The Movement for Quality Government in Israel

20/08/2026

An important legal victory for freedom of expression and a free press!

Israel’s Supreme Court unanimously accepted our petition and struck down the government’s decision to shut down Galei Tzahal (Army Radio). The station will remain on the air.

This is an important victory for the rule of law and the public’s right to free and independent media. A government cannot shut down a public broadcaster through a flawed process or for improper considerations.

We will continue to stand against any attempt to undermine a free press or democratic institutions.

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18/08/2026

What Can Israel’s Government and Parliament Do During an Election Period?

• It’s not business as usual
It’s official: Israel has entered the 90 days before the election. The government and the Knesset (Israel’s parliament) continue to function, but with significantly tighter constraints.

The logic is straightforward: at the end of their term, elected institutions have less public legitimacy to make far-reaching decisions, and a clear political incentive to take steps that could benefit them at the polls.

• What can the Knesset do?
The Knesset plenary can convene at the request of the government or 25 members of parliament (MKs). Legislative proceedings can also continue, but on a limited basis and subject to special rules governing the election recess.

Most parliamentary committee meetings require advance approval from a special coalition-opposition committee. During the election recess, many parliamentary activities are suspended altogether, except for urgent matters approved under special procedures.

• A restrained government
During an election period, the outgoing government is expected to exercise restraint and avoid major decisions that could be seen as politically motivated, partisan, or difficult to reverse.

Decisions that go beyond routine administration require particular legal scrutiny. As a rule, if something isn’t urgent and there is no broad consensus around it, it should wait for the next government.

• The rule of thumb
If it’s urgent and necessary for the public, it can move forward. If it isn’t, extra caution, or simply waiting, is required.

Now it’s your turn:
What else would you like to know about how Israel’s government and parliament operate during the election period?

And if you come across a government or parliamentary move that seems to contradict these rules, let us know.

Help us safeguard the rule of law.

09/08/2026

🚨 Serious new allegations in the Qatargate affair

According to a report by Israel Hayom, a security source alleges that information from classified Israeli security discussions about Egypt was passed to Qatar through advisers close to the Prime Minister. The information was allegedly later used in an influence campaign aimed at undermining Egypt’s role as a mediator in negotiations for the release of Israeli hostages.

These allegations still need to be investigated, and those involved deny them. But one fact cannot be ignored: Yonatan Urich, a suspect in the Qatargate investigation who has also been indicted in the separate Bild affair, continues to operate in the Prime Minister’s circle.

Anyone involved in legal proceedings concerning sensitive security information should not remain at the heart of government decision-making or have access to sensitive material.

We petitioned Israel’s High Court of Justice to remove Urich from the Prime Minister’s Office and are currently awaiting a decision on our request for an interim order.

This morning, we asked the Court again to order Urich’s immediate removal from the Prime Minister’s Office. Someone involved in proceedings concerning sensitive security information cannot remain at the center of government decision-making.

This serious security risk must end.

We will continue to demand accountability, transparency, and the protection of Israel’s national security.

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06/08/2026

What happens when a municipality, which is responsible for keeping public spaces open and safe, decides to separate women and men in a public area?

The Bnei Brak Municipality is facilitating physical gender segregation in its streets, following instructions from the city’s rabbis, and allowing signs to be placed directing men to one sidewalk and women to the other, as reported by Yoeli Brim on Channel 13. Not in a synagogue, not even in a school, but on a major, central public street in one of Israel’s largest cities. It is important to remember that this is not merely a policy. It is a violation of the law, and the authority responsible for preventing it is the municipality, the very municipality that allowed the segregation signs to be displayed.

Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty establishes every person’s fundamental right to dignity. The courts have repeatedly reminded us that this right includes the right to equality: every person, simply by virtue of being human, is entitled to equal treatment, regardless of gender or any other aspect of their identity. No public body in Israel has the authority to disregard this right.

Even when it is argued that men and women may be separated, for religious reasons or any other reason, it is important to remember that this is not a theoretical question. The courts have ruled that gender segregation in public spaces is discriminatory, violates equality and is prohibited. It promotes the exclusion of women and, by its very nature, cannot be equal.

For years, the United States had laws separating Black and white people solely on the basis of skin color, under the claim that they were “separate but equal.” Those laws were struck down by the courts. Here in Israel, too, it has rightly been established that separate is never equal.

