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
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Labor chairman Isaac Herzog (Photo by Activestills.org)
If Herzog wants to lead, he’ll need to bring the Arabs with him
The upcoming elections could provide a golden opportunity for the Palestinian minority in Israel to become power brokers in the political system. That is, if Labor leader and election frontrunner Isaac Herzog brings the Arab MKs into his coalition. By: Thair Abu Rass The upcoming Israeli elections are a historic opportunity for the Palestinian minority…
By +972 Magazine January 6, 2015
An Israeli policeman shoots tear gas during a protest following the death of a Muhammad Sunuqrut, in the neighborhood of Wadi Joz in East Jerusalem on September 8, 2014. Muhammad Sunuqrut, 16, was wounded by police gunfire in the Wadi Joz neighborhood on August 31 and died from his injuries on September 7. (photo: Activestills)
Israel’s military prosecution presents: How to whittle away an investigation
A member of Israel’s security forces shot a bullet at Ashraf Muhammad Jamal Tufiq’s foot in 2009. The IDF’s investigatory bodies did their best to make sure they will never find the shooter. By Yesh Din, written by Yossi Gurvitz On Friday, January 16, 2009, someone – a member of the Israeli security forces –…
By +972 Magazine January 6, 2015
African asylum seekers jailed in the Holot detention center protest behind the prison's fence, February 17, 2014. (Photo by Activestills.org)
How jailed asylum seekers are taking over Israeli Facebook feeds
As part of a new online campaign Israelis are giving voice to African asylum seekers who have been silenced, locked up and forgotten. By Avi Blecherman If you’re a Hebrew speaker you’re probably asking yourself how your Facebook feed suddenly filled up with quotes from asylum seekers in the “Holot” detention facility. Well, it’s because…
By +972 Magazine January 5, 2015
The Israel-Palestine Lorde diaries, Chapter 1: The lunch
Freshly back from his journey down the beaten path, Yuval Ben-Ami is setting out on another adventure, a musical one, a political one — forging a binational tribute to the Kiwi queen bee. For The entire Israel-Palestine Lorde Diaries, click here. There’s a nice restaurant in Tel Aviv where my girlfriend Ruthie and I have lunch…
By Yuval Ben-Ami January 5, 2015
American diplomat Dennis Ross (Nrbelex/ CC-BY 2.5)
Stop giving Israelis a pass: What Dennis Ross could have said
Former U.S. ambassador and Mideast peace process envoy Dennis Ross penned a ‘New York Times’ op-ed titled, ‘Stop Giving Palestinians a Pass.’ In it, he calls out European diplomats for supporting international efforts to end the occupation while not demanding more of the Palestinians. Below is a duplication of Ross’s op-ed, almost word for word,…
By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man January 5, 2015
Palestinians march on the railway line connecting Tel Aviv and Jerusalem through the West Bank, during a protest against the plan to build the separation wall in the West Bank village of Battir, November 13, 2012. (Photo by Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
Israel’s top court gives temporary reprieve to Palestinian UNESCO site
In rare move, Israeli Nature and Parks authority supported the petition against the wall; the court’s decision largely hangs on Defense Ministry admitting the contested section of wall isn’t a priority. Israel will not build a section of the separation barrier through the UNESCO recognized village of Battir in the West Bank anytime soon. Israel’s…
By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man January 4, 2015
Benjamin Netanyahu. (photo: Activestills.org)
What the polls say about Netanyahu’s election chances
Netanyahu has more paths to the Prime Minister’s Office than Herzog, but also more party leaders who oppose him personally. Seventy-one days ahead of Israel’s general elections, two major stories are dominating the political news cycle: the showdown between Shas’s former leaders – Aryeh Deri and Eli Yishai – and the corruption affair involving senior…
By Noam Sheizaf January 4, 2015
[Illustrative photo by Shutterstock.com]
Are Israelis ready for a confederated two-state solution?
A +972 poll puts the details of one such plan to the Israeli public, and finds that a majority supports the general approach. The new year begins with speculation about the possibility of a change of government in Israel. But it is not at all clear that even a more centrist government can advance a…
By Dahlia Scheindlin January 4, 2015
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Desperation and hope in the eviction of Givat Amal
The first-hand story of eviction in one of Tel Aviv’s poorest neighborhoods. ‘They are trying to frighten us,’ someone said, and everyone crowded together and held each other even tighter. Then a sledgehammer punched a hole in the drywall. We didn’t expect them to enter that way, the way soldiers did in Jenin during Operation Protective…
By Haggai Matar January 3, 2015
An elderly Russian immigrant in Israel (Screenshot Social TV)
WATCH: In Israel, the ruble’s collapse hits hard for elderly Russian Jews
Today’s generation of older immigrants from the former Soviet Union worked their whole lives — 30 years in Russia and 20 years in Israel. Up until six months ago, their pensions from Russia helped them stay above water. Since the sharp decline of the Russian ruble, however, many of them are now forced to survive…
By Social TV January 3, 2015
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  2. 50 shades of right: An Israeli election primer
  3. Eisenkot is trying to outflank Netanyahu on the right. It’s a failed strategy
  4. Israel's election won't change the renewed reality of political apartheid
  5. Jewish Israelis must do more than stand together with Palestinians
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  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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