Civil Society

Educational Bookshop

After raid, Israel puts Jerusalem bookshop owners under house arrest: What to know

Israeli police raided the Educational Bookshop on Sunday and arrested its owners on charges of “disturbing public order,” a move met with outcry by diplomats.

A voter holds his proof of Kuwaiti citizenship upon arriving at a polling station during parliamentary elections in Kuwait City on June 6, 2023.

Analysis

Kuwait's citizenship law changes reflect growing restrictions under new emir

Kuwait, having one of the more rentier economies, is seeing citizenship laws tightened and dissent quieted under the regime of its new emir.

Jennifer Gnana

By Jennifer Gnana

In Dubai, reporting on Gulf energy policy and politics

Israelis sit in a coffee shop in the Israeli coastal city of Netanya, on April 14, 2024, one day after Iran launched its first-ever direct attack on Israeli territory.

Analysis

Post Oct. 7 Israel: Divided, veering right and embracing Jewish identity

A divided, polarized and more right-wing-than-ever Israeli Jewish society marks the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

Israeli border guards stand alert as anti-government demonstrators rally with national and pride rainbow flags at Ben Gurion Airport, near Lod, during a protest hours after parliament adopted a key clause of the government's judicial overhaul package at the first reading, July 11, 2023.

Analysis

How far will Israel's justice minister go in reviving polarizing judicial overhaul?

Justice Minister Yariv Levin is gearing up for another attempt to legislate the government's controversial judicial overhaul plan suspended after the Oct. 7 attack.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

Latest News

In first under Biden, Egypt to receive full military aid tied to human rights

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and his US counterpart Joe Biden hold a meeting on the sidelines of the COP27 summit, in Egypt's Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh, on Nov. 11, 2022.

Analysis

Allegations of prisoner abuse expose deep rifts in Israeli military

OREN ZIV/AFP via Getty Images

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

Analysis

Israeli minister's support for Le Pen causing tensions in France-Israel ties

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) shakes hands with French President Emmanuel Macron (L) after a joint press conference in Jerusalem, Oct. 24, 2023.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Analysis

Why is Israel's anti-government protest movement struggling to gain steam?

Israeli anti-government protesters prepare to release yellow balloons during a demonstration demanding action to release the hostages taken captive by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip in the Oct. 7 attacks, central Tel Aviv, July 6, 2024.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

A visitor looks at portraits of late Franco-Lebanese film director Maroun Baghdadi and pictures from his movies at the venue of an exhibition dedicated to his memory in Beirut on December 12, 2023, as Lebanon commemorates the 30th annivesary of his death in an accident at the age of 43. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP) (Photo by ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

Lebanon's resistance through culture: Return of Beirut’s Metropolis Cinema

As Beirut continues to navigate its path toward recovery, Metropolis Cinema stands as a symbol of the enduring power of art and culture to resist, unite and inspire.

AFP via Getty Images

Israel ramps up attacks on northern Gaza as 60,000 flee Rafah

As the Israeli military expanded its operation in Rafah, the government faced strident criticism over its failures on and since Oct. 7 at Memorial Day observances around the country.

ZAIN JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images

US, EU slap sanctions on Israeli Jewish supremacist, extremist settler groups

The European Union and the United States have published new lists of radical Israeli individuals and groups to be sanctioned.

Amir Levy/Getty Images

Israel’s Shin Bet warns violent Jerusalem protests could lead to 'dangerous' escalation

Rallies for the release of the hostages and calls for the resignation of the government are ramping up in Israel, where some desperate protesters have resorted to violence.

Ultra Orthodox Jewish youths block a road in Bnei Brak as they protest against their conscription into the Israeli armed forces, on April 1, 2024.

Analysis

Row in Israel over ultra-Orthodox draft threatens Netanyahu’s government

Ultra-Orthodox leaders are threatening to topple the government should the IDF start recruiting yeshiva students to serve in the army.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Getty

Analysis

How Israel’s far right is courting European populist, nationalist parties

Nationalist Israeli politicians have been reaching out to conservative and populist parties in Europe since Oct. 7.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images

Chemi Peres: Israeli tech back to business, cyber security among most resilient

Despite the war and the divides within the Israeli society, tech entrepreneur Chemi Peres embraces the optimism of his father, late President Shimon Peres, for the future of the country’s innovation ecosystem.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the site where dozens were killed in crush at a religious festival, Mount Meron, April 30, 2021.

Analysis

Inquiry finds Netanyahu responsible for 2021 festival stampede

The commission said the 45 deaths in Mount Meron could have been avoided.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 24: Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu leaves 10, Downing Street after meeting Britain's Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, on March 24, 2023 in London, England. Benjamin Netanyahu visits London against a backdrop of unrest at home. Protest are being held weekly across Israel against legislation neing pushed through the Knesset by his government to restain the judiciary. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

Analysis

Can't count him out: Netanyahu, allies score big in Israel's municipal elections

Despite the Likud's plunge in the polls, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party preserved most of its power in this week's municipal elections.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

An Israeli soldier stops a driver at a checkpoint at the entrance of the Palestinian village of Orif, south of Nablus in the northern West Bank, on June 22, 2023, following an incursion by Israeli forces into the village. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP) (Photo by JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP via Getty Images)

In West Bank, Israeli army ramps ups WhatsApp surveillance of Palestinians

No sense of privacy remains in Israel's checkpoints in the West Bank, where civilians face increasing intrusions into their digital lives and social media apps.

First Lady Michal Herzog at a consolation visit by the Idan family, Oct. 25 Kibbutz Mishmar Haemek.

Israel’s first lady speaks out about 'unbearable' plight of women hostages in Gaza

Michal Herzog, Israel's first lady, spoke to Al-Monitor about her mission to make the world recognize the sexual violence perpetrated against Israeli women on and since Oct. 7.

Lucy Aharish

Israeli ministry faces backlash for denying Jewish event funds over Arab anchor

Many in Israel were appalled by the Education Ministry revoking funding for a Jewish event that featured beloved Arab Israeli journalist Lucy Aharish.