Naftali Bennett

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 October 23, 2026

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

In the nine years since the MK’s ‘Decisive Plan,’ Israeli liberals acceded to the religious right’s maximalism — while claiming to oppose ‘messianic’ violence.

By Avi-ram Tzoreff October 20, 2026

Israeli soldiers stand guard on the Israeli side of the fence surrounding the Gaza Strip, March 18, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Israel’s new national consensus: Returning to October 6

Despite the spectacular collapse of Netanyahu’s ‘conflict management’ doctrine, both he and his staunchest critics are campaigning on its revival.

By Meron Rapoport January 23, 2026

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Naftali Bennett poses for pictures with supporters while awaiting the arrival of Evyatar David, an Israeli hostage freed from Hamas captivity, outside David’s home in Kfar Saba, October 26, 2025. (Erik Marmor/Flash90)

Naftali Bennett wants to be Israel’s next PM. First stop: incite against Bedouins

By taking aim at Palestinian communities in Israel's south, Bennett proves he offers little change from the most racist figures in the current government.

By Samah Salaime November 13, 2025

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and head of the opposition Benjamin Netanyahu at a debate in the Knesset plenum, Jerusalem, June 13, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

How Netanyahu and apartheid brought down Israel’s government

The Knesset's failure to re-authorize separate West Bank legal systems was the final straw, but Bibi remains the omnipresent issue driving Israeli politics.

By Haggai Matar June 21, 2022

British soldiers clear an improvised roadblock during the Arab Revolt. (Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi archives)

The imperial roots of ‘shrinking the conflict’

Long before Israel paved segregated road networks to maintain the separation of Jews and Palestinians, the British had already laid their foundations.

By Shira Pinhas May 17, 2022

Israeli soldiers wave a tattered Hezbollah flag as they return from fighting around the southern Lebanese village of Marun Al-Ras, July 27, 2006. (Pierre Terdjman/Flash90)

Hezbollah couldn’t ask for a better enemy than Israel

Through a war of words, Israel and Hezbollah have created a symbiotic relationship that plays into each other's ambitions for political hegemony.

By Elia Ayoub January 18, 2022

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett at a press conference in Jerusalem, July 6, 2021. (Amit Shabi/POOL)

The Israeli right tried to manage the conflict. Bennett wants to ‘shrink’ it

The Bennett-Lapid coalition has no clear vision of what to do with the Palestinians — so it's trying a different strategy.

By Meron Rapoport August 12, 2021

Palestinian women cross the Qalandiya checkpoint, outside the West bank city of Ramallah, on June 23, 2017, (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

Israel’s most racist law comes crumbling down — for now

The failure to renew the Citizenship Law offers Palestinian families a moment of respite. Four takeaways from the first big crisis plaguing the new coalition.

By Edo Konrad July 6, 2021

Leader of the Joint List Ayman Odeh seen during a protest for coexistence in Tel Aviv, May 15, 2021. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

Ayman Odeh still wants to be Israel’s first Palestinian prime minister

In his first interview following the new government's formation, the Joint List head talks Ra’am’s decision to join the coalition, his steadfast support for two states, and why he thinks he can lead Israel's democratic camp to victory.

By Meron Rapoport July 5, 2021

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett (left), Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid (right), Israeli Presdint Reuven Rivlin (center) and other Israeli ministers pose for a group photo of the newly sworn in Israeli government, President's Residence, Jerusalem, June 14, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Why Israel’s new government brings grim news and rare hope

Two stories reveal that while the Bennett-Lapid government will remain bad on all things occupation, its fractured coalition could help undermine parts of its racist agenda.

By Haggai Matar June 30, 2021

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a Likud Party election rally in Jerusalem, on February 26, 2020. Photo by Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90

The transformative legacy of Mr. Status Quo

Benjamin Netanyahu made everybody believe there could never be an alternative to the so-called 'status quo.' His departure should serve as a reminder that one always exists.

By Noam Sheizaf June 13, 2021

Naftali Bennett, head of Yamina party and party members seen with Yamina supporters at the party headquarters in Petah Tikva, on elections night, on March 23, 2021. Photo by Avi Dishi/Flash90

Israel’s likely new government, explained

Netanyahu may be heading out, but his former allies and right-wing policies are still very much in.

By Haggai Matar June 1, 2021