Books & ideas

On democratic backsliding in Israel

Bruno Cousin — 2026-01-02T08:00:00Z

In their recent research about Israeli politics, Noam Gidron and his coauthors explore the country's affective polarization, the support for the judicial overhaul, Likud's populism, and the relations between them.

A micro-history of the Holy City

Myriam Ababsa — 2024-12-10T09:17:00Z

The plaza in front of the Western Wall in Jerusalem was the scene of intense conflict between Jews and Muslims in the twentieth century. Paying unique attention to the faintest traces, historian Vincent Lemire traces the successive episodes of violence and destruction that unfolded at the foot of the wall.

Towards an Animalist International

Alexia Renard — 2021-06-14T07:00:00Z

Antispeciesism, which can be traced back to nineteenth-century activism, today comprises a range of discourse and strategies, which it is important not to oversimplify.

Judges on Trial

Yael Munk — 2012-09-03T09:23:49Z

The Occupied Territories are largely absent from the Israeli public sphere. Few movie directors even bother to tell their story anymore. Documentary maker Ra'anan Alexandrowicz has risen to the challenge in a powerful work that uses cinematic techniques to denounce the worldview responsible for the institutionalized miscarriage of justice by the Israeli military administration “in these parts.”

Cities' Collective Mentalities

Alexander Tzonis — 2012-03-23T12:38:20Z

In the context of the developing regionalist current warning against the destructive effects of mindless globalization ‘flattening' the world, Bell and de-Shalit adopt a non-positivist method. Their stories tackling the complexity and holistic “spirit” of cities like Montreal, Paris, Jerusalem, Beijing or Singapore are reminiscent of earlier “strolling” literature.

Comparing Urban Ethoses

Daniel A. Bell — 2012-03-23T12:37:46Z

Responding to Alexander Tzonis' review of Spirit of the Cities, the book on urban ethoses he wrote with Avner de-Shalit, Daniel A. Bell defends their way of doing political theory and some of their unconventional qualitative methods of exploring the experience of urban life.

J14 in Tel-Aviv

Sylvaine Bulle — 2012-02-28T11:47:05Z

Are the demands of indignados of all countries fundamentally the same, or does each movement have its distinctive style? For Sylvaine Bulle, Israel's J14 movement must be understood as a critique of the state of exception.

Anastasie and Massouda

Jérôme Bourdon — 2012-01-19T10:40:32Z

How can journalists accept certain forms of censorship in a state which claims to be democratic? The following article looks at the different threats in Israel to freedom of speech, and shows the ways in which the press and the public believe censorship can be justified under certain circumstances.

Israel and the European Union

Gadi Heimann — 2011-12-02T15:38:14Z

The history of the relationship between Israel and the European Union is one of contradictions. Israel would like closer cooperation but is skeptical of Europeans' pro-Palestinian bias; Europe would like greater intervention in the region but wants to pursue its geopolitical agenda independently of the conflict. What could their rapprochement look like?

Bomb, Opacity, Democracy

Matteo Gerlini — 2011-02-16T14:08:35Z

Israel's nuclear policy is the nation's last taboo. Avner Cohen's book explains that the country's posture of nuclear opacity is incompatible with the values of a liberal democracy and that it undermines the norm of public accountability and oversight. However, in the name of its special relationship with Israel, the US turns a blind eye to Israel's nuclear program.