Susie Becher, at The Blogs

Aug 15, 2024, 9:19 AM

From Military Invasion to Military Occupation

Israeli soldiers at a staging area near the Israeli-Gaza border, October 20, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

On August 11, Haaretz published an editorial titled “Israel’s Hostages Must Return. The War in Gaza Has To End.” Public sentiment is largely behind the position expressed in the first part of the headline. Most Israelis want the hostages...

Jul 9, 2024, 6:48 AM

Annexation is an open secret; recognition is the obvious response

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich at a press conference in Jerusalem in August 2023 (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

On June 21st, the New York Times reported on a document published by Peace Now about a conference held by the Religious Zionism party at which Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich briefed the audience on administrative moves taken by the...

Jun 24, 2024, 3:27 AM

Recognizing Palestine: From Byproduct of Violence to Best Prospect for Peace

Ambassadors Ana Sálomon Pérez of Spain, Per Egil Selvaag of Norway, and Sonya McGuinness of Irelands at the Foreign Ministry watching footage of female soldiers being abducted from the Nahal Oz base on October 7 on May 23, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

It is beginning to look as if the US veto of the UN Security Council vote on granting the State of Palestine full membership in the United Nations will not stem the tide of recognition that is gaining momentum....

May 15, 2024, 10:07 PM

The Death of Nuance

Protestors wrapped in Israeli flags march in New York City on October 8, 2023. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)

Among the casualties of the barbaric Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7 and the subsequent Israeli onslaught on the Gaza Strip has been recognition of the complexity of the conflict and the mix of positions any one...

Apr 19, 2024, 7:59 AM

Mr. Prime Minister, Take the Mulligan

Prime Minister Netanyahu calls President Biden from IDF military headquarters on April 14. (GPO)

It isn’t often in international relations that one gets to take a mulligan,* but that is exactly what the Iranian missile attack on Israel gave to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wartime coalition. Within days of the barbaric Hamas...

Mar 18, 2024, 2:56 AM

What They Did Then and What We Do Now

Palestinians in Rafah line up for water on November 13, 2023. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

On March 11, two seemingly unrelated events occurred at a distance of some 7.5 thousand miles from each other. In the war-torn Middle East, a bus carrying 68 Gaza orphans made its way from Rafah to Bethlehem, and in...

Feb 25, 2024, 11:13 PM

The Mother of All Opportunities

National Security Minister Ben-Gvir (left) joins Prime Minister Netanyahu to congratulate the troops who took part in a hostage rescue operation in Gaza on February 12, 2024. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)

The immunity that Israel has enjoyed to date despite years of violating international law is coming to an end. If it is to survive, Israel must make sure that the Netanyahu reign comes to an end first. Entrenched in the...

Jan 5, 2024, 11:11 PM

Genocide in thought and word is not without consequence

IDF soldiers expose Hamas tunnel in Gaza, November 2023 (IDF/screenshot)

Without judicial intervention to end the incitement sweeping the Israeli airwaves, the public may end up blinded to the possibility of any political solution. With the International Court of Justice (ICJ) scheduled to begin hearings next week on South Africa’s suit...

Dec 19, 2023, 2:44 AM

Featured Post

Evolution of a take-no-prisoners culture

Supporters accompany Elor Azaria on his way home after his release from prison on May 18, 2018 (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

The killing of 3 Israeli hostages by Israeli troops reflects a record of soldiers shooting first and asking questions later

Nov 6, 2023, 5:23 AM

Self-Defense Is Not a License To Kill

IDF soldiers operating in the Gaza Strip on Nov. 4, 2023 (Israel Defense Forces)

Most Israelis don’t understand how the outpouring of sympathy on October 7th turned so quickly into accusations of war crimes. They don’t see that the issue is not the fact of the war on Hamas but the manner in...

About Me

Susie Becher is Managing Editor of the Palestine-Israel Journal, a collaborative quarterly published in Jerusalem; is Communications Director of the Policy Working Group, a team of senior academics, former diplomats, human rights defenders, and media experts who advocate for an end to the occupation and a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; and serves on the Steering Committee of Zulat, an activist think tank advocating for human rights and equality in Israel.