Jerusalem Report

Israel digs up the West Bank – and reignites a battle over history

As Israel expands excavations in the West Bank, ancient ruins become entangled in a modern political struggle over land, history, and identity

|ByRUTH MARKS EGLASH
Workers and volunteers on an archaeological dig sift through dirt at Alexandrion/Sartaba in the Jordan Valley.
Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu plants a flag at the archaeological site Sartaba in Judea and Samaria.

Israel's Heritage Minister: Palestinians destroying archaeological sites like ISIS did in Syria

Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu on archaeology, sovereignty, and the battle over history in Judea and Samaria

|ByRUTH MARKS EGLASH
The Strait of Hormuz, the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean, making it essential for international energy.

Strait of Hormuz: The 40-kilometer chokepoint holding the world economy hostage - analysis

The short-term disruptions and long-term transformations in the world’s most critical energy corridor

|ByYUVAL EYLON
Visitors to the Israel Antiquities Authority’s new center in Jerusalem look at items such as jewelery, makeup brushes, and weapons that had been stolen by antiquities thieves.

Hunting for stolen history: Inside Israel’s fight to recover its looted past

Israel’s antiquities watchdog is battling black-market theft, forgery, and a global trade that strips history of its story

|ByRUTH MARKS EGLASH

How lies became weapons in the war on the West - opinion

From Soviet propaganda to Qatari petrodollars, the long campaign to destabilize the West has relied less on armies and more on narratives

JANUARY 13, 2026ByRUTH WASSERMAN LANDE
Palestinian women walk past a mural of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in Hebron on the 21st anniversary of Arafat’s death. Ruth Wasserman Lande argues that the Palestinian narrative was created by the Soviet Union.

Between two worlds: Mohammad Magadli, an Arab voice in Israeli media

Israeli Arab journalist Mohammad Magadli is working to bridge the gap between Arab and Jewish media.

JANUARY 13, 2026ByDANA BEN-SHIMON
Israeli-Arab journalist Mohammad Magadli bridges the divide between Israeli and Arab media in Israel.

Global media coverage frames Israel as a criminal state - analysis

A comparative analysis of leading international media outlets shows how legal rhetoric is overwhelmingly applied to Israel – and rarely to Iran

JANUARY 13, 2026ByROBERT NEUFELD, SHLOMI BREZNIK
A civilian retrieves personal belongings from the rubble of his house in Tel Aviv after a ballistic missile fired from Iran struck the city on June 23, 2025.

Toward strategic self-reliance: Israel beyond US military aid - analysis

The next memorandum of understanding should be a transition – from reliance on Washington to strategic self-reliance and true partnership

JANUARY 13, 2026ByERIC R. MANDEL
US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hold a press conference after meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, US, December 29, 2025.

It’s time for Israel to allow journalists into Gaza - opinion

Independent, firsthand reporting is the best way to give the public the most complete picture of war and its consequences

JANUARY 13, 2026ByTANIA KRAEMER
In the immediate aftermath of Hamas’s attack on October 7, 2023, foreign media reported from the devastated Israeli communities along the Gaza border under rocket fire.

Israel's recognition of Somaliland sends warning to Turkey, Iran, Syria - opinion

Israel’s recognition of Somaliland has sent shockwaves through the region and chills down the spines of authoritarian leaders

JANUARY 13, 2026ByJONATHAN CONRICUS
Somaliland, a de facto state that has governed itself for more than three decades, holding elections, maintaining security, and building institutions, even as it remains largely unrecognized by the international community.

Gaza reveals future of urban combat western armies aren't prepared for - opinion

The war in Gaza was modern urban war, not genocide, writes Andrew Fox in his latest research paper for the Henry Jackson Society

JANUARY 13, 2026ByANDREW FOX
Israeli army soldier holding a mounted machine gun in front of destroyed buildings in the vicinity of the Jordanian Field Hospital in Gaza City.

When governments gag the press, democracies collapse - opinion

Why current government reforms threaten one of Israel’s last democratic safeguards – the media

JANUARY 13, 2026ByHANAN MELCER
Israeli journalists gathered last month for an emergency meeting to discuss the government’s proposed reforms to the media landscape.

Stone, arches and memory: Jerusalem's enduring Mediterranean architecture survives

Inside Jerusalem’s Arab houses, where architecture outlives empires and residents

JANUARY 13, 2026ByJAY GARFINKEL
Bisharat House, with its triple-arched veranda, is a feature of Jerusalem’s Mediterranean villa style.

Happy(ish) New Year: Holocaust remembrance as warning in an age of resurgent antisemitism

A new year invites hope – but Holocaust Remembrance Day nears amid violent antisemitism. This issue looks back to warn: preserve names, memory, and truth.

DECEMBER 30, 2025ByRUTH MARKS EGLASH
As International Holocaust Remembrance Day approaches we ask whether the lessons of the past have taught us anything?