The latest revision to the Prawer Plan, which will eventually displace tens of thousands of Arab Bedouin from their ancestral land in the Negev (Naqab), in some ways improves its tone toward the Bedouin. But the Arab Bedouin community has resolutely rejected the Prawer Plan, and Benny Begin's latest report reminds us succinctly that the law was never intended to be a friend to the oppressed. By Nadia Ben-Youssef On the day after the Israeli elections, outgoing MK Benny Begin finished writing his recommended revisions to the Prawer Plan. The Minister without portfolio had been charged with responding to public grievances about the government-approved…

What does the appointment of Home Front Defense Minister Matan Vilna’i to ambassador of China really mean? Why is Yair Lapid whining? Which is the most interesting political teaming-up so far? What is one of the main goals of the war on Iran campaign? And what do we know of Netanyahu’s crime solving abilities? Ni Hao Home Front Defense Minister Matan Vilna’i resigned from his post today so that the cabinet could approve his appointment to be ambassador to China. Thanks to a few Facebook friends*, I compiled a short list of questions that some of us had due to…

As Izzie watches events unfold in Cairo, it begins to dawn on her just how precarious this new situation is Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! Ruth: Yes, Ms. HolyLand? Izzie: Ruth, get me all seven kitchen cabinet ministers in here. Pronto! Ruth: Yes, Ms. HolyLand, right away. In walk Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Minister of Strategic Affairs Moshe (Bogie) Ya’alon, Interior Minister Eli Yishai, Intelligence Minister Dan Meridor and Minister of Nothing Benny Begin. Izzie: I want to thank you all for coming on such short notice. But I’d like to talk to you about something…

Some members of the hard right have harshly criticized the Knesset inquiry into human rights NGOs. They seem to believe that Israel can continue to rule the Palestinians while respecting their rights. This contradiction is enabled through sophisticated mechanisms of privatization, which may be a greater danger for Israel than fascism Benny Begin, the son of late Likud Prime Minister Menachem Begin, is a minister without portfolio in Netanyahu's government. He is a member in good standing of Israel's hard right, and has spent the last two decades strongly opposing any concession to the Palestinians. Remarkably, he is also one of the…