Movement for Governability and Democracy

The Movement for Governability and Democracy (Hebrew: התנועה למשילות ודמוקרטיה) is an Israeli nonprofit association founded in 2013. Its stated purpose is to preserve the balance between the different components of democracy in Israel: majority rule, individual rights, governmental integrity, and transparency. The movement argues that in the years before its founding, the judicial system increasingly engaged in value-based, moral, and political decisions, blurring the boundaries between the judiciary and the authority of elected officials. It contends that when judicial officeholders disagree with the government and the Knesset, the power of jurists prevails, preventing elected officials from advancing the policies for which they were elected, while issues that should be at the core of the judicial system's activity are neglected. The movement's activities focus on research to examine and identify issues in the judicial system, raising them to public awareness, and promoting legislative proposals in the Knesset. It has petitioned the courts on various matters, including demanding that Supreme Court justices publish their diaries, exposing the existence of the "Yahalom" database of lawyers who are candidates for judgeships, and challenging the composition of panels hearing politically sensitive cases. In 2019, following the movement's appeal, the Attorney General instructed the Courts Administration to stop monitoring citizens who express themselves against judges on social networks. In 2024, it petitioned against the establishment of a team to examine the leak of the ruling that canceled the reasonableness clause, and against the participation of justices Noam Sohlberg and Daphna Barak-Erez in the Judicial Selection Committee meeting to elect the Supreme Court President. The movement has also been active regarding the appointment of legal officials in the civil service, local government integrity, and judicial reform. In 2019 it published a ten-step plan to strengthen democracy, including changing the method of selecting judges, enacting an override clause, limiting standing and the use of the reasonableness clause, appointing legal advisors as trust positions of ministers, splitting the roles of the Attorney General, requiring public servants to appear before Knesset committees, and increasing the number of Knesset members to 180. Some of these steps were advanced by the government during the 2023 Israeli judicial reform. The movement's expenses in 2019 were 814,249 shekels, of which 509,992 shekels came from donations from Israel and 386,817 shekels from providing services and collaborations. Among the donors was a fund of Kenneth Abramowitz. Its budget in 2022 was about half a million shekels. According to a 2018 investigation published in Yedioth Ahronoth, the movement was founded by figures associated with the Komemiyut movement, linked to rabbis of the Tekuma party, and the investigation alleged that the Movement for Governability and Democracy serves as a legislative arm of the Komemiyut movement. The investigation pointed to Yehuda Amrani, who in the first two years also held a role in Komemiyut, and Rabbis Yair Kartman and Yaakov Yakir, who were among the founders of the movement and members of the Komemiyut management. Both organizations denied any connection between them.

