Lisa Goldman

As you watch returns in the elections in Israel --where either choice is between the proverbial rock and hard place for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank --tune into this conversation from @elmirab.bsky.social and @lisang.bsky.social for deep context on the results substack.com/home/post/p-...

NEW: After three years of war and four of a government including far-right parties, three-quarters of Israel’s first-time voters identify as right-wing or far-right. @lisang.bsky.social asks whether one pro-democracy activist can change their minds, in @newlinesmag.bsky.social.

Opposition leaders have said they won’t ally with an Arab party, though polls show this is their only sure path to victory over Netanyahu. Mansour Abbas thinks he can change their minds. Excellent analysis by @aburass.bsky.social newlinesmag.com/argument/the...

About 20% of Israeli citizens are Palestinians. In many ways they play an outsized role in Israeli society, but they also face daily discrimination that is de facto, de jure -- and, for the past four years, increasing. This is the subject of my latest article. newlinesmag.com/spotlight/yo...

In one of our current top reads, @lisang.bsky.social reviews two films that are unsparing in their depiction of Israeli attitudes toward the war: the documentary film “NAZA” and the satirical drama “Yes!”, both by Israeli directors.

The documentary film “NAZA” and the satirical drama “Yes!,” both by Israeli directors, hold up mirrors to Israeli society that most find too difficult to see, writes @lisang.bsky.social .

My latest is about the films NAZA and Yes!, and the meaning of the cacophony of angry reactions. newlinesmag.com/review/two-f...

🎥As Israel’s October election approaches, Netanyahu’s government is moving quickly to expand settlements in the West Bank. @kayliwewe.bsky.social  speaks with @lisang.bsky.social  about how fear of losing power is driving a frenzy of settlement activity in the West Bank.

“I haven’t seen the film, BUT…” is a phrase I would happily live the rest of my life without reading ever again.

"By screening their film at the Venice Film Festival, Abraham and Szor are trying to force Israelis to confront what they already know: that there's a black stain on the way Israel is conducting war in Gaza, to put it mildly." www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

WATCH: Israel is heading into its first national election since the Oct. 7 attacks and the war on Gaza, with Benjamin Netanyahu once again fighting to retain political power. @lisang.bsky.social  explains why the stakes are so high.

I used to have a lot of respect for The Economist. But after reading this shoddy, ill-informed analysis of Carney's decision to withdraw from trade negotiations with the US, I no longer trust it to explain places or issues I know little about. www.economist.com/the-americas...

In one of our current top reads, @lisang.bsky.social  looks at Mohammed Dahlan, who has emerged as an internationally influential figure with the ear of the powerful. Is the long since ousted strongman of Gaza positioning himself for a new political role?

Mohammed Dahlan was once the strongman of Gaza, with a nasty reputation for violent repression and corruption. Today he is a highly influential power broker who triangulates between Israel, the USA and the UAE. How far will he rise? I wrote about him here. newlinesmag.com/spotlight/wi...

Editor’s Pick: When a drone strike closed an airport, a Kuwaiti writer was forced to make their way home by road through Saudi Arabia. Along the way, perceptions of the conflict with Iran and its politics varied widely.

This is what humanitarian collapse in Gaza looks like: vermin moving freely through garbage, ruined buildings, and tents—and attacking people wherever they go. https://bit.ly/4zviZYq

My heart. So many responses. Like: It's a known-known. Armed men empowered to hunt people are often men who like to hurt women & seek/are encouraged to do so. Like: Regular-degular cops have long done the same. Like: Ofc a regime that hates women this much would attract such men. Like: Weeping.

Israel’s veteran security establishment is terrified that settler violence will spark a third intifada, and has now appealed to Donald Trump to pressure Netanyahu over the issue. My latest for @newlinesmag.bsky.social newlinesmag.com/running-note...

Firefighters in Spain and France on Tuesday were racing to keep ferocious wildfires near Madrid and Bordeaux in check before a scorching heat wave hits the area.

“For Israeli Jews, the tragedy of the war in Gaza is in the deaths of soldiers. For the rest of the world, it’s in the deaths of the Palestinians killed by those soldiers. There’s no reason to believe this cognitive gap will narrow anytime soon.” | @lisang.bsky.social 

'Mamdani is more popular with Jewish Americans than Netanyahu.' That's just one of the bombshell lines that Rahm Emanuel delivered during a recent interview for Israeli TV. Israelis understand that they are unpopular, but they really don't get why. My article: newlinesmag.com/spotlight/ma...

Once viewed as a cultural monolith, Israel's Russian-speaking community has split over Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This is a fascinating, well-reported and well-written article by Nikita Aronov. newlinesmag.com/reportage/ho...

Very interesting analysis of how X has rewired minds (read: dulled the ability to think critically)

No, this really really really is rape

Been without internet since storm on the 4th - and now that the two most predictable possible things have happened - Trump poisoned US World Cup, and Platner has even more definitively disgraced & discredited all his recruiters, boosters & apologists, not that that will chasten them.

