A sound legal infrastructure is critical to the development of the Israeli economy. In its absence, business people and private persons alike face difficulties in planning their actions. All too often they are obliged to turn to the courts of law. However, in the absence of a proper infrastructure, those do not themselves have the necessary tools to resolve the disputes. The matters at issue are not marginal. They have long-lasting consequences for the economy. The number of publicly-traded companies listed in Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange sank from 657 in 2008 to 461 in March 2016. Innovative legislative or regulatory initiatives are announced regularly, having been conceived by a minister, Knesset member, or regulator, who wishes to have his name imprinted upon a novel idea that had come to his mind. If he or she can exercise sufficient political power, the initiative will be turned into law. Examples abound – the "one share, one vote" rule for listed companies, restrictions on bankers' salaries, the natural gas deal, the reform of the Civil Procedure Rules, the Draft Civil Code, the dated competition law rules. All of those reflect a systemic problem – the way the legal infrastructure develops in Israel is very different than that which obtains in developed countries. Nothing is foreseen and freedom of choice cannot be granted.
 
The presentation will address, on a comparative basis, the following subjects: (1) The law-making process – "there is a serious phenomenon of rushed, unprecedented populist legislation", "What more needs to happen for the Government, the Knesset and the citizens to wake up from the dream and note that it was a shattered illusion?" (headlines, Globes evening newspaper, April 2016); (2) The significance of legal research and the role of the academic lawyers – respice finem; (3) The influence of the incentives created by the Council of Higher Education; (4) The role of the Bar Association; (5) The role of the courts – ranging between legal activism and legal passivity, judges as dispute managers; (6) The way forward.
 
Talia Einhorn. Full professor at Ariel University Department of Economics and Business Administration and Visiting Senior Researcher at Tel-Aviv University Faculty of Management; Author of Private International Law in Israel (2009, 2nd ed. 2012); was founding editor and Editor-in-Chief of European Business Organization Law Review; previously Senior Research Fellow at the inter-university TMC Asser Instituut (Netherlands) for Public and Private Law, European Law and International Commercial Arbitration. Taught and lectured widely at Israeli, European and American universities and institutes of higher education.
 
 
Titular member of the International Academy of Comparative Law. Member of the Scientific Board of the Interdisciplinary Association of Comparative and Private International Law (IGKK/IACPIL); the German Society of International Law; the American Society of International Law; ASCOLA (Academic Society for Competition Law); ILA (International Law Association) International Trade Law Committee; ILA Cultural Heritage Law Committee; ILA International Arbitration Committee; the Israeli Bar Association.
 
Papers