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
Palestinian protesters flee tear gas at a non-violent protest in which Palestinian Minster Ziad Abu Eid died. Activists set out to plant olive trees on lands usurped by Israeli settlements, December 10, 2014. (Photo by Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
Palestinian non-violent activists: Army violence won’t stop our resistance
The Palestinian minister who died after a non-violent protest on Wednesday was a symbol the Palestinian Authority’s support for non-violent popular struggle. Non-violent Palestinian leaders from across the West Bank talk about how Israel responds violently toward their activities. By Yael Marom A general strike in Ramallah, three days of mourning in the Palestinian Authority…
By +972 Magazine December 10, 2014
Palestinian Minister Ziad Abu Eid after being reportedly struck by Israeli troops. He later died in a Ramallah hospital, December 10, 2014. (Photo by Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
Palestinian minister dies after reportedly struck by Israeli troops
PA settlement minister was reportedly struck by Israeli security forces at a protest agains the illegal settlement outpost of Adei Ad in the northern West Bank. Abbas calls the killing a ‘barbaric act’; Balad MK calls for immediate commission of inquiry. By Haggai Matar and Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man Palestinian Authority Settlement Minister Ziad Abu Ein died…
By Haggai Matar December 10, 2014
Youth from the West Bank village of Bil’in carry a sign expressing solidarity with protests against the police killing of Eric Garner, December 5, 2014. (Photo by Hamdi Abu-Rahme)
PHOTOS: West Bank village of Bil’in stands with Ferguson protesters
Protesters in the West Bank village of Bil’in carried signs at last Friday’s weekly demonstration with messages of solidarity and support for the ongoing struggle against deadly police violence in the United States. The signs carried slogans used during protests following the police killings of Eric Garner and Michael Brown. Bil’in has seen a number…
By Haggai Matar December 9, 2014
MK Hanin Zoabi (photo: Oren Ziv/ Activestills.org)
The Knesset v. Zoabi: Israeli Arab MK’s politics put on trial
The High Court spent most of Tuesday’s hearing questioning Zoabi’s politics rather than deliberating whether the Knesset had the right to suspend her in the first place. Israel’s High Court of Justice held a discussion Tuesday morning over Knesset member Haneen Zoabi’s (Balad) petition to overrule a decision to suspend her from parliamentary debates for…
By Mairav Zonszein December 9, 2014
Jewish Home party chairman Naftali Bennett (Photo by Activestills.org)
Bennett is not the problem
American administrations have a tendency to blame the ‘radical’ settlers for torpedoing peace missions. The real problem, however, is with the ‘moderates’ who are complicit in maintaining the status quo.  There is a lot of talk in some circles about Naftali Bennett’s appearance at the Saban Forum last weekend (video below). Bennett, who heads the…
By Noam Sheizaf December 9, 2014
Screenshot of an Israeli settler and Palestinian youth throwing stones at each other. (B'Tselem)
WATCH: Israeli police let stone-throwing settlers walk away
Israeli soldiers don’t arrest settlers. We know that. But what about Israeli police? A couple of Jewish Israeli settlers were driving in the Israeli-controlled section of Hebron last week — where Palestinians live but only Israelis can drive — when some Palestinian youths threw stones at them, according to human rights organization B’Tselem. The two…
By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man December 9, 2014
African asylum seekers jailed in Holot detention center protest behind the prison's fence, as other asylum seekers take part in a protest outside the facility, in Israel's southern Negev desert, February 17, 2014.
Asylum seekers to stay in prison while Israelis hit the polls
Human rights organizations pledge to challenge the latest iteration of the Prevention of Infiltration Law; new poll gives Livni and Labor a chance; Arab parties agree in principle to a joint list; High Court to hear Zoabi’s challenge to Knesset suspension. Before disbanding itself ahead of elections, the Knesset on Monday passed its third try…
By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man December 8, 2014
The iconic — and staged — coexistence photo by Ricki Rosen.
Replace fake co-existence photos with real images of co-resistance
The exposure of a popular ‘co-existence’ photo as a staged fabrication points to the need for better images of the path to a just peace. Text and photo by: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org A photograph intended to illustrate the peace process ended up being more accurate than intended. The now-iconic image showing a “Palestinian” and an…
By Activestills December 8, 2014
Participants in the Open Hillel Conference, Harvard University. (photo: Gili Getz)
Just how open should Hillel be?
It is sad, though not surprising, that some want to open Hillel just enough to let their own excluded group in. ‘Just let J Street U in,’ they say to the gatekeepers. By Jeremiah Haber Several years ago, when Richard Joel was the president of Hillel International, the goal of Hillel was formulated as “maximizing…
By +972 Magazine December 8, 2014
A Israeli border policeman check the bag of a Palestinian woman as she waits to cross Qalandiya checkpoint outside Ramallah, West Bank, into Jerusalem to attend the second Friday Ramadan prayers in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, July 26, 2013. (Photo by: Oren Ziv/ Activestills.org)
Palestinians ruled by secret regulations even the army can’t explain
Whether they want to attend family gatherings, open a business or visit sick relatives, Palestinians under occupation must adhere to military regulations, the vast majority of which are hidden from public scrutiny. By Maayan Niezna “There are no secret laws in Israel. […] Legislation that is passed secretly and kept away from the eye of the…
By +972 Magazine December 7, 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