Wondering if Jacobin Magazine will apologize for its commentary on Platner. www.google.com/search?q=jac...

The U.S. bicentennial in 1976 was an international affair, celebrated in diverse ways by countries around the world in a turning point for American soft power. Such a fun and illuminating read by historian @michaeljkramer.bsky.social at @newlinesmag.bsky.social newlinesmag.com/essays/how-t...

Diane de Vignemont writes in clear language about the Society of Saint Pius X, which is hankering for the good ol' days of Vichy France and a Judenrein Paris. "In France, our history won’t let us call it merely traditionalist. We know exactly what to call it."

Me chatting with brilliant Kwangu Liwewe about Netanyahu's amazing ability to shift the discourse on Iran through media manipulation.

“Netanyahu has succeeded in shifting the domestic discourse in Israel on the threat Iran poses and the advisability of attacking, but his media victory could prove to be a Pyrrhic one in political terms.” | @lisang.bsky.social 

In a historic first, Israel is seeing a spike in emigration that far outpaces immigration. I wrote about the factors driving this change, and the related danger of a brain drain, for @newlinesmag.bsky.social newlinesmag.com/running-note...

Bsky is a platform famed for its denizens calling for empathic understanding of everything except Israel (empathic doesn't mean to condone -- you do understand that, right?) Anyway this is an excellent analysis of the most self-propagandised people on earth: Israelis when it comes to Iran.

"Why do Israelis believe the war against Iran should have continued, when the global consensus is that starting it was a very bad idea?" -- my latest for @newlinesmag.bsky.social is on the implications of the rift between Trump and Netanyahu. newlinesmag.com/running-note...

What’s remarkable about all this stuff is the stolen valor. You didn’t build shit, you won a birth lottery. You are a podcaster not Emperor Vespasian. bsky.app/profile/just...

"Why do Israelis believe the war against Iran should have continued, when the global consensus is that starting it was a very bad idea?" -- my latest for @newlinesmag.bsky.social is on the implications of the rift between Trump and Netanyahu. newlinesmag.com/running-note...

In recent months Israeli law enforcement has arrested dozens of Israelis suspected of spying for Iran. Most of them are impoverished and had no idea that their "handlers" -- whom they connected with via free messaging apps and online job boards -- were Iranian agents.

Does Israel dream of becoming Dubai? The gov't is importing hundreds of thousands of foreign workers from poor countries who come on 5 year visas to do the jobs Israelis do not want and Palestinians cannot have. But the policy comes at a cost, which I wrote about for @newlinesmag.bsky.social

AOC on possibly running for the Senate or President: They assume my ambition is a title or a seat. My ambition is way bigger than that. My ambition is to change this country. Presidents come and go, elected officials come and go, single payer healthcare is forever.

I was surprised to learn recently that outside of Israel few people knew that Sara Netanyahu is not only deeply corrupt, but bonkers and possibly a full-blown alcoholic who drinks a case of pink champagne a week. So I wrote about her for @newlinesmag.bsky.social newlinesmag.com/running-note...

"Nuance is difficult in a political climate that rewards simplicity" Do read this excellent (and nuanced) piece by @hannahweisfeld.bsky.social of @yachad.bsky.social for @prospectmagazine.co.uk about the mess that is our current debate on antisemitism www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/argument/733...

When it attacked Iran, Israel nearly dragged the UAE into a regional war. Why, then, is the relationship between the two countries now stronger than ever? For @newlinesmag.bsky.social I spoke to some well-placed experts who provided fascinating insights. newlinesmag.com/running-note...

When it attacked Iran, Israel nearly dragged the UAE into a regional war. Why, then, is the relationship between the two countries now stronger than ever? For @newlinesmag.bsky.social I spoke to some well-placed experts who provided fascinating insights. newlinesmag.com/running-note...

The leaders of Israel's political opposition just announced that they believe they can win enough seats in the upcoming election to form a gov't and oust Netanyahu -- without the help of the Arab-Palestinian parties. But political analysts say this is highly unlikely. newlinesmag.com/running-note...

The leader of Israel's opposition says he can oust Netanyahu without the Arab-Palestinian parties, with which he refuses to countenance an alliance. But most analysts say this won't be possible. My article for @newlinesmag.bsky.social newlinesmag.com/running-note...

The international furore over a photograph of an Israeli soldier destroying a crucifix in southern Lebanon seemed louder than reactions to the displacing of 1.2 mil Lebanese or the genocide in Gaza. Why? My analysis for @newlinesmag.bsky.social newlinesmag.com/running-note...

Why have major conservative Catholic intellectuals like Adrian Vermeule, Patrick Deneen, Robert George and R. R. Reno been silent about Trump's diatribes against Pope Leo, even as other conservative Catholics — like Bishop Barron — have spoken out? My latest piece. newlinesmag.com/running-note...