Israeli elections

A woman holds her baby as she casts her ballot for Knesset elections at a voting station in Jerusalem, on September 17, 2019. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

A guide to Israel’s never-ending elections

Israeli citizens will once again vote on whether to keep Netanyahu in power — and decide just how far right the country will go.

By Haggai Matar February 19, 2021

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Joint List party chairman Ayman Odeh talk during a vote at the Knesset on November 18, 2015. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

PODCAST: Why is Netanyahu suddenly courting Palestinian voters?

After years of inciting against Palestinian citizens of Israel, Bibi does an about-face. +972's Edo Konrad and Amjad Iraqi make sense of another election.

By Edo Konrad and Amjad Iraqi January 29, 2021

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak change the epaulets of Israeli Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, February 14, 2011. (Abir Sultan/Flash90)

Why are Israeli generals such terrible politicians?

The popular myth that army generals have the skills to excel in politics will continue so long as Israeli society idealizes the military and masculinity.

By Noa Balf December 11, 2020

Latest

The first government conference of the new Israeli unity government, headed by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz (not seen) at the Knesset, May 17, 2020. (Alex Kolomoisky/POOL)

Netanyahu is dismantling the Israeli ‘kingdom’ — and that’s a good thing

Netanyahu is tearing down the state's institutions, and in the process unmasking the sludge of seven decades' worth of racism and supremacism.

By Meron Rapoport August 31, 2020

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

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in front of a picture of Vladimir Jabotinsky, Jerusalem, May 12, 2002. (Flash90)

Likud vs Likud: How Revisionist Zionism conquered Israeli politics

Israel’s elections have been billed as a clash of the titans between Netanyahu and Gantz. But no matter who wins, the real victory goes to Vladimir Jabotinsky, the grandfather of the Likud. In what should be regarded as a historic photograph taken last Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the head of the Likud party, and Benny…

By Amjad Iraqi September 26, 2019

Palestinian muslim worshippers wait to cross the Qalandia checkpoint on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Ramallah on August 20, 2010 amid tight Israeli security. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Netanyahu’s exit could make it harder to fight occupation from the outside

Without a cartoon villain to rail against, the energy required to end the occupation is in danger of dissipating. By Aron Keller Given that Benjamin Netanyahu presided over the rightward shift of Israeli society and the hollowing out of its democratic institutions, the prospect of seeing his decade-long grip on the Prime Minister’s Office end…

By +972 Magazine September 25, 2019

Right wing activists attend a ceremony honoring the late Rabbi Meir Kahane in Jerusalem on November 17, 2016. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Otzma Yehudit is out. Does that mean Israelis reject Kahanism?

While the Kahanist Otzma Yehudit party failed to pass the electoral threshold, the latest national elections in Israel saw the normalization of Kahane’s particular brand of overt racism. Twenty-one years ago, Rabbi Meir Kahane stared into the camera during an election ad for his Kach party and told viewers, “[the Arabs of Israel] want to kill…

By Natasha Roth-Rowland September 19, 2019

Israeli security forces guard as Jews tour the Palestinian side of the old city market in the West Bank city of Hebron, June 15, 2019. (Wisam Hashlamoun/Flash90)

Elections reveal a seismic split within Israel’s right

Once the ascendant elite, the settler movement’s political power is on the decline. By Meron Rapoport While political analysts wonder if we have come to the end of the Netanyahu era, little attention is being paid to another major outcome of this election — that is, the decline of the national religious movement’s political power.…

By +972 Magazine September 19, 2019

Israelis protest against a joint Israeli-Palestinian memorial ceremony in Tel Aviv on April 17, 2018. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

Netanyahu might be on his way out, but Israelis remain firmly right wing

Voters might be weary of Netanyahu’s decade-long reign, but the numbers show that the vast majority of Israelis remain consistent in their voting habits. The cashier at an organic food shop in Tel Aviv was a burly man with a crew-cut. I asked if he had voted, but he didn’t understand the question. Then he explained in halting…

By Dahlia Scheindlin September 18, 2019

A giant portrait of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a protest against the Jewish Nation-State Law, Tel Aviv, July 30, 2018. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

The end of the Netanyahu era doesn’t mean the end of the occupation

If Netanyahu is replaced, things might actually get worse for Palestinians. As election results started pouring in Tuesday night, one could hear a sigh of relief – and even some cries of joy – among Israelis who identify with the center-left. According to near-final results, the right absorbed a serious blow. Its voter intimidation campaign failed to deter Palestinian…

By Haggai Matar September 18, 2019

A Bedouin woman from the unrecognized village of Al-Araqib sits in front of an Israeli police van. Israel has demolished al-Araqib over 100 times. (Illustrative photo by Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Israeli citizens are driving Bedouin voters to the polls in droves

After the Central Elections Committee banned a civil society group from busing Bedouin voters to the polls, dozens of Israelis are stepping in to ensure all citizens have a chance to participate in the elections. Between Netanyahu’s rabid anti-Arab incitement and credible rumors of Election Day violence, concerns about voter suppression in Israel are at an all-time high. Several civil…

By Oren Ziv September 17, 2019

Israeli citizens cast their ballots at a voting station in Jerusalem, during the Knesset elections on April 9, 2019. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

Why Israelis are going to the polls for a second time this year

Five things you should know about the second Israeli national elections in six months. By +972 Magazine Staff How do Israeli elections work? Israel is a multi-party system, which means several parties will be competing for citizens’ votes come Election Day. There are 5.8 million Israeli citizens who are eligible to vote this time. Of the…

By +972 Magazine September 16, 2019