A Tale of Two 'Marches'

By Calev Ben-Dor
Writing from Jerusalem, Fathom editor Calev Ben-Dor examines the trends that have brought Israel to its current domestic... Read more > March 2025

From the Edge of the Abyss | Dispatch from Israel

By Calev Ben-Dor
The rubble at the site of the former Sderot police station – destroyed by an Israeli tank on... Read more > February 2025

Review Essay | Israel is not a Post-Heroic Society

By Calev Ben-Dor
Calev Ben-Dor reviews three new books published to mark the anniversary of the brutal Hamas attack on Israel.... Read more > October 2024

Diary from Jerusalem | Calev Ben-Dor | Day 332

By Calev Ben-Dor
Deputy Editor of Fathom Calev Ben-Dor shares his anguished reflections from Jerusalem after six hostages were executed by... Read more > September 2024

Dispatch from the scene of a massacre

By Calev Ben-Dor
Fathom Deputy Editor Calev Ben-Dor reflects on his visit to Israel’s south, and the sites of the 7... Read more > June 2024

Iran's 'successful' attack vs Israel - a blessing very effectively disguised

By Calev Ben-Dor
Fathom Deputy Editor Calev Ben-Dor critiques the assessment – widespread in western analytic circles – that the Iranian... Read more > April 2024

Diary from Jerusalem | Calev Ben-Dor | Rage, Fury and Helplessness

By Calev Ben-Dor
Deputy Editor of Fathom Calev Ben-Dor shares reflections from Jerusalem and Tel Aviv as Israel marks 6 months... Read more > April 2024

Fauda: How the Transformation of the Right Brought Israel to the Verge of a Constitutional and Social Crisis

By Calev Ben-Dor
Calev Ben-Dor argues four changes have transformed the Israel Right: Benjamin Netanyahu’s need for political survival overpowering his... Read more > September 2023

Diary from Jerusalem | Calev Ben-Dor | Israel’s Rebellion

By Calev Ben-Dor
Fathom deputy editor Calev Ben Dor reflects on a tumultuous few days in Israel and tries to make... Read more > March 2023

Diary from Jerusalem | Calev Ben-Dor | Even if my land is burning

By Calev Ben-Dor
Calev Ben-Dor reflects from Jerusalem on a week that has left Israel ‘on the edge of the abyss’... Read more > March 2023

‘A gamechanger in Israel’s relationship with Egypt and cooperation with the EU’: The geopolitics of Israel’s natural gas fields

By Calev Ben-Dor
Israel has discovered enough natural gas to become a regional energy exporter. As Europe wrestles with its energy... Read more > February 2023

‘If these ideas get implemented, it will be a major shift. Israel will become a different country’: An Interview with...

By Calev Ben-Dor
Former Likud Justice Minister Dan Meridor discusses what he sees as the erosion of liberal values within the... Read more > January 2023

'Politically homeless': Yamina voters tell their story

By Calev Ben-Dor
Calev Ben-Dor talks to former Yamina supporters to understand their views on the Bennett-Lapid government and voting considerations... Read more > November 2022

Fine margins and the Israeli Election – three that will determine the result

By Calev Ben-Dor
As Israelis head to the polls for the fifth time in less than four years, and with little... Read more > October 2022

The Rise of Itamar Ben Gvir

By Calev Ben-Dor
In the March 2020 elections Itamar Ben Gvir’s Jewish Power party was shunned by other right wingers and... Read more > September 2022

Beyond Liberal Peacemaking: New Initiatives in Israel

By Calev Ben-Dor
With the peace process frozen, some groups – Mosaica, Shrinking the Conflict Initiative, Women Wage Peace, Shaharit, the Herbert... Read more > May 2022

The political odyssey of Ayman Odeh

By Calev Ben-Dor
What took Ayman Odeh, the young Arab politician who rose to prominence before the 2015 elections and was... Read more > May 2022

Book Review | Who by Fire: Leonard Cohen in the Sinai

By Calev Ben-Dor
Who by Fire: Leonard Cohen in the Sinai is the latest in Matti Friedman’s wonderful array of books... Read more > March 2022

A filmmaker, a feminist, an Israeli, a Bedouin, a Palestinian. A conversation with Rana Abu Fraiha

By Calev Ben-Dor
Rana Abu Fraiha was born in the Bedouin town of Tel Sheva before leaving with her family at... Read more > December 2021

Amazon Prime's Human Factor: American negotiators and the failure of the Oslo Peace Process

By Calev Ben-Dor
Calev Ben-Dor praises The Human Factor as a great piece of documentary making but argues it is ultimately... Read more > September 2021

Bar Kochba and Us: The Israeli Debate during Tisha Be’Av

By Calev Ben-Dor
Calev Ben-Dor argues that the fight raging today between Israeli politicians about how to interpret the meaning of... Read more > July 2021

Naftali Bennett and Israel’s (divided) National Religious Community: A Guide for the Perplexed

By Calev Ben-Dor
The new Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is a ‘religious-Zionist’. But what does that mean and why has... Read more > June 2021

Opinion | A desire to remove Netanyahu has created a coalition stretching from Naftali Bennett to Mansor Abbas. Can it...

By Calev Ben-Dor
The (four-time) failure of the right wing and ultra-Orthodox parties to garner 61 seats, the steady erosion of... Read more > June 2021

Mansour Abbas: Islamist Kingmaker of Israeli politics

By Calev Ben-Dor
Arab political parties have become central players in Israeli politics. But how has a young dentist turned politician... Read more > March 2021

Opinion | Will the Israeli electorate like Cakeism?

By Calev Ben-Dor
On the one hand, Yamina are increasingly described as Kingmakers. On the other hand, the party's ambiguity could... Read more > February 2021

Opinion | The King's Gambit: Will Bibi's bet work?

By Calev Ben-Dor
Fathom Deputy Editor Calev Ben-Dor argues that the election results might come down to whether Benjamin Netanyahu wins... Read more > February 2021

Israel Without Sharon’s Coma: A Counterfactual History

By Calev Ben-Dor
How might the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have looked had Ariel Sharon not suffered two strokes that left him incapacitated?... Read more > December 2020

Diary from Tel Aviv | Among the Furious Tribes in Lockdown Israel

By Calev Ben-Dor
Fathom is introducing a new kind of voice to our readers. From time to time we will publish... Read more > October 2020

Opinions | What Bibi learned from Arik. And why it might still not be enough.

By Calev Ben-Dor
The prime minister is using Ariel Sharon’s old playbook to manage multiple crises: keep your hands on the... Read more > September 2020

Israel’s Annexation Policy – Why Now and What Next?

By Calev Ben-Dor
Deputy Fathom Editor Calev Ben-Dor offers Fathom readers a comprehensive review of the Israeli debate about, and likely... Read more > June 2020

Opinion | Is Ehud Barak National Saviour or False Messiah?

By Calev Ben-Dor
Ehud Barak has the energy, the venom and the gravitas to hurt Netanyahu in a way no other... Read more > July 2019

Israeli Elections: What next for the likely Netanyahu coalition?

By Calev Ben-Dor
Calev Ben-Dor writes that the good news for Netanyahu is that his ability to form a coalition with... Read more > April 2019

Can Israel remain secure in a world of Arab disintegration, American retreat, and Iranian ambition?

By Calev Ben-Dor
In a comprehensive and clear-sighted survey Fathom deputy editor Calev Ben-Dor assesses the implications of regional disintegration for... Read more > Spring 2016