Explaining the Israeli Government’s Response to Crises

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

In Israel, the overall risk environment combined with knowledge of and experience in dealing with threats, create an expectation that a severe crisis will trigger effective protective policies. Yet, in the cases of the COVID-19 pandemic, the mass protest against judicial reform, the Hamas 10/7 massacre, and others, the Israeli government embarked on a response that failed to fully exploit its preparedness capacities, was hampered by politics, utilized data poorly, and failed to overcome intrinsic vulnerabilities. Many aspects of the Israeli government's response require examination, including the capacities that the Israeli government lacked, the capacities that hindered the government's response to crises, and the preparedness capacities that did not function as effectively as previously presumed. The responses of the Israeli government also raise many questions. What benefits of what advanced capacities was Israel unable to fully realize in each case, and why? In what policy areas do existing risks or missing capacities hinder the use of other capacities? What factors intrinsic to Israel likely made it more vulnerable than other countries to the specific consequences of crises? It is also important to examine further the extent to which politics played an important role in the pattern of the Israeli government's response; and how significant the loss of public support for the government response and the loss of some political leaders’ interest in responding to crises were in determining the scale and scope of the government response. To what extent did the Israeli government respond to crises in ways that counterbalance underlying social vulnerabilities? To what degree did the Israeli government struggle to aggregate, analyze, and publish real-time data that would help local governments, businesses, community groups, and individuals make decisions regarding how best to protect themselves? This panel seeks quantitative and qualitative single-case and comparative papers that will improve our understanding of all these issues.

Sub Unit

• Partner Associations / Association for Israel Studies

Cosponsor

• Division 23: Presidents and Executive Politics

Individual Presentations

• Cyber-War? Ambiguities in Israel's National Cyber Crisis Preparedness - Amit Sheniak, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

• Evacuation of Israeli Citizens from the North and South after October 7th - Laura Beth Wharton, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

• The Secret Weapon of the National Ethos and the Israeli Alliance - Eyal Lewin, Ariel University

• Public Administration, Trust, and Co-production in Times of Crisis - Lihi Lahat, Sapir Academic College

• Right Wing Response to Security Threats - and the Government's Reaction - Gayil Talshir, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Chair

• Moshe Maor Reichman University

Discussant

• Moshe Maor Reichman University