Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the Hatikva Market in Tel Aviv as part of the Likud party’s election campaign, October 22, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

50 shades of right: An Israeli election primer

While Netanyahu’s bloc adds more extremists to its ranks, his opponents are impeding their own path to power by refusing to work with Arab parties.
By Ben Reiff
Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh, surrounded by MK Ahmad Tibi and Joint List chairman Yousef Jabareen, at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem for a hearing on the Central Elections Committee’s decision to disqualify candidates and parties from running in the upcoming Knesset elections, October 1, 2026. (Oren Ziv)

Israel’s election won’t change the renewed reality of political apartheid

Abu Shehadeh’s disqualification sends a clear message: Jewish-majority state institutions now determine who represents Palestinian citizens.
By Areej Sabbagh-Khoury
Election campaign billboards featuring Yashar party chairman Gadi Eisenkot and Likud party chairman and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alongside opposition leaders, displayed on a road in the northern Israeli city of Haifa, October 17, 2026. (Sharon Leibel/Flash90)

Eisenkot is trying to outflank Netanyahu on the right. It’s a failed strategy

The more hawkish the opposition leader is, the harder it is to explain what alternative he offers — and he’s not the first to make that mistake.
By Amos Brison
Finance Minister and Religious Zionist Party chairman Bezalel Smotrich tours the Mahane Yehuda Market as part of the party’s election campaign, in Jerusalem, October 9, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Why Smotrich still defines the horizon of Israeli politics

Israeli liberals have acceded to the maximalist vision of the MK's 2017 ‘Decisive Plan’ — while claiming to oppose ‘messianic’ violence.
By Avi-ram Tzoreff
Leena Dallasheh (courtesy)
PODCAST

What’s at stake for Palestinian citizens in Israel’s election?

Leena Dallasheh discusses the echoes of military rule in today’s crackdown on Palestinian dissent, and the struggle for a more substantive form of citizenship.
By +972 Magazine
Latest
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, U.S. president Bill Clinton, and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat at the signing of the Oslo Accords at the White House on September 13, 1993. (Vince Musi/The White House)
The key to an election victory for the Israeli Left
The Right in Israel will not fall over economic issues, period. It will fall only if its lies about political solutions are disproved. By Eli Shmueli No one in the Israeli public dares convey three simple messages: 1) There is a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; 2) We have a partner for peace; 3) The…
By +972 Magazine February 19, 2015
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Photo by Activestills.org)
The threat of hope and truth in elections devoid of both
Proponents of a strong democracy should welcome young citizens sounding their voices. But a prime minister who builds his campaign on fear mongering clearly feels threatened by anyone grouping together the words ‘hope,’ ‘truth’ and ‘politics.’ By Don Futterman There is nothing Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Likud party finds so threatening as hope and truth. While…
By +972 Magazine February 18, 2015
A man sits in his tent at the Arlozorov encampment in Tel Aviv. (Photo by Dan Haimovich)
Tel Aviv cuts homeless camp’s electricity on eve of storm
The encampment has been home to some 50 people for two years. A court had ordered the installation of electricity, which the city says has been used illegally. By Avi Blecherman The Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality on Wednesday cut off electricity to one of the city’s largest homeless encampments one day before the arrival of what…
By +972 Magazine February 18, 2015
Hannah al-Naqib (right) as Israeli authorities demolish her home in Lod, February 10, 2015. (Photo by Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
Demolishing Arab women’s homes is the easy way out
What are Arab citizens expected to do when the city only builds for Jews, and why do single mothers almost always pay the price? (Translated from Hebrew by Eppie Bat Ilan) On the surface, it was just another illegal dwelling demolished in the city of Lyd (“Lod” in Hebrew). The image of a violence, crime-ridden…
By Samah Salaime February 18, 2015
MK Hanin Zoabi (photo: Oren Ziv/ Activestills.org)
No parity between Zoabi’s democracy and Kahane’s racism
By simply discussing the disqualification of MK Haneen Zoabi and Baruch Marzel from the upcoming elections, the extreme right has already claimed another victory.   The double-hearing held in the Supreme Court on Tuesday under an extended panel headed by Justice Naor, to discuss the disqualification of MK Haneen Zoabi and Baruch Marzel, respectively, was…
By Orly Noy February 17, 2015
File photo of a Palestinian woman voting in Bethlehem. (Photo by Activestills.org)
‘Apartheid polls’: When some opinions just matter less
Preventing non-Jews from expressing their political beliefs on a range of issues is more than just a slippery slope — it’s another step toward an apartheid regime. By Oren Persico In a famous 1972 speech, French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu dedicated a moment to public opinion polls. Bourdieu didn’t focus on the issues most people associate with…
By The Seventh Eye February 17, 2015
Palestinian school girls walk across a destroyed part of Shujayea neighborhood, Gaza city, November 4th, 2014. (Photo by Anne Paq/Activestills.org)
Do Israelis have any idea how bad it is in Gaza?
Nearly two million Gazans are living in a state of poverty and shortages, with few options of leaving and even fewer options for work. Nearly two million people who live in a giant prison, and Israelis cannot even begin to fathom how terrible their situation is. “I’m extremely concerned that if you leave Gaza in…
By Haggai Matar February 17, 2015
Palestinians from the West Bank village of Azzun protesting near Israeli soldiers for the opening of the eastern gate to the village, which has been closed by Israel since 1990, February 14, 2015. Ahmad al-Bazz / Activestills.org
PHOTOS: Palestinian village demands end to restrictions on movement
By: Ahmad al-Bazz / Activestills.org Palestinians from the West Bank village of Azzun protested last Saturday, against the closing of the eastern gate to the village, due to requests by the nearby settlement of Karnei Shomron. The gate, which has been closed since 1990, previously served as a crossing into the city of Nablus. Accompanied…
By Activestills February 17, 2015
MK Haneen Zoabi addresses the Central Elections Committee during a hearing over her disqualification from Knesset elections, February 12, 2015. (Screenshot)
It’s time to disqualify Israel’s Central Elections Committee
In the run-up to every general election since 2003, Arab parties and candidates have been forced to appear in front of this committee to prove that they deserve to participate in Knesset elections. The only thing worse than the process itself is the racist atmosphere in the meetings. By Salah Mohsen The Central Elections Committee…
By +972 Magazine February 16, 2015
A ‘thank you’ sign sent by Israeli children hangs on an IDF tank. (Ran Zisovitch / Shutterstock.com)
When IDF conscription begins at age three
An education system that brings an inherently violent organization in through the front door is failing at its most basic obligation. This policy is the first injection of militarism, ultimately meant to prevent our children from becoming critical citizens. Ten years ago, when my oldest daughter was five years old, I already had the honor…
By Orly Noy February 16, 2015
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  2. 50 shades of right: An Israeli election primer
  3. Israel's election won't change the renewed reality of political apartheid
  4. Jewish Israelis must do more than stand together with Palestinians
  5. Eisenkot is trying to outflank Netanyahu on the right. It’s a failed strategy
  1. ‘Lavender’: The AI machine directing Israel’s bombing spree in Gaza
  2. Days away from Israeli elections, a ‘sour mood’ pervades the Haredi street
  3. ‘We’ve paid the price for war. We haven’t yet reaped the fruits of peace’
  4. Jewish Israelis must do more than stand together with Palestinians
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