2026 Israeli election

Balad chairman Sami Abu Shehadeh virtually joins a Central Elections Committee hearing on a request to disqualify him from the upcoming elections, at the Knesset in Jerusalem, September 23, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Palestinian MKs in Israel have long faced election bans. This time is different

From Ben Gvir to the Democrats, Israeli politicians have called to disqualify the Balad party chair — and the Supreme Court may no longer serve as a backstop.

By Samah Watad September 30, 2026

Head of Ra'am Mansour Abbas holds a joint press conference with new party member Yoav Segalovich in Nazareth, August 31, 2026. (Michael Giladi/Flash90)

Budgets for submission: What Israel’s opposition offers Palestinian citizens

The terms of Arab participation in Israeli politics haven’t changed in 80 years. While the Joint List remains sidelined, Ra’am has taken the deal.

By Waseem Hosary September 21, 2026

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a vote at the plenum hall of the Knesset, Jerusalem, July 16, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Netanyahu’s ‘total victory’ vow kept him in power. Now it may be his undoing

With the coalition trailing in the polls, it seems the severe costs and unattainable goals of Israel’s ever-expanding wars are coming back to bite.

By Meron Rapoport August 27, 2026

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Members of Knesset Mansour Abbas and Ahmad Tibi walking outside the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, June 3, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Palestinians could decide Israel’s election. But their parties are at a stalemate

Core disputes over how to utilize political power may not be resolved in time to form a new Joint List — and competing parties are ready to capitalize.

By Samah Watad July 24, 2026

Right-wing Israeli activists gather near the Gaza perimeter fence, during the "March of the Thousands," July 19, 2026. (Oren Ziv)

Nearly half of Israel’s government joins march vowing Gaza settlements

Thousands of right-wing activists walked through a closed military zone to the Gaza fence, singing genocidal anthems as soldiers handed out bottled water.

By Oren Ziv July 20, 2026

Ultra-Orthodox men being sprayed with a police water cannon during a protest against the imprisonment of yeshiva students who failed to comply with army draft orders, in Jerusalem, June 1, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The Haredi draft revolt threatening to bring Israel to a standstill

As the government seeks to enforce military service for all, ultra-Orthodox refusal is revealing cracks in the country’s militaristic consensus.

By Eli Bitan June 23, 2026

The People's Peace Summit in Tel Aviv, April 30, 2026. (Ofer Amram, Sal Productions)

The Israeli left is speaking only to itself

Another peace conference at a time of genocide and ethnic cleansing exposes this shrinking movement’s inability to influence our reality.

By Samah Watad May 8, 2026

The People's Peace Summit in Tel Aviv, April 30, 2026. (Ofer Amram, Sal Productions)

Something is shifting in Israel’s peace camp

At the ‘People’s Peace Summit’ in Tel Aviv, Israel’s embattled left showed signs of abandoning old formulas and embracing a politics of resistance.

By Meron Rapoport May 8, 2026

Hadash MK Ayman Odeh and Ta'al MK Ahmad Tibi seen during a Hadash–Ta'al faction meeting, at the Knesset in Jerusalem, June 10, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Can a renewed Joint List survive until Israel’s elections?

The leaders of Israel’s four Arab parties say they agree on the importance of a unified electoral alliance. Yet they remain divided on the terms of the pact.

By Samah Salaime April 14, 2026

A man holds a sign that reads "Life" in both Hebrew and Arabic, during a protest against the war in Gaza, in Tel Aviv, April 24, 2025. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

The false symmetry of Jewish-Arab partnership

Under conditions of apartheid, binationalism requires Israeli Jews to relinquish leadership and join the Palestinian-led struggle for decolonization.

By Areej Sabbagh-Khoury February 11, 2026

Activists protest in Tel Aviv demanding an end to the war in Gaza, August 23, 2025. (Erik Marmor/Flash90)

To confront Israeli fascism, we need a new Jewish-Arab party

I have seen firsthand the limitations of existing Arab parties. If we want to bring about real change in this land, an entirely new political model is required.

By Basheer Karkabi February 11, 2026

Palestinian citizens of Israel, including Hadash party head Ayman Odeh, hold a mass demonstration against the epidemic of criminal violence and state neglect, Sakhnin, northern Israel, January 22, 2026. (Michael Giladi/Flash90)

What the Joint List’s revival signifies for Palestinian politics in Israel

Beyond electoral arithmetic, the reunification of Arab parties is a step toward rebuilding political infrastructure and combating social fragmentation.

By Abed Abou Shhadeh January 28, 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