IDI President Yohanan Plesner and Prof. Tamar Hermann, Director of IDI's Viterbi Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research, provide an in-depth analysis of the latest Israeli Democracy Index.
About the Event
Every year, the Jerusalem-based Israel Democracy Institute publishes a Democracy Index providing a snapshot of the attitudes of the Israeli public concerning democracy, trust in institutions, the Jewish and democratic characters of the state, and tensions within Israeli society. This year’s Index reveals a continued decline in trust in the country’s institutions and deepening polarization among different groups in Israeli society. The UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies collaborated with the Israel Democracy Institute to host a webinar where IDI President Yohanan Plesner and Prof. Tamar Hermann, Director of IDI’s Viterbi Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research, discussed the results of the latest Israeli Democracy Index and placed them in the wider context of the current challenges facing democracy in Israel. A summary of the 20th Edition of the Israel Democracy Index main findings can be viewed on the Israel Democracy Institute's website.
About the Speakers
Yohanan (Johan) Plesner is President of the Israel Democracy Institute. In 2005, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon appointed Plesner Head of Special Projects in the Prime Minister's Office. In 2006, he became the first Secretary-General of Israel's new ruling party, Kadima, and spearheaded the creation of the party's organizational infrastructure. From 2007 to 2013, he served as a Member of Knesset and was a member of the Constitution, Law and Justice, and Defense and Foreign Affairs Committees, Co-chair of the Knesset Lobby for Higher Education, and Chairman of the Knesset's permanent delegation to the Council of Europe. In 2012, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed Plesner to head the Committee for Equality in the Burden of Service, which produced a blueprint for incorporating the ultra-Orthodox community into military and national service, one of the most complex social-economic challenges facing the state of Israel. Plesner holds an MPA in Political Economy and International Security from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.
Professor Tamar Hermann is a Senior Research Fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute and the Academic Director of the Viterbi Family Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research. The Center applies rigorous, innovative and pioneering research methods to document the attitudes of the Israeli public regarding thousands of issues in all aspects of life: politics, culture, ideology, religion, education and national security.
Since 2010, Prof. Hermann has headed the team which develops and produces the annual Israeli Democracy Index, and since 2018 – the monthly Israeli Voice Index. Between 1994-2018, she produced the monthly peace index in collaboration with Prof. Ephraim Yaar of Tel Aviv University. Prof. Herman is a Professor of Political Science at the Open University. She previously taught at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University, and has been a guest lecturer at various universities, including Princeton (United States), Queens (Belfast), WZB (Berlin), Fabia University (Fabia, Italy) and Sciences PO (Paris).
Professor Dov Waxman (moderator) is the director of the UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies. He is a Professor of Political Science and The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation Chair of Israel Studies at UCLA. An award-winning teacher, he previously was professor of political science, international affairs, and Israel studies, and the Stotsky Professor of Jewish Historical and Cultural Studies at Northeastern University. He also co-directed the university’s Middle East Center. In addition, he taught at the City University of New York and Bowdoin College. He has also been a visiting fellow at Tel Aviv University, Bar-Ilan University, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Oxford University. Professor Waxman received his Ph.D. and M.A. from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, and his B.A. degree from Oxford University.
DISCLAIMER: The views or opinions of our guest speakers and the content of their presentations do not necessarily reflect the views of the UCLA Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for Israel Studies. Hosting speakers does not constitute an endorsement of the speaker's views or opinions.
Published: Thursday, March 2, 2023
