IDI - Israel Democracy Institute

The Knesset is advancing a bill that would establish a “state-national” commission of inquiry into the October 7 massacre. Yet in actuality, the proposed politicized commission would harm legitimate attempts to clarify the circumstances that led to the events of October 7 and the ensuing war.

In a new op-ed, IDI’s Dr. Dana Blander explains that the proposed legislation would allow the governing coalition to control the commission’s composition, disqualify many professional figures in favor of political appointees, and place two hostages and representatives of bereaved families on the commission as observers, divided by coalition and opposition affiliation, which she argues would mean “not only the politicization of bereavement, but worse, its hierarchization.”

Blander calls for the establishment of an independent, State Commission of Inquiry, as this is “the only type of commission whose members will be appointed according to principles of professional independence…and not according to political or partisan affiliation,” and one that will “not only allow our society to heal, but for our leaders to learn from the mistakes of the past.”

Read the full op-ed: https://bit.ly/4vjIM26

In a dramatic announcement, the Israeli government declared that an interim Supreme Court order does not have binding force, and that it will not recognize the order in an ongoing case involving the Second Authority, Israel’s commercial broadcast media regulator.

In a new explainer, IDI experts lay out the background of the dispute and the implications of the government’s refusal to recognize the Court’s order for Israeli democracy. On a practical level, though the government’s announcement has no legal force, it could deter the Second Authority from exercising its powers in accordance with the Supreme Court ruling, which could impact broadcasters, their staff, and their viewers. On the level of principle, they explain, if the government continues to argue that it is entitled to ignore judicial decisions or choose which judgements to comply with, it undermines the principle of the rule of law and could lead to a constitutional crisis.

Read the full background to the case and its implications for Israeli democracy in the explainer by Dr. Tehilla Shwartz Altshuler, Anat Thon Ashkenazy and Dr. Nadav Dagan:

https://bit.ly/3SOxrKc