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Articles by Chani Kaplan
Israel exists. So is Zionism still necessary? Young Israelis weigh in
For a generation born decades after independence, the question is no longer simply whether Jews have the right to a state, but what Zionism means now that the state exists. The word itself predates the modern political movement. Zion, a biblical name for Jerusalem, has represented the Jewish people’s religious and historical connection to the Land of Israel for centuries. The longing to return to Zion has remained part of Jewish prayer, tradition, and identity throughout generations of exile.
Israel votes like it's 1920. Should it still?
ByCHANI KAPLANOCTOBER 13, 2026 17:23 The ballot slip offers a choice of party. It offers no way to move a candidate up the list or push another down. Across Israel, voters choose from the same lists, with the order of candidates settled before Election Day. That small piece of paper contains a larger question: how much influence should voters have over the people who represent them, beyond choosing their party?
We're just in survival mode': Israel's new normal after October 7
During his first call-up in December 2023, she was alone with their newborn, without family in the country. Her husband was away for months. At home in Karmei Gat, the war was close enough to hear. “We would hear booms and our house would shake,” Yeger told The Jerusalem Report.
Where are the women? Israel heads to elections, just one woman leads a party
But the story of women in Israeli politics is not simply one of persistent underrepresentation. Between 1999 and 2015, the number of women elected to the Knesset more than doubled, from 14 to 29. Since then, progress has largely stopped. Across the last five elections, between 28 and 30 women were elected to the 120-seat parliament. As of February 2026, 31 women were serving as MKs. While Israel has stalled, other democracies have continued moving ahead.
'When I say clueless, we were clueless': Olim navigate Israeli politics
“When I say clueless, we were clueless,” she told The Jerusalem Report in a recent interview. This time, she is determined not to be. Rowland has spent time with her Hebrew teacher learning political vocabulary, researching candidates, and understanding a system that can be difficult to navigate even for veteran Israelis. “I’ve made it my mission not to feel clueless,” she said.
'Be you, be awesome': the Israeli DJ dancing to a billion views
Today, millions of children know him by another name: DJ Raphi. The Israeli content creator, DJ, dancer, and entrepreneur has quietly built one of YouTube’s largest family dance communities, attracting more than 1.6 million subscribers and surpassing one billion views. His biggest audience is not in Israel but in the United States, where schools, summer camps, and community centers regularly project his videos for hundreds of children at a time.
A week inside the echo chamber: How Jew-hatred moved from fringe to feed
In truth, I wouldn’t have known where to begin. Accessing the dark web requires software and technical knowledge well beyond an ordinary web browser. So I stayed on the open Internet. For seven days, I watched the conversations unfold. Every few minutes, another thread appeared on 4chan’s /pol/ board – an anonymous, politically incorrect, and highly volatile discussion subforum known for far-right politics and conspiracy theories.
Crowded bars, missing tourists: Tel Aviv refuses to sleep, even as tourist arrivals plunge
Then the elevator doors closed. Floor 17. The room waiting upstairs told a very different story. What first appeared to be a simple suite slowly unfolded into something far more indulgent. Two balconies opened directly onto the Mediterranean. There were two televisions, two bathrooms, a bath and separate shower, a couch positioned toward the windows, wine chilling nearby, and a carefully arranged spread of chocolates, macarons, fruit, and sparkling water laid out across the table.
Israel's desert wines gain appellation, offering tourism a reason to look South
In May, the Negev was officially recognized as a protected Geographical Indication (GI) wine region under the name “Negev.” The designation formally recognizes the desert as a distinct wine-producing region stretching from Kiryat Gat to Eilat, joining internationally recognized appellations whose wines are linked to a specific place and territory. The region includes a consortium with more than 60 wineries and vineyards producing over one million bottles annually.
The American dilemma: Young Israelis embrace the alliance, but resist US influence
Watching American support arrive in the immediate aftermath of Hamas’s attack reinforced the importance of the relationship. Watching Washington later pressure Jerusalem over military operations raised a different question. How much influence should a foreign government have over Israel’s security decisions? For decades, the United States has been Israel’s closest ally. Since October 7, that relationship has become even more visible.
'I'm going there either way': Why Jewish athletes still choose Israel for Maccabiah
For athletes, the postponement disrupted years of preparation. For organizers, it raised larger questions: whether delegations would still come, whether countries would approve travel, and whether an international Jewish sporting event could still take place in Israel during wartime. Yet this summer, the games are expected to return. The Maccabiah began with the vision of Yosef Yekutieli, a Belarus-born immigrant who was inspired by the 1912 Stockholm Olympics.
