Political Essays collected by Oded Goldreich

Essays related to the academia have been moved to a designated webpage [click here].

On this page I intend to post some politically-related essays that I liked (and have obtained an e-version of). Unless stated otherwise, the essays are in Hebrew.

Material available below

This list has been getting too long, so I'm breaking it into sections.

The Pillars of Society, painting by George Grosz, 1926.
The War, painting by Otto Dix, 1932.

The evil we got used to (2003-15)

The Carrot for the Rich, the Stick for the Poor, Arie Caspi, April 2003.
What enables non-philosophy in Philosophy? by Anat Matar, 2006.
The Supreme Court for Justice and the Occupation, by Ronen Shamir, August 2007.
The Philosophical is Political, by Anat Matar, 2007.
Get Out!, art against the war in Gaza, January 2009.
On the context of the academic boycott on Israel, by Anat Matar, May 2010.
Israel and the Financial Crisis (in English), by Shlomo Swirski, Feb 2011.
Hedonism, Freedom, and Struggle, by Eva Illouz, July 2011
It is the Salary, by Orly Benjamin, July 2011
On the Bedouim and the Negev, by Oren Iftachel et al, 2012.
On Myth vs Reason in Judaism, by Noga Wolff, Feb 2012.
On the concentration of capital and weakening of labor in the last deacde, by Efraim Davidi, May (1st) 2012.
On the university vs oppression, by Dimitry Shumsky, July 2012.
The track record of the Left, by Eva Illouz, Dec. 2012.
The fear of the Nazi in us, by Orna Ostreicher, Jan. 2014.
On the possibility of a ``Jewish Intellectual'', by Eva Illouz, Apr. 2014.
On the breadth and depth of secularity, by Eva Illouz, June 2014.
On Fascism in Israel, by Ofer Cassif, July 2014.
The army of revenge, by Uri Misgav, August 2014.
No place to go, by Ilana Hammerman, Sept. 2014. [English translation]
A public debate regarding Bagatz's authority to nullify legistraltion, Oct/Nov 2014. [my opinion is on pages 28-29.]
A short history of inhumanity, by Eva Illouz, Feb. 2015. Cont'ed in On apologies, July 2015.
Two general paragraphs on the relation of culture to government, in a report on a farewell party for a former minister, by Noam Ben-Zeev, Mar. 2015.

Alarming signs (2015-22)

A slim notion of the rule of law: Turkey and Israel, by Avi Rubin, May 2015.
Is the Zionist Camp ripe for a change?, by Maya Rosenfeld, May 2015.
Arabs should not joke, by Asaf David, November 2016.
Nationalism as a smoke screen - Take 1000, by Dov Hanin, May 2017.
The right-wing (in Israel) is not fixable, by Uri Misgav, June 2017.
Basic principles vs Utilitarianism: The case of separate-but-equal in IL universities, by Menny Mautner, July 2017.
On the political significance of Rabin's murder, by Assaf Sharon, Nov 2017.
On wars against civil population, by Yirmiyahu Yovel, Jan 2009, republished June 2018.
As Israelis, we call on the world to intervene (in English), by Ilana Hammerman and David Harel, June 2018.
Yes, Making the Galilee Jewish again is racism, by Rogel Alpher, July 2018.
On the nation law versus the declaration of independence, by Brig.Gen. Amal Asad, July 2018.
On the constitutions of nation states - a brief comparison, by Yuval Shany, Aug 2018.
The nationalistic-right agitates and the journalists collborate, by Ravit Hecht, Aug 2018.
The Oslo agreement did not fail, it was failed, Gush Shalom, Sept 2018.
I don't fear (to resist)!, David Enoch, October 2018.
Beyond MeToo: The revolution should maintain the commitment to some old moral principles, by Eva Illouz, Oct 2018
On the educational myths of Neo-liberalism, by Gil Gertel, Feb 2019
The new discourse of the Nationalistic Front in IL, by Raef Zreik, Apr 2019
On the meaning of sovereignty, by Yair Assulin, May 2019
Not everything is in our head, by Alon Idan, Oct 2019
The attack on the secular state, by Eva Illouz, Jan 2020
Why Anti-Bibi is significant, by Meron Rapaport, July 2020
how to live under the COVID, by Raya Leibowitz, Sept 2020.
The collapse of politics, by Yigal Eilam, Nov 2020.
Ruling by Fear, by Eva Illouz, Dec 2020
In support of Merav Michaeli, by Sami Shalom Shitrit, March 2021.
The elections will not change much, by Michael Sfard, March 2021
Reconciliation cannot be based on denial, by Ayman Odeh, April 2021
Which compromises are justified for the new govt, by Michael Sfard, June 2021
Identity Politics as a smoke screen for opportunism, by Orly Noy, July 2021.
A taste of IL police, by Noya Rimalt, July 2021.
The police is broken, body-worn cameras will start its fixing, by Roman Bronfman, August 2021.
It is the innocence which constitutes the crime (Take 2), by Maya Rosenfeld, August 2021.
Apartheid as a universal notion, by Michael Sfard, Sept 2021.
The strategy: Unity among the Arabs, partnership with the Left, by Odeh Bisharat, Nov 2021.
The Settlers' Avantgarde and the KKK, by Michael Sfard, February 2022.
On Legitimating Racism, by Mordechai Kremnitzer, March 2022.
We are not extremists, you are blind, by Ayman Odeh, April 2022
Ayman Odeh reminds the Zionist Left of the main issue, by Dimitry Shumsky, April 2022.
Entering the 56th year of the occupation, by Michael Sfard, June 2022
Universal Education and who opposes it, by Gil Gertel, August 2022

