Anshel Pfeffer

Latest from Anshel Pfeffer

Digging up Chanukah history lesson for Israel's coming battle with Iran

While they won't admit it on the record, many in the security establishment prefer a deal to no deal

5 min read

High-school students take part in an excavation by the Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA) in Lachish Forest near the southern city of Kiryat Gat on November 16, 2021. - A Hellenistic fortified structure destroyed and burned by Hasmoneans was uncovered during an IAA excavation in Lachish Forest, in the Judean Shephelah. "The buildings devastation is probably related to the regions conquest by the Hasmonean leader John Hyrcanus in around 112 BCE," according to IAA archaeologists. Weapons, burnt wooden beams, and dozens of coins found at the site show tangible evidence of a battle between the Hasmoneans and the Seleucids some 2,100 years ago. (Photo by GIL COHEN-MAGEN / AFP) (Photo by GIL COHEN-MAGEN/AFP via Getty Images)

Will all this wailing over the wall end in tears for the ultra-Orthodox?

5 min read

Strutting global stage... then battling over budget

2 min read

Exclusive interview: A new kind of PM pitching high-tech Israel to the world

5 min read

Poor Benny Gantz, forever Israeli politics’ nearly man

The Defence Minister hasn't given up his ambition to become PM, but it won't happen in this government

6 min read

October 28, 2021 16:50

Minister of Defense Benny Gantz arrives to a cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem on September 5, 2021. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90

As Rabin is mourned, do these ‘Me Too’ claims bury Peres’ legacy?

Historic allegations against the former PM raise a particular problem for Labour leader Merav Michaeli

6 min read

October 21, 2021 14:38

Israeli Premier Yitzhak Rabin (front) and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres shout at members of the right-wing Likud party during a debate on the peace process between Israel and the PLO at the opening summer session of the Knesset (Israeli parliament) in Jerusalem 18 April 1994. Rabin pledged that terrorism would not stop the peace process, even as four Israelis were wounded in an attack by a Islamic fundamentalist with an axe. / AFP PHOTO / MENAHEM KAHANA (Photo credit should read MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images)

A brutal battle for power... at the Jewish Agency?

With front runner Elazar Stern out of the race an unprecedented political fight has begun

5 min read

October 14, 2021 15:18

Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett and German chancellor Angela Merkel visit at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial museum in Jerusalem on October 10, 2021. Photo by Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90

Welcome to the spy game, but do keep it secret, PM

Naftali Bennett needs to learn from Bibi how to use Mossad's work to maximum effect

5 min read

October 7, 2021 18:40

Welcome to the spy game, but do keep it secret, PM

Even centre stage at the UN, can Bennett ever escape shadow of  you-know-who?

Israel's PM is running the risk that being non-Netanyahu will define his entire term in office

4 min read

September 30, 2021 14:47

Even centre stage at the UN, can Bennett ever escape shadow of  you-know-who?

They once called it the new ‘Munich’. But can Israel now live with a nuclear deal with Iran?

The Bennett government increasingly sees the deal as an efficient if imperfect arms-control treaty

4 min read

September 23, 2021 12:01

2FN00YJ Tehran, Iran. 11th May, 2021. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah ALI KHAMENI speaks during a visual meeting. According to the Iranian Supreme Leader official website, Khamenei urged all the nations in the world to condemn Israel brutal and cruel crime against Palestine. Credit: Iranian Supreme Leader'S Office/ZUMA Wire/Alamy Live News

What was the truth behind Bennett’s meeting in Egypt?

As it nears its 100 day mark the contours of the Israeli government's foreign policy are becoming clear

5 min read

September 17, 2021 14:14

In this photo provided by Egypt's presidency media office, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, right, meets with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Monday, Sept. 13, 2021. This is the first official visit by an Israeli premier since 2010, when then-President Hosni Mubarak hosted a summit with Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. (Egyptian Presidency Media office

Can King Bibi afford to wait to reclaim his throne?

With his influence on the wane the chance of Netanyahu removing Bennet's government seems unlikely

5 min read

September 9, 2021 17:37

Former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a state memorial ceremony marking 7 years since Operation Protective Edge at the National Memorial Hall at the entrance to the military cemetery on Mount Herzl, June 20, 2021. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90

Finally it arrived: the year Bibi lost

Netanyahu's vaccine plan succeeded, but even that couldn't keep him in power

7 min read

September 2, 2021 18:09

LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 06: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives to meet British Prime Minister Theresa May on Downing Street ahead of a meeting at Number 10 on June 6, 2018 in London, England. Mr Netanyahu is currently on a European tour in an effort to rally support from leaders to scrap the existing Iran nuclear deal. (Photo by Jack Taylor/Getty Images)

Fires could well have been so much worse

Israel narrowly survived its forest fires, next time it may not be so fortunate

6 min read

August 19, 2021 17:46

Israeli self-propelled howitzers fire towards Lebanon from a position near the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona following rocket fire from the Lebanese side of the border, on August 6, 2021. - Lebanon's Hezbollah movement said it fired "dozens" of rockets Friday at open areas of the disputed Shebaa Farms district, drawing retaliatory Israeli strikes for a second straight day. It is the first time that Hezbollah has directly claimed an attack on Israel since 2019, as tensions boil along the border following a week of tit-for-tat exchanges. (Photo by JALAA MAREY / AFP) (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel surprised by Biden’s strength on Iran

Israeli diplomats and intelligence officials have been surprised, pleasantly, by the Biden team, writes Anshel Pfeffer

6 min read

August 5, 2021 11:41

US President Joe Biden speaks in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on March 31, 2021. - President Biden will unveil in Pittsburgh a $2 trillion infrastructure plan aimed at modernizing the United States' crumbling transport network, creating millions of jobs and enabling the country to "out-compete" China. (Photo by JIM WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel grapples with third dose dilemma

As the number of new cases of Covid spike in Israel’s fourth wave of the pandemic, Naftali Bennett and his cabinet face a challenge which is as political as it is medical

5 min read

July 29, 2021 14:52

Coronavirus COVID-19 single dose small vials and multi dose in scientist hands concept. Research for new novel corona virus immunization drug.

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Anshel Pfeffer

Latest from Anshel Pfeffer

Digging up Chanukah history lesson for Israel's coming battle with Iran

Will all this wailing over the wall end in tears for the ultra-Orthodox?

Strutting global stage... then battling over budget

Exclusive interview: A new kind of PM pitching high-tech Israel to the world

More from Anshel Pfeffer

Poor Benny Gantz, forever Israeli politics’ nearly man

As Rabin is mourned, do these ‘Me Too’ claims bury Peres’ legacy?

A brutal battle for power... at the Jewish Agency?

Welcome to the spy game, but do keep it secret, PM

Even centre stage at the UN, can Bennett ever escape shadow of you-know-who?

They once called it the new ‘Munich’. But can Israel now live with a nuclear deal with Iran?

What was the truth behind Bennett’s meeting in Egypt?

Can King Bibi afford to wait to reclaim his throne?

Finally it arrived: the year Bibi lost

Fires could well have been so much worse

Israel surprised by Biden’s strength on Iran

Israel grapples with third dose dilemma

Even centre stage at the UN, can Bennett ever escape shadow of  you-know-who?