'Digital Warrior': How a lone soldier shaped Israel's global narrative after October
“I have always been a video editor,” Lester, 31, a former lone soldier and current creative strategist at Humanz, an AI-powered influencer marketing platform, told The Jerusalem Report in a recent interview. The decisions that followed were less about career than about regret. At a Christians United for Israel conference during her senior year, she met a man who said he regretted not having served in the IDF. Lester left with a question she couldn’t shake: What would she regret not doing?
Beyond the strikes: How healthcare is holding Israel’s displaced together
The explosion came while she was across the street. Danit Garcia-Dincin had stepped into a supermarket in Beersheba for a few minutes when the sirens began. By the time she got the call, her daughter was already in the shelter, screaming. The missile had hit nearby. Within minutes, the street was filled with emergency crews. Her building was no longer safe. Windows shattered. Walls exposed. Everything inside was covered in glass and dust.
Fake missiles, fake deaths: AI is rewriting Israel's war reality
Benjamin Netanyahu stands in a café holding a cup of coffee, speaking to the camera. It looks like just another one of his social media videos addressing the Israeli public in an attempt to boost morale during wartime. But then he begins to talk, smirking as he references a rumor spreading online that he was killed in an Iranian strike. The video is meant to put the claim to rest. He jokes about the rumor and continues speaking as if the absurdity of it all should be obvious.
Inside the Eli Cohen museum in Herzliya
ByCHANI KAPLANMARCH 4, 2026 13:32 The ascent to the Eli Cohen Museum begins in a narrow building in Herzliya. Three staircases. Round and round, step after step, until the noise of the street falls away. At the top, a wood-paneled room wrapped in shelves. Papers and photographs line the walls. The space feels enclosed, deliberate – as if we are entering a secret place. Secret, like the man at its center, whose life unfolded behind layers of concealment, the museum reveals itself slowly.
The paradox of women in Israeli society
ByCHANI KAPLANFEBRUARY 24, 2026 11:15 Israeli women are visible almost everywhere. They serve in the military, dominate classrooms and welfare services, and make up a large share of the workforce. During war and crisis, that visibility only intensifies. Women are described as resilient, capable, and indispensable. Yet the structural picture tells a different story. Political representation has stalled. Wage gaps remain wide. Domestic violence is rising.
Local Testimony: How photography preserves a year of crisis
Ilia Yefimovich, a Russian-born Israeli documentary photographer and photojournalist and curator of Local Testimony 2025, describes the competition, and its accompanying exhibition, as a selection mechanism – a yearly decision about what will remain visible when memory becomes contested. In Israel, history doesn’t wait politely to be archived. It arrives mid-crisis, mid-argument, and mid-grief – and then gets rewritten in real time.
Inside the quiet crisis of reservists’ families
Jerusalem Post/Jerusalem Report Israeli nonprofit helps reservist wives navigate war's toll on the home He went to the front. She became the commander of the house. Inside the unseen war fought by Israel’s reservists’ wives. The first wives pilot healing retreat in Romania. For many of these women, it was their first safe space to talk honestly about their feelings and the challenges they face.(photo credit: MAAYAN DISKIN) ByCHANI KAPLANDECEMBER 16, 2025 14:53Read More See more on
Haredi draft debate shifts quietly inside classrooms
Jerusalem Post/Jerusalem Report 'A movement takes time': How one rabbi is slowly changing the haredi draft debate Behind protests and politics, a quiet revolution is reshaping ultra-Orthodox attitudes toward military service. Ultra-Orthodox Jews carry a banner in Hebrew that reads, “to prison and not the army,” during a “million man” protest against military conscription, in Jerusalem October 30, 2025.(photo credit: Am Kadosh/Reuters) ByCHANI KAPLANDECEMBER 2, 2025 14:30Read More See more on
Israeli sports
Chani Kaplan
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Playing from behind, Israeli flag football draws up a Hail Mary for Olympic kick-off
With limited resources and growing anti-Israel hostility in sports amid ongoing war, the men’s and women’s squads are training hard for a coveted spot at the 2028 Games in LA With flag football set to make its debut at the 2028 Olympic Games, Israel’s national teams have their eyes on competing in the inaugural tournament on the world’s biggest stage.
Mené au score, le flag football israélien tente un coup de poker pour le coup d'envoi des JO
Alors que le flag football fera son entrée aux Jeux Olympiques de 2028, les équipes nationales israéliennes ont les yeux rivés sur le match inaugural, qui se jouera sur la plus grande scène mondiale. Mais les États-Unis, pays hôte, étant à ce titre qualifiés d’office dans les compétitions masculine et féminine et ces deux catégories n’accueillant que six pays, il ne reste que cinq places pour le reste du monde.
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