Haredim and Judicial Reform: Tensions in Israel

Dr. Moshe Koppel is a leading computer scientist in Israel, with a

specific expertise in AI. But over past twenty years he has led an

intellectual movement promoting judicial reform within Israel.

Through his Kohelet Policy Forum, Dr. Koppel researches alternatives to

the entrenched judicial dynamics, and advocates for what he considers a

more balanced and democratic approach, in line with other Western

countries. Obviously, this topic has been at the center of stormy

debates and protests in Israel; while it seemed to subside in the wake

of the October 7th tragedy, this issue has returned to the foreground,

with broad implications for swaths of Israeli society, perhaps most

notably, the chareidim.

We speak today with Dr. Koppel about the history and intellectual

perspective of this movement, how and why it seemed to unravel, and

where the typically non-ideological and narrowly focus charedi public

fits in to the story.