ADL: more than a century fighting antisemitism and hatred
The history and present-day methods of the Anti-Defamation League, from its 1913 founding to tracking online hate and defending civil rights.
Israel
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Ajax–Maccabi Tel Aviv: the Amsterdam violence of November 2024
What happened around the Ajax–Maccabi Tel Aviv football match in Amsterdam, the attacks targeting people perceived as Jewish and the Dutch official inquiry.
Akko: A Living Port Above a Medieval City
Akko, known in English as Acre, combines a Mediterranean harbour with an exceptionally layered old town. Fishing boats, homes, food stalls and places of worship exist alongside major historic monuments. Its appeal comes from this…
Antisemitism in New York, Berlin and Paris – and Why the Broader Pattern Matters
Antisemitism changes its language, symbols and targets over time, but it remains recognizable in one basic sense: it turns Jews into a collective problem, conspiracy or threat. In large cities such as New York, Berlin and Paris,…
The Bahá’í faith in Israel: Haifa, Akko and the gardens
A long article about the Bahá’í faith in Israel, the Bahá’í World Centre in Haifa and Akko, the gardens, the shrines and practical visiting information.
The Bahá’í Gardens: Beauty, Faith and Careful Design
The Bahá’í gardens are among the most recognisable views of Haifa, but they are more than a scenic backdrop. The terraces surround the Shrine of the Báb, a sacred place of the Bahá’í Faith. Near Akko, the gardens at Bahjí surround…
Bat Yam: the Mediterranean city south of Tel Aviv
Bat Yam lies immediately south of Tel Aviv–Jaffa on Israel’s Mediterranean coastline. Its name literally means “daughter of the sea,” an apt description of a city whose beaches and promenade have shaped its identity. Contrary to a…
Be’er Sheva: A City at the Edge of the Desert
Be’er Sheva is a major urban centre of the Negev. Its university, medical services, neighbourhoods and cultural institutions make it a working city as well as a point of departure for desert journeys. A visit is most rewarding when…
Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, the cat and the revival of Hebrew
Why a dog and a cat featured in the extraordinary family experiment to make Hebrew a living mother tongue in Jerusalem. The following article distinguishes documentary facts, religious beliefs, historical memories and modern public…
B’nai B’rith: from mutual aid in New York to a global Jewish network
B’nai B’rith is the oldest continuously operating Jewish service and fraternal organization in the world. It was founded in New York in 1843 by a small group of German-Jewish immigrants who gathered at Sinsheimer’s Café on the Lower…
Bnei Brak: life in Israel’s ultra-Orthodox city
The Haredi community of Bnei Brak, its religious institutions, family life, clothing, crowded streets and demographic realities.
B’Tselem: Israeli documentation of Palestinian rights
B’Tselem was founded in 1989 as an Israeli organization documenting human-rights conditions in the territories Israel occupied in 1967. Its name comes from the biblical phrase about humans being created in the divine image. The…
Caesarea: A Mediterranean Harbour Across Two Thousand Years
Caesarea brings together sea views, monumental ruins and the story of a harbour that connected the eastern Mediterranean with a wider world. Its appeal lies in the relationship between landscape and archaeology. The sea is not simply…
Chabad-Lubavitch and 770 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn
The headquarters of Chabad-Lubavitch, its history, worldwide outreach and links with the Rebbe. The following article distinguishes documentary facts, religious beliefs, historical memories and modern public practices.
City of David in Jerusalem: archaeology beneath a living city
The City of David refers to the archaeological area on the southeastern ridge of ancient Jerusalem, immediately south of the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif. The area overlaps with Silwan, a living Palestinian neighborhood of East…
Colombia opens its embassy in Jerusalem in October 2026
Colombia officially opened an embassy in Jerusalem on 14 October 2026 after restoring relations with Israel earlier that year.
Colombia opened its embassy in Jerusalem in October 2026
Colombia officially inaugurated an embassy in Jerusalem on 14 October 2026. Colombia’s foreign ministry published a statement naming Foreign Minister Omar Bula Escobar and Ambassador Tania Gilinski, while Israel’s foreign ministry…
The Tomb of David on Mount Zion
On Jerusalem’s Mount Zion, the traditional Tomb of David is a frequently visited devotional site. Jewish worshippers arrive for psalms, prayers and the atmosphere of a place associated with Israel’s biblical king. Visitors may…
The Dead Sea: Salt, Desert and a Changing Shoreline
The Dead Sea is a hypersaline lake in the Jordan Rift Valley. Pale desert slopes, intensely coloured water and salt formations give the region its distinctive appearance. It is shared by a wider geographical and political landscape…
Drum Beach in Tel Aviv: Friday music by the sea
Drummers Beach near Banana Beach has long been associated with informal Friday-afternoon circles of percussion and dance.
