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Israel’s deep state: Bureaucracy vs. democracy explained

WATCH: “Basic Law” with Aylana Meisel and guest Dr. Ran Baratz, Ep. 5

Is Israeli democracy truly at the brink, or are media-fueled doomsday warnings premature?

On this episode of “Basic Law,” Aylana Meisel, executive director of the Israel Law & Liberty Forum, sits down with Ran Baratz, political scientist and former senior government official, to cut through the chaos and explain what’s happening inside Israel’s legal, political and security institutions.

In this episode:

  • The growing clash between Israel’s elected officials and its entrenched bureaucracy
  • How Israel’s security services gained unprecedented independence from political oversight
  • The unique Israeli definitions of terms like “rule of law” and “judicial independence”
  • The origins of Israel’s judicial revolution and how it shaped a new political culture
  • Whether fears of a looming Israeli civil war are justified or just political theater

They also discuss the long-term solutions needed to restore checks and balances, including the possibility of creating a constitutional court to supervise the judiciary itself.

If you want to understand the deeper forces at play in Israeli democracy and what must happen to secure Israel’s future, this is a must-watch conversation.

Watch new episodes every week by subscribing to the JNS YouTube Channel.

The Israel Law & Liberty Forum is proud to partner with JNS to offer a platform for conservative and classical liberal legal thought from within Israel. Any opinions stated are those of the speaker and not meant to represent the positions of the forum or JNS. The forum is an organization that fosters thoughtful conversation and debate on key issues in Israeli law and democracy. The forum takes no official position regarding any specific policy issue, nor does it advance specific policies.

Aylana Meisel is the founder and executive director of the Israeli Law and Liberty Forum at the Herut Center. Aylana hosts the show “Basic Law” on JNS TV. Her opinions are her own and do not represent the Israel Law and Liberty Forum, which adopts no positions on policy.
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