How do we know that this case is part of the same prohibited form of segregation? Quite simply, this is not our first rodeo.

The courts have already ruled in almost identical cases. When signs were placed in Beit Shemesh forcing women to walk only on one side of the street and men on the other, the court ruled that the municipality itself was required to remove the signs and could not turn a blind eye.

When barriers and ushers were placed in Jerusalem’s Mea Shearim neighborhood to enforce harmful segregation between men and women in the streets during the holidays, the police committed before the court to prevent it.

Every public authority in Israel, from municipalities to the police, has a duty to protect our right to equality and prevent gender segregation in public spaces.

Our streets are not private property. They do not belong to one person, one community or one gender. The right to equality means that all of us have the right to use and enjoy them equally, and we cannot remain silent when attempts are made to segregate and exclude women from the streets.

That is why, as soon as we learned about what was happening in Bnei Brak, we contacted the Bnei Brak Municipality and reminded it that encouraging gender segregation and exclusion is not only disgraceful. It is illegal.

As in universities, in Dizengoff Square and in Mea Shearim, state authorities must protect an inclusive and equal public space for every person, regardless of gender.

Tal Schwartz
Municipal Department Coordinator, MQG

04/08/2026

29/07/2026

Some good news: Following the petition we filed, Israel’s High Court of Justice issued an interim injunction yesterday against the law freezing the arrest of military draft evaders.

For now, the Court has blocked an attempt to create two classes of draft evaders: a secular Israeli who can be arrested and investigated for violating mandatory service requirements, and an ultra-Orthodox Israeli who would be protected from arrest and enforcement solely because of their community affiliation.

This discriminatory law was designed to shield those who refuse to report for serviceת at a time when active-duty soldiers and reservists are repeatedly called upon to carry the burden and pay a heavy price.

This is a victory for those who serve, for equality, for the rule of law, and for Israel’s security.

The fight is not over. We will continue to demand actual enlistment, equal enforcement, and a genuine policy that reduces inequality - until the duty to serve applies equally to everyone.

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28/07/2026

A secular draft dodger can be arrested. An ultra-Orthodox draft dodger gets immunity.

Today, nine Supreme Court justices heard our petition against this discriminatory law, which freezes arrests, investigations and prosecutions of ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers, without ensuring they enlist.

The Court has already frozen the law from taking effect. We are demanding it be struck down entirely.

Israel cannot have two standards of law: one for those called to serve, and another for those exempted from it.

We will keep fighting for equal service and equal enforcement.

27/07/2026

Important opinion piece from our head of operations, Liat Grossman Tamir

27/07/2026

Two days after the Knesset passed a law shielding draft evaders from arrest, it passed another extending mandatory military service for soldiers already serving. Yesterday, we petitioned Israel's Supreme Court to strike it down.

Since June 2023, Israeli law has required military service equally for everyone, including Haredi men. But instead of enforcing the law, the government has placed the burden on those already serving, through longer reserve duty, higher exemption ages, and now two additional months of mandatory service.

The Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that the government must enforce the draft equally. Yet last week, the Knesset passed a law protecting draft evaders from criminal enforcement (currently frozen following our petition), then voted to extend service for soldiers who are already serving, even during wartime.

This is unconstitutional. It violates equality and unfairly shifts the burden onto those who already serve while others continue to avoid the draft.

We will keep fighting until the law is applied equally to everyone.

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23/07/2026

Tisha B’Av, the Jewish day of mourning marking the destruction of the Temples in Jerusalem, is an opportunity to revisit one of the greatest warning voices in Jewish history: the prophet Jeremiah.

Jeremiah warned against injustice, corruption, violence, and leaders who put power above morality. He also challenged the illusion that the Temple itself could protect a society that had abandoned justice and responsibility. No building, symbol, or institution can save a nation that gives up its moral foundations.

Instead of listening, those in power turned the messenger into the enemy. Jeremiah was beaten, imprisoned, and silenced for trying to prevent disaster.

The lesson of Tisha B’Av is not only about destruction. It is about what comes before it. A society begins to unravel when it stops listening to those who warn of injustice, weakens the rule of law, and pushes aside its watchdogs.

That was true then, and it remains true today.