A year ago, Alma Itzhaky and I wrote about the right’s post-October-7 vision for Israel - a Jewish Sparta. Today Bibi used the reference of Sparta to describe his vision of dealing with international isolation.

Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Axel Springer, will receive the Israeli Presidential Medal of Honor from Isaac Herzog. Is it for the fake news he distributed via BILD?

A new poll finds that 32% of Israeli Jews think it is right for soldiers to refuse participating in warfare if it endangers the hostages. The process of crumbling trust in the state, which started during the legal overhaul, is intensifying.

🧵 Yesterday, the Israeli cabinet approved a cut of 3.35% of all government ministries' budgets (excluding defence) starting in 2026. For example, 230 million (67$ million) Shekels will be cut from the Ministry of Transportation, and 125 million from the Ministry of Education. >

The Israeli government just announced its plan for occupying Gaza City. This means the total destruction of what remains of the built environment in the Strip - turning Gaza city into rubble, just like Rafah and Khan Yunis before, and a permanent Israeli occupation. >

🧵 Israel Hayom, a right-wing daily in Israel, published a poll of the Israeli public to mark 20 years since the disengagement from Gaza, which shows 52% support for resettlement in Gaza, and strong resistance to removal of West Bank settlements. I am doubtful about this poll. >>

I thought I couldn't be more desperate about Israeli politics, and then Lapid and Gantz supported Ayman Odeh disqualification. No hope whatsoever. There are 100 Kahanists in the Knesset.

Naftali Bennet, currently Bibi’s top challenger, gave an interview. What is his plan for Gaza? He wants Netanyahu to reach a ceasefire deal now, and ones he, Bennet, gets in office, he would resume the war to eradicate Hamas. He is no alternative, and I think he’ll fail.

Germany should recognise Palestine as a state. It should do so now and send a clear message that occupation is unacceptable and that the Palestinian people’s rights are inalienable. An article published this morning with MdBs from Die Linke, the Greens and SPD. www.fr.de/politik/oste...

Gemeinsam mit meinen Kolleginnen Sanae Abdi (SPD) & Luise Amtsberg (Grüne) sowie Jules El-Khatib & Nimrod Flaschenberg habe ich einen Gastbeitrag geschrieben, der die Bundesregierung zur Anerkennung Palästinas auffordert und so ein Zeichen gegen Besatzung & Säuberung setzt. www.fr.de/politik/oste...

My new substack newsletter, Staatsräson Monitor, which critically examines German Israeli relations, is on the air, free of charge. I would love to hear your feedback and hope you consider supporting as paid subscribers staatsraesonmonitor.substack.com/p/staatsraso...

My friend @alonsahar.bsky.social started a newsletter about German-Israeli relations, uncovering the hidden workings behind the operation of Staatsräson. The first edition is packed with info that Alon masterfully gathered. Read and Subscribe! staatsraesonmonitor.substack.com/p/staatsraso...

If Israel’s leadership had a shred of strategic thinking and concern for Israeli citizens, it could have used a ceasefire in Gaza as a tool in negotiating a ceasefire with Iran, in addition to a nuclear deal. Khamenei would have saved face as the saviour of Gaza. Instead, they want regime change.

I realised there are many Germans who do not know a fundamental fact about Israel/Palestine: The Israeli governments, for at least a decade, have been - formally, blatantly, actively - against a two-state solution. Supporting a Palestinian state is rejecting Israeli policy.

If you support the ICC so much, maybe you should make clear that you would follow its warrants and arrest Netanyahu if and when he comes to Germany?

Die deutsche Freundschaft gilt in der Regel irgendeinem imaginierten Israel. Die Spezifika variieren je nach Einstellung, der Wahrheitsgehalt bleibt aber immer bescheiden.

🧵 In his press conference with Israeli FM Sa'ar, German FM @aussenminister.diplo.de said that support for the annexation of the West Bank is an opinion held by "some" in Israeli politics - but that this view is not the majority view. Well, it is a majority opinion within the Israeli leadership. >

Gideon Sa'ar is visiting Germany and is telling local politicians that Israel wants to get rid of Hamas in Gaza and replace it with a different Palestinian regime. This is a clear lie. He is telling them what they themselves think, but not what Israel's policy is. >

Seit Januar 2024 gab es mehr als 50 Mahnwachen von 'Israelis für Frieden' in Berlin– ohne Nationalflaggen, ohne Billigung politischer Gewalt. Alle waren eingeladen, doch nur sehr wenige kamen. Wer behauptet, er hätte gerne "friedlich" gegen den Krieg protestiert, wenn er nur gekonnt hätte, lügt.

Warum erhält ein Verein, der laut seinem ehemaligen Vorsitzenden zum Sprachrohr von Rechtsextremisten geworden ist, jährlich 550.000 Euro vom Auswärtigen Amt?

Beck is indeed a servant of Israeli Kahanism. Sometimes he makes a weak statement about international law, but his main job is persecution and defamation of people who actually want to see international law enacted. www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/stre...

Yesterday we, Israelis in Europe, demonstrated all over the continent, demanding real action against Israel’s destruction of Gaza. We called for an immediate arms embargo and suspension of EU-Israel association agreement. In Berlin: >

„Klare Schritte hin zur Zwei-Staaten-Lösung“ bedeutet die Anerkennung Palästinas.