Friday drumming at the Tel Aviv beach
On many Friday afternoons, drummers and dancers gather beside the Mediterranean in Tel Aviv. The gathering is often called Drummers’ Beach or Hof HaMetofefim and is associated with the area around the old Dolphinarium and Charles…
Operation Eichmann: capture in Argentina and trial in Jerusalem
How Israeli agents captured Adolf Eichmann in Buenos Aires in 1960, the international legal dispute and the 1961 trial.
Eilat: The Red Sea Meets the Desert
Eilat combines a narrow stretch of Red Sea coastline with desert mountains. The contrast is its main attraction: blue water, dry rocky slopes and a resort city between them. A holiday can centre on the beach, marine life or…
Albert Einstein and the invitation to become president of Israel
The true story of the 1952 invitation to Albert Einstein, his answer and his connections to the Hebrew University and Zionism.
Operation Entebbe 1976 and Yonatan Netanyahu
In July 1976 Israeli forces rescued hostages held at Entebbe Airport in Uganda after the hijacking of an Air France plane.
The Israeli F-35I Adir: cost, capabilities and operational lessons
A long article about Israel’s F-35I Adir: what makes the aircraft different, what it costs, how many Israel plans to field and what public reporting says about its use in regional operations.
Florentin in Tel Aviv: Street Art, Workshops and Fast Change
Florentin is one of the best-known neighborhoods in southern Tel Aviv. It is often described through murals, cafés and nightlife, but its story is much deeper: migration, workshops, warehouses, changing housing patterns and the…
The terror incident on Flydubai flight FZ 1073 to Israel
A factual overview of the September 2026 Flydubai incident on the Dubai–Tel Aviv route, the safe diversion to Tabuk and the wider civil-aviation implications.
Gadi Eisenkot: from army chief to prime minister contender
Gadi Eisenkot spent more than four decades in the Israel Defense Forces and served as chief of the general staff from 2015 to 2019. He is associated with the military’s Northern Command and senior staff work as well as the concept of…
Galgalatz: Israel’s popular army-linked music radio
Galgalatz began broadcasting in 1993 as a music-and-traffic service associated with Galei Tzahal, Israel’s Army Radio. Its Hebrew name combines galgal, meaning wheel, with Galatz, the nickname of the parent station. The format is…
The Galilee: landscapes, religions and communities in northern Israel
The Galilee is a region in northern Israel known for hills, valleys, villages, cities and religious landmarks. It is often divided into Upper and Lower Galilee, though administrative borders and historical definitions do not always…
Gaza, Iran and the Financing of Armed Groups: Understanding the Connections
The Hamas-led attack on 7 October 2023 was followed by Israel's large-scale military campaign in Gaza. Israel described dismantling Hamas's military capabilities and recovering hostages as central objectives. The war brought…
Golda Meir: the life, leadership and legacy of Israel’s prime minister
Golda Meir from childhood in Kyiv and Milwaukee to Zionism, diplomacy, Israel’s premiership and the 1973 war.
Haaretz: a liberal Israeli newspaper, its history and the pressures of recent years
Haaretz occupies a special place in Israeli journalism. It is known as a liberal newspaper, associated with strong reporting, opinion writing, cultural criticism and a readership that often values long-form analysis. Supporters…
Haifa: A City Between Carmel and the Sea
Haifa spreads between the Mediterranean shoreline and the slopes of Mount Carmel. Its geography shapes how the city is experienced: a viewpoint high on the hill, a neighbourhood halfway down and the lower city near the port can feel…
The Jewish lunar calendar: why the year is 5787
In October 2026 the Jewish calendar is in the year 5787. On 25 October 2026 the corresponding civil and Hebrew dates are Sunday, 14 Cheshvan 5787, until sunset. The traditional year count is reckoned from an epoch associated with…
Hebron: the biblical city and the modern city
A long article about Hebron and Al-Khalil: Abraham, the Cave of the Patriarchs, the old city, the 1929 violence, the divided city and daily life in the modern era.
