The 2006 Israeli Democracy Index, published by the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI), delineates the gap between public interest in politics and the level of trust the public has in politicians and political parties. Only 22% of the public trusts political parties; and only 17% of the Israeli public believes that politicians keep their promises after elections. The Democracy Index is produced under the Guttman Center, under the supervision of IDI Senior Fellow Professor Asher Arian, and is presented to the President at an annual conference. This year’s Index, which was presented to the President of the State of Israel on May 10th, 2006, is entitled: Changes in Israel's Political Party System: Dealignment or Realignment?
At the conference, President Moshe Katsav emphasized the IDI's important contribution to recognizing the weaknesses in our democracy and finding and proposing ways to improve it. Other participants at the conference included IDI President Dr. Arye Carmon; Profesor Asher Arian, Senior Fellow at the IDI who presented the Index and its findings; Foreign Minister, MK Tzipi Livni (who immediately after her speach rushed off to the Knesset to vote on the national budget); President of the Supreme Court, Justice Aharon Barak; Professor Michal Shamir, Tel Aviv University; Dr. Faisal Azaiza, Head of the Jewish-Arab Center at the University of Haifa; Dr. Asher Cohen, Bar Ilan University; Mr. Raviv Drucker, political correspondent for Channel 10; and former MK Dr. Uzi Landau.
Read more about the main findings of the 2006 Index
Download the 2006 Index