Yitzhak Herzog

Illustrative photo of Palestinian workers in Israel. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

For Washington Post, cheap labor is key to Mideast peace

A recent article in ‘The Washington Post’ praises efforts by the Israeli government to bring in cheap labor from Jordan as a sign of growing peace. The problem? It all comes at the expense of Palestinian workers. By Hagar Shezaf A Washington Post article published earlier this week praised a new pilot project between the…

By +972 Magazine May 19, 2016

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking at the AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington DC, US, March 2 2015 (Amos Ben Gershom/ GPO)

With Netanyahu, confrontations are a feature, not a bug

Netanyahu believes he can impress Israelis by standing up to the world on his signature political issue. Previous rifts with the White House paid off for him — this time might be different. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will claim to represent the Jewish people in his speech before Congress Tuesday, but the fact of the…

By Noam Sheizaf March 3, 2015

Benjamin Netanyahu. (photo: Activestills.org)

What the polls say about Netanyahu’s election chances

Netanyahu has more paths to the Prime Minister’s Office than Herzog, but also more party leaders who oppose him personally. Seventy-one days ahead of Israel’s general elections, two major stories are dominating the political news cycle: the showdown between Shas’s former leaders – Aryeh Deri and Eli Yishai – and the corruption affair involving senior…

By Noam Sheizaf January 4, 2015

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Benjamin Netanyahu. (photo: Activestills.org)

Pundits’ consensus: Netanyahu is vulnerable

Are we nearing the end of King Bibi’s reign? Much of that depends on his allies, his rivals and the determination of international actors to address the disastrous trends on the ground. In 2009 and 2013 it was easy to call who the next prime minister would be a month before the polls opened in Israel.…

By Noam Sheizaf December 7, 2014

Israeli soldiers near the Palestinian city of Halhul, where the bodies of the three kidnapped Israeli teenagers were found. (photo: Activestills)

Refusal by elite IDF reservists angrily dismissed as ‘political’

Following the public refusal of 43 reservists of the IDF’s 8200 intelligence unit, politicians and other veterans of the unit have openly denounced the reservists, viewing their refusal as an unacceptable politicization of their army service. Political leaders both from the government and the opposition condemned 43 reservists from Israel’s prestigious 8200 intelligence unit who stated their refusal to take…

By Dahlia Scheindlin September 14, 2014

Largest j14 protest of half million in Kikar Hamedina Sept 3 2011 (Activestills)

Where is the social protest movement in the Israeli elections?

Did the revolution lose its sex appeal? Did the J14 leaders enable politicians to ignore them? Whatever the reason, it is clear that the main benefactor of this state of affairs is Prime Minister Netanyahu. By Ilan Manor With the elections just two weeks away, it has become apparent that the 2013 elections are no…

By +972 Magazine January 13, 2013

Arab citizens excluded from Independence Day torch-lighting

The Knesset committee in charge of organizing the torch-lighting ceremony for Independence Day has come up with this year’s list of participants–and it doesn’t include any Arabs. While Knesset members criticized the exclusion of minorities, the move reflects reality of life in Israel. According to Ynet, a Knesset committee’s exclusion of Palestinian citizens of the…

By Mya Guarnieri Jaradat March 29, 2012

Will all of Israel’s center-left parties be led by women?

Front-runners for leading Kadima, Labor and Meretz in the next elections are all women. Could Israel’s next government be led by a Livni-Yachimovich-Gal-On trio? Israel is far from being the model for the advancement of women, and discrimination is evident in any field of society. All major media organizations are controlled and run by men; there…

By Noam Sheizaf March 5, 2011