Articles

A state commission of inquiry is a vital step, but it is up to the public to ensure Israel's leaders are truly held accountable.

If properly structured, both a commission of inquiry and a preliminary examination by the Israeli police could arguably meet existing complementarity standards.

The roots of the crisis between Israel and the United States are supposedly in Rafah. But the key to resurrecting the relationship lies far from Gaza, between Moscow and Beijing.

Across the issues of US-relations, the war in Gaza, evacuees from the south and the north, fighting Hezbollah, and public diplomacy efforts abroad—both Jewish and Arab Israelis give the government low grades.

A serious public and governmental discussion is needed regarding the privatization of internal security governance that we are currently witnessing, and its implications. This privatization threatens us all.

The issuance of additional interim orders in the genocide proceedings underway at the ICJ limits Israel’s operational wiggle room in Rafah, but leaves it with some flexibility in the interpretation and implementation of the new orders.

The International Court of Justice in The Hague (ICJ) issued new temporary orders against Israel this week. Justice Barak’s dissenting opinion would seem to offer an important lesson for the future. Professional, focused, and well-founded legal criticism—as opposed to the very different means that are currently being widely discussed and pursued—is likely the best way to deal with the ICJ.

In this article, we wish to identify and discuss here some potential problems we identify in the part of the request pertaining to Netanyahu and Gallant, at least as it was presented in the Prosecutor’s short announcement and by the expert report supporting it. 

The majority of the Jewish public (56%) think that securing a deal for the release of the hostages is the highest priority; a higher share of Jewish respondents think Trump would be better for Israel as US president; most Israelis think that celebrations of Israel's 76th Independence Day should be more restrained and less prominent this year.

We have entered an era of "digital antisemitism." It is driven, first and foremost, by the insufficient enforcement of moderation policies on social media platforms

From damage to scientific collaboration to cancellation of arms deals, arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials from the International Criminal Court in the Hague would pose a serious challenge to Israel

After more than six months of war, we found that among both Jewish (58%) and Arab Israelis (81%) there is widespread agreement that now that the majority of Israeli forces have left the Gaza Strip, the time has come for those who were responsible for the failure of October 7 to resign from their positions.

Slightly more than half of Jewish respondents think that the government is doing all it can to bring the hostages home; only a minority of Arabs concur. Only a minority of Israelis think the government will complete its four-year term and a majority of Israelis think that Hamas has succeeded in refocusing international attention on the Palestinian problem.

The majority of Israelis gave Prime Minister Netanyahu low ratings (57%), while IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi topped the rankings of positive performance (48%). More than two-thirds of Israelis think we are on the verge of an all-out-war with Hezbollah – 69%.

Most Israelis would like to see the exemption given to the Haredi community changed; when asked whether the Israel can continue relying on the US's support, public opinion was divided, with an inclination toward continued reliance; around half of Israelis think Israel's standing in the international arena is not good.

With US arsenals stretched to the limit and other allies lining up for their share, it's time to forge a new defense supply channel.

The US, the UK, France and other states have announced the imposition of economic sanctions on Israeli residents who are believed to be complicit in 'settler violence.' This document aims to outline the framework of international economic sanctions and contextualize the sanctions imposed on Israelis. 

Most Israelis think Palestinian terrorism will remain the same or increase if a Palestinian state were declared. A vast majority (81%) of Israelis think the likelihood of reform in the Palestinian Authority is low, while a majority of Israelis think absolute victory in Gaza is unlikely.

Over the weekend, Moody’s Investors Service announced that it had downgraded Israel’s credit rating from A1 to A2 and assigned it a “negative” credit outlook. Our policymakers would be well advised to study the risk analysis and assessment in Moody’s report closely and to take all possible steps to mitigate the risks. 

Foreign Israel critics use advancements in AI, including ChatGPT, to misrepresent their actions through Hebrew translations; addressing this requires international laws to make AI developers accountable.

Israeli reserve soldiers are making unimaginable sacrifices to protect their country. To rise to the challenge of meeting the IDF's expanded personnel needs, Israel's policy solutions must be as diverse as are the reservists serving this nation. A "one-size-fits-all" compensation approach will not cut it. 

59% of Jewish Israelis oppose a deal that would lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state with guarantees from the US and peace agreements with Arab states such as Saudi Arabia; when asked to choose, 51% of Israelis said they think the main goal of the war should be bringing the hostages home and 36% think it should be toppling Hamas; half of Israelis think the ICJ ruling, issuing temporary measures, to be harsh.

In a few weeks elections will be held in local authorities across Israel. While they were originally scheduled for October 31st, 2023, they were postponed due to the outbreak of war. Elections during wartime raise a slew of challenges that are exceptional to the circumstances. Find out everything you need to know about wartime local elections in Israel.

In its order on provisional measures, the Court appeared to engage in transactional justice. It used harsh rhetoric to describe the catastrophic situation in the Gaza Strip while minimizing the impact of the order by adopting ambiguous language on the contents and scope of the plausibility test.

A decision to allow Palestinian workers back into Israel is not at all a simple matter. Despite recommendations by Israel's security agencies to allow entry to Palestinian workers, the Ministers of Construction and of the Economy oppose it for security reasons. As alternative solutions to the severe shortage of workers are unsatisfactory, we must ask ourselves whether we, as a country, are prepared to withstand another socioeconomic crisis.

While neither Israel nor South Africa achieved a complete win, one thing is clear: the story of Israel before the ICJ is only beginning

While the ICJ decision briefly mentions the immediate context of the lawsuit, namely the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, Judge Barak directs them to the full picture that they did not address. He writes about the events of October 7 as Israelis know them to be true.

Prof. Amichai Cohen, a senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute and an expert in international law, made the following comments on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) decision today regarding provisional measures in the case of South Africa v. Israel on the Application of the Genocide Convention.

Beyond the fact that the Torah does not make the call to commit genocide, the Tanach and its interpretations in fact obligate the Jewish people to abide by the laws of war. To a large extent, humanity's earliest laws of war can be found in the Bible. 

Most Jewish Israelis expect the war to continue for months, while a majority of Jewish respondents oppose a deal for the release of the hostages in return for the release of all Palestinian prisoners and a cessation of the fighting in Gaza. Meanwhile, over 60% of Israelis claim that their personal lives have returned to normal.