This study examines the issue of regional government as an efficient means for governing sub-national regions in Israel, particularly peripheral regions. Against a background of territorial disparities and a malfunctioning regional governance, a new tier of governance is required, one which relies on political empowerment and a prudent devolution of authority.

In the last two decades the National-Haredi (ultra-orthodox) community has become a central part of the religious public in Israel. This research shows how the national-haredi community recently identifies with extreme right wing political trends and is often reviewed in the general media. Despite that, it has neither been clearly defined nor has it justified an in-depth examination of its cultural, social and spiritual characteristics.

This research is a first attempt of its kind to define the characteristics of this group, highlight significant milestones in its development and the way in which it influenced the religious public and its relationship with the Israeli public at large. It analyzes the transformations witnessed by the religious public which gave rise to this phenomenon, as well as endeavors to predict its future course.

This study examines the relationship between nationalism and democracy in Israel and offers several scenarios on the issue of future relations between the Jewish majority and the Arab minority in Israel. The study focuses on the following cardinal questions:

* What is the ratio between nationalism and democracy in Israel?
* What are the factors shaping this ratio in Israel?
* What are the possible scenarios on the issues of nationalism and democracy and minority-majority relations in Israel?
* What can be done in light of the future possibilities described in the scenarios?

Summarizing the Second Annual Local Government of The Harold Hartog School of Governance and Policy, this publication consists of three parts: The first unfolds the concept of Democratic Deficit and explains how it is formed, the dangers embodied in it  and how we may overcome i and establish the democracy correctly. The second part presents the discussion among the panel members and the third part contains the questions asked by the audience and the answers given by the speakers.

This study attempts to assess the various impacts of the separation barrier on the sense of affiliation and identity, the economy and the spatial organization of the Arab population in Israel. The study points to the unequivocal message to the Arabs in Israel, that they will continue to be citizens of the state in any future agreement with the Palestinians.The fence however, creates a barrier between them and their brethren, their families and cultural affiliations across the other side. The fence makes economic ties with Palestinian urban centers more difficult, but on the other hand it accelerates local demand in Arab localities on the west side, thus contributing to a certain rate of growth in business and services which hitherto suffered a slump. Concurrently, localities in close proximity to the fence return to their pre 1967 peripheral status which stunts their development potential.

This study examines the impact of two concurrent processes on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: the changing leadership and governmental reshuffle on the one hand and the Israeli disengagement on the other hand. The relationship between the Palestinian Authority and its residents are also examined as are the means used to present the Oslo Accords to them, and other functioning characteristics underlying the political stalemate. The Palestinian reactions to disengagement are considered, the power struggle developing among the various foci of power and the impacts on the inter-organizational relationship. The researcher attempts to point out possible directions of development in the Israeli-Palestinian relationship after the stabilization of the Palestinian government and the implementation of the disengagement program.

This publication is a product of a two-year cooperation effort between the International Peace and Cooperation Center and the Floersheimer Institute for Policy Studies carried out with the support of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. The two teams worked on a series of scenarios regarding possible futures for Jerusalem, a vision of a desired future and a preliminary strategic framework towards its realization.

This study analyzes options for redistributing revenues from local taxes and levies on non-residential real estate among local authorities, with the aim of reducing fiscal disparities among local authorities.

The study recommends considering the implementation of alternatives at the local and regional levels, with clearly defined limits on conditions that permit revenue redistribution without the consent of involved parties. Implications in the direction of strengthening local government or concentration of power in the hands of government ministries depends on the manner of implementation: imposition subject to restraint and clear constraints, in which the central state is considered to be a fair broker, or an arena for bitter conflicts and for controversial decisions that are largely motivated by the need to alleviate short-term fiscal problems of the central state.

This book deals with two main questions: what are the barriers to the equality and the development of the Arabs in Israel? and how can the effect of these barriers be reduced?

The picture presented by the book is that despite certain improvements in the social area, especially in the area of education, the inequality between Jews and Arabs remains as it was.  The book offers a preliminary background for the analysis of the fundamental barriers preventing equality between Arabs and Jews in Israel.

This book attempts to develop a new conceptual view of local government in Israel and possible paths of institutional development towards the next decade. The urgency of such a task is based on two key assumptions. First, and mostly, the emergence of a new public agenda that shifts the traditional dominance in Israel of security related issues towards social and civic concerns. Second, the exhaustion of present patterns of governing and public governance and the consequent need for institutional change.

The book describes the key features of a new type of local government in Israel  (the ‘4th generation’) and explores three different scenarios for its actual emergence.

An alternative solution to the local government crisis with respect to the declining capacity of many municipalities to secure services for their residents. The proposal shifts away from the horizontal perspective, which identifies the change in local government with the changing municipal map, to a vertical perspective, which emphasizes the structural change in local government. Supra-municipal options for service provision are examined on the basis of a 'bottom-up' delegation of authority and regulating services.

This study examines the world views, ideologies, traditions, norms and social and cultural networks prevalent in development towns among various protagonists and groups – governmental and civic. The study highlights the crossroads, conflict and junctures which develop in a tenuous social field, and offers decision-makers an alternative strategy in light of this cultural and political labyrinth.

This publication examines those issues which should be included in the Ministry of Interior's agenda along two axes: the right of citizens to decent local services and the obligation of the ministry to provide them.

This study examines the value of social capital in crisis management under the circumstances confronting the settlers of the Gaza strip in recent years. Its findings show that the security risks and the threat of disengagement contributed to strengthening social capital in all settlements, and that social capital greatly contributed to the resilience of settlers in their confrontations. However, challenges are influenced by the cultural affiliations of each group, and it is this environment which ultimately determined the quality and long term influence of social capital. The study clearly concludes that wherever communities stuck together even after disengagement, their ability to face the crisis of evacuation improved.