"We work to make the political campaigning environment more trustworthy, transparent and comprehensible for people." Interview A conversation with Sam Jeffers, Co-Founder of "Who Targets Me", about the power of social media, and particularly, of social media advertising in influencing people in election campaigns and ways of making the political campaigning environment more trustworthy, transparent and comprehensible for people.
AI and Elections – Observations, Analyses and Prospects Spotlight This Spotlight explores how the ability of AI to disseminate information more effectively is prone to abuse and can pose a threat to democracy. It then discusses the preconditions and potential of AI to support the building of a critical public sphere. By Jessica Heesen
Voting for Equality? Interview Interview with Ghaida Rinawie-Zoabi on her candidacy for Meretz and the prospects for Jewish-Arab equality
Israeli Elections 2019 – Round Two Between triumph and failure lay only six weeks: On the night of April 9, 2019, Benjamin Netanyahu was celebrating with his followers as the shining winner of the Israeli parliamentary election. Once again, Netanyahu seemed to have made it, despite allegations of corruption and a broad-based opposition campaign against the continuation of the Israeli Prime Minister's right-wing coalition. On May 30, however, Netanyahu had to admit his failure – he had failed to forge a viable coalition within the six-week deadline. In order to prevent the Israeli president from giving the opposition candidate the task of forming a government, the newly established Israeli parliament (the 21st Knesset) dissolved in a Likud led maneuver just before Netanyahu’s deadline and voted for new elections on September 17, 2019. By Elisheva Gilad
Poll: Most Israelis have a positive view of Jewish-Arab relations A ‘Local Call’ poll shows a broad range of areas where Jews and Arabs see the benefits of cooperation. But that doesn’t mean Jewish Israelis are ready to let Arabs hold positions of power, namely joining the government. The surprising bit: most Arabs would support their parties joining an Israeli government. By Dahlia Scheindlin
Right-wing Parties in the 2019 Israeli Elections Analysis The 2019 Israeli elections will be determined on the issue of how many right-wing parties pass the 3.25% threshold and what their relative strength will be vis-à-vis the left bloc. Who are the rightwing parties, how did the religious and ultra-religious parties become “the natural partners” of Netanyahu's ruling Likud party, and what is the subtle interplay between them in view of the 2019 elections? By Gayil Talshir
Women, Security and Israeli Politics – Going Backwards Based on international comparisons, Israel is in a 'good' spot in the middle. The number of women in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, reached a record high last year, but even then they accounted for only 30% of all Knesset Members (34 out of the 120 Knesset members). The first quarter of 2019 catches Israel at the height of an election campaign. However, it is already projected that following the elections the number of women Members of Knesset will be even lower. And, as everyone knows, the head count tells only part of the story. By Anat Saragusti
National Elections 2019 – Status Report from the Perspective of the Arab Minority within the Israeli Citizenry April 9, 2019, is the date set for elections to State of Israel’s 21st Knesset. These elections are important and challenging from many aspects, but this article will focus mainly on the perspective of the Arab minority within the Israeli citizenry. This group constitutes approximately one fifth of the state’s citizens and approximately 16.5% of eligible voters. By Ameer Fakhoury
Center Parties and Power Change in Israeli Politics A prerequisite for democratic rule is a realistic chance of power change. The path to power change in Israeli politics, the widely held belief suggests, is passing through the centrist parties. Is being a ‘centrist’ party merely a strategic position on the Left-Right axis? What does this position mean ideologically? Why is power change that comes from the center short-lived? And what does all this entail for Israeli democracy, in the context of the 2019 election? By Gayil Talshir
