Middle East Briefs
Middle East Briefs deliver concise, accessible analyses of pressing political, social and economic issues. By addressing misconceptions, offering crucial historical and social context, and introducing fresh insights, they deepen our understanding of the region’s complexities.
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March 2025 – Israel's Domestic “Perfect Storm”
Middle East Brief 165 (Summary) — On August 17, 2025, nearly a million Israelis took to the streets in what may have been the largest protest in the country’s history. In our latest Middle East Brief, Shai Feldman argues that this unrest was the culmination of more than two years of growing polarization, driven by four converging crises: government efforts to weaken the judiciary and other democratic gatekeepers, the shock and fallout of Hamas’s October 7 attack, competing objectives in the Gaza War, and intensifying debates over unequal military service, especially ultra-Orthodox exemptions. Feldman contends that together these pressures have created Israel’s domestic “perfect storm” and are likely to intensify in the months ahead, with mounting costs and deeper polarization.
Shai Feldman is the Raymond Frankel Professor in Israeli Politics and Society and the founding director of the Crown Center for Middle East Studies.
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The opinions and findings expressed in the Middle East Briefs belong to the author(s) exclusively and do not reflect those of the Crown Center or Brandeis University.