Jewish Nation-State Law

Avrum Burg (left) and Faisal Azaiza (right), co-chairs of the new All its Citizens party, at the public launch event in Tel Aviv, December 16, 2022. (Oren Ziv)

Can a new Jewish-Arab party breathe life into the Israeli left?

'All its Citizens' wants to unite the left in Israel around the principle of complete equality for all. But can they even agree on what that looks like?

By Ben Reiff December 21, 2022

Attorneys arrive to the Supreme Court for a hearing on petitions put forth against the Jewish Nation-State Law, Jerusalem, December 22, 2020. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The Nation-State Law had its day in court, as did the farce of Israeli democracy

During the hearing, the High Court justices saw no problem with demoting the status of Arabic and claimed that 'equality' is something best left for the future.

By Orly Noy December 24, 2020

Orthodox Jews participate in a Sukkot prayer at the Or Pashut synagogue, in the northern Israeli community of Kadita, near Safed, Sept. 26, 2018. (David Cohen/Flash90)

With the Nation-State Law, Israel’s religious right is deciding who is a Jew

Israel's Nation-State Law does not see Judaism as a diverse religion, but as an identity that guarantees supremacy over other people — including other Jews.

By Etan Nechin December 20, 2020

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Ruth Gavison, Israeli law professor at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. February 22, 2016. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

For renowned legal scholar, Israeli democracy meant Jewish dominance

Ruth Gavison, who died last month, was seen as a civil rights pioneer in Israel — yet her views justified overriding those rights to preserve a Jewish majority.

By Ran Greenstein September 2, 2020

Blue and White Chairman Benny Gantz (center) meets with Joint List Chairman Ayman Odeh (left) and Joint List MK Ahmad Tibi to discuss the possibility of establishing a minority government backed by Israel's Palestinian-led parties, October 19, 2019. (Ofek Avshalom)

The anti-Bibi bloc is about to destroy its chance to replace Netanyahu

The anti-Bibi camp was just a heartbeat away from partnering with the Joint List and potentially transforming Israeli politics. So what happened?

By Edo Konrad March 10, 2020

A mural depicting President Donald Trump kissing an Israeli army watchtower on the separation wall in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, August 4, 2017. (Flash90)

Don’t eulogize the two-state solution just yet

Trump’s peace deal may have declared the death of the 'classic' two-state formula, but that doesn't mean we should abandon the idea altogether.

By Said Zeedani February 5, 2020

Leader of the Joint List, Ayman Odeh, casts his vote at a ballot station in Nazareth on election day for the 20th Knesset, March 17, 2015. (Basal Awidat/Flash90)

The Israeli right’s fury is driven by fear of Palestinian citizens

Palestinian citizens of Israel are intensifying their fight for equality. The right-wing has spent the last decade doing everything in its power to stop them.

By Amjad Iraqi December 27, 2019

Leader of the Joint List Ayman Odeh (R) and party member Ahmad Tibi arrive for a meeting with party members at the Knesset on September 22, 2019. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

For the Israeli right, Jewish-Arab partnership is the stuff of nightmares

As far as Israel’s right is concerned, the very real possibility that the country will be led by a Jewish-Arab partnership is the greatest threat of all.

By Eli Bitan December 6, 2019

An Israeli military police officer checks entry permits of Palestinians on a bus crossing the Allenby Bridge into Israel. (Moshe Milner/GPO)

What would Israelis do if Palestinians disappeared overnight?

Ibtisam Azem speaks to +972 about how, with the sudden vanishing of ‘the enemy’ in her newly-translated novel, she confronts some of the darkest chapters of Israel's history.

By Natasha Roth-Rowland November 11, 2019

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks at the future of the U.S.-Israel relationship at J Street's 2019 National Gala Dinner, October 28, 2019. (Photo courtesy of J Street)

J Street conference confronts America’s ‘blank check’ to Israel

By making U.S. aid to Israel the main theme of its 2019 conference, J Street is challenging bipartisan support for Israel ahead of 2020.

By Mairav Zonszein November 1, 2019

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

Thousands of Jewish wave the Israeli flags as they celebrate Jerusalem Day in Damascus Gate on their way to the Western Wall. Jerusalem Day celebrations, May 13, 2018. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The biggest loser in this election: Liberal Zionism

Israelis consistently vote against the idea of a Jewish and democratic Israel alongside a Palestinian state. It is now impossible to see how that could ever be realized. On Sunday Ayman Odeh, the chairman of the Joint List, met with President Reuven Rivlin to announce his party’s noteworthy decision to endorse Benny Gantz, chairman of…

By Mairav Zonszein September 26, 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