Democratic backsliding and the constitutional blitz

The aim of this paper is to analyze the acceleration of the democratic backsliding Israel experienced between January 2023 and April 2023 during the first session of the 25th Knesset and the 37th government in Israel. We explore the factors that contributed to this process. Our goal is to determine whether there are any elements that are unique to Israel in this regard that distinguish it from other countries that have experienced such backsliding in recent years. To do so, we utilize an event history analysis based on a timeline of the actions of the members of the 37th government. The analysis shows that the four incentives that aligned together before the election of the 25th Knesset and the creation of an extreme right-wing government accelerated the backsliding of Israeli democracy. The unique factor that distinguishes Israel from other countries is the indictments of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The conclusions offer several insights for Western democracies from the Israeli case.

Collision Course: How Iran and Israel Brought the Middle East to the Brink of War

ABSTRACT This policy analysis asks: what has caused and now sustains the violent escalation cycle that is re‐defining the Middle East and how will this all end? It analyses Iran and Israel's grand strategies. It argues that both employ force to achieve strategic depth and both bifurcate the region into two blocs doomed to constantly fight for hegemony. Equally, they both share the same flaws. Israel and Iran alike prioritise conflict management over conflict resolution. But neither are effective are achieving this pessimistic goal. Concurrently, the ongoing conflict has precipitated a role reversal in Iran and Israel's regional visions. Israel is a traditionally a status quo power, whereas Iran has followed a revisionist grand strategy. However, it is Israel that is now the region's peremptory revisionist power. This is because the October 7 attacks have caused Israel to no longer tolerate hostile actors on its borders. Equally, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seeks a1967 moment: a regional reordering in Israel's favour. Conversely, Iran is now an increasingly status quo power; it seeks a cease‐fire in the current conflict because it feels that it is losing and needs to preserve its regional assets.

Hamas's October 7 Attack: Analysis of an “Antagonistic” Crisis

ABSTRACT The aim of the article is to interpret the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023 in light of crisis management theories, seeking to draw from this event some general lessons about the nature of crises, their determinants, and how they are managed. More specifically, the article addresses three questions: (1) Why did Israel underestimate the warning signs and fail to prevent the attack? (2) What decision‐making logic did the Israeli government adopt in responding to the attack? (3) What kind of crisis is the one being analyzed? In the article, it is proposed to adopt the category of “antagonistic crises,” that is of crises that are caused by human beings, who act intentionally with the stated goal of getting the other party into trouble. The logic of appropriateness is used to interpret the response to the attack by the Netanyahu government.

The Peace Penalty of Backsliding: Autocratization and Interstate Conflict Worldwide (1970–2023)

ABSTRACT Objectives This study examines how autocratization—through democratic backsliding or authoritarian deepening—alters the conditions under which states engage in interstate conflict. Drawing on selectorate theory, it argues that as leaders dismantle institutional checks and consolidate power, the winning coalition (W) supporting them narrows relative to the selectorate (S). Smaller coalitions heighten leaders’ dependence on elites and weaken accountability to the broader public, reducing the domestic costs of war while increasing its strategic value for political survival. Methods A global analysis of 155 countries (1970–2023) measures autocratization as 5‐year declines in the V‐Dem democracy index and assesses their association with subsequent war risk. Results The results show that declines in democratic quality significantly raise the probability of interstate conflict, with sharper drops producing stronger effects across models. Comparative evidence from Russia and Israel illustrates the mechanism: shrinking coalitions under Putin and Netanyahu reinforced reliance on narrow elite networks, turning external conflict into a means of domestic power consolidation. Conclusion These findings reveal a “peace penalty” of autocratization—magnifies incentives for leaders in launching interstate war. Future research should disaggregate these dynamics to examine how autocratization shapes conflict initiation, escalation, and strategy across varying institutional contexts.

Law, Power, and Language: A Comparative Study of Western Responses to the ICC’s Netanyahu-Gallant Warrants

Book Review Guy Ziv (2024) Netanyahu vs the generals: The battle for Israel’s future. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 266 pp., ISBN: 1009425692

Beyond Mere Words: Unveiling the Speech Acts behind Netanyahu’s October 7 Speech

A Generic Hybrid Framework for 2D Visual Reconstruction

Known Unknowns: Out-of-Distribution Property Prediction in Materials and Molecules

XVertNet: Unsupervised Contrast Enhancement of Vertebral Structures with Dynamic Self-Tuning Guidance and Multi-Stage Analysis

Chest X-rays remain the primary diagnostic tool in emergency medicine, yettheir limited ability to capture fine anatomical details can result in missedor delayed diagnoses. To address this, we introduce XVertNet, a noveldeep-learning framework designed to enhance vertebral structure visualizationin X-ray images significantly. Our framework introduces two key innovations:(1) An unsupervised learning architecture that eliminates reliance on manuallylabeled training data a persistent bottleneck in medical imaging, and (2) adynamic self-tuned internal guidance mechanism featuring an adaptive feedbackloop for real-time image optimization. Extensive validation across four majorpublic datasets revealed that XVertNet outperforms state-of-the-art enhancementmethods, as demonstrated by improvements in entropy scores, Tenengrad criterionvalues, the local phase coherence sharpness index (LPC-SI), and thetone mappedimage quality index (TMQI). Furthermore, clinical validation conducted with twoboard-certified radiologists confirmed that the enhanced images enabled moresensitive detection of subtle vertebral fractures and degenerative changes. Theunsupervised nature of XVertNet facilitates immediate clinical deploymentwithout requiring additional training overhead. This innovation represents atransformative advancement in emergency radiology, providing a scalable andtime-efficient solution to enhance diagnostic accuracy in high-pressureclinical environments.