Israel’s decision to withhold part of the taxes it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority and plunge it deeper into crisis starkly illustrates the hypocrisies and deceptions at the core of the two governments’ relationship. Under the terms of what...
How the Rule of the Rabbis Is Fueling a Holy War in Israel
In which country did a senior, state-salaried cleric urge his followers last month to become “warriors”, emulating a group of young men who had murdered a woman of another faith? The cleric did so with impunity. In fact, he was only echoing other highly placed...
In Hebron, Israel Removes the Last Restraint on Its Settlers’ Reign of Terror
You might imagine that a report by a multinational observer force documenting a 20-year reign of terror by Israeli soldiers and Jewish settlers against Palestinians, in a city under occupation, would provoke condemnation from European and US politicians. But you would...
Israeli General Mounts Challenge to Netanyahu by Flaunting Gaza Carnage
With April’s elections looming, Benjamin Netanyahu has good reason to fear Benny Gantz, his former army chief. Gantz has launched a new party, named Israeli Resilience, just as the net of corruption indictments is closing around the prime minister. Already, at...
Israeli Politics Enter Grubby Realm of Reality TV
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu commandeered the country’s airwaves last week in what many assumed would prove a moment of profound national import. They could not have been more wrong. The context was his decision last month to move forward the...
Growing US Support for One State Falls on Deaf Ears
Two years of Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu as a Middle East peacemaking team appear to be having a transformative effect – and in ways that will please neither of them. The American public is now evenly split between those who want a two-state solution and those...
Israel’s New War of Attrition on Jerusalem’s Palestinians
Czech president Milos Zeman offered Benjamin Netanyahu’s ultra-nationalist government a fillip during his visit to Israel last week. He inaugurated a cultural and trade center, Czech House, just outside Jerusalem’s Old City walls. At the opening, he...
Guardian Escalates Its Vilification of Julian Assange
It is welcome that finally there has been a little pushback, including from leading journalists, to the Guardian’s long-running vilification of Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks. Reporter Luke Harding’s latest article, claiming that Donald Trump’s disgraced...
Netanyahu’s Ceasefire Is Meant To Keep Gaza Imprisoned
Palestinians in Gaza should have been able to breathe a sigh of relief last week, as precarious ceasefire talks survived a two-day-long, heavy exchange of strikes that threatened to unleash yet another large-scale military assault by Israel. Late on Tuesday, after the...
With Brazil’s Bolsonaro, Israel Finds Another Natural Partner on the Far-Right
The victory of Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil’s presidential election last week has won Israel a passionate new friend on the international stage. The world’s fifth-most populous nation will now be “colored in blue and white”, an Israeli official said, referring to the...


