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Public Trust in Israel’s Judiciary: The Effect of Political Polarization
February 24, 2021 at 12:00 pm
A Conversation with Menachem Hoffnung
A Public Webinar Discussion
Join us for a conversation on contemporary Israeli politics and society with Menachem Hoffnung, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
During the first two decades of the 21st century, Israel’s Judiciary, and specifically the Supreme Court, has been under constant attack. These attacks have included, among others, hostile statements made by senior elected officials and negative coverage in several media outlets. During these same decades, public trust in the judiciary has been continuously declining, with many Israelis perceiving the court as being politically biased and promoting a political agenda through its decision making.
We will ask: A) Is the decline of trust in the judiciary stemming from controversial rulings of a court favoring one side of the political spectrum, or is the decline related to the ideological polarization of the political system and to the intentional portrayal of the court as a political player promoting its own ideological agenda? B) How are both the nominations to the judiciary and judicial decisions in politically charged cases influenced by these frequent attacks?
Our findings show that while the Supreme Court is much more careful than in the past in intervening in the decisions of elected office holders, public trust in the institution has taken a sharp dive. The politicization of the judicial system undermines the public’s trust not only in the judiciary and presents a danger to judicial independence.
Menachem Hofnung is a professor of political science of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His research covers national security and civil liberties, constitutional politics and comparative political finance. His books include Democracy, Law, and National Security in Israel and he is an editor of the Oxford Handbook of Israeli Politics and Society.
Patricia Sohn is an associate professor of political science at the University of Florida and a member of the Center for Jewish Studies. She teaches courses on Israel and the Modern Middle East. Her books include Judicial Power & National Politics: Courts and Gender in the Religious-Secular Conflict in Israel (2nd ed., 2020). She is the editor of the blog, The Arena: People and Politics.