Annexation

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plants an olive tree at the Netiv Ha'avot neighborhood in Gush Etzion, West Bank, January 28, 2019. (Marc Israel Selem/Flash90)

Netanyahu wants to turn annexation into his lasting legacy

Nothing would make Netanyahu happier than watching his successor continue to thwart a Palestinian state — even if Bibi has to watch it from the window of his prison cell.

By Meron Rapoport December 5, 2019

Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) speaks at the 2019 J Street National Conference, October 28, 2019. (Photo courtesy of J Street)

For J Street, holding Israel accountable is still a step too far

J Street's 2019 conference heralded a new willingness to challenge unconditional military aid to Israel. But the organization was quick to reaffirm the status quo.

By Joshua Leifer November 7, 2019

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a speech at Likud headquarters on election night, Tel Aviv, September 17, 2019. (Gili Yaari/Flash90)

How Netanyahu mainstreamed his dark, anti-democratic vision for Israel

By attacking the judiciary, bringing extremists into his coalition, and trying to subvert voting rights, Benjamin Netanyahu has presented a dark vision of an anti-democratic future for Israeli politics. By Harry Reis Benjamin Netanyahu emerged from September’s repeat elections a failure. Denied his desired majority, the prime minister’s only real hope of retaining power now…

By +972 Magazine October 4, 2019

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Outgoing IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz seen with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a ceremony held in honour of incoming IDF chief of staff Gadi Eizenkot (not seen) at a ceremony held in Eizenkot's honour at the PM's office in Jerusalem, on February 16, 2015. Photo by Miriam Alster/FLASH90 *** Local Caption *** ??? ?????? ?????? ??????

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In Israel, ‘politics as usual’ means escalating Palestinian oppression

Three trends from Israel’s do-over election demonstrate that the more Israeli politics stay the same, the more dangerous its policies become. There are many moments in Israeli-Palestinian history where landmark developments seem to change nothing and everything at the same time. Israel’s September election is one of them. While featuring many familiar and predictable patterns, the latest…

By Amjad Iraqi October 4, 2019

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man argues with a secular social justice protester in Tel Aviv, July 18, 2011. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

PODCAST: What does Israeli liberalism look like?

+972's Dahlia Scheindlin argues that the fierce debate over the separation of religion and state in Israel’s latest elections could lead to a wider liberal shift in society.

By Edo Konrad September 27, 2019

Palestinians make their way through an Israeli checkpoint to attend the first Friday prayer of Ramadan in Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque, near the West Bank city of Bethlehem May 10, 2019. (Wisam Hashlamoun/Flash90)

An election between annexationists and pro-occupation generals

Palestinians have no say over whether they will be ruled by messianic religious zealots or by generals who previously presided over the occupation. On September 17, Israelis will return to the polls for round two of an election cycle that failed to determine an outcome in April, this time hoping for a different result. While…

By Omar H. Rahman September 16, 2019

A Jewish Israeli man shouts at Palestinians while waving the Israeli flag in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem on Jerusalem Day, June 2, 2008. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

Voting Netanyahu out is not going to ‘save’ Israel-Palestine

Israeli citizens are about to vote in national elections for the second time in six months. But has anything changed since April? Why is no one talking about the occupation? And are we really about to see the end of the Netanyahu era? +972 writers talk about why these elections matter. Israeli voters will head to the…

By Natasha Roth-Rowland September 15, 2019

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman visit the separation wall between Israel and the West Bank near the village of Tarqumiyah, July 20, 2016. (Haim Zach/GPO)

The Israeli right stopped talking about occupation, and that will hurt it at the polls

Netanyahu has joined forces with religious radicals who have stopped talking about Palestinians and are instead pushing a homophobic and sexist agenda. It may just might seal his political doom. By Meron Rapoport It didn’t take long for Prime Minister Netanyahu to use the doomsday weapon against Avigdor Liberman immediately following the last elections. Netanyahu blamed his…

By +972 Magazine August 27, 2019

A Palestinian shepherd herds her sheep, behind her is parked an IDF armored personnel carrier, Jordan Valley, West Bank, December 8, 2016. (Keren Manor/Activestills.org)

Each morning brings the fear of losing everything

It can be hard to imagine how an early morning walk can end in arrest, or worse. In the Jordan Valley, that’s the reality for Palestinian shepherds fighting to keep control of their land. By A. Daniel Roth Driving northeast from Jerusalem into the occupied West Bank, the sun is making its quick ascent in pinks and…

By +972 Magazine August 25, 2019

Simon KAPWEPWE (standing), Foreign Minister of Zambia, addressing the Seminar on Apartheid, Racial Discrimination and Colonialism. 4/Aug/1967 (UN Photo)

Unlike South Africa, the world is giving Israel a pass on apartheid

A UN Security Council resolution rejecting South Africa’s 1983 constitution shows that there is precedent and necessity to act against Israel’s Nation-State Law. In a referendum on November 2, 1983, White voters in apartheid South Africa approved a new constitution to restructure their political system. In addition to consolidating executive power with the presidency, a tricameral parliament…

By Amjad Iraqi July 26, 2019

Illustrative photo of Birthright visitors lining up to race into the Dead Sea on July 10, 2015. The northern Dead Sea, including Kibbutz Kalia and Kibbutz Almog, are fully in the occupied West Bank. (Matt Hechter/Flash90)

Israeli settlements are a regular destination on Birthright trips

For years, Birthright has been taking participants into the occupied territories, usually without their knowledge or consent. ‘At the end of the day, we Israelis always have been less than truthful about where those lines and boundaries are for tourists,’ one former tour operator says. Before Zachary Popkin-Hall embarked on his Birthright Israel trip in…

By Mairav Zonszein July 16, 2019

Supreme Court President Esther Hayut (C) and Judges of the Supreme Court arrive for a court hearing at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, March 14, 2019. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The right’s plan to get rid of Israel’s High Court

The far right wants to defang Israel’s highest court to fulfill its annexationist dreams. Netanyahu wants to overpower it to ensure he remains on the throne. For Palestinians, annexation has long been a fact on the ground. By Meron Rapoport The attacks on Israel’s High Court by the right would not have gained traction without Prime Minister Netanyahu’s personal support. These…

By +972 Magazine May 24, 2019

President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands after giving final remarks at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem before Trump's departure, May 23, 2017. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

With Trump’s help, Netanyahu is making the occupation permanent

Netanyahu may have succeeded in convincing Israelis that facts on the ground can defeat Palestinian national aspirations. He forgot to tell them that holding millions under endless occupation is unsustainable. By Susie Becher Regardless of whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu makes good on his promise to annex areas of the West Bank during his new term in office,…

By +972 Magazine May 16, 2019