Fathom – Topic

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

Opinion | Liberal Zionists fight for liberalism in Israel, and Zionism abroad

By Paul Gross
Before immigrating to Israel from the UK in 2007 Paul Gross worked for the British government on religious... Read more > July 2021

UK-Israel 2021 | The Flourishing of UK-Israel Academic Networks

By John Levy
John Levy, Director of the Academic Study Group on Israel and the Middle East (ASG) explains how his... Read more > July 2021

Against Solutionism, Against Nowism: For ‘the Longer, Shorter Path’ | An interview with Moshe Ya'alon

By Moshe Ya'alon
Former Israeli Minister of Defence Lieutenant General (Ret.) Moshe ‘Bogie’ Ya'alon was born in Kiryat Haim in 1950... Read more > June 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

Diary from London | Adam Ognall, Chief Executive, New Israel Fund UK

By Adam Ognall
After ten years in post, Adam Ognall is stepping down as CEO of the New Israel Fund UK... Read more > April 2021

Book Review | Stories from Palestine: Narratives of Resilience

By Zeina M. Barakat
To be entrusted with someone’s narrative is a privilege. To grant such access … is an act of... Read more > April 2021

Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks (1948-2020): A Tribute

By Michael Wegier
Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks was a good friend to this journal, meeting with its editor when it was... Read more > December 2020

The Unique Voice of Ruth Gavison (1945-2020)

By Alexander Yakobson
Alexander Yakobson is co-author with Amnon Rubinstein of Israel and the Family of Nations: The Jewish Nation-State and... Read more > November 2020

Diary from Ramat Gan | ‘The humanities classroom is one of the great achievements of Western civilisation’

By William Kolbrener
William Kolbrener is professor of English Literature at Bar Ilan University. He has written widely on the literature, politics... Read more > November 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

Israel and Diaspora Jewry: Is the Coronavirus Crisis an opportunity to redesign the relationship?

By Shira Ruderman
Shira Ruderman argues that the coronavirus virus has presented Israel, the Nation State of the Jewish people, with... Read more > July 2020

‘Seventy years we’ve been told we’re brothers in arms! Why not brothers in the economy, brothers in life?’ The Druze...

By Daniel Klein
Recent angry protests by Israel’s Druze citizens are about much more than shekels, argues Daniel Klein. Druze MK... Read more > May 2020

Yair Lapid is now the leader of Israel’s ‘democracy camp’

By Paul Gross
Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid’s recent 6,000-word essay set out a centrist vision of Israel’s future and warned... Read more > May 2020

Fighting Back Against COVID-19 in Israel’s Bedouin Community

By Ruth Ebenstein
Ruth Ebenstein examines the vulnerability of Israel’s Bedouin community during the pandemic and explores both the self-help measures... Read more > April 2020

Book Review | Be Strong and of Good Courage: How Israel’s Most Important Leaders Shaped Its Destiny

By David Rodman
Israel faces a fateful decision. What should be the final status of the West Bank (Judea and Samaria... Read more > March 2020

COVID-19: Blaming the Jews for the Plague, Again

By Lev Topor
From state television to the dark web, antisemitic conspiracy theories are being used by Islamists and white supremacists... Read more > March 2020

The Old Left is Dead. Israel Needs a New One.

By Etan N. Nechin
When Israel goes to the polls for a third time in a year, the Labor party might well... Read more > January 2020

The UK Election 2019 | In Stoke North, Labour voters saw Corbyn as a wrong ‘un

By Jane Ashworth
Jane Ashworth is a Labour councillor in Stoke and the co-founder of Engage, the anti-racist campaign against left... Read more > December 2019

The UK Election 2019 | The roots of left antisemitism go deeper than Corbynism. They lie in the fatal partnership...

By Peter Mason
Peter Mason is the National Secretary of the Jewish Labour Movement, and a Labour Councillor in the London... Read more > December 2019

The UK Election 2019 | Britain has escaped political paralysis. To do the same, Israel must dislodge Netanyahu

By Toby Greene
In 2019 both the UK and Israel have been politically paralysed. Like or loathe Boris Johnson, Thursday’s election... Read more > December 2019

Zeruya Shalev: On ‘Pain’ And Her Role As Israel’s Literary Therapist

By Liam Hoare
The translation of Zeruya Shalev’s 2015 novel Pain should be the moment she assumes ‘her rightful place in... Read more > November 2019

Revital Amiran and Yisrael Medad: A Final Exchange on the Israeli Left

By Revital Amiran Yisrael Medad
The following exchange brings to a close the dispute between Revital Amiran and Yisrael Medad on the standing... Read more > October 2019

To fix the Israel-Diaspora relationship, make our communal organisations genuinely representative

By Jay Ruderman
Jay Ruderman is the President of the Ruderman Family Foundation, which focuses on the inclusion of people with... Read more > October 2019

The Special Relationship: Shoring Up Declining Sympathy for Israel among Democrats

By Jonathan Rynhold
Jonathan Rynhold relates that while Democrats overwhelmingly hold a favourable view of Israel, the special relationship increasingly rests... Read more > September 2019

IsraelVotes2019 (2) | Third Elections are Israel's No Deal Brexit

By Eylon Aslan-Levy
Israelis who are completely certain there will not be a third election after just holding a second vote... Read more > September 2019

IsraelVotes2019 (2) | Israel elections: ‘With Lieberman you can never know for sure what he will do next.’ Analysis from...

By Lahav Harkov
Over the last few elections Israelis have gotten used to the idea that the Likud and the Right... Read more > September 2019

IsraelVotes2019 (2) | Israel elections: ‘Benjamin Netanyahu may be down but he’s certainly not out.’ Analysis by Shalom Lipner

By Shalom Lipner
Last week’s election results dealt Benjamin Netanyahu a major blow, but although he may be down, he’s certainly... Read more > September 2019

IsraelVotes2019 (2) | ‘People say he who wields the dagger rarely sits on the throne. Lieberman sees things differently’ |...

By Anshel Pfeffer
Anshel Pfeffer is a leading Israeli journalist and the author of Bibi: The Turbulent Life and Times of... Read more > September 2019

IsraelVotes2019 (2) | The Robbed Cossack and the Imaginary Reality of the Right: a rejoinder to Yisrael Medad

By Revital Amiran
A sharp rejoinder from Revital Amiran to Yisrael Medad’s critique of her Fathom article ‘The Zionist Left is... Read more > September 2019

IsraelVotes2019 (2) | The Knesset and the Court: is this Israel's override election?

By Yohanan Plesner
Yohanan Plesner is President of the Israel Democracy Institute. From 2007 to 2013, he served as a Member... Read more > September 2019

IsraelVotes2019 (2) | Arab Voters and the 2019 Elections

By Eihab Kadah
Eihab Kadah, Director of Research in Arab society at Midgam Consulting and Research, assesses how Arab voters have... Read more > September 2019

IsraelVotes2019 (2) | Caught between delegitimisation and non-participation in government: the dilemmas of the Arab voter seeking influence in Israel

By Afif Abu Much
Influenced by Netanyahu’s delegitimisation campaign, the Centre-left is making a critical mistake in not reaching out to the... Read more > September 2019

IsraelVotes2019 (2) | Ayman Odeh has made Jewish-Arab political partnership possible. The centre left should seize the opportunity to win...

By Ron Gerlitz
Ron Gerlitz, the Co-Executive Director of Sikkuy, The Association for Civic Equality in Israel, argues that only a... Read more > September 2019

Society