Changing Reality in a Polarized Society
The State of Israel was established and grew against a background of complex challenges that no modern nation has had to face. Through the vision and the work of the founders’ generation, the young country stood on its feet and established itself as a prosperous democracy and a national home for the Jewish people.
But alongside the great success of the Zionist enterprise, since its independence the country has suffered from social and political divisions, as well as a lack of a constitutional and institutional infrastructure that will ensure its continued existence and prosperity. Over the years, the cracks have widened and revealed weaknesses and institutional failures in the corridors of power in Israel. These have created “islands of control” for different and opposing worldviews. Little by little, a sense of tribalism, translated into the discourse of “us and them,” seeped into Israeli society and politics. These phenomena damage the social resilience of the country and gradually erode the quality of its political institutions and its governmental foundations.
Now in its eighth decade, Israeli society is in need of an honest introspection into the cracks and weaknesses that threaten it. It also requires a mental and value “restart,” which in turn will improve public decision-making mechanisms.
Tachlith was established because we believe that the responsibility for correction rests not only on the shoulders of the government and its executive institutions. Civil society in Israel must take an active part in thinking and working to establish a model society, strengthening the existence and security of the state and strengthening its Jewish and democratic character.
To realize this vision, we at the Institute work to improve and strengthen governance, the economy, security and society through research, policy advocacy and cooperation with government entities, academia and the business and industrial sectors.
What are our values?
A shared value compass
The values of the Declaration of Independence are the basis for the common existence of Israeli society and are a compass for the Institute's activities. Apart from the core values expressed by the spirit of the scroll and the roots of the Zionist enterprise, our research does not depend on narrow ideological goals that are not part of the national Israeli ethos, and is not determined by them.
Applicability
The institute works in a variety of ways to ensure that the policy solutions it will put forward will be applicable both publicly and politically, and will not remain in the books as utopian policies that are not achievable.
Mamlachtiut
The israeli society is a multicultural society and groups in it have different value preferences and different needs. Public policy cannot be sustainable if it serves the goals of one group and ignores or overrides the needs of the other group. What this means is that the policy produced by the institute is based on consideration of the needs of the general and not of a specific sector only, and it often has internal compromises whose role is to promote a broad base of support (all this, without compromising the fundamental principles for the existence of a Jewish and democratic state in the spirit of the values of the Declaration of Independence). For a certain sector, the policy we will offer will almost never serve all of its desires. However, in the long run, the solutions we will offer will be feasible and durable over time. This is an essential condition for any successful public policy.
Diversity Of Opinons
In every policy field dealing with value issues and questions of the distribution of the resource pie, research is accompanied by heterogeneous research and consulting teams. It is important to note that we are not a neutral factor. Our goal is not to produce a compromise or an average between the different voices, and not everyone involved in the work serves as a "veto player". The importance of this working method is that already during the research we manage to map the various public perceptions and get an accurate picture of Israeli society, which affects both the content of the proposed solutions and the ability to implement them. The institute's research products are modular products determined according to the needs from the field and the timelines in which the political system operates. The typical work process includes three work stages that are integrated with the decision makers and the environment (ecosystem) of the civil society community. In phase I, the research team is assembled, which includes researchers from the institute, colleagues and external consultants, and an initial opinion is drawn up (a "Tachal's" document) that maps the issue and identifies the challenges and principles for formulating a solution. In phase B, a comprehensive policy paper is drawn up that diagnoses the problem, discusses the social goals, the policy alternatives to achieve them, and formulates concrete policy recommendations. This phase includes research using different methodologies, getting to know the reality on the ground and organizing round tables and meetings with decision makers. In the third stage, final products are produced: legislative proposals and basic legislation, decision-making proposals, regulatory proposals, etc. This stage takes place in appropriate cases in partnership with decision makers and after mapping the political field and searching for spaces of agreement that will ensure political applicability.
Content based on research and experience from the field
The "desk" of each major project includes researchers from the institute and research colleagues from the academic ranks in Israel and the world who come from different worlds of content, and people with experience from the field are also integrated into the work processes, so that the combination and diversity helps us crack complex and stubborn problems through a fresh, creative research approach and between - domain. For example, the complex and charged issue of the method of selecting judges in Israel was discussed at the institute by research teams that combined legal advisors from the top of the public service, and researchers from the fields of government and political science, comparative constitutional law, institutional design, game theory (expertise in selection committees) and organizational psychology.