Am kommenden Dienstag wollen israelische Gruppen in ganz Europa gegen den Genozid protestieren und laden euch alle ein, teilzunehmen. Bitte teilt es und kommt zahlreich. Dienstag, 18:00 vor dem Auswärtigen Amt.

In his press conference last night, Netanyahu stated the conditions for an end to the war: hostages back, Hamas disarmed and expelled, and the beginning of implementation of the Trump plan. >

It is understandable that, given its history, Germany does not position itself toward Israel/Palestine in a similar place to Ireland or Spain. Demanding that would be unrealistic. >

Israelis für Frieden - jetzt vor dem Schloss Bellevue!

Danke @itamann.bsky.social !

Very good and principled leftist decision by @die-linke.de to adopt the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism, instead of the dubious IHRA definition. Leftists do not accept the Hasbara notion that criticism of Israel is antisemitism.

Israeli army spokesperson says that the new operation will include "moving" the majority of Gaza's population

Betzalel Smotich was asked what he thought about Ben Gvir's proposal to prevent all humanitarian supplies to Gaza (for good). He answered: "I do not disagree with him morally, but practically, the world is not going to allow us to starve to death 2 million people in Gaza".

According to Netanyahu, the new war plan in Gaza would include the permanent occupation of territories within the strip. They plan on using the ruins of Rafah to concentrate the population in a “humanitarian bubble“ run by contractors, snd the total annihilation of the rest.

On memorial day, a fascist mob is attacking a synagogue in Ra’anana in central Israel, because it is holding a screening of the joint Israeli-Palestinian memorial ceremony. The protesters are telling the people mourning together to go to Gaza. Video by Tzafrir Kost

Together with Jules El-Khatib and three members of the Bundestag - Die Linke's Nicole Gohlke, SPD's Isabel Cademartori & the Greens' Kassem Taher Saleh, we published an article demanding that the incoming German government act against Israel's policy of forever war. The demands are:

Danke an @isabelcademartori.bsky.social, @kassemtahersaleh.bsky.social, @nicolegohlke.bsky.social sowie @jukhatib.bsky.social und @nimrodflash.bsky.social für diesen wichtigen Wortbeitrag in einer vollkommen eskalierten Debatte.

The Israeli police, owned by genocidal Kahanist Ben-Gvir, ordered anti-war protesters not to hold photos of children who died in Gaza.

Netanyahu in a "special statement" to the nation, basically reiterating the well-known fact that his policy for Gaza is a forever war. This is happening on the backdrop of a widening call in Israeli society to end the war and a wave of refusal in the army.

A letter from Palestinian and Jewish members of Knesset from Hadash-Taal to Emmanuel Macron encouraging him to recognize Palestine and to be a diplomatic counter-force to the destructive Trump administration in Israel-Palestine.

My OpEd in @haaretzcom.bsky.social about Germany’s misuse of Staatsräson to undermine democracy at home and away. www.haaretz.com/opinion/2025...

German coalition agreement supports the two states' solutions but is staying silent on borders - no mention of the 1967 green line. This is a dangerous deterioration in Germany's stated commitment to Palestinian rights. There is no mention of settlements either.

2021 Koalitionsvertrag: “Wir werden uns weiter für eine verhandelte Zweistaatenlösung auf der Grundlage der Grenzen von 1967 einsetzen” >

Israel barred two pro-Palestinian @teamlabouruk.bsky.social MPs from entering the country. Unlike previous rejections of leftist MEPs, this is the British ruling party. Will Keir Starmer stay silent or will he stand up for his Party members doing their job?

Also this insightful response to "Towards a Non-Carceral Anti-Antisemitism" from @nimrodflash.bsky.social, questioning the notion that the state can have no positive role in combating oppressive ideologies. thediasporist.de/the-duty-of-...

"For this reason, we should redouble our political struggle over the control of the state." - @nimrodflash.bsky.social responds to "Towards a Non-Carceral Anti-Antisemitism." thediasporist.de/the-duty-of-...

During Netanyahu's visit, Hungary announced it would leave the ICC. Will the incoming German Kanzler Friedrich Merz, who has already invited Bibi to visit, follow Viktor Orban's example and destroy the structures of international law? I won't be surprised.

Eilkundgebung! Gegen Israels völkermörderischen Krieg – für Rechenschaft und eine dauerhafte Lösung

Join us in front of the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin tomorrow to protest against Israel's resumed war of annihilation.

🧶 In the years leading up to 2023, there was a persistent increase in the presence of Palestinian citizens of Israel in the Israeli media. Palestinian politicians from the Joint List, and even some Palestinian journalists, were becoming regular participants in talk shows. >

Trump might be floating the plan to remove Palestinians from Gaza to provide Netanyahu with something to quell Smotrich with, preventing the collapse of the government if the deal goes beyond stage 1. But if the deal includes depopulating Gaza, Hamas would have an interest in collapsing it.

Yesterday, Trump called the Gaza Strip a "demolition site." A few days ago, he said it had "a phenomenal location". His special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is a real-estate mogul. Jared Kushnir spoke about Gaza's "waterfront property". This is now the plan: