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Erez Cohen
The growth of political lobbyism in democratic countries in recent years is characteristic of Israel as well. This activity makes it possible for private and business entities to influence decision-making processes and the shaping of public policy in these countries. Side by side with its contribution to important democratic principles such as representing interests and political participation, it is also strongly criticised and said to be a real danger to democracy; due to this hazard, many countries, including Israel normally regulate this activity by means of the law. In contrast, some argue that this activity reflects one of the basic tenets of democracy, which includes freedom of occupation and equal opportunities. This study examines measures of commercial lobbying in Israel during the 20th Knesset’s term, presenting the number of lobbies, number of clients and degree of centralisation in this commercial industry and weighing the research data against democratic principles in general and Israel’s values. The research findings show an increase in Israel’s lobbyist activity during the 20th Knesset’s term (2015–2018), both with regard to the number of lobbyists and with regard to the number of clients represented by them.
