Opinion | How I Got Israel Wrong
“I was blinded by my own style and habit and thus late to see that this government is different, this coalition is different, this opposition is different, and this crisis is very different.”
Opinion | Does the Law of Return Need Changing?
Israel’s 1950 Law of Return is the instrument through which the State of Israel has sought to fulfill two main goals: to be a refuge for all Jews, and to ensure Israel as a Jewish domain.
Opinion | Why is Israel Deadlocked?
The prospect of Israel’s fifth election in less than four years does not seem promising.
Opinion | How Many Ukrainians Can Israel Absorb?
Israel’s immigration policy is a constant minefield in the public discourse.
Opinion | A Small Religious Revolution
It is easy to list the many things that the relatively new and highly diverse Israeli government cannot do. Example: It cannot advance a peace process with the Palestinians, nor an annexation in the West Bank.
Opinion | Did Biden Pass His First Israel Test?
Back to normal can be a blessing—as it is for a vaccinated public after COVID-19.
Opinion | Picking Their Poison
In every Israeli election since 2015—we’ve had four now, and in 2021 are headed toward a fifth—the average Israeli voter has one main thing in mind when he or she decides whom to vote for: Do I want Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to keep his job?
Opinion | Israel’s Right-Wing Losers
You don’t have to feel sorry for Israel’s right-wing politicians and ideologues, but if by some chance you want to, here is one possible reason: They often seem like winners and become losers.
Opinion | The Politics of the Rule of Law
In February, Justice Minister Amir Ohana of the Likud Party announced his decision to appoint a senior attorney, Israel’s top white-collar crimes prosecutor Dan Eldad, as the interim State Attorney.
Opinion | Murder Rate Rises Among Israel’s Arabs
Only one political faction could look with satisfaction at the indecisive results of the second 2019 Israel election.
Opinion | Who Is a Reform Jew?
How many Reform Jews live in Israel?
The proper answer to this question ought to be: Who cares? And yet some people do care, me...
Opinion | Is the Left Israel’s New Lost Tribe?
So on the eve of another round of Israeli elections, in which a “right” is supposedly battling a “left,” we have to ponder two options. The first is to agree that most of what Israelis argue about is either relatively unimportant (should we pass a nationality law?) or strictly tribal (do you belong to this or that segment of the population?), or just personal (do you approve of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu?). The second option is to change the definition of our political camps and what they mean. Do not contrast the small, vocal and largely irrelevant minority of people who still call themselves a left with the majority—because it skews the real political picture. Do not even call it a left—it’s confusing. Do not pretend the major debate in Israel is about the peace process—because it’s not. What is it about then? Hmmm. Good question.