sane in a post-October 7 world
Promoting his new book, author tells of his work with victims, the challenge of the ‘narcissistic’ anti-Israel far-left, and his internal barriers brought down by the massacre
By Andrew Silow-Carroll
A photo provided by an anti-judicial overhaul activist shows thousands protesting in Tel Aviv with a sign reading 'The court is supreme,' September 9, 2023. (Gilad Furst)
March 20, 2024, 7:19 pm
In wake of judicial overhaul efforts, global index demotes Israeli democracy
V-Dem ranking drops Israel from ‘liberal democracy’ to ‘electoral democracy,’ cites declines in transparency and predictability of law, government attacks on judiciary
By ToI Staff
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