Communications

Sixty-eight percent of the general public opposes the Knesset bill that would grant a blanket exemption for haredim from IDF service, the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) said Wednesday in a report. Around one-third of parents with children ages 16-18, meaning in the middle of the IDF recruitment years, said they would discourage their children from joining...

Last month, a number of Israeli reservists—including air-force pilots, elite commandos, and cyberwarfare specialists—announced that they would not appear for their mandatory training rotations to protest the judicial reforms being considered by the Knesset. Fellow opponents of reform praised them for standing up for democracy; proponents of reform condemned them as traitors...

A country’s leader is tested in defining moments. In the last few weeks, there were at least two such moments in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could be perceived as a balanced and responsible leader, one who sees the good of Israel and Israeli society. The first moment was a few weeks ago when President Isaac Herzog presented his compromise outline in a brave attempt...

Dr. Meir Elran, a senior researcher and director of the Domestic research cluster of the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) at Tel Aviv University, told The Media Line that the decision to create a National Guard was already approved in June 2022 under the government of former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. “The process of establishing the National Guard is going...

The Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) think tank issues a first-of-its-kind statement cautioning that the government’s judicial overhaul as currently being advanced “will seriously harm the functioning of the IDF, will reduce Israel’s ability to deal with its enemies, endanger relations with the USA and sabotage the economy.” In what it calls an “urgent strategic...

President Isaac Herzog’s outline that was presented last week is indeed a brave attempt to reach a compromise between the two sides and especially to put an end to the deep rift in the people of Israel in the last two months. The tumultuous demonstrations, the calls for refusal to serve and the continued polarization causes our enemies to rub their hands with pleasure. As we...

As protests and political tensions in Israel reach large-scale proportions, the Israel Police is, once again, back in the limelight, acting as the country’s emergency room. The protests are just the latest challenge to the police’s ability to juggle its multiple and unusual responsibilities—a challenge that must be answered by the formation of an Israeli national guard.