Shomrim is proud to present two awards in the framework of “Local Testimony,” the annual photojournalism exhibition, with Oded Balilty winning Shomrim’s Democracy award for his image. Sharina Rosner and Itay Raziel taking home Shomrim’s Award in the field of video.

The state attorney’s Cyber Unit “asks” internet companies to remove allegedly problematic content – requests that are overwhelmingly granted. But there’s no documentation and no supervision. No one knows what’s being censored and why | Viki Auslender

All the signs are there: From amass refusal to pay fines for violating Covid-19 regulations to an ever-diminishing legitimacy of the government and law enforcement agencies to take action. Has the pandemic brought Israel to the brink of civil uprising?| Doron Avigad

Ministerial interference, foot-dragging over the appointment of a permanent police chief, loss of legitimacy in the eyes of the public: These are some of the problems which have led senior officers to warn that the force is facing the severest crisis in its history | Roni Singer

Of the 74 laws enacted by the Knesset in the eight months since it was sworn in, no fewer than 50 are temporary provisions. How does it work and why should it trouble us? | Zeela Kotler Hadari

Once a cornerstone of the Israeli education system, education for democracy is being erased from state-run schools and has been replaced by a fresh emphasis on Jewish heritage | Renen Netzer

Police insist that their response to the recent wave of protests has been proportionate. A Shomrim analysis of crowd־control measures, however, highlights a range of questionable tactics | Roni Singer

Israel’s haphazard and tone-deaf response to the Coronavirus crisis has exacerbated an already worrying erosion in public faith in state institutions| Shahar Smooha.

Has Israel’s democracy been weakened or fortified by the series of blows it has enduredin the past year? | A special report by Shahar Smooha

Professor Larry Diamond, one of the leading global experts on the rise and fall of democracies, in a special interview| by Omri Assenheim

Aiman Saif, the former director of the Authority for the Economic Development of the Minority Sectors, warns of an economic catastrophe and calls on the Joint List to talk to everyone – including the Likud.

Professor Daniel Friedmann, who served as justice ministerin Ehud Olmert’s government and accused the judicial system of damaging governance, hopes that the Supreme Court will intervene in the Knesset Speaker’s decisions.

The Knesset is not meeting, the will of the people is being ruthlessly trampled, there are no checks on the executive branch, the General Security Services are being given dangerous powers, the public is frightened. Speaking to Shomrim, Professor Michael Birnhack, one of Israel’s leading jurists on issues of privacy, raises the red flag.