Israeli politics

Bennett draws coalition line: No government with those who do not serve - interview

“The next government will be based on a ‘covenant of those who serve,’" said Bennett. "Anyone who can be with me in a tank in Gaza can be with me in the government.”

Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett attends a Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in Jerusalem, on February 17, 2026.
Ultra orthodox Jewish reserve soldiers of the IDF's Hasmonean Brigade operate in the Gaza Strip on June 26, 2025.

Netanyahu, Bismuth to advance controversial haredi draft bill amid IDF manpower shortage

Yisrael Party chairman Gadi Eisenkot

Eisenkot on senior coalition member: “He should have stayed on Channel 12”

PRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu giving a press conference, March 19, 2026.

Netanyahu seeks to avoid snap vote as Iran war gives no boost in polls


Middle Israel: Entering the post-war political era - opinion

Israeli voters emerged from Israel’s most costly war imbued with the kind of wrath, humiliation, and resolve that makes decadent establishments fall, and their successors rise.

THE BIG question, postwar, is how Israelis will respond at the ballot box to the trauma. Here, political opponents Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Yair Lapid shake hands during a special session in honor of Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, at the Knesset on Monday.

With new players and old alliances, Israel’s post-October 7 political map takes shape

POLITICAL AFFAIRS: Two significant political developments played out this week as Israel moves towards elections. Gadi Eisenkot and Yonatan Shamriz took the reflectors with key announcements.

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett seen with Gadi Eisenkot during a march in support of the conscription of ultra-Orthodox Jews into the IDF, from the entrance of Jerusalem to the Knesset, January 15, 2026

Gov’t faces one-week deadline to pass first reading of state budget amid haredi draft bill threats

A first reading of the budget must be approved for the state to approve it in March. 

THE KNESSET during a meeting on December 24, 2025.

Dangerous game: Netanyahu risks Israel’s security to save coalition with draft deal - editorial

Everyday, middle-of-the-road Israelis agree: playing politics with the country’s security is wrong and dangerous.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks with Communications Minister Shlomo Kahri in the Knesset. Kahri advocates opening up the media market in Israel.

Bill on prosecuting October 7 Nukhba terrorists passes first Knesset reading

The bill explicitly bars defendants or convicts prosecuted under its provisions from being included in any future decisions on the release of terrorists as part of diplomatic negotiations.

Terrorists from Hamas's Nukhba Force being held at Ofer Prison near Jerusalem, August 28, 2024.

Knesset legal advisor demands Finance Ministry probe into unauthorized fund transfers

The demand was made following a High Court of Justice hearing on petitions challenging the government’s transfer of more than NIS 1 billion in earmarked funds to haredi schools.

Knesset Legal Adviser Sagit Afik a House committee meeting at the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament in Jerusalem on, December 1, 2025.

Ayelet Shaked calls for state probe into October 7, will decide on political comeback 'soon'

Shaked also said she was proud of diversifying the judicial bench during her tenure, arguing that a heterogeneous court better reflects Israeli society. 

Ayelet Shaked attends a ceremony at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, September 18, 2025

Knesset advances bill to try October 7 Nukhba terrorists in special military court

The bill also proposes establishing a ministerial steering committee tasked with coordinating government preparations and prosecution policy for October 7 cases. 

 Palestinian terrorists at the Erez Crossing during the October 7 Massacre.

The Knesset’s decline reflects Israel’s broader political crisis - opinion

The deterioration of the Knesset is evidence of the deterioration of Israel’s liberal democratic system as a whole. Hopefully, after the next Knesset elections, this process will be reversed.

A PLENUM session at the Knesset.

PMO workers involved in Qatargate 'must sit behind bars,' Smotrich says

Smotrich charged that Qatar is a state sponsor of terror, adding that Doha must be condemned for its "responsibility for what happened on October 7."

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich arrives to a conference of the Israeli newspaper Makor Rishon in Jerusalem, December 25, 2025