I’ll leave the exit poll commentary to the more experienced pollsters. But at the end of this very long night, I am thinking about a protest I covered back in February. Tens of thousands of Arab citizens of Israel took to the streets of Tel Aviv - joined by smaller numbers of Jewish ones - demanding an end to the violence that has plagued the Arab sector for all of Ben-Gvir’s tenure as National Security Minister. At the end of the night, after the speeches were over and most people had cleared out, members of the Pink Front - one of Israel's largest activist groups - and a handful of protesters stayed behind to chant and drum a little longer. This group, led by many artists and performers, is used to taking the lead at demonstrations and marches - and they're very good at it. I've watched them countless times arrive at events that were just getting started, or that needed an infusion of energy, and galvanize entire crowds very quickly. That's how this particular circle began as well. Pink Front members handed over their megaphones to the Arabs, and started with some of their familiar chants. But there was a hesitation among the young men, who couldn’t quite find their rhythm. It took less than a minute for the Pino Front members to read the situation and course-correct. They stepped back, giving space so that those whose lives are most directly affected could take the lead. And you can see them do exactly that, proudly and powerfully. Those who didn't know Arabic listened for a few rounds before tentatively joining in. Activists stood shoulder to shoulder, but with the Arabs standing just a little taller (literally). "Raise, raise, raise your voice. Enough, our people, of your silence." Tonight, once again they have raised their voices. As the prime minister attempted to scare his base into voting for him, by sending out frantic warnings that the Arabs “were galloping to the polls” they did exactly that, in record breaking numbers. The Arab parties secured an historic 18 seats. And many believe they now hold the key to each bloc’s ability to form a government. Change isn’t coming. It has come. “Raise, raise, raise your voice.” The world is listening.

Spontaneous cheers heard in the streets of Tel Aviv. Lots more to come.

Also: one man’s Hasbara is another man’s scare tactic

There’s always two phases of Hasbara - the ones who create it and the ones who share it. Looking over this list, it’s a lot of phase 1ers - those who know that a) the apartheid accusation refers to Palestinians living under occupation in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza, b) the Knesset voted to ban all Arab parties c) Arab Israelis are subject to plenty of discrimination both systematic and societal. As soon as your Aunt Phyllis posts it on Facebook, that’s how you know we’re in phase 2.

By the way, answers his own question twenty minutes later but that’s of course not the message being pass around Bibi supporter WhatsApp groups.

Let me sum up the entire comment section for you: 75%: “Because of October 7 we should definitely keep doing the exact same thing we were doing before, on, and after October 7! It hasn’t worked until now which is how we know we have no choice but to continue doing it!” 25%: “Only more so.” Voted with my soul and my brain. Zero regrets.

Moshe Fieglin, leader of the Identity Party, has said many times he believes all babies in Gaza should die. And that soldiers should refuse orders to distribute humanitarian aid. But people are freaking out because he wants to close the airport on Shabbat.

Sometimes there’s a nuanced argument to be had about someone legacy, about the timing of honest critique versus letting their loved ones mourn. Not today though. Today the world is just a little less racist, a little less cruel. Increase that amount by doing something kind for someone who doesn’t look like you, whose life is harder than you can possibly imagine. Someone the world and the system have been impossibly unfair to. Do it in Sheffi’s name. Because she would have hated that.

One of the things the Hasbarati LOVE to do is take a cause they do not support, and in fact actively campaign against, and co-opt it for their own agenda. This rally was held by hostages and and victims of Oct. 7 and their families. For three years, they have been demanding a general commission of inquiry to investigate the failures of October 7, which the government refuses to do because they do not want the truth to come out. There are literally dozens of influencers in Israel right now, not a single one showed up. Nor are any of them posting anything about it other than “Look at our democracy! We win again.” The second the hostages came home and could no longer be used to defend Israel’s actions in Gaza or accuse anyone and everyone of antisemitism , the Hasbarists completely stopped talking about them. Occasionally, when something good happens like a wedding or a birth, they will dust them off again for their “Am Yisrael Chai! This is what victory looks like!” propaganda. But actually amplifying their pleas for answers? Acknowledging the families who feel deserted by their own government, both then and now? Literally never.

Respectfully, Kindly f*cking spare me with your anger over Brad Lander and the IMMEDIATELY debunked lie that they needed a permit to be there. One day. Jewish settlers beat the sh*t out of a journalist, a handful of Palestinians no one is talking about, and some diplomats and they were under arrest for one day. And a bunch of “proud Jewish Zionists” I know have decided to divvy up their rage in the following way: 100% for Brad Lander taking a selfie while he was detained. 0% for the Jewish terrorists using the Torah to justify breaking a sixty three year old woman’s ribs and almost ripping her finger off. On Shabbat.

🚨Hasbara Warning🚨 “We were just lynched.” Yeah, so I would be more inclined to take you seriously if 30 seconds after it happened you weren’t setting your “terrorist attack” to music and posting it in multiple reels. “I’m just a regular person that was visiting “ No you’re not. You are full-time influencers who went on an organized trip with Regavim, the pro-settlement movement founded by Bezalel Smotrich and Yehuda Eliahu, hoping to get the exact experience you are now filming. “I can’t really focus or be a person right now.” But not to worry, I managed to pull myself together in order to churn out the content I came here for - the big “gotcha” of showing nice homes in Turmus Ayya, which somehow makes it okay that settlers beat the shit out of elderly Palestinian women because other Palestinians have two story houses.

1. The Bat Signal has definitely gone up because the Hasbaratti are pouring into Israel right now. (For the elections, possibly?) 😭 2. Which means we can expect lots of “Look, an Arab person literally allowed to exist! Apartheid accusation DESTROYED!!!” content in the coming days. 🙄 3. This woman definitely said to her friends, “Oh my God, look! Black people! I have to get a photo.” 😩 4. The fact that seasoned international war journalists are still not allowed into Gaza because it’s “too dangerous,” but the Real Housewives of Hasbara are being given the guided tour simply defies comprehension. 🤯