Understanding the Non-Profit—Government Relationship During Crisis: The Case of Israeli Non-Profits Under Covid-19

Since March 2020, Israeli non-profits have faced severe financial setbacks, hindering their ability to provide essential services. Despite an existing governmental emergency plan, the country was unprepared for the COVID-19 crisis due to poor governance in non-profit co-production of social services. This article explores the inability to implement a 2017 emergency plan for inter-sectoral cooperation and the government’s withdrawal of support from the third sector amid increased social service needs. Utilizing Historical Institutionalism and Discursive Institutional Analysis, we delve into ways agents, including politicians and non-profit representatives, shaped interests and interpreted institutional rules. Critical junctures in their relationship are identified, and path-dependencies and potential paradigmatic changes in institutional rules examined.