Ideology or Ethnicity? The Israeli Political Crisis

By

Ori Yehudai

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A 2020 infographic that illustrates Israel’s parliamentary democratic government.

Israeli Political System

A 2020 infographic that illustrates Israel’s parliamentary democratic government.

The Israeli Labor Party’s 2015 election posters.

Israeli Labor Party Posters

The Israeli Labor Party’s 2015 election posters.

Children and nannies in 1950 at Ma’abara Kiryat Ono.

Transfer Camp Nannies

Children and nannies in 1950 at Ma’abara Kiryat Ono, a refugee camp in Israel.

Several 2015 Knesset election billboards in Jerusalem.

Election Billboards

Several 2015 Knesset election billboards in Jerusalem. (Photo: Kobi Gideon and the Government Press Office)

A man reads election results on a Tel Aviv beach in 1992.

Election Results

A man reads election results on a Tel Aviv beach in 1992. (Photo: Koren Ziv and the Government Press Office)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2018.

Breuer Religious Elementary School

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2018 at Breuer Religious Elementary School in Yad Binyamin, Israel. (Photo: Avi Ohayon and the Government Press Office)

A 1947 map illustrates the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine.

Palestine Partition Map

A 1947 map illustrates the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine.

A map that shows Israeli territory gained during the Six-Day War in 1967.

Six-Day War Map

A map that shows Israeli territory gained during the Six-Day War in 1967. The blue section represents Israel’s pre-war territory, and the green shades represent territory they captured during the war, some of which was returned.

A 2019 infographic summarizes charges against Benjamin Netanyahu.

Netanyahu Indictments

A 2019 infographic summarizes charges against Benjamin Netanyahu.

President Shimon Peres and Lt. General Benny Gantz.

Benny Gantz

President Shimon Peres (left) and Lt. General Benny Gantz praise Israel Defense Forces during training exercises in 2011.

A Benny Gantz 2019 campaign banner.

Gantz Campaign Banner

A Benny Gantz 2019 campaign banner is displayed at HaShalom Station and Azrielli Center in Tel Aviv.

Political campaign signs in 2013 in Jaffa, Israel.

Jaffa Election

Political campaign signs in 2013 in Jaffa, Israel.

Theodor Herzl with a Zionist delegation.

Zionist Delegation

Theodor Herzl (center) with a Zionist delegation in Jerusalem, 1900.

David Ben-Gurion reads the Israeli Declaration of Independence on May 14, 2020.

Israel Independence Day

Standing below the portrait of Theodor Herzl, David Ben-Gurion reads the Israeli Declaration of Independence on May 14, 2020. (Photo: Hans Pinn and the Government Press Office)

Children orphaned during the Holocaust arrive by train.

Holocaust Orphans

Children orphaned during the Holocaust arrive by train in July 1945 at Atlit Refugee Camp in Mandatory Palestine.

Operation Magic Carpet Yemenites airlifted to Israeli immigration tent camps.

Yemeni Immigrants

Operation Magic Carpet Yemenites airlifted to Israeli immigration tent camps in 1949. (Photo: Hans Pinn and the Government Press Office)

A 1916 theater program for Israel Zangwill’s play, 'The Melting Pot.'

The Melting Pot

A 1916 theater program for Israel Zangwill’s play, “The Melting Pot.”

A 1974 Israeli Black Panther demonstration in Jerusalem.

Israeli Black Panthers

A 1974 Israeli Black Panther demonstration in Jerusalem.

A truck covered in Likud banners.

Likud Truck

Before the 2006 election, a truck covered in Likud banners canvasses Jerusalem neighborhoods.

Menachem Begin in 1973 casting his vote in Tel Aviv.

Menachem Begin

Menachem Begin in 1973 casting his vote in Tel Aviv. (Photo: Saar Yaacov and the Government Press Office)

An American editorial cartoon from 1977.

Arab-Israeli Cartoon

An American editorial cartoon from 1977 depicts Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin examining a huge bundle labeled "Gordian Knot." According to legend, the Gordian Knot was an intricate tangle that could only be untied by the person destined to be the master of Asia.

Israeli Druze are a minority who self-identify ethnically as Arabs.

Druze

Israeli Druze are a minority who self-identify ethnically as Arabs. As opposed to most other Arabs in Israel, may Druze serve in the army. (2019)

Israeli armored vehicles exit a landing craft.

Amphibious Landing

On June 9, 1982, Israeli armored vehicles exit a landing craft at the mouth of Lebanon’s Awali River.

Israeli forces destroyed 11 Lebanese tanks.

Anti-Tank Missiles

Armed with American made BGM-71 TOW anti-tank missiles, Israeli forces destroyed 11 Lebanese tanks on June 11, 1982.

A Netanyahu supporter in Jaffa.

Jaffa Voters

A Netanyahu supporter in Jaffa, a suburb of Tel Aviv with a diverse population of Christians, Muslims, and Jews. (2013)

A woman walks by Palestinian Parliamentary Election posters.

East Jerusalem Elections

A woman walks by Palestinian Parliamentary Election posters near East Jerusalem's Herod’s Gate in 2006. (Photo: Milner Moshe and the Government Press Office)

A February 2020 tweet of a Likud sign.

Likud Poster

A February 2020 tweet of a Likud sign distributed throughout Jerusalem that shows Ahmad Tibi, a Knesset member of the Joint List, carrying Benny Gantz on his back. The message reads: “Without Ahmad Tibi there is no Gantz government.”

Joint List supporters hang campaign posters during the 2015 elections.

Joint List Activists

Joint List supporters hang campaign posters during the 2015 elections.

Israeli Arab women sell goods in 2016.

Israeli Arab Women

Israeli Arab women sell goods in 2016 at the Arab Bazaar in the Old City of Jerusalem.

2,000 Israelis in Tel Aviv protest a proposed coalition government led by Benjamin Netanyahu.

Rabin Square Rally

While following social distancing guidelines in April 2020, 2,000 Israelis in Tel Aviv protest a proposed coalition government led by Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister and Benny Gantz as deputy prime minister.

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