The Social Guard Sums Up 2015

8/19/2019 The Social Guard Sums Up 2015

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The Social Guard is a volunteer-based organization committedto changing the relationshipbetween the Israeli public and itsrepresentatives, promoting social

justice and equality and buttressingIsrael’s democracy. Created in

the wake of the civil awakeningof 2011, the Social Guard offersIsraelis an innovative model forengagement with the legislativeprocess: Our activists monitorparliamentary committee hearings,they analyze and follow proposedbills, present them in accessibleform to the public, and publishsegmented analyses of individual

MKs’ performance. Beyond our directimpact on legislation, the SocialGuard has become a major sourcefor mainstream media, and hasbeen invited to participate in variouseducational frameworks.

2015 was a turning point forthe Social Guard. After intensivegroundwork, we launched the newyear tracking the national elections,

generating a great deal of public andmedia interest in our work. Once thenew government was in place we set

about tracking and monitoring the new Knesset with anunprecedented number of new volunteers, and startedexploring new arenas for our activity.

owards the middle of this exciting year I joined theGuard. I found a committed staff, an actively involvedboard, and hundreds of dedicated volunteers engagedin the struggle for social justice, democracy and

transparency in Israel. A lot of work still lies ahead: Socialinequality is still on the increase, the poverty indexes arealarming, and the Knesset is consistently losing power.But the deep commitment of the Guard’s activists, alongwith the great interest shown by the general public, themedia, civil society and the political arena, prove thatan increasing number of citizens in Israel are no longerwilling to accept the current state of affairs. Tey areprepared, more than ever before perhaps, to delve intothe crucial details, to demand positive action from theirpoliticians for the greater public good, and to follow upon their performance.

Nirit Moskovich

Executive Director

The Social Guard

Sums Up 2015

2015 Elections:The Moment of Truth for Our MKs

In Israeli politics there is never a dull moment. InDecember2014 the 19th Knesset was disbandedafter less than two years, and the opening shot forthe elections was fired. As a direct result of the2011 Social Justice protest, the campaign focusedintensively on issues such as housing and the cost ofliving – an unprecedented agenda in a country whereelections traditionally focus on security threats. Tiswas the first election campaign in which we werepositioned to present a complete track record for theoutgoing Knesset, thus channeling public discourseaway from political spins toward information on thecivil issues that directly concern Israeli citizens. OurSocial Index grades members of Knesset according totheir votes on social and economic bills. In the run-upto the elections, we published this index, in differentsegmentations: comparisons between parties, relativeperformance within the coalition and the opposition,

and the individual ranking of MKs within each party.Te results were extensively published in the media.Some MKs were annoyed by the results; others tookpride in their high rating: In either case, the SocialIndex has become an acknowledged standard.



Strengthening the Knesset

Te Knesset is the only national body of governmentin Israel which is elected directly, and is thus theonly one which represents citizens of all sectors. Ofall national authorities, it is also the one most opento the general public. And yet, in spite of the civil

awakening we have experienced in recent years, theKnesset is gradually losing power, and is unable tofulfill its supervisory as well as its legislative role,having very limited influence on legislation promotedby the government. Our Knesset Independence Indexevaluates the rate of independent legislation that MKsare able to push forward, and analyzes the tacticsemployed by the government to delay and thwartparliamentary legislative initiatives.

Results of theSocial Index of the19th KnessetParty Participation Rates

(in socio-economic votes)

Intrafactional social index,

published in Arabic ahead of the

primary elections for Balad party.

Yariv Levin (Likud) primary election

campaign video, celebrating Levin's rank

no.1 at the Social Index among Likud Party

" These struggles are at last reaching

fruition, not as fast as we had hoped

while we camped out in our tents back

then, but rather through mundane

work one day at a time that will, in the

long run, achieve a major correctionin the way our country functions.

NGOs like the Social Guard are gaining

traction. The public realizes they've

been kept in the dark deliberately,

mostly at their cost".

[MK Stav Shar in an interview with The Marker, December 25, 2015.]



Tracking the State Budget

Tis year, for the first time, the Social Guard has keptcomprehensive track of the state budget’s approvalprocess. Te Guard’s volunteers delved into the fineprint of the budget, as well as the Arrangements Lawwhich circumvents it, in an effort to improve civil

society’s oversight of the process. Tus, we discoveredthat a proposed bill touted as a move to form a safetynet for small business owners had been hollowedout in the Arrangements Law, and would actuallyincrease the tax burden on this sector. Te Guard’svolunteers blew the whistle, the media picked upthe information, and the bill was removed fromthe Arrangements Law. Te MKs who originallypresented it have committed to push it forward in itsfull form.

The economic

magazine The Marker

has ranked the

Social Guard, along

with other social

organizations, fth of

the one hundred most

inuential players in

Israel 2015.

Our Chair and Co-founder Lia Nirgad

at the HaaretzQ conference

Our Volunteer Community

One of the cornerstones of the Social Guard is thepromotion of active citizenship. Te work doneby our activists is at the core of the organization’sactivity: attending committee hearings, analyzingdraft proposed bills and distributing our materials atpublic gatherings – as well as participating in long-term organizational processes and strategic planning.Te highlight of this participatory model is ourannual volunteers meeting, two days of brainstormingin which our community discusses ideas and

suggestions for improving and expanding the Guard’swork. Tis October we met at the Arab village of EinHud in the Carmel area. Our activists were full ofpractical ideas for taking our work to the next level -some of which are already being implemented.

At any given moment, the Social

Guard's activists total some 300

volunteers engaged in monitoring,

research and editorial work. Our

activists range in age from 17

to 80 and come from diverse

backgrounds and communities.



Educational Activity

Volunteering in the Social Guard is in itself anincredible education: racking the legislative process,drilling down into current issues, stimulatinginformed debates on policy and actively enhancingvalues such as justice and freedom, democracy,

transparency and civic engagement. Beyondthis growing circle of activists, the Social Guardpromotes the development of educational software incollaboration with CE – the Center for Educationalechnology – and cooperates with a variety ofeducational frameworks: the public educationsystem, pre-military leadership academies and variousacademic programs.

A group of soldiersfrom the Tel-Nof

airbase visit the

Knesset with the

Social Guard.

The Social Legislation Clinic

Te Social Guard’s clinic for social legislation atthe Interdisciplinary Center Herzeliya is nowin its third year, focusing on research which

supports our activities – such as tracking theactual implementation of laws Te clinic has beennominated best academic clinic in the IDC and wasthe one in greatest demand this year, with some 80students competing for 25 places.

In 2015 the Social Guard volunteers

wrote over a 100 simplifed

interpretations of draft laws

tabled in the 20th Knesset.

The Social Guard activists participate

in an average of 18 committee

hearings per week.

"Today's public keeps a close

eye on social issues through

media coverage and the work

done by social NGOs like the

Social Guard... In our work,

this new public awareness isa force multiplier".

[Ministry of Financeofcial in an interview with The Marker,December 19, 2015.]

Our supporters:

The

Samuel Sebba

Charitable

Trust

Documents

The Social Guard Sums Up 2015