The Citizens’ Empowerment Center in Israel (CECI), an apolitical non-profit dedicated to monitoring systemic failures in the government system in Israel, on Monday issued a report on the degree to which the Lapid-Bennett government has kept its election promises, as a whole and by faction.
According to the report, as a whole, the outgoing government kept about 65% of the commitments it made on day one. The most reliable was Gideon Sa’ar’s New Hope which kept 63% of its promises, followed by Yamina – 61%, Ra’am – 60%, Yesh Atid, Blue&White, and Israel Beiteinu with 58% each, Meretz – 55%, and Labor – 52%.
On its face, the conclusion is that the center and left-of-center parties sacrificed more of their agendas to preserve the coalition government than their right-wing partners. Or, as the CECI report puts it: “If we just make sure to follow the coalition agreements throughout the term, we’ll be able to learn about the real priorities of the government and its members and form an educated opinion before the next election.
To that end, the CECI website offers the data of the coalition agreements that were broken down into 326 concrete commitments. Out of the total concrete commitments, the current government implemented 211, commitments, which constitute about 65% of the total that was entered into the coalition agreements.
The website then offers the data according to categories.
You know us, we worry most about security, so we clicked that one first. There were 4 commitments on Security in the coalition agreement: 1. Boost the economic and security situation of the residents of Ashkelon and the Gaza envelope settlements. This commitment was entered by Blue&White, Israel Beiteinu, and Yesh Atid. It was kept; 2. Pass legislation regulating the behavior of civilian entities in emergencies. Entered by Blue&White, and Yesh Atid. Was not kept; 3. Conduct debates involving the defense and finance ministries to forge the next security budget. Blue&White, and Yesh Atid. Was not kept. 4. Creating social solutions in preparation for moving the IDF bases from central Israel to the south. Blue&White, and Yesh Atid. Was kept partially.
On Law and Order, there were 8 commitments, out of which the government kept 6: minimum sentences for illegal weapons trade; decriminalizing cannabis use; NIS 2.5 billion designated for fighting crime in the Arab sector; quashing crime in the Arab sector; establishing an emergency system to protect battered women; and establishing shelters for adult sex-crime victims. Not kept: establishing a department to deal with sex crimes within the police; and decriminalizing technical and procedural violations.
Two commitments were made on Minorities, and both were kept: promoting equality among the different sectors in Israel through programs benefiting Israeli Arabs, Druze, and Circassian; and a 5-year plan to narrow the social gaps of the Arab, Druze, Circassian, and Bedouin sectors, with a budget of NIS 30 billion through 2026.
Finally, the area with the fewest number of kept commitments, according to the report, was State and Religion, where only 5 out of 11 promises were kept. Only one commitment was kept outright: the agreement on a reform of kashrut supervision. Partially kept commitments: 1. Legislation concerning issues with broad public consensus; 2. Promotion of gay rights and a solution to couples who cannot be married halakhically; 3. Public transportation on Shabbat; 4. Establish a department for Jewish renewal in the diaspora ministry. Not kept at all: 1. Application and budgeting of Government Decision 1075 regarding the Kotel outline (creating a separate but equal, non-Orthodox section at the Kotel plaza; 2. Eliminate regulations prohibiting the operation of supermarkets and grocery stores on Shabbat; 3. Maintain the status quo on religion & State; 4. Legislating a special enforcement unit to deal with fraud in the kashrut industry; 5. Legislating conversion reform; 6. Rewriting the law regulating the Chief Rabbinate.
You are welcome to visit the CECI website and the report.
Of course there is that one, really, really big promise that Naftali Bennett made and didn’t keep, and that was not to make Yair Lapid the Prime Minister.
