Dear Friends,
Sixty years after the establishment of the State of Israel, the process of nation building is still far from complete. We have successfully gathered in exiles from over one hundred countries, defended our fledgling State against repeated aggression, and transformed a once barren land into a bastion of growth and opportunity. However, Israel’s “great leap forward” has come at a price. The atmosphere of constant crisis has stunted the evolution of Israel’s institutions of government and precluded serious discussion of the Jewish and democratic values underpinning the State. The longstanding divisions within the Jewish majority and between Jews and Arabs have eroded solidarity and bred inequality. Buffeted by the international winds of globalization, terrorism and post-nationalism, Israel faces the urgent need to reinvent the Zionist ideal in order to meet the realities of the twenty-first century.
Since its inception nearly two decades ago, IDI has always striven to combine thought and action. We assembled some of the best academicians in the country, but we always insisted that their work have practical implications and measurable results. Our first tangible achievements were modest. Back in the early 1990s, every two Members of the Knesset shared a small office and a single secretary. Faced with this impossible situation, we worked in partnership with the Knesset leadership to provide our parliamentarians with the minimum of staff and research support necessary for informed legislation. Eight years later, the Knesset incorporated IDI's enormously successful Legislative Assistants Program. Then in the late 1990s, we led a successful battle to repeal the disastrous two-ballot electoral system, which fragmented the major parties in Israel and sowed the seeds of political instability.
As our influence has grown, so has the scope of our activities. At the turn of the century, we assembled a hundred luminaries from all walks of life to draft a constitution for Israel. Today, after several years of prodigious effort, IDI’s “Constitution by Consensus” is the gold standard for the constitutional debate taking place in the halls of the Knesset and across Israeli society. In recent years, IDI has established the only venue for self-criticism by the Israeli media, has submitted a comprehensive blueprint for reform of the budgetary process in Israel, and has provided "first-100-day" programs to successive incoming Israeli governments—to name a few of our most notable contributions to Israeli public life. At present, we are in the midst of synthesizing more than a decade of comparative study in an ambitious package of government reforms that will promote stability, enhance effective governance, and ensure adequate representation for all Israelis. And there are many other exciting projects on the drawing table. We are understandably proud of our achievements. At the same time, we are humbled by the great challenges that lie ahead.
All of this great work would not be possible without the continued generous support of our international partners. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our investors, past and present. Especially now, in this time of political and economic crisis, we are actively seeking visionary leaders to help us advance the cause of democracy in Israel. I invite you to join IDI’s exciting journey toward a better future for Israel.
Dr. Arye Z. CarmonPresident