Knesset

Israeli police guard while Palestinians arrive to Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, at the Lion's Gate in Jerusalem's Old City, October 13, 2023. (Jamal Awad/Flash90)

Israel’s ‘thought police’ law ramps up dangers for Palestinian social media users

Rights advocates warn the draconian law will enable unprecedented surveillance, raising Palestinian fears of arrest for their online activity.

By Sophia Goodfriend November 24, 2023

A high school principal arranges her classroom for the reopening of the school in Jerusalem, February 10 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Teachers or terrorists? Far-right MKs want the Shin Bet to police schools

A bill authorizing Israel's security service to hire and fire teachers, a policy long carried out in Arab schools, is so extreme that even the Shin Bet opposes it.

By Gil Gertel July 26, 2023

An Israeli protester sits in front of a fire during anti-government protests, Tel Aviv, July 20, 2023. (Oren Ziv)

PHOTOS: Anti-government protests escalate as Israel curbs judiciary

Israelis continued to take to the streets in their tens of thousands over the past week to protest the government's judicial overhaul.

By Oren Ziv July 24, 2023

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An Israeli Police Border officer guards during a demonstration against the construction of Israel´s separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bil´in near Ramallah, June 9, 2006. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

The long history of Israel’s war on the Palestinian flag

From terror threat to peace hopes, Israeli views of the Palestinian flag have undergone many shifts over the decades. Now, attempts to outlaw it are back.

By Barak Mayer May 29, 2023

Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion reading Israel's Declaration of Independence in Tel Aviv, May 14, 1948. (Zoltan Kluger/GPO)

Why Israeli efforts to write a constitution always fail

Resurrected by the protest movement, the idea of a constitution has been pursued throughout Israel's history. But opposition to equality foils its fruition.

By Dahlia Scheindlin April 4, 2023

Opposition MKs holding Israeli flags during a discussion and vote on the government's judicial overhaul plans in the assembly hall of the Knesset in Jerusalem, February 20, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Why Israel’s opposition won’t talk about the real goal of judicial overhaul

Government officials have explicitly said their legal reforms are about annexation. Opponents won't admit it because they share the same vision.

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man February 21, 2023

An illustration of a new Israeli passport and an old Israeli passport with different stamps in Jerusalem, January 18, 2023. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

Explainer: Israel expands power to strip Palestinians of citizenship and residency

A new law, passed by an overwhelming Knesset majority, is part of an ongoing process of entrenching separate legal systems for Jews and Palestinians.

By Adalah February 20, 2023

Supreme Court Chief Justice Esther Hayut and other justices arrive for a court hearing on the election committee's decision to disqualify Balad from running in the Knesset election, Jerusalem, October 6, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Israeli courts legitimized the state’s worst policies. We must still protect them

It is hard for critics to stand up for a judiciary that enables many human rights abuses. But the coalition's plans would make the regime far more repressive.

By Natalie Davidson and Limor Yehuda January 23, 2023

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shakes hands with Otzma Yehudit party head Itamar Ben Gvir during a Knesset session to vote on forming the government, December 29, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Land grabs. Homophobia. Radicalized police: What to expect from Israel’s far-right government

The new coalition is set to deepen colonization on both sides of the Green Line, while expanding its tools to oppress Palestinians, leftists, and LGBTQ people.

By Natasha Roth-Rowland December 29, 2022

Avrum Burg (left) and Faisal Azaiza (right), co-chairs of the new All its Citizens party, at the public launch event in Tel Aviv, December 16, 2022. (Oren Ziv)

Can a new Jewish-Arab party breathe life into the Israeli left?

'All its Citizens' wants to unite the left in Israel around the principle of complete equality for all. But can they even agree on what that looks like?

By Ben Reiff December 21, 2022

Members of the Joint List arrive for a meeting with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin at the President's Residence, Jerusalem, September 22, 2019. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The forgotten role of Palestinian citizens in Israel’s coalition wars

Contrary to popular belief, Arab parties have been backing prime ministerial candidates for decades. But what did they gain from the political game?

By Wadea Awawdy October 27, 2022

MK Itamar Ben Gvir seen during a plenum session in the assembly hall of the Knesset in Jerusalem, June 20, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Kahanism’s triumphant makeover

Itamar Ben Gvir, the star of Israel’s most far-right party, is thriving off of a national political discourse that allows him to accomplish what his predecessors could not: bringing Kahanism to the mainstream.

By Noam Sheizaf October 3, 2022

People next to a mural showing Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and Jerusalem's Old City, on the separation barrier between Jerusalem and the West Bank city of Bethlehem, April 18, 2022. (Wisam Hashlamoun/Flash90)

Want to dismantle Israeli apartheid? Start with this law

The crisis over an emergency regulation that applies separate legal systems in the West Bank illustrates the tangible ways apartheid can be undone.

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man June 8, 2022