תסתכלו על וויליאם. הוא בן 9 . בריונים קיצוניים התיזו עליו פלפל. כל חטאו שהיה שביום כיפור הוא רכב על אופניים סמוך לממילא בירושלים ושמע, רחמנא ליצלן, מוזיקה באוזניות. הם ניגשו אליו באיומים, דרשו שיוריד את האוזניות. הוא עשה את זה , אבל אז הם שמעו שהוא מדבר באנגלית. No English , Jews! אמר אחד מהם, שלף את את גז הפלפל ופשוט התיז על ילד קטן וחמוד! וויליאם הוא נוצרי ארמני. זו הפעם השנייה שתוקפים את וויליאם. פעם קודמת הוא היה עם אביו והאבא הגן עליו. הפעם הוא היה לבד והכי גרוע: במרחב ששם פס על נוצרים, מרחב ציון. הם סגרו את התיק! לא הוציאו מצלמות לא עשו שום דבר! אם זה היה כמה מטרים פנימה, במרחב דוד, אין ספק שהתוצאה הייתה שונה. שוחחתי עם האמא, היא מספרת לי שוויליאם מבולבל ולא ישן בלילות מאז. הוא גם מפחד מחזות יהודית. 😢 היא אישרה לי להעלות את התיעוד. אנחנו , כעם יהודי, שעבר שואה, שסובל מאנטישמיות בעולם, צריכים להתבייש בשנאה שפיתחו הקיצוניים ומפגינים כלפי נוצרים. אנחנו צריכים להתבייש שקציני משטרה במרחב ציון שמים פס על נוצרים. בושה וחרפה!

I have a simple question for right-wing Israelis. It's a real question, not a rhetorical one. We all know the elections committee disqualification process is an old and very stupid political ritual that everyone understands means nothing more than a campaign press release -- because Bagatz will always inevitably overturn it. That's why Israelis aren't worried about this vote, including Arab Israelis who plan to vote for the disqualified parties. But this coalition not only weakened Bagatz, it is promising to systematically gut its powers to strike down laws and decisions, and no one really knows how deeply they plan to cut. Levin has spoken openly about these plans. Others -- Bardugo, Gotlieb -- want the justice portfolio and plan to be more radical than Levin. Who, pray tell, will protect minorities from these kinds of political performances in the future? These performances that have taught our political class that they're not actually responsible for our democracy. So what happens when the "performance" is no longer a performance because the court is too weakened to actually intervene? Please don't respond with declamations about unelected jurists or your hurt feelings from Aharon Barak's rulings. I've written plenty against those things. They're not an answer to this question. Be specific. What happens when the court can no longer overturn these votes? Do you trust the coalition parties not to disqualify Arab parties in the future? Do you really believe Ra'am is literally so egregiously extremist that it should not enjoy the basic right of running in an election? And if you think such a disqualification in the future would be a serious curtailing of our democracy -- what do you think (again, be specific) we should do about it? Oh, and do you have any trust at all that the Israeli political right as it is now constituted and as it now talks about these issues is capable or interested in seriously grappling with these questions? If you do, why? Share with us the reasons for your confidence.

𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐬𝐫𝐚𝐞𝐥𝐢 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐬𝐫𝐚𝐞𝐥𝐢 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲. At today's Inside Israel session for African diplomats, @RachelGur unpacked elections, coalitions and the society behind them. Thank you, @RachelGur

A pleasure speaking to African ambassadors about the chaotic yet simple rules of the Israel election. Also, I discovered our podcast @askhavivanything, is a big hit on the diplomatic circuit.🥳 @IsraeAfricaOrg

My heart goes out to our ambassador in the US, Yechiel Leiter. His son Moshe was killed fighting in Gaza in 2023. Another son, Neria, was critically wounded today after a terrorist rammed him with his car on the road between Jerusalem and Modien. Freedom is never free.

It is one thing to merely see oneself as a victim. It is another to objectively be a victim. Israelis were objectively victims of October 7th—the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. Any suggestion to the contrary is anti-Israel activism camouflaged as journalism.

There may yet be hard truths in ‘NAZA,’ including evidence of Israel’s systemic failures. But the reporting around it treats flimsy claims as proof of criminality, writes Haviv Rettig Gur. thefp.com/p/haviv-rettig-gur…

🛑Aviv Geffen, one of Israel’s most prominent rock musicians and singer-songwriters, is speaking out against the creators of “NAZA.” “I have sung at the funerals (graves) of IDF soldiers who died precisely because they upheld the purity of arms. They will never get the chance to applaud Yuval Abraham’s film. They were found with their hands tied…” A powerful response from one of Israel’s most influential artists.

If you are in the small minority of deviants who like the look of my face and the sound of my voice, here are some recent recorded appearances of mine. First, on the podcast of @havivrettiggur, talking about eight decades of elections in Israel: piped.video/watch?v=6liCokBl…

Are the allegations in NAZA true? Our new episode with @havivrettiggur for those who are interested in something other than pearl-clutching. Here: piped.video/wk-Dvu5J7kI?si=Mhy6…

Where was Netanyahu on October 10 2023?

Michigan voters please pay attention

Van jones @VanJones68 is one of the most honorable honest high INTEGRITY people out there. To be a Democrat and care about the Democratic Party and break with the talking points and the party memos is pure PRINCIPLE + BRAVERY Bravo sir. If only we had more people like Van

In a long conversation with Haviv Rettig Gur on his podcast, we discussed my book Hamas and Its Two Million Hostages, talking about disarmament, Islamization, the NGO ecosystem, 10/7, Palestinian society & a compelling future for Gaza. @havivrettiggur piped.video/watch?v=aGdKEnKm…

Such a fascinating and enriching book. The Middle East is often discussed in the West as a function of Western action and Western thought. The only story worth telling in a Western university classroom is a story of Western criminality and self-loathing. The usual response to that is a similarly self-centered story of Western self-love. But Syria was under Western rule for exaclty 26 years, Iraq for 15, Saudi Arabia for zero. Their story isn't a Western story. The problems of the Middle East are not a function of the West. Nor are the great strengths and remarkable dramas of the region. If all you know about these countries is endless moralizing over the short, dramatic moments of Western intervention, then the people who live in the region are just faceless backdrops for a Western story about Westerners. If you actually want to learn something about the Middle East itself, rather than using Middle Easterners to tell never-ending navel-gazing tales about Western immorality, this is the book for you. Just to be clear: there's plenty of criticism of Western folly and arrogance. But that's not the heart of the story. The story of of the Middle East is the story of its actual inhabitants. Thanks to @simonmontefiore for this remarkable new book.

My former professor of Jewish literature at McGill University Ruth Wisse with @AskHaviv (she ended up at Harvard where she saw what was coming). Ruth is a mentor and an inspiration for many of us. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas…