@nytimes@nytopinion “I have been coming to Israel for 40 years, through good times and bad. I’ve never seen it in a more damaged state than it is in now — a state in which grief competes with fury and where the target of fury is split between the terrorists who committed the atrocities and the political leadership that left the country exposed to attack.
And beneath the fury, fear”.
Written by Bret Stephens
Thank you Sara Barret, you are the best.
Actor and activist Ariel Bronze @ariel_bronz for @npr
“He’s best known for a performance ten years ago that shocked even the progressive audience he performed for — a conference of the liberal Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
It was a political satire. He was playing the role of an Israeli nationalist supremacist. The Israeli audience didn’t understand the satire, and booed him off the stage. The venue cut the sound system and shut off the lights.
In his final act of defiance before leaving the stage, he stuck an Israeli flag in his behind. He was interrogated by police because of it.”
Story by @danielestrin22
This year I presented my work at the @photovogue Festival and took part in the conversation “No Woman’s Land: Women, Power, and Survival,” alongside @darosulakauri and @maria_abranches , moderated by @anastasiatl
As a photographer from Israel, it meant a lot to share work shaped by such a tense and complex reality and to be part of this conversation.
Huge thanks to @alessiaglaviano , @e_c_a_t_e , @drodgor and the PhotoVogue team for making this happen.
They Have Waited Two Years for the Hostages. These Are Their Rituals @nytopinion@nytimes
Alon Ohel, 24, kidnapped at the Nova music festival.
Every Friday, his mother Idit and sister Inbar braid challah for Shabbat, honoring Alon’s wish to bless wine and bread when he returns.
Omri Miran, 48, kidnapped from Kibbutz Nahal Oz.
Each night, his wife Lishay reads Goodnight Moon to their daughters, Roni, 5, and Alma, 2½ — the book Omri once read to them before bed.
David Cunio, 35, kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz.
His wife Sharon, released with their twin daughters, sometimes returns to their burned home to feel close to him. On a wall, she wrote:
“I will never give up, just as I promised you in Gaza. My heart is yours forever.”
Photographs and Video by Ofir Berman
Text by Sarah Wildman
💛
@nytimes@nytopinion For some 50 families of the hostages taken into Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, the recent talk of a U.S.-brokered cease-fire offers a fragile glimmer of hope, the possibility of ending not only a long and brutal war, but more than 700 days of unbearable waiting.
Of the 250 people kidnapped that day, 148 have returned alive, 57 were brought back for burial, and dozens of families still live in painful uncertainty.
In this story, I photographed the rituals these families have created moments of prayer, memory, and longing to sustain themselves through the endless waiting.
Photographs and Video by Ofir Berman
Text by Sarah Wildman
Huge thanks @jmwender for your dedication and care throughout this project.
@zeitmagazin This portrait is part of a feature about the Israeli hostages and their families, published nearly two years after October 7.
Liron Keren holds on to the hope for her cousin, Rom Braslawski, 19, who was abducted from the Nova festival. Rom, always smiling and full of light, dreamed of becoming a DJ and seeing the world. He is still in captivity - and through Liron we keep telling his story, because he deserves to be known as more than a hostage. @bring_rom_home
Story by Johannes Laubmeier
A few scenes photographed in Kadita during an assignment for L’Obs (@nouvelobs ) in the midst of the war with Iran. Daily life under tension - from quiet moments to seeking shelter. Kadita is a small, off-grid community in northern #israel, known for its alternative lifestyle and remote mountain setting.
Tel Aviv and Bat Yam, June 2025
Over the past 48 hours, Iranian missile strikes hit densely populated areas in central Israel, including Tel Aviv and Bat Yam. At least 16 civilians were killed and dozens more were wounded.
Since the beginning of this round of hostilities, a total of 24 Israeli civilians have been killed by rocket fire. Emergency crews continue to operate on the ground as tensions remain high.
#israel #iran #war
On assignment for @wsj , I photographed a story about the growing presence of women in combat roles in the Israeli army.
As the IDF faces a critical manpower shortage, more front-line positions are being opened to women — from tank crews and combat rescue units to missions along the borders with Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria. Nearly 20% of Israel’s combat soldiers are now women — one of the highest rates among Western militaries. Many have already proven themselves under fire, leading operations and challenging long-standing assumptions about gender and war.
What began as a wartime necessity may ultimately reshape the military for years to come.
Written by Carrie Keller-Lynn
#stopthewar
Orthodox Christian pilgrims gathered in Jerusalem’s Old City on Holy Saturday for the annual Holy Fire ceremony. Held at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre — believed to be the site of Jesus’s tomb — the ritual draws thousands of worshippers each year, who wait for hours in the packed church and surrounding streets to witness the moment when the Holy Fire is said to miraculously ignite.
@szmagazin The Israeli Ohad Naharin is considered one of the best dancers in history. He became famous primarily as the inventor of a dance style called Gaga. This is now also being used in Israel to treat war trauma. #gaga
Interview by Lars Reichard
