Israel's Democracy in Peril

The Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs program on Autocracy and Democracy presents Tamar Mayer, Robert R. Churchill Professor of Geosciences and “Israel’s Democracy in Peril.”

The current attacks on Israeli democracy’s established system of checks and balances by Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition have ruptured the delicate fabric of Israeli society. These attacks on the courts, including attempts to weaken the High Court of the land—along with religious parties’ relentless efforts to transform Israel into a religious state governed by religious laws, and the right’s aggressive moves to control all aspects of state power—have led to massive resistance and demonstrations throughout the country. This talk will examine the driving forces behind this right-wing “revolution,” the substance of the proposed changes, and the connection between those proposals and demographic changes in Israel. We also will examine the depth of alienation felt by the hundreds of thousands of Israelis who have vowed to protect their democracy and toward this end, have taken their fight into the streets.

In person event in the Robert A. Jones ‘59 Conference Room. Middlebury College Campus.