Fathom – Topic

For Political Compromise, and then Judicial Reform

By Donna Robinson Divine
Judicial reform is necessary, but if there is no compromise on its character the full measure of damage... Read more > March 2023

‘I am one of those liberals who got mugged by reality’: An Interview with Gadi Taub

By Gabriel Noah Brahm
When Fathom launched we promised there would likely be a piece in every issue with which you would... Read more > March 2023

Fallacies about Mizrahi Jews and Israeli Politics | A Reply to Sam Shube

By Lyn Julius
Lyn Julius is the author of Uprooted: How 3000 Years of Jewish Civilization in the Arab World Vanished Overnight... Read more > March 2023

Opinion | Western Democracies Face Two Threats: The Tyranny of the Majority and The Tyranny of the Minority

By Alan Johnson
Alan Johnson is the editor of Fathom, He writes here in a personal capacity. Against the Tyranny... Read more > February 2023

‘This is an attempt to change the structure of Israel from a constitutional democracy to a regime where, once political...

By Amichai Cohen
With debate in Israel raging over the government’s proposed judicial reforms and with President Herzog’s compromise proposals yet... Read more > February 2023

Opinion | Judicial Reform is needed to preserve the legitimacy of Israeli democracy

By Adi Schwartz
Adi Schwartz is a former staff writer at Haaretz and is co-author with Einat Wilf of The War... Read more > January 2023

Small Vote, Great Power: Rabbi Tau, Avi Maoz, the Noam Party and the Threat to Equal Rights in Israel

By Daniel Goldman
About a half a million Israelis voted for the ‘Religious Zionist’ slate which made the three parties that... Read more > January 2023

The Progressive Friend of Israel in the era of Ben Gvir: Prospects and Tasks

By Jack Omer-Jackaman
Jack Omer-Jackaman argues that this is a perfect opportunity to prove the truth of what progressive friends of... Read more > December 2022

Judicial Reform is Not Dangerous for Israeli Democracy – it is Essential

By Russell A. Shalev
Suzie Navot of the Israel Democracy Institute argued in Fathom that the judicial reforms being considered by the... Read more > December 2022

Judicial Reform and the Implications for Israeli Democracy

By Suzie Navot
In this edited transcript of her conversation with BICOM Director Richard Pater, Vice-President of Research at the Israel... Read more > November 2022

'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

‘The Jews Are Guilty’: Christian Antisemitism in Contemporary America

By Alvin Rosenfeld
Alvin Rosenfeld holds the Irving M. Glazer Chair in Jewish Studies at Indiana University and is the Director... Read more > November 2022

Opinion | Israel’s electoral crisis ends but the struggle for its soul goes on

By Toby Greene
Toby Greene is a former deputy editor of Fathom and author of Blair, Labour & Palestine: Conflicting Views on Middle... Read more > November 2022

Opinion | The Scapegoating of Yair Lapid

By Alan Johnson
Alan Johnson is the editor of Fathom. ‘God’ said Mark Twain, ‘is the most popular scapegoat for our... Read more > November 2022

Opinion | This defeat feels different. It feels fundamental. Now we must fight for the country we love

By Paul Gross
Paul Gross fears this will be the first coalition in Israeli history where a majority of its members... Read more > November 2022

‘Maybe he was the last of his kind’: A Conversation about Amos Oz with Nurith Gertz

By Liam Hoare
Liam Hoare talks to literary scholar Nurith Gertz about What Was Lost to Time (Hebrew), her biography of... Read more > October 2022

Jerusalem Film Festival 2022: On absences haunting films made years after their passing

By Tal Kra-Oz
Tal Kra-Oz is a writer based in Tel Aviv. His work has appeared in Tablet Magazine, The Forward... Read more > October 2022

Fathoming the Intellectual Revolution of our Time (1) | ‘Punch a Terf’ and ‘Smash the Zionists’: Misogyny and Antisemitism in...

By Kathleen Hayes
Series Introduction: Huge waves of intellectual change are sweeping the Western world at an astonishing speed. Liberal democratic... Read more > July 2022

Fathom Opinion | A Left-Winger’s Lament for the Israeli Coalition

By Jack Omer-Jackaman
Written shortly before yesterday’s long anticipated break-up of the Israeli government, Jack Omer-Jackaman argues that leftists like himself... Read more > June 2022

Arabs sharing government power with Jews in Israel is the new normal. It works, and there is no turning back

By Ron Gerlitz
Written shortly before the collapse of the Israeli coalition government, Ron Gerlitz, CEO of aChord – Social Psychology... Read more > June 2022

Understanding decision-making in the Palestinian arenas

By Michael Milshtein
BICOM Director Richard Pater speaks to Dr Michael Milshtein, a colonel (res.) in the Israel Defense Forces and... Read more > June 2022

Algeria, where are your Saturday people, and where are your Sunday people?

By Lela Gilbert
Lela Gilbert is a Fellow at Hudson Institute's Center for Religious Freedom and the author of Saturday People,... Read more > June 2022

Understanding the recent terror attacks in Israel

By Ely Karmon
On 4 April deputy editor Samuel Nurding spoke with Dr Ely Karmon about the recent terrorist attacks in... Read more > April 2022

Diary | Back from the ‘Other Side’: Reflections on a Visit to the West Bank and East Jerusalem

By Mike Prashker
Mike Prashker is an Israeli educator, social entrepreneur, writer and public speaker. He founded MERCHAVIM – The Institute... Read more > April 2022

Israel Needs to Talk about the Arab Riots of May 2021

By Russell A. Shalev
In little more than a week in May 2021, Arab rioters set ablaze 10 synagogues and 112 Jewish... Read more > March 2022

The Arab citizens of Israel | An interview with Dr Arik Rudnitzky

By Arik Rudnitzky
In this BICOM Podcast, Richard Pater speaks to Dr Arik Rudnitzky, a researcher in the ‘Arab Society in... Read more > February 2022

Mothers Against Violence: Viewing settlers’ violence under a ‘powerful womanly lens’

By Hamutal Gouri
Hamutal Gouri participated in the response of Mothers Against Violence to settler violence in the Palestinian village of... Read more > February 2022

A reply to David Davidi-Brown on the Israeli government's designation of six Palestinian NGOs

By Gerald M. Steinberg
Gerald M. Steinberg is the Director of NGO Monitor. Fathom published his supportive response to the Israel government’s... Read more > December 2021

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

My Israeli Music | Lusil Blek

By Lusil Blek
Lusil Blek is an Israeli graphic designer. Her mother constantly reminds her that she started singing when she... Read more > November 2021

Arab-Jewish Relations in Israel After the May 2021 Unrest: A Survey by Sammy Smooha

By Sammy Smooha
In May 2021, for the first time in Israel, Arabs and Jews in the mixed cities of Haifa,... Read more > October 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

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

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