David Bitan

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Chief of Police Roni Alshiech at an inauguration ceremony marking the opening of a new police station in the northern Arab Israeli town of Jisr az-Zarqa, November 21, 2017. (Basel Awidat/Flash90)

Legal bullying in the service of the prime minister

The Knesset is fast-tracking legislation to hobble and hide corruption investigations against Netanyahu. The bill would further erode Israeli democracy, training citizens to accept that they do not have the right to know the facts about their leaders. The Knesset raced toward adopting a law this week intended to constrain Israeli police from making recommendations about…

By Dahlia Scheindlin December 1, 2017

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu poses for a photo with members of the Christian press during an event at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, October 15, 2017. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The Netanyahu government went off the rails this weekend

In under 24 hours, Netanyahu and his cronies attacked left-wing NGOs, tried to shut down Israel’s public broadcaster, and starting advancing a law that would give the prime minister immunity for corruption charges. By Yossi Dahan What transpired in the Israeli government over a 24-hour period this past weekend is nothing short of nauseating. It began…

By Haokets October 17, 2017

B’Tselem Executive Director Hagai El-Ad addressing a special session of the UN Security Council, October 14, 2016. (Screenshot)

Netanyahu’s coalition whip wants to revoke B’Tselem director’s citizenship

Senior Likud official, angry that Hagai El-Ad demanded the UN act to end the occupation, admits there’s no legal avenue to strip his citizenship — at the moment. The Israeli human rights organization says threats won’t deter it. How does the only democracy in the Middle East deal with outspoken human rights activists? By threatening to revoke their citizenship,…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man October 21, 2016

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