The Holocaust: history and remembrance
Nazi Germany and its collaborators murdered approximately six million Jews during the Holocaust. The persecution also affected many other groups. Education requires survivor testimony, archival documentation and attention to…
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the immovable ladder
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre stands in the Christian Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City. For many Christians, its chapels commemorate the place where Jesus was crucified, buried and raised from the dead. This conviction made the…
Ilan Ramon, STS-107 and the Columbia disaster
Ilan Ramon holds a singular place in Israeli memory as the country’s first astronaut. A former fighter pilot, he flew aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia on mission STS-107. For Israel, the mission carried both scientific significance…
Israel’s air defence in 2026: Iron Dome, Arrow, Iron Beam and the drone challenge
A source-based overview of Israel’s layered missile and drone defence, verified Iran-war interception figures, the Iron Beam laser and remaining challenges in 2026.
Israel’s economy in 2026: resilience, pressure and structural questions
A readable overview of Israel’s economy in 2026, from high-tech and exports to inflation, labour concerns and the pressure of war and public spending.
Israel election 2026: parties, leaders and their chances
Israel’s 26th Knesset election is scheduled for 27 October 2026. The polls available on 23–25 October show no automatic majority for either political bloc. The Knesset has 120 seats, so a government generally needs the support of at…
Food prices in Israel: why groceries remain a central public concern
A long-form article on food prices in Israel, what official price indices show, and why supermarket costs carry social and political weight.
Israel’s future innovations: AI, robotics, climate tech and beyond
An article on the next wave of Israeli innovation — from software and cyber to robotics, medical technology, food systems, energy and climate solutions.
A History of Israel: Land, Peoples and Civilizations
Explore the history of the land of Israel, from ancient Canaan and the kingdoms of Israel and Judah to Ottoman rule and the British Mandate.
How housing costs rose in Israel over 30 years
For many Israelis, the housing story of the last thirty years is the story of a middle-class horizon that moved farther away. In the 1990s and early 2000s, buying an apartment was difficult but often still imaginable for working…
Human rights in Israel: Basic Laws and unresolved disputes
Israel does not have a single codified written constitution of the sort found in Germany or the United States. Instead, its constitutional arrangements rely on Basic Laws, statutes, court decisions and institutional practices. The…
The kibbutz movement: history, change and how many kibbutzim remain
A long article about the kibbutz movement in Israel: its socialist roots, agriculture, privatization, industry and the number of kibbutzim and residents today.
The Knesset and Israeli democracy: how the political system works
A detailed guide to Israel’s 120-seat parliament, elections, coalition governments, Basic Laws, courts and current democratic debates.
Driving in Israel: road safety and accident statistics
Traffic in Israeli cities can feel assertive to visitors. Dense intersections, frequent lane changes, impatient horns, scooters, delivery riders and crowded rush-hour roads affect the experience, but a subjective comparison with the…
How Israel turns seawater into drinking water: plants, prices and the 2026 crisis
Reverse osmosis, the Sorek B expansion, typical desalination costs and the September 2026 algae disruption. The following article distinguishes documentary facts, religious beliefs, historical memories and modern public practices.
Israel in 1948 and the founding of the state
Israel declared independence on 14 May 1948, after the end of the British Mandate. The ensuing war brought statehood for Jewish Israelis and displacement and dispossession for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, remembered as the…
Israel and global arms exports: SIPRI 2021–2025
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) ranks Israel seventh among suppliers of major arms for 2021–2025, with 4.4 percent of the measured worldwide transfer volume. The United States accounted for 42 percent,…
Israeli cuisine: a table of many traditions
Israeli cuisine developed through encounters among Jewish communities from North Africa, the Middle East, Europe, the Balkans, Ethiopia and elsewhere, and with the long-established Palestinian and wider Levantine food traditions of…
Druze citizens of Israel: religion, communities and service
The Druze are an Arabic-speaking religious community with a distinct monotheistic tradition that emerged around the eleventh century from a historical milieu linked to Ismaili Islam. Druze religious doctrine is separate and largely…
Israeli military service: duty, Hebrew, integration and life after the army
How military service in Israel works, updated 2026 durations, language learning, integration, exemptions and the long post-army trips to Asia.
The Armenian Community in Jerusalem: History, Faith and Daily Life
The Armenian presence in Jerusalem is centuries old and cannot be reduced to a footnote in the history of the city. The Armenian Quarter, the Patriarchate, monastic institutions, crafts and family networks together form one of the…
Jerusalem: Layers of History and Everyday Life
Jerusalem rewards time and attention. A short walk can move between a busy market, a quiet courtyard, a place of prayer and an archaeological site. Its importance to Judaism, Christianity and Islam is inseparable from the lives of…
Jüdische Allgemeine: a German-language Jewish newspaper
The Jüdische Allgemeine is one of the most important German-language Jewish newspapers. It presents itself as heir to a tradition reaching back to the Allgemeine Zeitung des Judenthums, founded in Leipzig in 1837. The Nazi…
Knesset elections 2026: campaign, parliament and the next coalition
An up-to-date overview of the elections for the 26th Knesset, the issues dominating the campaign, and the rules that shape coalition building in Israel.
