Likud

Thousands take part in a pro-Netanyahu rally outside the Tel Aviv Museum, less than a week after Israel's attorney general announced he would file bribery charges against the prime minister, November 26, 2019. (Oren Ziv)

A pro-Netanyahu rally turns into a forum for deep state conspiracies

Like Trump’s base, the speakers and audience at Tuesday night's pro-Netanyahu rally in Tel Aviv seemed convinced that someone else is managing their country behind the scenes.

By Oren Ziv November 27, 2019

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at an 'emergency' Likud rally in Tel Aviv, November 17, 2019. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

By labeling Arabs an ‘existential threat,’ Bibi invokes a terrifying history of ethnic violence

Netanyahu organized an emergency Likud gathering Sunday night, in which he accused Israel's Palestinian citizens of supporting terror. We know how this kind of thing can end.

By Dahlia Scheindlin November 18, 2019

A Jewish Israeli man holding an Israeli flag confronts a Palestinian woman holding a kaffiyeh on the sidelines of the ultra-nationalist "Jerusalem Day" march, May 13, 2018. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Jewish-Arab partnership as an antidote to Jewish supremacism

We need to redefine Israeli politics. No more left and right, liberal or conservative, religious versus secular. Instead: a new partnership of Arabs and Jews, working side-by-side to combat Jewish supremacism. By Meron Rapoport and Ameer Fakhoury Israel has been at a political dead end for many months, particularly since the most recent national election…

By +972 Magazine October 30, 2019

Latest

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 *** ??? ?????? ?????? ??????

??? ???
????? ??

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

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 27, 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

Palestinian fishermen prepare their nets near the sea in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on March 10, 2019. (Abed Rahim Khatib/ Flash90)

What do Palestinians in Gaza really think about the Israeli elections?

On the eve of the elections, four young Palestinians in Gaza open up about their thoughts on Israeli political parties, whether they think there’s hope for change, and what life is like under siege. By Yuval Abraham Muhammad The electricity cuts out at 2pm in Gaza, but Muhammad has charged his phone in advance so he’ll have enough battery…

By +972 Magazine September 12, 2019

Mizrahi activists protest outside Finance Minister Yair Lapid's house, north Tel Aviv. (photo: Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)

PODCAST: Could Mizrahim find their most natural allies in Palestinians?

Jewish Israelis with roots in Arab and Muslim countries have faced systemic discrimination for decades. As Jewish political parties court their votes, +972 writer and Local Call editor Orly Noy has a different idea. Listen here: iTunes/Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Spotify It is no secret that for decades, the Zionist left discriminated against Mizrahim, or Jews with roots…

By +972 Magazine August 16, 2019

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with his wife Sara and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Russia, June 7, 2016. (Haim Zach/GPO)

Netanyahu’s Putin campaign alienates Israel’s Russian-speaking voters

A new election poster of Netanyahu gloating about his relationship with the Russian authoritarian leader may have entirely missed the mark with younger Russian-speaking voters, revealing deep generational divides. By Lily Galili Over the past few years, Israel has seen a small stream of new immigrants from Russia. Tens of thousands of liberal, educated Jews from a fairly high…

By +972 Magazine August 9, 2019

An Arab woman casts her vote at a polling station in the city of Lyd on October 22, 2013. (Yossi Zeliger/Flash90)

Israeli elections c’tee hasn’t taken any steps to stop Arab voter intimidation

Four months after the ruling Likud party led a voter intimidation campaign against Palestinian voters, the government body responsible for ensuring free and fair elections says it hasn’t made any changes to its process. With just a few weeks before Israeli citizens head back to the polls for the second time this year, the government body responsible for…

By Henriette Chacar August 7, 2019

A Palestinian citizen of Israel casts her vote in the 2019 election, Taybeh, central Israel, April 9, 2019. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Likud attempts to intimidate Palestinian voters with hidden ballot cams

Poll workers from the Likud party are using hidden cameras to record Palestinian voters as they head to the polls on Election Day. The goal? To intimidate Arab citizens and make sure they stay home. Members of the ruling Likud party placed at least 1,200 hidden cameras on poll workers across Palestinian towns and villages in Israel…

By Haggai Matar April 9, 2019

A Likud party supporter wears a Donald Trump mask during a Likud election campaign event at Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem, April 7, 2019. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

There is no good vote in a paralyzed society

For years, Israelis have allowed values of equality, justice, and peace, to go by the wayside. Tuesday’s vote reflects not only the impotence and absence of a left, but just how paralyzed Israeli society is. In some ways, Tuesday’s election is predictable. Netanyahu and his right-wing camp are expected, according to most polls, to secure the 61-seat…

By Mairav Zonszein April 8, 2019

Israeli Prime Minister and head of the Likud party Benjamin Netanyahu seen after delivering a statement to the media at the Prime Minister residence in Jerusalem on March 20, 2019. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Why these Israeli elections actually matter

Netanyahu looms so large that he has become a symbol of everything that’s right and wrong with Israel. But behind the symbol stand two very substantive visions of where Israel is headed. Like most weeks over the last decade, this was a week of Netanyahu. It began on Saturday evening when the prime minister gave…

By Dahlia Scheindlin March 29, 2019