Raoul Wootliff, at The Blogs

Raoul Wootliff

May 18, 2025, 4:35 PM

Israeli demonstrators are seen through Israel's national flag during a protest against plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to overhaul the judicial system, in Caesarea, Israel, March 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Our tradition never taught us to mistake power for righteousness. The Torah calls not for blind allegiance, but for moral accounting.

Apr 6, 2025, 10:41 AM

Featured Post

Israel tariffs wreck the US trade model, along with Netanyahu’s economic legacy

View of the Tel Aviv skyline in a dense sandstorm, September 08, 2015. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

The economic model Netanyahu championed is now being dismantled by the very man he helped normalize and legitimize on the world stage

Mar 30, 2025, 6:45 PM

Would he? Could he? How Netanyahu might delay Israel’s next election

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara casts their votes at a voting station in Jerusalem on September 17, 2019. (Heidi Levine/AFP)

Israeli democracy is on borrowed time. After years of incremental erosion, the democratic backslide is no longer theoretical. It is happening. And if we do not confront this moment with the seriousness it demands, we may soon find ourselves...

Jan 27, 2025, 5:30 AM

Don’t be fooled, we’re losing the war for Israeli democracy

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, MKs and ministers in the Knesset, May 23, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Last night, those who cherish Israel’s democracy celebrated what seemed like a victory: Yitzhak Amit was finally elected as President of the Supreme Court, following months of obstruction by Justice Minister Yariv Levin. The court’s intervention broke the deadlock,...

Nov 26, 2024, 10:00 PM

The martyrs of Caesarea and real meaning of Israeli victimhood

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu embraces his wife Sara as he appears before supporters of his Likud party in Tel Aviv early on April 10, 2019, as election results are announced. (Thomas Coex/AFP)

In the annals of human suffering, certain events transcend the ordinary bounds of tragedy, forcing us to reevaluate the very concept of victimhood. For decades, we’ve naively assumed that loss, pain, and destruction are measured by lives shattered, families...

Oct 10, 2024, 12:56 PM

Featured Post

‘We failed you’: A Yom Kippur confession from Israel’s leaders

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prays at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem on February 28, 2015. (AFP/Pool/ Marc Sellem/ File)

Will the leaders of this government ever say a 'vidui' prayer for ignoring the danger signs and sowing division in the nation?

May 20, 2024, 1:09 PM

How Gantz and Gallant can bring down Netanyahu

File: Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (center) and Minister Benny Gantz (right) embrace, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at left, at a joint press conference at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv on November 11, 2023. (Marc Israel Sellem/POOL)

The recent speeches by Benny Gantz and Yoav Gallant criticizing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for failures in his management of the war, laden with urgency and conviction, have sparked a crucial conversation about Israel’s future beyond the war. Yet...

Nov 12, 2023, 4:13 PM

Featured Post

The unspoken toll across the border

Palestinians look for survivors after an Israeli strike in the Gaza Strip, Sunday, Nov. 5, 2023. (AP/Fatima Shbair)

For the sake of our own humanity, it’s imperative we see the humanity of those suffering on the other side

Nov 3, 2023, 6:20 AM

Israel: A year in the life

In the grand tapestry of time, one year may seem like a mere stitch, a single thread weaving its way through the vast expanse of history. Yet, for Israel, this past year—the 365 days since the November 1, 2022...

May 29, 2023, 2:06 PM

Featured Post

Injustice Minister Yariv Levin

Justice Minister Yariv Levin holds a press conference at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, on January 4, 2023. Photo by Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90 *** Local Caption *** כנסת
מסיבת
עיתונאים
מדבר
שיטת
משפט
שר המשפטים יריב לוין

What kind of justices does Levin purportedly believe the High Court needs? The kind that do not protect minority rights

About Me

Raoul Wootliff is Head of Strategic Communications at Number 10 Strategies, an international strategic, research and communications consultancy. He was formerly the Times of Israel's political correspondent and producer of the TOI Daily Briefing podcast.