Jews in England and London: From Medieval Expulsion to Modern Life
Jewish history in England includes arrival, expulsion, return and renewal. London in particular became a place where trade, immigration, scholarship, religious life and political debate shaped Jewish experience across centuries. Any…
Mahane Yehuda Market: Jerusalem by day and night
Mahane Yehuda is a dense network of lanes and market stalls near Jaffa Road in Jerusalem. In daytime it is a practical food market: residents buy vegetables, spices, fresh bread, fish, sweets and household goods, while visitors…
Mea Shearim and the Jewish communities of Jerusalem
A guide to Mea Shearim, historic Haredi neighborhoods and the diversity of Jewish life in Jerusalem without calling one neighborhood the largest.
Merkava tanks and Merkavim buses: two different Israeli industries
Merkava is the Israeli main battle tank developed for the Israel Defense Forces. Merkavim, by contrast, is an Israeli bus-body and coach manufacturer. Their similar Hebrew roots are easy to confuse, but they are separate industrial…
Operation Brothers: Mossad and the rescue of Ethiopian Jews
Operation Brothers is associated with Israeli efforts during the late 1970s and 1980s to help Ethiopian Jews reach Israel through neighboring Sudan. Many members of the Beta Israel community were fleeing persecution, hardship and…
Mount Hermon: snow, skiing and the last reported snowfall
Mount Hermon is the best-known Israeli destination for winter snow. Its altitude makes it much colder than most of Israel, and in favorable winters the resort area may offer skiing, snowboarding, chairlifts and snow play. The same…
Munich 1972: the attack on Israel’s Olympic team and its legacy
The attack by Black September during the Munich Olympics, the eleven Israeli victims, failed rescue and long struggle for remembrance.
Nazareth: Christian heritage and a diverse modern city
Nazareth is internationally known through Christian accounts of Mary, Joseph and the childhood of Jesus. The Basilica of the Annunciation marks a central place in Catholic tradition, and other churches commemorate related narratives.…
Nazareth: Faith, Food and a Living Galilee City
Nazareth is associated around the world with the childhood of Jesus and with Christian traditions of the Annunciation. It is also a contemporary Arab city with Muslim and Christian residents, shops, schools and family life. Its…
Notre Dame of Jerusalem: the pontifical center near the Old City
Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center stands near the New Gate outside Jerusalem’s Old City. Its monumental stone facade is associated with French Catholic pilgrimage in the nineteenth century. The building contains hospitality facilities,…
7 October 2023: Remembering the Lives Taken
On 7 October 2023, Hamas-led attackers struck communities and other locations in southern Israel. Around 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage into Gaza. These figures describe the scale of the attack, but they cannot…
Remembering 7 October 2023: the victims and the war that followed
On 7 October 2023, Hamas-led armed groups attacked communities and military sites in southern Israel, killing civilians and soldiers and taking hostages into the Gaza Strip. The attacks included massacres at homes, roads and the Nova…
Operation Entebbe in 1976 and the death of Yoni Netanyahu
On 27 June 1976, an Air France flight traveling from Tel Aviv to Paris was hijacked after a stop in Athens. The hijackers forced the aircraft to fly to Uganda, where passengers were held at Entebbe airport under the regime of Idi…
Poland, Grzegorz Braun and antisemitic politics
The Confederation of the Polish Crown is an ultranationalist far-right party led by Grzegorz Braun. It is distinct from other parties that have used the Confederation name in Polish politics. Braun has attracted international…
Ramat Gan Safari: animals, opening hours and ticket prices
A long practical guide to Safari Ramat Gan: what animals you can see, opening hours, ticket prices and why the site is one of Israel’s best-known zoological attractions.
