The tempest over Israel’s travel ban on two congresswomen and the year-long roller coaster of back-to-back elections has unleashed an avalanche of misplaced condemnations and hand-wringing about the health of the country’s democracy. Yet democratic life in Israel remains remarkably strong and resilient. For starters, democratic and liberal norms continue to predominate. Voter turnout, contestation,…
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Russian hackers struck the cellphone of Benny Gantz, the chief rival to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in what an Israeli intelligence firm called an “unprecedented attack.” CGI Group, which Gantz hired to investigate a series of leaks from the center-left Blue and White party, said no sensitive information was gleaned from the…
JERUSALEM (JTA) — It’ll be at least more three weeks before we see any of the Trump administration’s Israeli-Palestinian peace plan. “We have decided that we will not be releasing the peace vision (or parts of it) prior to the Israeli election,” White House special Mideast envoy Jason Greenblatt wrote in a tweet Wednesday. Days…
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Cameras cannot be operated at polling stations, the head of Israel’s Central Elections Committee decided. The decision is directed at the Likud party, which had planned to place cameras in more than 1,000 polling stations in Arab communities. During the April election, Likud activists placed more than 1,200 cameras hidden in polling…
The latest Pew Report on religious freedom showing that Israel is practically on par with Iran on this issue should not come as much of a surprise. Those of us who have been tracking religious freedom in Israel have observed that not only are incidents of religious intolerance and oppression on the rise, but they…
JERUSALEM (JTA) — President Donald Trump said that Israeli politics are “messed up” and that the country should “get their act together.” He also said that his administration is “not happy” about the turn of events. Trump made the comments on Sunday on the White House lawn before leaving for a visit to the United…
JERUSALEM (JTA) — President Trump appeared to meddle in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government coalition negotiations. “Hoping things will work out with Israel’s coalition formation and Bibi and I can continue to make the alliance between America and Israel stronger than ever. A lot more to do!” Trump tweeted on Monday. “We are shocked…
The Israeli elections seemed to prove what everyone already knows: the Israeli electorate has shifted radically right. But this is not entirely true. Studies consistently demonstrate that the majority of Israelis support center-left positions like the two-state solution, social-democratic economic policies, public transportation on the Sabbath, and upholding equality and democracy as the core of…
