On Thursday, December 8, 2011, IDI and Save Israeli Democracy, a political action committee designed to promote the recommendations of IDI's Forum for Political Reform in Israel , hosted a seminar for parliamentary assistants at IDI. This event brought together parliamentary assistants from both the coalition and the opposition to develop a work plan for the Knesset's winter session that will help strengthen parliamentary democracy in Israel.
Speakers at the seminar included:
- Dr. Arye Carmon, IDI President
- Dr. Chen Friedberg, head of the IDI Forum for Political Reform's research team on the electoral system and its research team on the Knesset; faculty member in Department of Political Science at the Hebrew University; and Adjunct Professor at the Ariel University Center.
- Former MK Rabbi Itshak Levy, Head of Impact, the Israel Democracy Institute
- Mr. Hanoch Marmari, Director of Save Israeli Democracy
- Prof. Gideon Rahat, Director of Research of IDI's Forum for Political Reform and member of the faculty of the Department of Political Science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
During the course of this event, the parliamentary assistants were introduced to the efforts of IDI and Save Israeli Democracy to strengthen parliamentary democracy in Israel. Two particular topics were explored in depth: the electoral threshold and the functioning of the Knesset's committees. In each discussion, the parliamentary assistants were presented with comparative data from other democracies as well as recommendations for reform.