Likud

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a vote at the plenum hall of the Knesset, Jerusalem, July 16, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Netanyahu’s ‘total victory’ vow kept him in power. Now it may be his undoing

With the coalition trailing in the polls, it seems the severe costs and unattainable goals of Israel’s ever-expanding wars are coming back to bite.

By Meron Rapoport August 27, 2026

Right-wing activists attend a ceremony honoring late Jewish extremist leader Rabbi Meir Kahane in Jerusalem, Nov. 17, 2016. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

How Kahanism found its way into the Israeli political mainstream

Genocidal rhetoric is not new to Israeli politics. But Gaza's destruction mirrors the apocalyptic language pouring out of the Knesset — where the establishment has gradually absorbed members of a former terrorist group.

By Natasha Soffer-Roth May 14, 2025

Daniella Weiss (left) at the settlement event near Gaza, October 21, 2024. (Oren Ziv)

‘Copy-paste the West Bank to Gaza’: Hundreds join Gaza resettlement event

In a closed military zone near Gaza, Israeli settlers, ministers, and MKs called to ethnically cleanse and annex the Strip — an idea that is growing mainstream.

By Oren Ziv October 22, 2024

Latest

A Black Panthers protest in Jerusalem, 1971. (Yosef Hochman, courtesy of the Yad Yaari Research and Documentation Center)

Who is reaping the fruits of the Israeli Black Panthers’ struggle?

Half a century after setting off a political earthquake from the impoverished streets of Jerusalem, the radical Mizrahi movement has been largely forgotten. A new book seeks to untangle their contested legacy.

By Ben Reiff July 26, 2024

Reuven Abergel, co-founder of the Israeli Black Panthers, speaks to more than 10,000 African asylum seekers gathered in Levinsky Park in support of their struggle, south Tel Aviv, January 7, 2014. (Activestills.org)

An Israeli Black Panther’s call for true democracy

We did not get to taste one drop of the promises in the Declaration of Independence. Now we must gather all the oppressed groups we have ignored.

By Reuven Abergel May 8, 2023

Activists from the Mizrahi left group Shovrot Kirot and the Kan2Come collective block Tel Aviv's Ayalon Highway during the anti-government protests, March 26, 2023. (Keren Manor/Activestills.org)

The dilemmas of the Mizrahi left in the Israeli protest movement

Prof. Smadar Lavie discusses the possibilities and contradictions of the Ashkenazi-dominated protests against the government, and traces the efforts of a small cohort of Mizrahi activists to make their voices heard.

By Shane Burley and Ben Lorber March 28, 2023

Opposition MKs holding Israeli flags during a discussion and vote on the government's judicial overhaul plans in the assembly hall of the Knesset in Jerusalem, February 20, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Why Israel’s opposition won’t talk about the real goal of judicial overhaul

Government officials have explicitly said their legal reforms are about annexation. Opponents won't admit it because they share the same vision.

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man February 21, 2023

Israeli security forces escort a group of religious Jews as they visit the Temple Mount/Haram al Sharif, in Jerusalem's Old City, August 12, 2020. (Yossi Zamir/Flash90)

The Temple Mount movement is soaring under Israel’s new government

Defying a decades-long political arrangement, Israeli authorities are enabling an unprecedented rise in Jewish prayer at the Jerusalem holy site.

By Baker Zoubi December 6, 2021

President Donald Trump addresses the crowd at Target Center in Minneapolis, MN, for his 2020 presidential campaign rally on October 10, 2019. (Nikolas Liepins/Flickr)

In the US and Israel, voter suppression is the ruling parties’ game plan

Trump's attempts to intimidate voters speaks volumes about the anti-democratic strategies shared by right-wing forces around the world.

By Mitchell Plitnick October 26, 2020

A man passes out the free daily newspaper Israel HaYom to passersby on Ben Yehuda Street in Jerusalem on February 6, 2015. (Mendy Hechtman/Flash90)

How a pro-Bibi paper tilted Israeli voters to the right

The billionaire-funded daily Israel Hayom helped boost the right-wing bloc by two Knesset seats over three elections, a new study finds.

By Oren Persico and The Seventh Eye September 14, 2020

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara attend the Jewish Moroccan Mimouna celebrations, Or Akiva, April 21, 2014. (Avishag Shaar Yashuv/Flash90)

How Likud’s Ashkenazi elite became the patron saints of the Mizrahim

Benjamin Netanyahu and his Ashkenazi allies are exploiting Mizrahi resentment in order to delegitimize the current protests.

By Orly Noy August 3, 2020

Then-Blue and White party chariman Benny Gantz meets with Joint List MKs Ayman Odeh and 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

Joint List chairperson Ayman Odeh waves the 'V' sign for victory during a plenum session in the assembly hall of the Israeli parliament, on November 13, 2017. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The Israeli right has no clue how to deal with the Joint List’s surge

The Joint List's remarkable campaign demonstrated Palestinian citizens' growing power. It could bring new political horizons — but also dangers.

By Meron Rapoport March 5, 2020