Safed: Synagogues, Artists and Galilee Views
Safed, also written Tzfat or Tsfat, stands in the hills of the Upper Galilee. Its older streets connect stone houses, small courtyards, synagogues and artists’ workshops. The city invites a slower kind of sightseeing: looking into a…
The Second Temple in Jerusalem: building, worship and destruction
The Second Temple was the central Jewish sanctuary in Jerusalem during the Persian, Hellenistic and Roman periods. Jewish tradition links its rebuilding to the return from Babylonian exile and dates the completion to the late sixth…
Sergei Courtyard and the Russian Compound in Jerusalem
Sergei Courtyard, sometimes called Sergei Palace or Sergei Compound, is part of Jerusalem’s nineteenth-century Russian Compound. It was built around 1890 as accommodation and a center for Russian Orthodox pilgrims visiting the Holy…
Europe, settlement products and boycott campaigns: what the debate is about
A long background article on European debates over products from Israeli settlements, labeling rules, sanctions and the difference between settlement-targeted measures and broader anti-Israel boycott campaigns.
Shas: Sephardi Haredi politics and coalition power
Shas was founded in 1984 as a political home for many Sephardi and Mizrahi ultra-Orthodox voters, under the religious influence of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. Its history is also a story about representation: supporters argued that…
Jewish migration to Germany: Soviet newcomers, Israelis and the Milky debate
How post-Soviet Jewish immigration rebuilt communities across Germany, why some Israelis chose Berlin, and what the Milky controversy revealed about identity and living costs.
The Syriac Orthodox community and Saint Mark Monastery in Jerusalem
The Syriac Orthodox community is part of Jerusalem’s diverse Christian landscape. Its liturgy preserves forms of Syriac, a literary language closely connected to Aramaic, and its churches maintain traditions rooted in the eastern…
The Tel Aviv Museum and opera district
The cluster of institutions around Shaul HaMelech Boulevard is one of the most important cultural zones in modern Tel Aviv. Many visitors come first for the Tel Aviv Museum of Art or for an evening at the opera, yet the area is much…
The future of public transport in Tel Aviv and Israel
A practical look at the future of mobility in Tel Aviv and across Israel: light rail, metro, railways, buses, cycling and reduced dependence on private cars.
Tel Aviv–Jaffa: Beaches, Neighbourhoods and Urban Culture
Tel Aviv–Jaffa combines a modern Mediterranean city with an older port and a long coastline. Its character emerges through neighbourhoods rather than a single monument: shaded boulevards, cafés, markets, beaches and residential…
Tiberias: Lake Views and Jewish History
Tiberias lies on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, known in Hebrew as the Kinneret. The relationship with the lake shapes its scenery and tourist identity. Waterfront walks, nearby beaches and views towards the surrounding…
The 1948 war: Israeli independence and the Palestinian Nakba
The war of 1948 took place as British rule in Palestine ended and competing national movements struggled over territory and political sovereignty. The United Nations General Assembly voted in November 1947 to recommend partition into…
Security situation and escalation in the West Bank in 2026
A careful overview of the worsening security climate in the West Bank, including terrorism, military measures and the wider risk of escalation.
Yad Vashem: Names, Evidence and the Responsibility of Remembrance
Yad Vashem in Jerusalem is a major institution devoted to Holocaust remembrance, research, documentation and education. Its work extends beyond a museum visit. Archives, testimony, names and historical scholarship connect the…
Remembering Yitzhak Rabin: A Life, an Assassination and the Peace Process
On 4 November 1995, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated after a peace rally in Tel Aviv. His killer, Yigal Amir, was an Israeli Jewish extremist opposed to the peace process. Remembering Rabin means mourning a human…
The Yom Kippur War of 1973: Surprise, Loss and the Road to Diplomacy
On 6 October 1973, Egypt and Syria launched coordinated attacks on Israeli forces in the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights, territories Israel had captured in 1967. The attack fell on Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, and…
Settler violence in the West Bank: incidents, victims and accountability
Violence involving Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank includes assaults, threats, arson, destruction of crops, attacks on vehicles and intimidation of Palestinian farming communities. The UN humanitarian agency OCHA records…
Homicides and organized crime in Israel’s Arab communities
Violent crime, extortion and organized criminal networks have become an acute public safety crisis in many Arab towns and mixed cities in Israel. The victims are individuals, families and communities; reporting must avoid presenting…
The Dolphinarium bombing in Tel Aviv on 1 June 2001
Late on Friday 1 June 2001, a suicide bomber detonated explosives among people waiting to enter a nightclub near the Dolphinarium on the Tel Aviv seafront. Twenty-one victims died, many of them teenagers, and approximately 120 people…
Rail transport in Israel: routes, opening dates and ticket prices
Israel Railways connects Nahariya, Akko, Haifa, Binyamina, Hadera, Netanya, Herzliya, Tel Aviv, Bat Yam, Holon, Lod, Rehovot, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Be’er Sheva and several other places through heavy rail and branch lines.…