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Yuval Shany

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Jul 6, 2023, 3:03 PM

‘Reasonableness’ keeps government power in check

MK Simcha Rothman leads a Knesset Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee discussion, June 25, 2023 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Canceling this judicial tool would lift yet another barrier to unlimited power and open the door for rampant corruption

Feb 16, 2022, 4:18 PM

‘Who will guard the guards?’: An oversight commission for online surveillance

The temptation to make excessive use of spyware compel a significant reinforcement of existing mechanisms and the creation of a new monitoring body

Mar 4, 2021, 7:48 PM

Another victim of the pandemic: Our fundamental rights

Ben Gurion International Airport, almost empty, on January 24, 2021. (Flash90)

This government's violation of every Israeli's basic right to leave and enter the country is unparalleled in any other democracy

Oct 5, 2020, 3:51 PM

Protests vs. prayers vs. weddings

“If people are permitted to gather in order to demonstrate, there would seem to be no justification for restricting gatherings for prayer; and if people are permitted to gather for prayers, there would seem to be no justification for...

Sep 14, 2020, 5:08 PM

Appointments now!

At the Israel Bar Association’s annual legal conference last Thursday, Speaker of the Knesset Yariv Levin told the journalist Tal Shalev that “the process for appointing the Knesset legal adviser is fundamentally flawed and problematic.” But when asked whether...

Dec 5, 2019, 3:19 PM

Remove Netanyahu right now on grounds of temporary incapacity

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) and then-cabinet secretary Avichai Mandelblit at a weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's Office, in Jerusalem on February 2, 2014. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

There's an unacceptable, extreme conflict of interest between Netanyahu the accused and Netanyahu, head of the executive branch

Sep 17, 2019, 7:43 AM

Democracy: Rule of the People?

One of the positive side-effects of the wave of populism sweeping the political systems of various Western countries, including Israel, is that it forces us to sharpen our understanding of the linkage between the literal meaning of the word...

Sep 9, 2019, 1:30 PM

Whatever happened to the Override Clause?

Candidates are less vocal about curbing the courts because it turns out that voters actually want robust judicial oversight

May 22, 2019, 11:13 AM

The weakest constitution in the world

Illustrative. The Knesset plenary hall during the swearing-in ceremony of Knesset members as a new session opens for lawmakers, following the elections, on April 30, 2019. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)

The Override Clause would provide the government with yet another legal avenue for restricting Israelis' fundamental rights

Apr 24, 2019, 7:57 AM

The return of the Override Clause? A dangerous and unnecessary step

According to several published reports, one of the key demands to be made by the Likud and several other parties during the negotiations to form a government will be a requirement that all its members of the coalition support...

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About Me

Professor Yuval Shany is a vice-president of Research at the Israel Democracy Institute, and a member of the Faculty of Law of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.