Podcasts

INSS researcher Adi Kantor sits down with former MK and journalist Ofer Shelah, who served as a member of the Knesset for Yesh Atid from 2013 until 2020 and today is a senior researcher at INSS, and with INSS researcher Noa Shusterman, coordinator of the INSS Israel-Palestinian Research Program. Together they analyze the latest events in Israel in light of the judicial overhaul crisis, focusing on the main threats presented in the INSS Strategic Alert. They try to assess where Israel is headed now, in view of Netanyahu’s suspension of the proposed overhaul; what are the implications of the crisis on the security level; how it affects the IDF; how it is seen from Palestinian eyes? and how will the special relations between Israel and the US be affected by the current events. 2023, the year in which Israel marks its 75th year of independence, will also be remembered as the year in which the country’s democratic and liberal DNA was severely threatened as never before

INSS researcher Adi Kantor sits down with senior researcher Col. (res.) Adv. Pnina Sharvit Baruch, who heads the program on Law and National Security at INSS, to discuss her special publication (co-authored with Dr. Bell Yosef from Tel Aviv University) on the independence of Israeli courts and the connection to Israel’s national security. The new legislative reform, introduced to the public by Justice Minister Yariv Levin on January 4, 2023, is apparently one of the most burning issues on the Israeli agenda at the moment, as it is seen by many sectors in Israeli society as an attempt at a legislative coup that threatens to change the very basic democratic and liberal principles on which Israel was established. The purpose of the podcast is to understand what is meant by the term “liberal democracy” in the Israeli context; how is it connected to national security; what are the dangers in this proposed reform to the judicial system; what are the implications on social, legal, economic, and security levels (both domestic and international); and what should be the recommendations for decision makers based on the following analysis.