For Heaven's Sake Election Currents
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Feb 4, 2026 A wide-ranging look at Israel’s shifting political currents and the return of electoral stalemate. They explore a new fault line pitting Ultra-Orthodox and Arab parties and the historic unification of Arab factions. Local security and rising crime take center stage in Arab communities. They recount a rare Jewish–Arab civic moment in Tel Aviv and consider interim paths through a deadlocked political landscape.
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Politics Defined By Exclusion
- Israeli politics shifted from “Just not Bibi” to debates over excluding Ultra-Orthodox or Arab parties as defining outsiders.
- Defining collective identity by who’s excluded risks injustice and deepens societal divides.
Exclusion As Means To Inclusion
- The opposition frames excluding the ultra-Orthodox as a step toward integrating them into mainstream Israeli society.
- Exclusion here is presented as corrective, enabling reforms to reduce separatism and subsidies.
Security Framing Cuts Both Ways
- The right argues Arab parties threaten wartime unity, claiming they can't be trusted in prolonged conflict.
- Donniel Hartman counters that limiting war options could sometimes enhance security rather than weaken it.