Isaac Herzog

Israeli President Isaac Herzog at the Federation of Local Authorities conference in Tel Aviv, December 6, 2022. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

The violent lies of Israel’s president

When members of Congress applaud falsehoods about Israel being a vibrant democracy, they are aiding and abetting further oppression of Palestinians.

By Yuli Novak July 31, 2023

A forensic team from Israel's Health Ministry opens Yosef Melamed's grave in order to take a DNA sample, Nahalat Yitzhak Cemetery, Tel Aviv, July 27, 2022. Melamed's family, who immigrated from Yemen, believe he was kidnapped along with hundreds of children from Middle Eastern and North African countries in the 1940’s and 1950’s. (Oren Ziv)

Why is Israel digging up the graves of Mizrahi children?

After years of pressure, Israel is taking measures to uncover the fate of children, mostly Yemenite, who disappeared in the 1950s. +972 spoke with two activists about the families’ long road to justice.

By Ben Reiff August 24, 2022

Israeli President Isaac Herzog lighting a candle during a ceremony marking the first night of Hanukkah in the Tomb of the Patriarchs/Ibrahimi Mosque in the Old City of Hebron, occupied West Bank, Nov. 28, 2021. (Oren Ziv)

Israel’s president lights first Hanukkah candle for apartheid

Protesters decried Isaac Herzog’s participation in a Hanukkah ceremony in occupied Hebron, seeing it as an endorsement of the city's extremist settlers.

By Ben Reiff and Oren Ziv November 29, 2021

Latest

A demonstrator delivers a speech during a protest to recognize the Yemenite Children's Affair, Tel Aviv, September 25, 2017. (Shiraz Grinbaum/Activestills.org)

Hundreds protest to recognize the disappearance of Yemenite children

Hundreds block central Tel Aviv street while calling on the government to recognize one of the most harrowing chapters in Israeli history. Over 500 people demonstrated Monday evening in central Tel Aviv, calling on the state to recognize its responsibility for the Yemenite children’s affair, which took place in the years after the country was…

By Haggai Matar September 26, 2017

Palestinian workers stand in line next to a portion of the separation wall, waiting to cross through the checkpoint in Bethlehem into Israel, November 11, 2009. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

New entry law a reminder that Palestinians live in Israel’s prison

The reality in the West Bank is one that resembles a prison, where the prisoners are held for as long as humanly possible. Their release will carry a price — and Israelis are not willing to pay it. The Knesset passed a law Monday night denying entry visas or residency rights to foreign nationals who call for boycotts against Israel or the…

By Noam Sheizaf March 7, 2017

Jewish nationalist activists from anti-miscegenation group Lehava protest in Rishon Lezion, August 17, 2014. (Activestills.org)

Anti-Semitism in the U.S. doesn’t make me want to move to Israel

Why would American Jews be any less repulsed by the ultra-nationalist tendencies rampant in Israel than they are by those taking hold in America? By Sarah Stern The Jewish day school in Rockville, MD where I spent six years as a student received a bomb threat this week. There have been over 100 threats like…

By +972 Magazine March 1, 2017

Head of the Joint List, MK Ayman Odeh, at the Knesset in Jerusalem, February 8, 2016. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Could a Palestinian politician best represent American Jewish values?

Progressive American Jews may be willing to stand alongside American Muslims, but are they ready to demonstrate the same solidarity for Arab citizens of Israel? Ayman Odeh, the head of the Joint List, is a test case for where ‘pro-peace’ Jews draw the line. Progressive American Jews have had a hard time in recent years finding…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man February 28, 2017

J Street Executive Director Jeremy Ben-Ami speaks at the 5th J Street Conference, March 21, 2015. (Photo courtesy of J Street)

‘I’m part of a dying breed that believes in two states’

The election of Donald Trump has emboldened fears that the two-state solution will officially be tossed into the dustbin of history. But J Street President Jeremy Ben Ami is undeterred, steadfast in his belief that two states is the only solution.+972 Magazine speaks to him at the annual J Street conference about the rise of…

By Dahlia Scheindlin February 28, 2017

Construction in the West Bank settlement of Ariel, January 25, 2017. (Sebi Berens/Flash90)

The Israeli Left’s plan to save the settlements

The thinking behind Isaac Herzog’s 10-point peace plan is the inevitable result of the unequal relationship between an occupying power and an occupied people. It is based entirely on Israel’s concerns, not on any notion that Palestinians have inalienable rights and are entitled to the same freedoms as everyone else. By Mitchell Plitnick Israeli opposition…

By +972 Magazine February 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

Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai (Photo by Activestills.org)

Tel Aviv mayor says the occupation is a cause of Palestinian terror

Huldai tells Army Radio that Israel may be the ‘only country in the world holding another nation under occupation without civil rights.’ Tel Aviv-Jaffa Mayor Ron Huldai shocked many Israelis Thursday morning when he cited Israel’s occupation as one factor that leads Palestinians to turn to terrorism. Speaking on Army Radio about Wednesday’s deadly shooting attack…

By Edo Konrad June 9, 2016

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and newly appointed defense minister Avigdor Liberman sign new coalition agreement, May 25, 2016. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)

Labor must take the security narrative back from Netanyahu

The first step is to replace party leader Isaac Herzog, who has adopted the prime minister’s approach to the Palestinians and was willing to join his government. By Nathan Hersh and Abe Silberstein When Netanyahu abandoned the possibility of forming a coalition with Zionist Union by appointing Avigdor Liberman as defense minister, many on the…

By +972 Magazine May 28, 2016

Illustrative photo of Palestinian workers in Israel. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

For Washington Post, cheap labor is key to Mideast peace

A recent article in ‘The Washington Post’ praises efforts by the Israeli government to bring in cheap labor from Jordan as a sign of growing peace. The problem? It all comes at the expense of Palestinian workers. By Hagar Shezaf A Washington Post article published earlier this week praised a new pilot project between the…

By +972 Magazine May 19, 2016