Israel's broken political system keeps resisting reform, despite decades of warnings - analysis

Israel's 78-year-old political system is like an old, inherited pair of shoes: they pinch painfully whenever you stand up and walk, offer little protection when you step in the mud, and you aren't sure whether they can be repaired or whether you can afford a new pair.Why is it so difficult to reform a political system when so many people agree that it needs reform? More than ever, the 2026 Knesset elections have shown how dysfunctional and ill-suited it is to the country's unique governance challenges.Improving government function and solidarity in Israeli societyFor 35 years, the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) has been studying, warning, proposing, and recommending on the basis of its research, which it has presented to politicians, academics, and the public. Yet the distance between identifying what is wrong with Israel's system of government and persuading those who operate it to change it remains enormous.It was founded in 1991 by one of Israel's foremost experts on political reform, Dr. Arye Carmon, who was its president until 2014 and received an Israel Prize in 2009. He aimed to strengthen the structural and normative foundations of Israeli democracy with an independent think tank known for its non-partisanship, professionalism, and actionable policy recommendations.The institute partners with government, policy and decision makers, society, and the civil service to improve the functioning of…