Israeli politics

President Reuven Rivlin at a ceremony in memory of Israeli soldiers killed in the First Lebanon War in Jerusalem on June 18, 2019 (Noam Revkin Fenton/FLASH90)

June 18, 2019, 7:15 pm

Netanyahu, Rivlin urge ‘unity’ at memorial service for Altalena victims

President: ‘We must not allow divisive discourse to wreck every green pasture. No one knows this better than the prime minister’

By TOI staff

Clockwise from top left: Likud members Yisrael Katz, Yuli Edelstein, Gideon Sa'ar, and Gilad Erdan. (Flash90)

June 11, 2019, 4:56 pm

Naming backbencher as minister, Netanyahu ensures he stays Likud’s only big gun

As he assigns cabinet portfolios, is the prime minister deliberately undermining senior Likud members who may pose a political threat?

By Shalom Yerushalmi

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman leads a faction meeting of his Yisrael Beytenu party at the Knesset on June 18, 2018. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

May 30, 2019, 1:46 pm

Russian roulette: How Liberman hopes to profit from Netanyahu’s defeat

By forcing new elections over ultra-Orthodox draft bill, Yisrael Beytenu chief aims to establish himself as new champion of secular Israel. It’s already gotten him lots of free PR

By Raphael Ahren

Likud MKs David Bitan (L) and David Amsalem attend a Knesset committee meeting on September 21, 2016. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

April 19, 2019, 10:34 am

6,644 bills, 5,756 queries: Was 20th Knesset a tale of quantity over quality?

No other democratic parliament in the world is close to Israel when it comes to the number of laws proposed by private members. This is not a good thing

By Dr. Chen Friedberg, Avital Fridman and Niv Shoval

Times of Israel Jewish World editor Amanda Borschel-Dan, left, interviews Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, at an English-language event in Tel Aviv co-hosted by The Times of Israel and the Tel Aviv International Salon, March 17, 2019. (Yaakov Schwartz/Times of Israel)

March 18, 2019, 1:02 pm

Knesset speaker: US Golan stance is good first step toward West Bank recognition

Ahead of elections April 9, Yuli Edelstein discusses future annexation of Judea and Samaria, the freedom to run for far-right parties, and crumbling democracy the world over

By Yaakov Schwartz

(Wikimedia Commons/Getty Images/collage via JTA)

March 15, 2019, 1:32 am

A beginner’s guide to the 2019 Israeli elections

So many questions: How is Israel’s government constructed, why are Israelis going to the polls on April 9, and who are the major players this campaign? Look no further for answers

By JTA

Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid (R) with new party member Orna Barbivai, the first woman to have been appointed an IDF major general, January 1, 2019. (Yossi Zeliger/Flash90)

March 4, 2019, 12:54 am

Lapid criticized for joke that Blue and White female candidates ‘undisciplined’

Only nine of alliance’s top 30 candidates are women; Lapid apologizes for poor joke, says relatively few women in list due to hasty party merger close to deadline

By TOI staff

Meir Kahane in 1985 (Bettmann/Getty Images)

March 1, 2019, 12:51 pm

Rabbi Meir Kahane and Israel’s far right, explained

Understanding the predecessor to today’s Otzma Yehudit party — and his ideology — requires a look at his past

By Emily Burack

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a televised statement after a meeting of his ruling Likud party in Ramat Gan on February 21, 2019. (Menahem Kahana/AFP)

February 25, 2019, 4:47 pm

Netanyahu and the Kahanists: A moral compromise that may ruin his legacy

Few politicians will put moral concerns above political ones unless they fear public shame. The Otzma Yehudit deal may exact a higher cost than the PM realizes

By Haviv Rettig Gur

Nir Barkat at a Likud Party event in Tel Aviv on March 25, 2018. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

February 24, 2019, 11:42 pm

Ex-Jerusalem mayor poised to overtake Netanyahu as richest MK

Nir Barkat will be the wealthiest candidate in the April 9 elections, followed by his sister-in-law, political newcomer Alona Barkat

By Alexander Fulbright

Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. (AP Photo/Maya Hasson)

February 24, 2019, 7:56 pm

US Jewish leader says community worried by Netanyahu’s ties to far-right party

Malcolm Hoenlein says many find alliance ‘very disturbing,’ worries it will provide ammunition for Israel’s critics

By AP and TOI staff

Otzma Yehudit party leaders Michael Ben-Ari, left, and Baruch Marzel, in 2012. (Yoav Ari Dudkevitch/Flash90/via JTA)

February 21, 2019, 6:19 pm

Why Netanyahu brokered a deal with Kahane’s political heirs, and why it matters

A marriage of convenience between extremist right-wing party Otzma Yehudit and Jewish Home may help the prime minister build a future coalition — but at what cost?

By Marcy Oster

Former IDF chief of staff Benny Gantz, left, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right. (Flash90)

February 18, 2019, 10:45 pm

Gantz speech appears to borrow heavily from Netanyahu UN address

TV report shows multiple quotes from Israel Resilience leader’s English-language debut strikingly reminiscent of PM’s comments in September

By TOI staff and Raoul Wootliff

Former IDF chief of staff Benny Gantz seen with members of the Druze community and activists outside his home in Rosh Ha'ayin, during a protest against the nation-state law, January 14, 2019. (Flash90)

January 15, 2019, 2:46 pm

Is Gantz a leftist? We still don’t know. His empathy for the Druze is mainstream

Likud has slammed ex-IDF chief and would-be PM for vowing to ‘fix’ Nation-State Law, but even Bennett acknowledged its problems, and Netanyahu set up a committee to deal with them

By Raphael Ahren

MK Yifat Shasha-Biton leads a children's rights committee meeting at the Knesset, January 10, 2017 (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)

January 9, 2019, 1:36 pm

Gallant and Shasha-Biton sworn in as ministers, in cabinet reshuffle

Gallant, who quit Kulanu to join Likud, takes immigration portfolio; Shasha-Biton of his former party replaces him in housing

By TOI staff