A new scale of evil (2023--)

The lady doth protest too much, methinks (or on the excuses for eliminating judicial review), by Mordechai Kremnitzer, January 2023.
On the three govt-planned revolutions by Almog Bahar, January 2023.
On the rhetorics of the populist revolution in IL: distorting the past, misrepresenting the present, and endangering the future, by Mordechai Kremnitzer, February 2023.
An analysis of the govt-planned revolution as aimed at eliminating judical critique of govt activities, by Barak Medina, February 2023.
On the wrong claims of the planned judicial revolution, by Y. Edrey, February 2023.
On the notion of test of reasonability, by Y. Zamir, February 2023.
What is being attacked is the notion of Truth, by Yoana Gonen, March 2023.
On the fundamental flaws underlying the president's outline for a judicial reform, by Mordechai Kremnitzer, March 2023.
People are not born cruel, they become cruel in a society that legitimizes cruelty, by Alon Idan, March 2023.
From Nationalism and Negative Nihilism to Nazism, by David Ochana, March 2023.
The New Judaism: Superiority, Oppression and Force, by Menachem Klein, March 2023.
What defines a modern totalitarian state, by Avrum Burg, May 2023.
Hollow Democracy, by Assaf Sharon, May 2023.
Genuine objection to the jewish supririty agenda defines an alternative vision, by Meron Rapoport, June 2023.
A Jewish and Democtratic State: A historical analysis, by Barak Medina, July 2023.
On Violence [In English], Judith Butler, Oct 2023.
Reports on opinions in Gaza by Amira Haas and Jecki Houri, October 2023.
On the need for non-superficial thinking at this very time, by Neta Achituv, October 2023.
What should be done now?, by Orly Noy, October 2023.
The anti-democratic transformation continues under the fog of war, by Ayman Odeh, October 2023.
Longing to the routine , by Yuval Plotkin, November 2023.
Seeking Life rather Death requires a different strategy , by Jonathan Mendel, November 2023.
In favor of forgetting, by Yehuda Elkana, 1988. (OG: In light of the re-incarnation of the Holocaust discourse, Nov 2023.)
The police oppresses liberties (of the Palestinian citizens of Israel) and the BAGATZ remains silent, by Mordechai Kremnitzer, November 2023.
The reason for lack of empathy towards Israel, by Menny Mautner, November 2023. [Extracted from Two Surprises]
The real divide within Israel is about the Palestinian question, by Carolina Landesman, January 2024.
On the Hamas and its Oct 7th attack, by Menachem Klein, January 2024.
Shame on Israel, by Hanin Majadli, January 2024.
On what happened in Gaza since 1991, by Amira Haas, February 2024.
Hamas: The Islamist Golem? [in English], by Assaf Kfoury, February 2024.
The fascists celebrate, but maybe not for long, by Meron Rapaport, March 2024.
Why objection to the war on Gaza will fail, by Tamar Amar-Dahl, March 2024.
[See reference to a prophecy by Yoash Foldesh, 14-10-23]
Eulogy to Walid Daka, by Anat Matar, April 2024.
On the blindness of Israel's Academia, by Rachel Minsky, April 2024.
Denying reality requires a liar, by Tamar Amar-Dahl, April 2024.
Half a year later: The road not taken, by Haggai Matar, April 2024.
Why do decent people hate Israel?, by Kobi Niv, May 2024.
On denying the Nakba, by Alon Idan, May 2024.
On the departments of hell, by Yoana Gonen, May 2024.
The Crtique of Israel is not Antisemitic, by Noga Wolff, June 2024.
Focusing on killing or on living, by Orly Noy, August 2024.
the big lie (of IL), by David Ricci, August 2024.
The Road to Totalitarianism: No Truth and No Norms, by Noga Wolff, August 2024.
Violence: from a norm to a goal, by Noa Epstein, Sept 2024.
The New Israel: The Final Moral Collapse, by Guevara Bader, Sept 2024.
How did the crimes committed in Gaza become possible, by Maya Rosenfeld, Oct 2024.
On the emotional transformation of politics, by Amalia Saar, Dec 2024.
On Gaza's Destruction, by Ariel Handel and Mori Ram, Dec 2024.
The essence of neu-fascism is the objection to reason, by Ofra Rudner, Mar 2025.
The de-humanization of the residents of Gaza leads to de-humanization of the citizens of IL, by Dror Mishani, Mar 2025.
The war on Gaza will end but Israel's crimes will never be forgotten, by Awni Almashni, Mar 2025.
On the abuse of the notion of complexity, by Ilana Hairston-Lotan, May 2025.
Israel Prize of a new Israel, by Mordechai Kremnitzer, July 2025.
Israel Today: Violance as Identity, by Yehudit Karp, July 2025.
Holocaust in Gaza, by Orit Kamir, July 2025.
McCarthyism in IL's Judicial system, by Ariel Porat, August 2025.
Waking up from the Zionist Lie, by Odeh Bisharat, August 2025.
On the cognitive dissonance of Israelis, by Orly Noy, Oct 2025.
Five brief comments on the history of PL/IL, by Yoseph Rapoport, Nov 2025.

Let me end with a nice quote of Emile Habiby: We, politicians, realize that sighing, like swearing, does not make any difference. Hence, our action must spring from reality, no matter how painful it is, to move it forward, not backward, towards a possible normative change, not a reckless, unfeasible one. Nevertheless, despite our realism, can we prevent humans from sighing, and the oppressed from swearing?

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