The Movement for Governability and Democracy was founded in 2013 as an Israeli nonprofit association. Its stated goal is to preserve the balance between the different components of democracy in Israel: majority rule, individual rights, governmental integrity, and transparency. The movement's founders and members believe that in the years preceding its establishment, the judicial system increased its engagement in value-based, moral, and political decisions, thereby blurring the boundaries between the judicial system and the authority of elected officials. They argue that when judicial officeholders disagree with the government and the Knesset, the power of jurists prevails, preventing elected officials from advancing and implementing the policies for which they were elected, while issues that should be at the core of the judicial system's activity are neglected. The movement aims to change this situation. The movement's activities focus on research to examine and identify issues in the judicial system, raising them to public awareness, and promoting legislative proposals in the Knesset. Regarding the court system, the movement petitioned to require Supreme Court justices to publish their diaries, similar to the requirement for government ministers. The diaries revealed that justices hold consultations before meetings of the Judicial Selection Committee, which the movement claims violates the law requiring committee members to act according to their sole discretion. The movement argues that justices should be removed from the process and it should be transferred to politicians. Regarding the "Committee of Two," the movement submitted a Freedom of Information request. In 2018, the movement exposed the existence of the "Yahalom" database, containing information on lawyers who are candidates for judgeships, and fought until it was registered as law. However, another database called "Sharvit," containing additional personal information on candidates, including criminal records and information on private debts, has not yet been regulated. In 2019, following the movement's appeal, the Attorney General, Avichai Mandelblit, instructed the Courts Administration to stop monitoring citizens who express themselves against judges on social networks. Additionally, following the movement's criticism of the way Supreme Court justices are assigned to cases with political or state sensitivity, and its claim of bias in selecting the panel hearing a petition, Supreme Court President Esther Hayut issued a procedure according to which Supreme Court justices would no longer be able to choose who sits with them on the panel hearing petitions for rejection. In April 2024, the movement petitioned against the establishment of a team to examine the leak of the ruling that canceled the reasonableness clause by the acting Supreme Court President. The petition argued that the authority to handle information security matters is exclusively vested in the information security officer in the Courts Administration, subject to the Minister of Justice, and not in the Supreme Court President. It also argued that the acting Supreme Court President is in a conflict of interest on the matter. The petition was rejected, but it led to a change in the conflict of interest questionnaires used by the Courts Administration. In October 2024, the movement petitioned against the participation of justices Noam Sohlberg and Daphna Barak-Erez in a meeting of the Judicial Selection Committee to elect the Supreme Court President, given that they were candidates for the position according to the seniority system. The petition was rejected on the grounds that the discussion in the committee for appointing the Supreme Court President deals with a specific appointment and not a principled discussion of the seniority system. Regarding the appointment of legal officials in the civil service, before the discussion on the appointment of Shai Nitzan as State Attorney, the movement petitioned the High Court to delay the discussion, but the petition was rejected. Upon the end of his term in late 2019, the movement supported the position of Justice Minister Amir Ohana regarding his authority to appoint an acting State Attorney during an election period, contrary to the position of Attorney General Mandelblit. In January 2017, MK Amir Ohana, at the initiative of the movement, submitted a bill seeking to allow ministers to appoint legal advisors to their office as personal appointments. Attorney General Mandelblit opposed the bill, but it passed a preliminary reading. In 2023, the movement, together with other movements, petitioned against the participation of the Attorney General and her staff in discussions on a law to reduce the powers of the Attorney General. The petition was rejected. In the area of local government integrity, the movement's activity exposed that hundreds of local authority employees in Israel did not submit a wealth declaration as required by law. In 2023, the movement requested to join as a friend of the court a petition demanding the postponement of local authority elections because many candidates were in reserve duty during the Iron Swords War. The petition was deleted in light of the decision to consult with the IDF regarding the possibility of holding the elections, and therefore the movement's request was not discussed. Regarding judicial reform, in 2019 the movement published a plan including ten steps to strengthen democracy, according to its approach. Among them: changing the method of selecting judges, establishing an override clause, limiting standing and the use of the reasonableness clause, appointing legal advisors as trust positions of ministers, splitting the roles of the Attorney General, establishing by law the obligation of public servants to appear before Knesset committees, increasing the number of Knesset members to 180, and additional steps. Some of these steps were attempted to be advanced by the government during the 2023 Israeli judicial reform. The movement's expenses in 2019 were 814,249 shekels, of which 509,992 shekels came from donations from Israel and 386,817 shekels from providing services and collaborations. Among the donors was a fund of Kenneth Abramowitz. The movement's budget in 2022 was about half a million shekels. According to a 2018 investigation published in Yedioth Ahronoth, the Movement for Governability and Democracy was founded by figures associated with the Komemiyut movement, linked to rabbis of the Tekuma party, and the investigation alleged that the Movement for Governability and Democracy serves as a legislative arm of the Komemiyut movement. The investigation pointed to Yehuda Amrani, who in the first two years also held a role in Komemiyut, and Rabbis Yair Kartman and Yaakov Yakir, who were among the founders of the movement and members of the Komemiyut management. Both organizations denied any connection between them.

• 2024

  The movement petitioned against the establishment of a team to examine the leak of the ruling that canceled the reasonableness clause.

• 2024

  The movement petitioned against the participation of justices Noam Sohlberg and Daphna Barak-Erez in the Judicial Selection Committee meeting to elect the Supreme Court President.

• 2023

  The movement, together with other movements, petitioned against the participation of the Attorney General and her staff in discussions on a law to reduce the powers of the Attorney General.

• 2019

  Following the movement's appeal, the Attorney General instructed the Courts Administration to stop monitoring citizens who express themselves against judges on social networks.

• 2019

  The movement published a ten-step plan to strengthen democracy.

• 2018

  The movement exposed the existence of the "Yahalom" database of lawyers who are candidates for judgeships.

• 2017

  MK Amir Ohana, at the initiative of the movement, submitted a bill to allow ministers to appoint legal advisors as personal appointments; it passed a preliminary reading.

• 2013

  Founded as an Israeli nonprofit association.

A nonprofit advocacy organization focused on judicial reform and the balance of power between elected officials and the judiciary in Israel.

Product categories. Research reports · Legislative proposals · Petitions to the courts · Public awareness campaigns

1. 1Official websitemeshilut.org
2. 2Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3Hebrew Wikipediahe.wikipedia.org