Nate Orbach

Nate Orbach is a writer from Boston who is currently based in Jerusalem. Twitter: @NateOrbach

Recent Articles

Israelis protest against the government's planned judicial overhaul, in Haifa, March 27, 2023. (Shir Torem/Flash90)

The Israeli right once fought for a strong judiciary. What changed?

Scholar Dahlia Scheindlin discusses the history of Israel's struggles over a constitution, and why political camps reversed their positions on the courts.

By Nate Orbach April 24, 2023

Yehuda Glick, a prominent Temple Mount activist, visits the Al-Aqsa compound in Jerusalem. (Oren Ziv)

The Temple Mount movement braces for its moment

With its activists now sitting in Israel's government, the once-fringe movement has gained unprecedented influence over the fate of Jerusalem's holiest site. The next weeks could herald even more danger.

By Nate Orbach March 20, 2023

MK Simcha Rotman, Head of the Knesset's Constitution Committee, poses for a picture at the Knesset, Jerusalem, January 17, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Welcome to Simcha Rothman’s vengeful coup

Embodying the rage that drives the Israeli right’s judicial assault, the chair of the Knesset’s Law and Justice Committee is poised to bring his once-fringe ideas to fruition. And, he tells +972, he is just getting started.

By Nate Orbach March 9, 2023

New Yorkers hold signs on Yitzhak Rabin Way in New York City to protest against an Israeli military operation in Gaza and for Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons, June 30, 2006. (Melanie Fidler/Flash90)

US anti-boycott laws could take a ‘draconian’ turn. But the fight is not over

ACLU lawyer Brian Hauss clears up misinformation about the Supreme Court's decision not to hear a local newspaper's challenge of Israel boycott legislation.

By Nate Orbach March 1, 2023

Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir at the scene of a shooting attack in Neve Yaakov, Jerusalem, January 27, 2023. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

Why Ben Gvir wants more guns on the streets

The Israeli far right sees widespread gun ownership as a means of enforcing racial supremacy — a lesson taken straight out of the American playbook.

By Nate Orbach February 1, 2023

Members of the new Knesset. Top row left to right: Yitzhak Wasserlauf, Yariv Levin, Zvika Fogel, Ofir Sofer; middle row left to right: Moshe Solomon, Avi Maoz, Simcha Rothman, Danny Danon; bottom row left to right: Yisrael Katz, Miki Zohar, Almog Cohen, Amichai Eliyahu. (Flash90)

You’ve heard of Bibi and Ben Gvir. Now meet the rest of the new government

Members of Netanyahu's coalition are coming with a plethora of radical agendas, from neutering the Supreme Court to 'deleting' parts of Gaza.

By Nate Orbach December 29, 2022

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking before the U.S. Congress, March 3, 2015. (Official Photo for Speaker John Boehner by Heather Reed/Flickr)

Will the midterms spell the end of US ‘red lines’ on Israel?

Foundation for Middle East Peace President Lara Friedman speaks to +972 about a dangerous new phase in American pro-Israel politics.

By Nate Orbach November 7, 2022

The UC Berkeley campus in California, United States, December 11, 2012. (Charlie Nguyen/CC BY 2.0)

Anatomy of a scandal: Unraveling the myth of ‘Jewish-free zones’ at UC Berkeley

The manufactured controversy surrounding a student group pledge underlines the dangers of legal attempts to conflate anti-Zionism and antisemitism.

By Nate Orbach October 26, 2022