If 2020 is remembered for the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2021 stands to be the year of the vaccine. Nonetheless, the coronavirus will continue to shape the world, and the likely scenario is a gradual decline of the pandemic, marked by sporadic outbreaks. In the second half of the year, the effects of the vaccine will be felt, the Biden administration will settle in, and there may be a new government in Israel. The international system remains polarized, even as each country focuses on its individual problems. The Biden...
The prolonged tension in the north between the IDF and Hezbollah suggests that the two sides are actually only a few faulty or miscalculated moves away from a clash that is liable to escalate rapidly into a full-scale war, with little warning that would give the IDF time to prepare. At the same time, Israel is grappling with a Covid-19 crisis and a prolonged political crisis that has delayed essential IDF force buildup processes, particularly the budget and procurement of aircraft and battle systems, as well as the IDF’s...
In mid-October 2020, the two main international financial institutions, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, updated their assessments regarding the implications of the coronavirus crisis for Middle East economies. Previous estimates were published in April this year; the update paints both a pessimistic picture and expectations of improvement, contingent on the discovery of medical solutions to the pandemic. Yet despite the hopes for improvement, estimates are that it will be several years before the economic effects...
One of the side effects of the coronavirus pandemic has been a steep rise in an already high rate of domestic violence. This social phenomenon has negative effects in the short and long terms, including beyond the family unit, and it is in the national interest to combat it. To this end, components used to handle security threats can be tapped. First, without foregoing protection for victims of domestic violence, it is unacceptable that the primary response to the phenomenon is to transfer victims to shelters; the focus should...
The Covid-19 pandemic has created a new situation for the Israel Police (IP). Instead of focusing on criminal offenses and personal security, the IP are called on to give high priority to the enforcement of pandemic-related regulations and restrictions on the general public. This new reality demands of the IP much sensitivity, along with the need to make fine distinctions among situations and population groups in the fulfillment of two primary objectives: enforcement of the government’s instructions to contain contagion, and...
This document was written a number of weeks after the second nationwide lockdown was announced. As expected, the measure succeeded in lowering the infection rate, albeit at a high economic cost and a new spike in unemployment. At the same time, Israel is witnessing rising friction with the ultra-Orthodox community, more extensive public protests, and diminishing public trust in the authorities, related in part to the government’s problematic handling of the multilayered crisis.
The purpose of this document is to propose an...
The following article summarizes the insights and policy recommendations of an INSS research project on the coronavirus crisis in Israel, which focused on six main issues: national security, regional cooperation, economy, technology, healthcare ,and aliyah.
Eight months after the eruption of the coronavirus pandemic in Israel, and after the imposition of two lockdowns aimed at “flattening the curve of infection,” it is apparent that the root reasons for Israel’s failure to defeat the pandemic do not lie solely in the limited resources of the health system, the country’s economic difficulties, the eroding status of the legislative and the judicial branches, or the narrow coalition considerations designed to ensure the government’s survival. Rather, the main challenge stems from the...
Alongside the escalating Covid-19 crisis, another crisis with a widespread effect poses a major challenge in the post-truth era: the diminished public and political trust in experts. On September 8, 2020, the question of the status and role of experts was discussed in an online conference held in the framework of the INSS Lipkin-Shahak Program on National Security and Democracy in an Era of Post-Truth and Fake News. The discussion focused on two main concerns: the role that experts play in decision making processes, and their status...
A conference at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) on September 30, 2020 was held against the backdrop of the ongoing coronavirus crisis, the decision to impose a new lockdown, and the evident inability by decision makers to formulate and implement a consistent and effective policy. The primary questions addressed at the conference were how might the lockdown be made more effective, and how might morbidity be reduced. The conference emphasized the need to balance public health and socioeconomic considerations, which...
A public opinion poll conducted in August 2020 by the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) highlights several important social phenomena in Israel resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic. The most important is the lack of confidence among most of the public in the political leadership and state institutions, which presumably directly affects the public’s willingness to comply with the restrictions imposed on it. This finding is interrelated with the current political protest, unusual in scope and duration. According to...
Israel has lost control over the spread of coronavirus, and the government has decided to impose a second nation-wide lockdown. The economic and social crisis caused by the virus affects a large group of people, especially among the middle class working in the private sector. The impact of the crisis on healthcare, the economy, and society is also affected by political instability, erratic management, and non-compliance with the regulations among some of the public. The Covid-19 virus is a natural disaster, but to a large extent the...
