diplomacy

Argentinian President Javier Milei laughs alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during a special Knesset session in Milei's honor, in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Why Latin America is key to Israel’s diplomatic impunity

While alienating traditional allies, Israel is deepening ties with a new wave of right-wing populist leaders who are willing to shield it from accountability.

By Xavier Abu Eid September 15, 2026

Khalil Al-Hayya at the funeral of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, August 1, 2024. (Wikimedia Commons/CC-BY-4.0)

As Israel sabotages Gaza talks, Hamas’ new ‘warrior leader’ faces his first challenge

Khalil Al-Hayya is a known pragmatist. But the group’s militant wing aided his election — and it won’t accept Israel’s deliberately unworkable demands.

By Muhammad Shehada August 6, 2026

Hamas militants show force during the handing over of hostage bodies to the Red Cross in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, February 20, 2025. (Doaa Albaz/Activestills)

Gaza’s disarmament trap

Israel’s continued attacks and aid restrictions made a mockery of the ceasefire. Now it is conditioning withdrawal on Hamas giving up every last weapon.

By Muhammad Shehada April 29, 2026

Latest

Anti-missile batteries fire interceptors toward incoming ballistic missiles launched from Iran, as seen over Tel Aviv, March 7, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

The Iron Dome is intercepting our chances of a normal future

Israel’s missile defense systems have radically reduced the cost of going to war — and a society that does not fear war is doomed to live with it forever.

By Guevara Bader March 25, 2026

Palestinians at the site of a destroyed home from an Israeli air strike in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, March 22, 2024. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

Even without a UN veto, Gaza remains hostage to American power

The downplaying of the Security Council’s ceasefire resolution shows why the world can no longer look to Washington as the arbiter of a rules-based order.

By Samer Badawi April 2, 2024

Israeli authorities installing a new section of the wall around Qalqilya, occupied West Bank, replacing the existing fence which has several holes created by Palestinians for crossing into Israel for work, January 10, 2021. In 2004, the International Court of Justice stated that the West Bank wall is "illegal and must be dismantled." (Keren Manor/Activestills)

After years of diplomatic inertia, what can the ICJ offer Palestinians?

The UN’s vote to request a ruling on the occupation is an indictment of the failure to hold Israel accountable — and carries risks and opportunities alike.

By Hugh Lovatt January 1, 2023

State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert addresses reporters at the daily press briefing. (State Dept photo)

Forget Friedman. The State Dept doesn’t know how much of the West Bank is occupied either

While disavowing the American ambassador’s erroneous assertion that only 2% of the West Bank is occupied by Israel, the State Department spokesperson isn’t able to answer how much of the territory is actually occupied. (Hint: All of it.) U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman caused a small stir Thursday by erroneously stating that Israel only…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man September 29, 2017

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry listens as European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini addresses reporters on July 18, 2016. (Wiki Commons)

U.S. abstention is a message to Europe: End Israel’s impunity

The U.S. essentially admitted that its unyielding defense of Israel in the diplomatic arena was a disastrous strategy. With Obama bowing out, Europe will need to act on this lesson. Shortly after the UN Security Council passed its resolution criticizing Israeli settlements on Friday, the U.S. State Department issued a press statement by John Kerry…

By Amjad Iraqi December 25, 2016

IAF fighter jet during an exercise. (photo: IDF Spokesperson)

A vote for the Iran deal is a vote against war

The nuclear deal sets back any Iranian military nuclear program by at least 10 years, and does so without sparking a regional war. That, by itself, makes the deal the best option available. One of the easiest things to forget when discussing the Iran deal is just how inevitable and nearby war seemed for so…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man August 8, 2015

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry sits across from Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on June 30, 2015, in Vienna, Austria, before a one-on-one meeting amid negotiations about the future of Iran's nuclear program. (State Department photo)

Nuclear deal will usher in an era of Iranian diplomatic engagement

Put aside the details for a moment. The nuclear deal signed in Vienna today will force Iran to act through diplomacy, not violence. The other option? A nuclear Iran that acts recklessly and orders strikes on Western targets. The decision to sign a nuclear agreement with Iran this morning was the right one. At the…

By Haggai Matar July 14, 2015

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks to then Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren, Tel Aviv, April 9, 2013. (State Dept photo)

Why Michael Oren’s diplomatic plan doesn’t hold water

The esteemed historian, former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. and CNN commentator is now back in Israel running for public office, and he has a plan. The problem is it doesn’t align with the facts. By Shemuel Meir It turns out that “spin” isn’t exclusively in the Israel’s prime minister’s domain. Michael Oren, Israel’s former…

By +972 Magazine January 14, 2015

Maori presentation at an NZ Navy base (Photo by New Zealand Defence Force)

Good Lorde! Now we’re fighting New Zealand!

In the world of Israel’s ‘anti-diplomacy,’ anything is possible — including the extremely improbable. There comes a time in every Israeli’s life when he or she must undertake a great challenge on behalf of the Zionist endeavor. This morning I learned that my country has found itself at the center of a diplomatic debacle with…

By Yuval Ben-Ami September 8, 2014

Israeli soldiers stop Palestinians at a flying check-point at the entrance to the West Bank city of Hebron, seen on June 15, 2014. A complete closure was put on the city after three Israeli teenagers went missing near a West Bank settlement. The three, all students at a Jewish seminary, went missing late on June 12 as they were hitchhiking between Bethlehem and Hebron and are believed to have been kidnapped. (Photo by Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)

Reward activism and diplomacy, not violence

Far too many times Israel has mocked peace initiatives and adored violence. Altogether, it seems that the government is about to score major points in the propaganda war, only that each such victory is another step on the path to defeat. As Israeli news outlets moved to live coverage mode over the weekend, I had…

By Noam Sheizaf June 16, 2014