What Netanyahu's Indictment Means For Israel's Future
Plus: How the Trump administration has been mainstreaming an outlet that calls impeachment a "Jew coup"
Greetings, and happy Thanksgiving to all those observing! From impeachment to indictment, there’s a lot to catch up on.
Bye Bye Bibi?
Many of you have asked me to explain the current state of play in Israel, now that prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has officially been indicted. You’re not the only ones wondering.
To help demystify the situation, Tommy Vietor kindly invited me onto his popular foreign affairs podcast Pod Save the World. You can listen to our conversation here. We get into the weeds of the actual charges against Netanyahu and the fault-lines that are starting to form within the Likud party in response. I also got the chance to explain why I think many undersell the significance of what it would mean to replace Bibi with his challenger, Benny Gantz, and why those who claim the two are largely interchangeable couldn’t be more wrong. The entire episode is here, and I come in at the 39-minute mark. (One word of warning: if you’re one of those people who tends to listen to your podcasts on double speed, you might … not want to do that while listening to me.)
Much Ado About Jew Coup
Recommended Reading
A couple newsletters ago, I described how impeachment has so consumed the news cycle and our collective consciousness, such that we are liable to miss many other important stories happening at the same time. Here are a few you should make time for.
Jane Coaston in Vox has an essential piece about how the online alt-right has regrouped and is increasingly moving from the internet to the campus. She illustrates, among other things, how the alt-right purposely uses conspiracy theories about Israel to sow anti-Semitism.
The New York Times reports how a new generation of Arab leaders, at great personal risk, are telling an increasingly understood truth: trying to erase Israel hasn't helped them or Palestinians, but engaging with it critically like a real country might.
This Atlantic piece by John Hendrickson on Joe Biden’s struggle to overcome his stutter is the best story I have read on the Democratic frontrunner this campaign, and one of the best on any candidate this cycle. It’s a window into Biden's life, and his way of speaking about it, that only this writer could have accessed, and after reading it, you won’t hear Biden the same way again.
Finally, apparently the guy who wrote The Legend of Bagger Vance just wrote a thriller in which a serial killer Jewish studies professor from Columbia murders the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Not even Facebook knows how to micro-target me like this. Adam Kirsch has the review of it in Tablet that you didn’t know you needed.
Outro
Some of you may remember Moriya Naveh, the exceptionally talented Israeli singer, musician, and composer I profiled here back in August. She has just released her first album, and you can listen to it on Bandcamp, Apple Music, and Spotify. Here’s her latest music video to take you into the weekend:
If you liked this piece and want to support my work and this sort of journalism, please be sure to subscribe to get future installments directly in your inbox, and tell your friends about the newsletter.