In recent months, Israel has been shaken not only by war and political upheaval but also by a controversial request from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: a preemptive pardon that would erase his criminal charges once the conflict ends. While this move has been framed as a legal question, its implications reach far beyond the courtroom.

This talk will explore how the debate over the pardon has become a focal point — a mirror reflecting Israel’s profound polarization and a test of its democratic resilience. What does this moment reveal about the state of the country’s democratic norms? How do questions of accountability, leadership, public trust and national trauma converge in this single request? And what does it mean for a society already struggling to hold itself together under immense pressure?

Together, we will examine:• Why the pardon request matters far beyond legal procedure• How it exposes emotional and identity-based fractures inside Israeli society• What this moment tells us about democratic backsliding in Israel• Whether — and how — Israel can emerge from this crisis with stronger democratic foundations

This is not just a conversation about Netanyahu. It is a conversation about the future of the Israeli project, and the ability of a deeply divided society to navigate conflict without losing its core democratic values.

About the Speaker

Dr. Dana Blander is a Research Fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) and an expert clinical psychologist. Her doctoral dissertation, Ambivalence as a Challenge to the Political Order, which integrates political philosophy with psychoanalytic theory, won the Alex Berger Award at the Hebrew University in 2008. She later served as a visiting lecturer at Tufts University in Boston (2010–2011).

Dr. Blander’s research focuses on essential democratic mechanisms, including state and parliamentary commissions of inquiry, private legislation, and the powers of the presidency. She is the co-author of The Handbook of Israel’s Political System (Cambridge University Press, 2018), a foundational analysis of Israel’s governing structures, and the editor of Can Democracy Recover? by Yaron Ezrahi (Cambridge University Press, 2025).