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
Hundreds of people rally against racist group ‘Lehava’ at Zion Square in central Jerusalem, December 13, 2014. (Photo by Activestills.org)
Hundreds rally against racist group ‘Lehava’ in Jerusalem
The rally comes after three members of the group were arrested as suspects in the arson attack against a mixed Jewish-Arab school. Hundreds of people protested in West Jerusalem’s Zion Square Saturday night against racism and called to outlaw Lehava, a racist, anti-misegenation group . Three of its members were charged several days ago with…
By Mairav Zonszein December 13, 2014
Illustrative photo of protests against Guantanamo (Photo by Lilac Mountain/Shutterstock.com)
U.S. torture report shows the danger of Israel’s legal loopholes
In American discourse, torture is a dark stain on the country’s recent history. In Israel, there is no law against torture and the justification of its use is still mainstream. By Nadeem Shehadeh and Amjad Iraqi The United States Senate this week released its long-awaited report on the CIA’s use of torture during the so-called…
By Amjad Iraqi December 13, 2014
Palestinians gather around a fire in the at-Tuffah district of Gaza city, which was heavily attacked during Israel’s latest offensive, Gaza City, September 6, 2014. The family of eight returned to their home, which is in danger of collapse due to the damage. Their home, like all the buildings in the area, is neither connected to the electricity or water infrastructure. (Photo by Anne Paq/Activestills.org)
Disengagement? Israel’s interests in Gaza are stronger than ever
There is something ironic and self-contradictory about the Israeli Right’s plans for managing the conflict instead of solving it: Israel doesn’t have a real interest in truly disconnecting from Gaza. And Gaza isn’t going anywhere. By Itamar Sha’altiel Over the past several years Yoaz Hendel has been been positioning himself as a natural candidate to be…
By +972 Magazine December 13, 2014
Omar Sa'ad, a Palestinian-Druze conscientious objector, walks into the Tiberias induction base, where he will state his refusal to be drafted to the Israeli army, December 4, 2013. Over 100 family members, friends and activists protested on Wednesday morning to support Omar, who is expected to sent to military prison after refusing the draft. (photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
[WATCH] The Druze in Israel: Resisting conscription (part 4)
According to the mainstream Israeli narrative the Druze population in Israel is loyal to and maintains an alliance with the state, the most famous element of which includes mandatory military service. But is that really the whole story? The fourth part of this series looks at a new movement of young Druze women and men…
By Social TV December 12, 2014
Haitham Khalailah performs on Arab Idol. (Screenshot from Arab Idol, MBC)
How a Galilee Palestinian beat the odds to become an Arab Idol finalist
On his way to the finale of one of the most important shows in the Arab world, Haitham Khalailah had to deal with the Shin Bet, restrictions on the movement of Palestinian citizens and the fraught connection between Palestinians in Israel and the rest of the Middle East. Will he be the second Palestinian in a…
By Henriette Chacar December 12, 2014
The Beaten Path: Looking the other way at Masada (part 10)
Contrary to the strict Israeli narrative, Masada is really what you make of it: it can be the site of a majestic palace, the place where Jewish rebels committed mass suicide, a backdrop for an opera or a tourist attraction complete with the golden arches of a local McDonald’s. Part ten of Yuval Ben-Ami’s journey through…
By Yuval Ben-Ami December 12, 2014
Palestinian and Israeil flags (Activestills)
The first step toward Jewish-Arab cooperation is a knock at the door
Could the upcoming elections bridge the gap between Israeli Jews and Arabs? Lebanese human rights lawyer Chibli Mallat says that contrary to popular belief, there are more possibilities for cooperation than one might think. By Chibli Mallat The death of Palestinian Authority Settlement Minister Ziad Abu Ein serves as another reminder of the senseless deadlock…
By +972 Magazine December 11, 2014
Palestinian Authority soldiers carry the coffin of PA minister Ziad Abu Ein during his funeral procession, Ramallah, December 11, 2014. (photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
PHOTOS: Thousands take part in Palestinian minister’s funeral in Ramallah
Text by Keren Manor, photos by Yotam Ronen, Oren Ziv / Activestills.org Thousands gathered Thursday morning at the Palestinian Authority headquarters in Ramallah to participate in the funeral of PA minister Ziad Abu Ein. Abu Ein, who served as the Palestinian Authority’s settlement minister died the previous day during clashes with Israeli soldiers near the illegal West…
By Activestills December 11, 2014
Palestinian workers with Israeli work permit stand in a line to broad a Israel bus line only for Palestinians, after they crossed the Eyal checkpoint, near the West Bank city of Qalqilya, March 4, 2012.
Majority of Israeli Jews support bus segregation, survey finds
Surveys by Israeli Democracy Index and Tel Aviv University find that most Israeli Jews prefer separate buses for Jews and Palestinians in the West Bank; one-quarter of Arab respondents support the torching of Jerusalem’s only mixed Jewish-Arab school.  As Israel heads into election cycle, a shower of political punditry will yet again distract everyone from…
By Dahlia Scheindlin December 11, 2014
MK Hanin Zoabi says voting in Israeli elections is part of the struggle, after addressing supporters in Kufar Manda, January 2013 (photo: GS)
High Court rules against Zoabi, upholds Knesset suspension
‘In effect, from this day forward, Arab Knesset members will be subject to the political judgements of the Jewish majority,’  MK Zoabi’s attorneys say. The High Court of Justice on Wednesday rejected MK Haneen Zoabi’s appeal to overturn her six-month suspension from parliamentary discussions for a political opinion she expressed on the radio in June.…
By Mairav Zonszein December 10, 2014
Most Read
  1. ‘Lavender’: The AI machine directing Israel’s bombing spree in Gaza
  2. Eisenkot is trying to outflank Netanyahu on the right. It’s a failed strategy
  3. 50 shades of right: An Israeli election primer
  4. Israel's election won't change the renewed reality of political apartheid
  5. Jewish Israelis must do more than stand together with Palestinians
  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
  5. Why ‘NAZA’ terrifies Israel's liberal elite
  1. ‘Lavender’: The AI machine directing Israel’s bombing spree in Gaza
  2. Why ‘NAZA’ terrifies Israel's liberal elite
  3. Debunking Israel’s latest list of ‘terrorist’ journalists in Gaza
  4. ‘The Gaza Holocaust won't be forgotten’: An Israeli musician screams into the void
  5. ‘NAZA’ is forcing Israelis to reflect. But we Palestinians are not your mirror