Racism, paranoia and desperation mark Netanyahu’s election campaign
Tired, confused, desperate and paranoid are just a few of the epithets that have been hurled at Netanyahu in the last days of the campaign. Warning that the whole of the right will fall with him, if he...
View ArticleNetanyahu’s fear-mongering wins
Netanyahu won the Israeli election in a last-minute reversal by scaring right and far-right blocs of voters back to their normal political base - his Likud party. But in doing so, he burnt his bridges...
View ArticleWhy Israel’s cabinet will be a headache for the US
Only a few weeks into Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government, the intense strain of trying to square its members’ zealotry with Israel’s need to improve its international standing is already starkly...
View ArticleNetanyahu is king in a world of perpetual fear
Barack Obama used an Israeli TV interview last week to gently rebuke Israel’s prime minister, warning Benjamin Netanyahu that his security obsessions made him able only to “see the worst...
View ArticleIsrael’s left is finally bringing its racism out of the closet
The popular shift rightwards in Israel means that even the left can no longer afford to keep its racism hidden from view. For Palestinian leaders, that may be no bad thing: it is easier to grapple with...
View ArticleAs unrest grows in Israel and Palestine, Netanyahu seeks scapegoats
Benjamin Netanyahu has announced a crackdown on Palestinian political leaders in Israel, blaming them for the current unrest, in what appeared to be an attempt to bolster his severely dented image as...
View ArticleIsrael is on the brink of a tyranny of the majority
Benjamin Netanyahu is effectively legislating the expulsion of the Balad party and throwing down a gauntlet to the courts. It won’t end there. If Balad is unseated, the participation of the other Joint...
View ArticleIn Israel, an ugly tide sweeps over Palestinians
In Israel’s evermore tribal politics, there is no such thing as a “good" Arab – and the worst failing in a Jew is to be unmasked as an “Arab lover". Or so was the message last week from Isaac Herzog,...
View ArticleIsrael: Will Nazism comparisons trigger soul-searching?
There is no bigger taboo in Israel than comparing the state of Israel to Nazi Germany. And yet that is precisely what Yair Golan, the deputy head of the Israeli military, did during a speech to mark...
View ArticleReligious zealots waging a quiet revolution in Israel
In a surprise move, Benjamin Netanyahu forced out his long-serving defence minister, Moshe Yaalon. As he stepped down, Yaalon warned: “Extremist and dangerous elements have taken over Israel." He was...
View ArticleIs Israel on the brink of tearing itself asunder?
A new peace movement, Decision at 50, stuffed with former political and security leaders, is demanding the Israeli government hold a referendum next year – to mark the 50th anniversary of the...
View ArticleWhy Netanyahu should fear what the future holds
Netanyahu was among the first to congratulate Trump by phone. The US president-elect reciprocated by inviting him for talks "at the first opportunity". And yet Netanyahu is reported to be anxious about...
View ArticleNetanyahu’s media scandal: Who bribed whom?
The smell of scandal has swirled around Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu for years. Now the smell is starting to turn to a stench, say analysts. One commentator suggested Netanyahu's conduct...
View ArticleNetanyahu scandals reflect corruption at the heart of Israeli society
Benjamin Netanyahu is in danger of being brought down, possibly soon, over what initially appears to be little more than an imprudent taste for Cuban cigars and pink champagne. But the allegations...
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