Strategic Assessment

In recent years, Israel has experienced a significant shift in the relationship between the civilian population and its political leadership. This transformation is manifested in both the voters’ view that the status of elected officials has declined, and in the public’s growing demand to have a voice in strategic decision making processes. This crisis of trust emerging against the background of a much more vocal “street” means that the relationship between the public and its leaders has become an arena of contention in terms of setting the national agenda. This will presumably affect the ability of leaders to make strategic decisions on the assumption that the public will back them without hesitation. In other words, this situation is liable to undermine the chance of mobilizing critical public backing if and when leaders try, want, or are forced to make far reaching strategic political decisions.