Israel’s Ambassador to both the United States and the United Nations, together with future PM-designate and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid are threatening to mobilize the laws that nearly three dozen US states have against BDS to fight Ben & Jerry’s decision to stop selling their ice cream in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. In this piece for +972 Magazine, I explain why the BDS movement should welcome such…
Before the Ben & Jerry’s issue dominated the US-Israel landscape, a poll of US Jews was causing lots of hand-wringing in the offices of the Conference of Presidents, AIPAC, ADL, DMFI, and other anti-democratic groups. I examine the meaning of that poll in my latest piece for The New Arab. As a postscript, it’s important to keep in mind that both the question of this poll and the whole Ben &…
With the long reign of Benjamin Netanyahu finally over in Israel, it is only natural that most people are scrutinizing his successor, Naftali Bennett. But when it comes to the growing debate within the Democratic party over US support for Israel’s apartheid policies and denial of Palestinian rights, it is the alternate prime minister and foreign minister, Yair Lapid, who merits our scrutiny. I make this case in my latest…
Netanyahu is out and very little will change as a result. Israel’s apartheid policies, inside and outside its internationally recognized borders, will continue. Creeping annexation will continue. Efforts to undermine the JCPOA will continue. Much of what will be attributed to Netanyahu, such as Israel’s sharp rightward and nationalistic turn, was not his doing, although he did take full advantage of it. But there are some things that Netanyahu will…
While the ever crafty Benjamin Netanyahu can never be counted out until he’s really out, it is looking more and more like his long-time reign over Israel is about to end. Considering that Netanyahu is not now and has never been a particularly popular figure in Israel and has not had much of a vision for the country’s direction, it’s remarkable that he will leave as Israel’s longest-serving prime minister…