Amir Peretz

President Reuven Rivlin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz, shake hands at the memorial ceremony for the late President Shimon Peres, Jerusalem, September 19, 2019. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Netanyahu’s rivals have forgotten the value of a Knesset opposition

Benny Gantz and Amir Peretz don't need to join an extreme right government to fight coronavirus or stay relevant in Israeli politics. Just ask the Joint List.

By Orly Noy April 7, 2020

Labor Party head Amir Peretz (left) and Meretz Chairman Nitzan Horowitz. (Courtesy of Democratic Union)

The final nail in the coffin of the Zionist left

The implosion of the Zionist left has caused many to recognize the necessity of Jewish-Arab partnership. But that partnership will require Israeli Jews to shed their privileges and allow Palestinians to take the lead.

By Orly Noy January 13, 2020

Meretz Chairman Nitzan Horowitz (right), Former Israeli Prime Minister and leader of Israel Democratic Party Ehud Barak (center) and Israeli MK Stav Shaffir seen during a Democratic Union election event in Tel Aviv, July 30, 2019. (Photo by Flash90)

Israel’s Ashkenazi elites won’t let Mizrahim lead the left

More than 70 years after Israel was founded, the old Ashkenazi guard of the Israeli left is still doing everything in its power to prevent Mizrahim and other oppressed groups from taking the reins. By Lev Grinberg Give or take a few seats, it seems things will remain much as they were following Election Day on…

By +972 Magazine September 16, 2019

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Democratic Union party leaders Ehud Barak, Stav Shaffir and Nitzan Horowitz hold a press conference launching their campaign ahead of the Knesset elections. Tel Aviv, August 12, 2019 (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

Meretz is the last Jewish anti-occupation party. But for how long?

As Israel’s center-left and centrist parties have dropped the topic of the occupation over the years, Meretz has remained the sole Jewish party to emphasize ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But can it continue to hold out amidst running mate Ehud Barak’s talk of annexation? By Meron Rapoport Meretz has seen its fair share of criticism…

By +972 Magazine September 6, 2019

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man argues with an Israeli police officer during a demonstration against businesses that operate on Saturdays in Jerusalem, August 12, 2017. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

What’s dividing Israeli society? Just don’t mention the occupation

Is it possible to discuss the sources of Israeli disunity without addressing the country’s military regime in the West Bank and siege on Gaza? Can Israelis ever accept Palestinians as part of that conversation? The plight, let alone the very existence of millions of disenfranchised people living under Israeli military rule, was nowhere to be…

By Edo Konrad October 24, 2017

Incoming Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon meets with outgoing Defense Minister Ehud Barak's at his office in Tel Aviv, March 19 2013 after the new defence minister was sworn in last night. (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry/Flash90)

What Labor’s new leader must do to resuscitate the Left

Instead of creating an lifeboat for undesired political has-beens, new Labor leader Avi Gabbay should try to unite Israel’s center-left behind a defiant message in the face of an emboldened right-wing coalition. By Abe Silberstein There are more than enough reasons for Labor Party voters to be thoroughly skeptical of their recently-elected leader, Avi Gabbay. He…

By +972 Magazine August 24, 2017

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivering a statement to the press at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, December 28, 2016. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

What happens the ‘day after’ Netanyahu?

Even as the end of Netanyahu’s reign seems to be approaching, it’s no time to celebrate — the problems in Israel run far deeper than one man. Over the past few years, the top echelons of the Jewish Israeli Left have been trying to figure out how to remove or “replace” Prime Minister Netanyahu. Those…

By +972 Magazine January 24, 2017

Labor chairman Isaac Herzog (Photo by Activestills.org)

Go ahead Herzog, join the coalition

The fact that the head of Israel’s opposition could soon join forces with Netanyahu may actually bode well for the Israeli Left and Palestinian citizens alike. The Israeli media has been beside itself this week with the possibility that the head of the opposition Isaac Herzog, leader of the Labor Party cum Zionist Union, may…

By Dahlia Scheindlin May 18, 2016

Mizrahi activists protest outside Finance Minister Yair Lapid's house, north Tel Aviv. (photo: Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)

Why Mizrahim don’t vote for the Left

It is no wonder that Mizrahim vote for right-wing parties when the Ashkenazi-dominated Left has done everything in its power to exclude them. Want things to change? Start talking about Ashkenazi privilege. By Tom Mehager Those who have, historically, voted for Israel’s left-wing camp are often nicknamed “the white tribe.” On the other hand, the…

By Haokets January 24, 2015

Naftali Bennett speaks to a young Israeli. (photo: Naftali Bennett's official Facebook page)

The trauma and tragedy of Israel’s vocational education system

Across the board, the achievements of vocational school graduates are significantly lower than those of non-vocational high school graduates. What is needed is equality. Nothing more, nothing less. By Yossi Dahan (Translated from Hebrew by Alan Horowitz) Before surrendering to the vision of Stef Wertheimer, Benjamin Netanyahu, Minister of Education Shay Piron and the vocational…

By Haokets December 6, 2014

‘How can this monkey be talking about an ideology that developed in Europe?’

‘We are progress and modernization, freedom and equality, ‘peace and love.’ And they, what are they?’ On the history of the painful relationship between the Israeli Left and Mizrahim. By Ron Cahlili (Translated from Hebrew by Orit Friedland) The common wisdom is that Mizrahim and the Left are like oil and water, and that the two…

By Haokets April 17, 2013

Tzipi Livni (photo: Yotam Ronen / Activestills.org)

A real alternative? Tzipi Livni is far worse than Netanyahu

Despite her direct responsibility for two wars which took the lives of 2,000 civilians, and her uncompromising, hawkish positions during negotiations with the Palestinians, Tzipi Livni is still considered an acceptable choice for the Israeli ‘peace camp.’ It is time for the public to stop believing the lies. By Idan Landau On November 27, 2012,…

By +972 Magazine January 12, 2013

Meretz signs at Occupy Israel social protest, Tel Aviv, 12 May, 2012 (Photo: Dahlia Scheindlin)

Meretz’s peace plan: A challenge to liberal timidity

The party’s new proposal effectively says the unsayable: that on the occupation, Israel is wrong and the Arabs are right. There are so many people out there, in Israel and overseas, who know that this country has gone wrong and that Netanyahu and the right are leading it to hell. Yet they end up giving…

By Larry Derfner December 27, 2012