Israeli politics
This handout photo released on November 7, 2026, shows President Isaac Herzog (R) meeting Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot at his official residence in Jerusalem. (Arnon Bossani via the spokesperson for President's Residence)
Israeli politics
President Herzog taps Eisenkot to form coalition, but path remains fraught
By Stav Levaton, Follow Jeremy Sharon, Follow Michael Bachner Follow and ToI Staff
Netanyahu calls for ‘unity government,’ but with all his allies in tow, amid signs Haredi parties may ditch him; Yashar: Likud can join Eisenkot-led coalition ‘without extremists’
This handout photo released on November 7, 2026, shows President Isaac Herzog (R) meeting Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot at his official residence in Jerusalem. (Arnon Bossani via the spokesperson for President's Residence)
November 7, 2026, 7:49 pm
President Herzog taps Eisenkot to form coalition, but path remains fraught
Netanyahu calls for ‘unity government,’ but with all his allies in tow, amid signs Haredi parties may ditch him; Yashar: Likud can join Eisenkot-led coalition ‘without extremists’
By Stav Levaton, Follow Jeremy Sharon, Follow Michael Bachner Follow and ToI Staff
Ra’am party chairman Mansour Abbas appears after the national election on Oct. 27, 2026, in the northern Israeli city of Sakhnin. (Michael Giladi/Flash90)
October 29, 2026, 12:02 pm
Progressive US Jews call for Israel’s opposition bloc to welcome Arab parties
With neither the Netanyahu nor Eisenkot bloc capturing a majority in Tuesday’s vote, Arab parties could be kingmakers.
By Sharon Udasin
Voter on an waiving Israel flag background. 3d illustration (Image by Rawf8 via iStock)
October 28, 2026, 8:27 am
Israeli voter turnout hits 77.7% at close of Election Day, highest since 1999
Nearly 5.7 million cast ballots, with turnout about seven percentage points higher than in the previous election
By Joshua Marks | JNS
Blue and White party chairman Benny Gantz attends an agriculture conference ahead of the upcoming general elections in Herzliya, Sept. 12, 2026. (Photo by Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
October 19, 2026, 10:39 am
Israeli party leader Benny Gantz drops out of race
Once a rival to Benjamin Netanyahu, Gantz’s party has been polling below the electoral threshold.
By Tovah Lazaroff
Head of Ra'am Mansour Abbas (right) holds a joint press conference with new party member Yoav Segalovitz (left) in Nazareth. August 31, 2026. (Michael Giladi/FLASH90)
September 1, 2026, 1:26 pm
Jewish Zionist politician joins Arab party Ra’am in push to defeat Netanyahu
“Hope won out” over fear, Mansour Abbas said as he welcomed former Yesh Atid lawmaker Yoav Segalovitz to his party.
By Tomer Almagor
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks on the phone on September 04, 2019. (Lior Mizrahi/Getty Images)
August 25, 2026, 2:23 pm
Netanyahu gives out his phone number in campaign video
Hundreds of messages and calls arrived in minutes, disabling the WhatsApp account associated with the number.
By Deborah Danan
Opposition Leader and Head of the Yesh Atid party Yair Lapid and former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett speak during a press conference announcing a joint list named “Together” ahead of upcoming elections, to be led by Bennett, in Herzliya, Israel, April 26, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
April 27, 2026, 2:34 pm
Israeli opposition leaders Lapid and Bennett form joint party
“The era of division is over,” the two past prime ministers said.
By Philissa Cramer
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) speaks to Mossad chief David Barnea at Mossad headquarters during a Rosh Hashanah toast on September 14, 2023. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)
February 9, 2026, 8:34 am
In meeting days before Oct. 7, Netanyahu sought to maintain quiet with Hamas – report
PM told security chiefs not to proactively assassinate Hamas leaders, Oct. 1 meeting summary said to show; omitted mention of discussion from his response to comptroller’s probe of attack
By Lazar Berman and Ariela Karmel
President Isaac Herzog speaks during an event on Mount Hermon in northern Israel on December 1, 2025. (Amos Ben-Gershom/GPO)
December 1, 2025, 1:49 pm
Herzog vows to weigh only ‘the good of the country’ in deliberating Netanyahu pardon
President urges public to go to his website and tell him what they think; set to fly to New York next week, he is unlikely to meet Trump, who has pressured him to grant PM clemency
By Nava Freiberg, ToI Staff
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) is joined by Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer and other officials for a meeting with U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., on July 09, 2025. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images, via JNS)
November 11, 2025, 4:56 pm
Ron Dermer resigns as Israel’s strategic affairs minister
In his letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Dermer cites two extended terms and reflects on guiding Israel through crisis
By JNS Staff
Yoni, who identifies as "more right-wing than Bibi," joined a mass protest in Tel Aviv against the Israeli prime minister, March 22, 2025. (Deborah Danan)
March 24, 2025, 10:31 am
As Netanyahu fires Shin Bet chief, right-wing Israelis are joining mass protests against him
“This isn’t what we’re fighting for,” said Ohad, a right-winger who has spent 12 months doing reserve duty since Oct. 7, 2023.
By Deborah Danan
Thousands of Israeli protesters wave flags during a rally against the Israeli government's judicial overhaul bills in Jerusalem, March 27, 2023. (Gili Yaari/Flash90)
January 10, 2025, 8:40 am
Israel’s judicial overhaul is back. So are the protests.
This time, a more limited proposal might pass.
By Ben Sales
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in court in Tel Aviv, ahead of the start of his testimony in his corruption trial on Dec. 10, 2024.(Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
December 10, 2024, 5:40 pm
Benjamin Netanyahu takes the stand in his corruption trial
Netanyahu has consistently denied any wrongdoing in the cases, which revolve around allegations of bribery and attempting to illicitly shape media coverage.
By Ben Sales
View of the Supreme Court Building, with the Knesset building visible in the background (israeltourism - flickr.com/photos/visitisrael/6180275423)
January 1, 2024, 12:51 pm
In historic 1st, High Court strikes down Basic Law amendment, voiding reasonableness law
The ruling establishes in legal precedent the High Court’s contention that it has, in limited circumstances, the right to annul Basic Laws.
By Jeremy Sharon
Anti-overhaul protesters outside the Knesset, where barbed-wire has been placed around the parliament’s perimeter, July 24, 2023 (Photo courtesy of The Times of Israel)
July 24, 2023, 1:15 pm
Coalition passes 1st judicial overhaul law, limiting review of government decisions
The bill passed its third and final reading with 64 votes in favor and 0 against, as the entire 56-member opposition boycotted the vote in protest.
By Carrie Keller-Lynn
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