Israeli Politics (Part II)
Camps, Tribes, and Everything in Between – Israel as a Kindergarten with Nuclear Weapons
The greatest challenge of Israeli politics is that, well, we’re all a bit tribal by nature. There’s the “White Tribe,” the “Second Israel,” the “Settlers,” the “Leftists,” the “Progressives,” the “Haredim,” the “National-Religious,” the “Russians,” the “Arabs,” the “Druze,” and of course—the kibbutzniks with the open shirts, who love barbecue and mocking everyone equally.
The result? Nobody actually tries to convince anyone. Everyone talks only to their own tribe. Representative democracy? Sure—just as long as it represents you.
The average Israeli politician knows there’s no real political “center.” There are fringes dressed as centrists, centrists hiding in the fringes, and radicals proudly calling themselves “statesmen.” The result is a public discourse that feels like a herd of elephants fighting in a playground.
Judicialization, Deep State & Gatekeepers – Season 6, Episode 1
Once upon a time, Israelis chose Left or Right based on Oslo or “land for peace.”
Today, the main political question is: “Are you for or against the Supreme Court—and how fast would you like to saw off its balcony?”
The judicial system has become a lead actor in Israel’s political drama, accused of everything from being the “deep state” to secretly managing the Tel Aviv metro project.
The Knesset, in response, is busy explaining why it’s simultaneously the sovereign, the victim, and the one who accidentally clicked “Pass Law” instead of “Double-Check.”
The absurdity? Everyone despises the courts—but runs to them the moment they have a problem. It’s like fighting with your mother and still sending your laundry home.
The Media Milieu – How to Turn a Five-Person Panel into Ten Simultaneous Shouts
You can’t discuss politics without mentioning the media—
that strange creature that reports what did happen, interprets what didn’t happen, and mostly broadcasts what was yelled.
Israeli political TV operates under one sacred law: more drama = more ratings.
Less facts, more division.
Morning shows no longer talk about the weather. They ask, “Is the Supreme Court a threat to democracy—or its last hope?”—and that’s before anyone’s had coffee.
Politicians figured it out long ago: whoever speaks fastest, loudest, and in the flattest sound bites—wins. Even if they said absolutely nothing.
Welcome to democracy in the age of Reels.
Elections – Or: Why It Always Ends with the Same Live Broadcast from Balfour
Elections in Israel have become a seasonal tradition.
Spring: Passover.
Summer: Elections.
Fall: Repeat elections.
Winter: Repeat-repeat elections.
The Knesset functions like a short-term lease in a moldy apartment.
Every campaign brings the same promises—“We’ll act responsibly,” “We’ll heal the rift,” “We’ll end the incitement.”
Miraculously, all of them vanish the moment a government is formed:
“Just a sec, first let’s make sure David from Upper Naftali got the Ministry of Technological Heritage.”
And we, the public? We get a new Facebook status, a fresh bumper sticker, and three months of earnest debates about how “this time it’ll really be different.”
Spoiler: it won’t.
Ideology – Remember When That Used to Matter? Yeah, Neither Do We
“Ideology” used to mean something.
Now it’s more like dust on a bookshelf—you know it’s there, but no one bothers to look.
Instead of debating the country’s future, education, or taxation, our politicians compete over who’s “deeper on the right,” “more authentically Jewish,” or “less apologetic for something they never said.”
Israeli politics has shifted from what you believe in to whom you despise.
Once you’ve declared what you’re against, there’s no need to explain what you’re for.
Just shout loud enough.
The (Never Final) Conclusion
Yes—Israeli politics is a circus, a festival, a knife fight in a bomb shelter with a sign reading “Please keep quiet.”
And yet, within all this chaos, there’s something remarkably resilient: democracy.
For all the noise, elections still happen.
The press is still free.
Questions are still asked.
Receipts are still checked.
It’s not always pleasant, transparent, or inspiring—but it’s alive.
At the end of the day, Israeli politics is like an extended Friday night dinner: everyone argues, someone storms out, someone cries, someone mutters “You’ve always been like this,”
and the following week—everyone shows up again, with cheesecake and promises that “this time it won’t happen again.”
(It will.)
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