israeli democracy

Israelis rally in defense of Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara at Habima Square, Tel Aviv, March 27, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

The glorious legacy of Israel’s so-called ‘guardian of democracy’

The government’s efforts to oust the AG must be resisted. But even by her own admission, she has proudly signed off on Israel’s crimes against Palestinians.

By Orly Noy and Amos Brison March 28, 2025

Israeli teenagers sign their names onto a letter declaring their refusal to enlist in the army and serve a dictatorship in Israel or the occupied Palestinian territories, Gimnasia Herzliya, Tel Aviv, September 3, 2023. (Oren Ziv)

A lesson on Israeli ‘democracy’ from an 18-year-old draft refuser

Previous generations of Israelis closed their eyes to the oppression of Palestinians, Mizrahim, and asylum seekers. Our generation can be different.

By Yahli Agai September 5, 2023

Israeli President Isaac Herzog at the Federation of Local Authorities conference in Tel Aviv, December 6, 2022. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

The violent lies of Israel’s president

When members of Congress applaud falsehoods about Israel being a vibrant democracy, they are aiding and abetting further oppression of Palestinians.

By Yuli Novak July 31, 2023

Latest

Israelis protest against the current Israeli government and its planned judicial reform, Tel Aviv, January 28, 2023. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

Is Israel’s hasbara bubble about to burst?

For decades, Israel's Western allies have nodded along as it professes to be 'the only democracy in the Middle East.' What happens if they stop?

By Meron Rapoport February 13, 2023

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a press conference with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, January 11, 2023. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

The Israeli right is the minority — the left need only realize it

It’s time for the Jewish left to understand that by aligning its struggle with the Palestinians, it can be part of a majority against occupation and apartheid.

By Meron Rapoport January 12, 2023

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announces emergency directives during a press conference at the Prime Ministers Office in Jerusalem, March 12, 2020. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

Equating coronavirus with terror, Netanyahu turns surveillance powers on Israelis

As part of his 'war' on the outbreak, Netanyahu delays his long-awaited trial and announces the mass surveillance of Israelis infected by coronavirus.

By Edo Konrad March 15, 2020

Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine Director at Human Rights Watch (Courtesy of Omar Shakir).

PODCAST: Israel wants to deport this human rights defender

On the latest episode of The +972 Podcast, Human Right Watch’s Omar Shakir talks about Israel’s case against him, which he believes is a watershed moment for democracy and free speech in Israel. Listen here: iTunes/Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Spotify For more than a year now, Israel has been trying to deport the Israel and Palestine Director…

By +972 Magazine June 28, 2019

Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine Director at Human Rights Watch (Courtesy of Omar Shakir).

What kind of democracy deports human rights workers?

Israel is trying to deport Human Rights Watch’s Omar Shakir, claiming democratic states have every right to defend themselves. The only problem? Israel is neither democratic nor acting in self-defense. By Hagai El-Ad At the heart of the Jerusalem District Court’s recent ruling to authorize the deportation of Omar Shakir, the Israel and Palestine director of Human Rights Watch, one can…

By +972 Magazine April 28, 2019

Benny Gantz, head of Blue and White Party, gives a speech after initial voting results in Israel's general elections are released, at the party headquarters in Tel Aviv, on April 09, 2019. (Gili Yaari/Flash90)

The Israeli opposition failed. Here’s how it can redeem itself

Israel’s next coalition stands to be one of the most pro-annexationist parliaments in the history of the state. Now, it’s up to the opposition to defend democracy. Dear Opposition — There is really no way to say this nicely: you failed. You failed in the campaign, and you have failed over the past decade, while Netanyahu…

By Dahlia Scheindlin April 12, 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

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked's satirical campaign ad mocks the Israeli left for its opposition to her attempts to weaken the judicial system.

In Israel’s elections, only the far right is talking about democracy

A new campaign ad by Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked signals that this time around, only the far right is talking about democratic norms — and how to undo them. Does the opposition have a response? Of all the aspects of political campaigns that voters love to hate, none is more maligned than the political advertisement.…

By Dahlia Scheindlin March 22, 2019

People on at the Tel Aviv beach watch the military airshow on Israel's 70th Independence Day, April 19, 2018. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

What’s so scary about a state of all its citizens?

What sounds like a basic democratic concept is not only at odds with Israel’s founding principles, it is viewed as a direct threat. By Asaf Calderon Benjamin Netanyahu made waves in and outside of Israel this week when, responding to a statement by actress Rotem Sela that Israel should belong to all of its citizens, Arabs…

By +972 Magazine March 13, 2019

Palestinians cross the Bethlehem checkpoint, as they head to Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound in Jerusalem's Old City during Ramadan, May 18, 2018. (Wisam Hashlamoun/Flash90)

When we celebrate Israeli democracy, we celebrate the violence of occupation

In democratic countries, elections are conventionally described as ‘a celebration.’ But in an undemocratic reality of endless military occupation, they become an overt celebration of the violence of the powerful. By Hagai El-Ad “So long as I do not firmly and irrevocably possess the right to vote I do not possess myself. I cannot make up…

By +972 Magazine February 25, 2019