The Kohelet Policy Forum strives to secure Israel's future as the nation-state of the Jewish people, to strengthen representative democracy, and to broaden individual liberty and free-market principles in Israel.
May a workers’ union strike as part of a political demonstration?
Following the court decision that canceled the Israel Medical Association (IMA)’s strike against the judicial reform (SK 57697-07-23). One line answer: The Labor Court determined that the IMA’s strike against the reform was an illegal political strike, and that IMA claims of potential harm to doctors and to the...
Education Policy Memo
The claim that there is a shortage of teachers, amounting up to thousands of teachers a year, is being made more and more often in public discourse. Israel does indeed have a relatively high birth rate for a developed Western country, which means that a larger part of the...
Israel is an “Island Economy” by Choice, not Necessity
Research by Kohelet Forum Policy illuminates the fact that Israel’s comparatively low rate of importing goods and services is largely a result of government policy, particularly the barriers imposed on importation. Israel’s economy is characterized in some ways as an “island economy”, i.e. an economy with limited natural resources...
Personal Contracts in the Education System: A Step in the Right Direction, but Hardly Enough.
Avrum Tomer, Kohelet Policy Forum researcher of education policy, comments in a Makor Rishon article on the merits of the Ministry of Education’s declaration to allow some teachers to work for the Ministry through personal contracts rather than collective agreement. The declaration has caused some turmoil, although it only...
The Fallacy and Danger of the ICC argument
Why the Threat of International Prosecution is both False and Harmful In two recent articles in Maariv and Israel Hayom, Adv. Avraham Shalev and Prof. Eugene Kontorovich reiterate the main points outlined in the Kohelet policy paper Judicial Reforms and the Threat of International Criminal Court Prosecution. In the...
Judicial Reforms and the Threat of International Criminal Court Prosecution
The threat of International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecution has, in recent years, been repeatedly invoked by Israeli and foreign critics of various legislative proposals, including those with no connection to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. The ICC has emerged as a particularly important theme in the ongoing debate about possible reforms to Israel’s judicial...
The economic effects of the coalition budgets
A few days ago, the Budget Department of the Ministry of Finance published an opinion regarding the economic effects of coalition allocations, if they will be included in the emerging state budget. I agree with the analysis presented in the opinion and with the gloomy predictions regarding the macroeconomic effects...
When Haredim want to enter the workforce, don’t prevent them from doing so
With the return of the discussion on universal conscription, and the question of what prevents ultra-Orthodox men from entering the workforce, an aspect which is oft-overlooked should be highlighted, which is the hurdle presented by vocational training.
Israel’s Judicial Reform: A Step Towards Restoring Balance
Israel has been rocked for several weeks by a heated debate about the future of its judiciary. The present government – the first one in four years to enjoy a clearcut majority at the Knesset, Israel’s l parliament – has submitted a bill, as it is its democratic prerogative,...
Q&A on the judicial reform
There are many incorrect assumptions and misconceptions regarding the judicial reform, therefore, we present here answers to the main questions we've been asked about it.