On Monday, September 22nd 2008, the George Shultz Roundtable Forum convened at the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) to discuss civil society and its organizations, which were the focal point of the 2008 Democracy Index. Participating in the discussion were representatives of these organizations, as well as academics who have been researching the issues under discussion.
The first speaker was Prof. Tamar Hermann, who addressed the history of the term "civil society", which was uncommon in the 1980s, but is now a topic of importance that is firmly rooted in Israeli social discourse. Prof. Hermann also claimed that the importance of Israeli society is currently on the decline, and that the civil organizations are replacing it.
The main finding of the 2008 Democracy Index is that most Israelis would like to receive more services from the state. Another finding is that there is a widely held opinion that "everyone is corrupt" as well as a skeptical view of civil organizations whose integrity and honesty is being challenged.
One of the representatives of the civil organizations participating in the forum, Mr. Elie Elalouf of the Rashi Foundation, claimed that the activities of the private, civil sector has affected the state's operations. Mr. Elalouf explained that the state has become active in areas in which it had never before been active, and that the state and the civil organizations now work in cooperation with each another – civil society enlists the participation of the state, and the state responds by partially funding a many of its activities.
Prof. David Ohana of Ben-Gurion University (BGU) affirmed that the premise should be that all citizens are equal and that the citizens are the state. But today, continued Prof. Ohana, as a result of the privatization of services such as the education system and the prisons, the citizens no longer identify with the state, which they now perceive as the enemy. De-facto, civil society has taken over some of the state's primary responsibilities, and the state is now capable of providing only the most basic services to its citizens.
Ms. Ruth Sinai of Haaretz spoke about the civil organizations' activities and stressed the need to reflect upon their goals and motives because their activities are often ambiguous, lack direction and balance, and are not universal.
Prof. Daniel Gutwein of Haifa University voiced harsh criticism of the civil organizations and claimed that in this neo-liberal age, civil society leads to a contamination of our consciousness because it presents the market as natural and self-evident. According to Gutwein, in order to become a fair society, we must liberate ourselves of civil society.
The discussion was concluded by Dr. Arye Carmon, President of IDI, who brought up the issue of solidarity and raised the question of whether solidarity can be achieved by artificial means.