Teach constitutional rights, human rights & policy advocacy @ Princeton University. Founder, Princeton Policy Advocacy Clinic. Former ACLU attorney for 20 years
Princeton, NJ
Joined February 2013
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My two decades at the ACLU, before coming to Princeton, taught me the importance of cross-ideological convergences as a way to create sustainable change. It's been an honor to continue this work @Princeton, bringing stakeholders together to solve problems princeton.edu/news/2025/09/0…
Udi Ofer retweeted
The voters of EVERY change bloc party including Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu prefer a coalition with Ra’am (with outside backing from the Joint List) than a unity government with Netanyahu.
Udi Ofer retweeted
The Democrats’ Yair Golan and Ra’am’s Mansour Abbas met today to underline their commitment to a Jewish-Arab coalition government.
Thousands of Israelis are signing letters of support for such a government.
Eisenkot, Bennet and Lapid, perhaps even Liberman — will they rise to the challenge?
Udi Ofer retweeted
I don’t know, guys. If you don’t look at Arab politics and see fundamentally different rhetoric and strategies from 20 years ago, then you aren’t actually looking at Arab politics. You’re just reading Likud talking points about it.
There’s a massive anti-Israel and anti-Zionist sentiment in the Arab street. Probably 60% of Arab political representation openly represents that sentiment. And also, there’s a powerful and growing demand to join coalitions, including with the right, to work with state institutions, to integrate into Israeli mainstream society, and so on.
Arab political parties that leave aside their ideological uniqueness and unite in a demand for a seat at the table always improve turnout in the Arab street. Always. For eight elections in a row now, that rule has held. Raam has grown dramatically, specifically because it brought a Zionist Jew into its list as its crime czar and promised its voters to tackle real world problems by working *with* Israeli state institutions, instead of against them.
It is entirely possible for the Arabs of Israel to both feel deeply Palestinian, deeply wary of Israel’s Jewishness, and deeply desiring of greater integration with their Jewish neighbors.
Don’t let anyone make excuses for the many anti-Israel radicals in those lists. But also, it’s simply a lie to pretend that the new and growing desire to integrate isn’t happening.
Welcome to real life, where two seemingly opposite things can be taking place at once.
Udi Ofer retweeted
Israel’s Arab citizens are equal citizens whose votes deserve equal respect. We stand with our liberal Israeli allies calling for a pluralistic democracy that treats Arab parties as legitimate partners in shaping Israel’s future.
Haaretz Explains: As the final results show a clear picture of this election's results, there are three possible scenarios to pay attention to | Linda Dayan
🔗Follow Haaretz's election here: haaretz.com/israel-news/elec…
Credit: Itai Ron; Rami Shlush; Itay Cohen; Tomer Appelbaum; Olivier Fitoussi
Udi Ofer retweeted
So much about Israel’s future will be decided by whether enough people, and therefore politicians, think as clearly as the writer of this post below.
בוקר טוב לכל המיואשים, תכינו קפה ותקראו את מה שיש לי להגיד לכם.
תנשמו רגע. בחוץ השמש זורחת, הציפורים מצייצות, ובחצי מהקלפיות עוד לא סיימו לספור את הפתקים. אבל אתם כבר באבל. כבר אורזים מזוודות בראש, מחפשים דירה בברלין או באתונה, ומספידים את המדינה. למה? כי הסתכלתם בטלוויזיה וראיתם שאחרי ארבע שנים מהגיהנום, האיש ההוא עדיין מקבל עשרים ושבעה מנדטים.
כן, זה דופק את המוח. באמת. אחרי שבעה באוקטובר שהם מסרבים לחקור, אחרי אלפי ימי מילואים של הילדים שלנו מול השתמטות חרדית ממוסדת, ואחרי שראש ממשלה עומד מול מצלמות ומבטיח לנו בשיא הרצינות מלחמת נצח וכלכלת בלוקצ׳יין עוקפת סנקציות כמו איזו קרטל קולומביאני, אחרי כל זה, חצי מדינה עדיין שמה מחל וש״ס ובן גביר.
מה זה אומר על מדינת ישראל? שחלק גדול ממנה חי בכת. שפוליטיקה של זהויות, פחד ושנאה חזקה יותר מהמציאות עצמה. שאנשים יעדיפו לאכול חצץ בקריפטו ולשלוח את הילדים של השכן לעזה, רק כדי לא להודות שהם טעו. זה עצוב, זה מדכא, וזה פסיכי לגמרי.
אבל תקשיבו לי טוב: זה פשוט לא צריך לעניין אותנו הבוקר.
תפתחו רגע מחשבון של כיתה ג׳. לנתניהו אין רוב. יש לו 56 מנדטים. בצד השני של הכנסת יושבים 64 מנדטים שרוצים שהוא ילך הביתה. חמישים ושש זה פחות משישים וארבע. גם בבלוקצ׳יין. וזה עוד לפני שספרו את המעטפות הכפולות של המילואימניקים, שעוד יכולים להעביר את הנדל ולהפוך את כל התמונה.
אז מאיפה הייאוש שלכם? כי התרגלתם לשחק לפי החוקים הגזעניים שנתניהו המציא. התרגלתם למחוק מהחשבון חמישה עשר מנדטים של ערבים. עשרים אחוז מאזרחי ישראל. רופאים שמצילים את סבתא שלכם במיון באיכילוב, רוקחים, מהנדסים, אנשים שחיים פה ומשלמים מסים. אם אנחנו מוחקים את הפתק שלהם בקלפי ואומרים שהוא לא נספר, במה אנחנו יותר טובים מבן גביר? מה זה אומר עלינו כבני אדם וכדמוקרטיה אם קול של משתמט שמסרב להתגייס שווה יותר מקול של רופא ערבי בחיפה?
״אבל בנט ואיזנקוט וליברמן הבטיחו בקמפיין שלא יישענו על הערבים״, אתם ממלמלים לתוך הקפה. אחלה. אז הם יפרו הבטחה. ביג דיל. נתניהו לא עמד באולפנים ונשבע שבן גביר בחיים לא יהיה שר אצלו בממשלה? הוא היה מפר עשר הבטחות כאלה עוד לפני הקפה של הבוקר כדי להציל את עצמו.
חלאס להתייפייף. נגמר הזמן לנימוסים של צופים בזמן שהבית בוער.
עם 64 אצבעות בכנסת לוקחים עוד השבוע את תפקיד יו״ר הכנסת, משתלטים על הוועדות, מקימים ועדת חקירה ממלכתית ל-7 באוקטובר, מעבירים חוק גיוס לכולם, ומקימים ממשלת חילוץ בתמיכה חיצונית. בלי להתנצל ובלי למצמץ.
תרימו את הראש ותתחילו להפעיל לחץ כבד על המנהיגים שהצבעתם להם. ההחלטות שיתקבלו בימים הקרובים יחרצו את גורלה של מדינת ישראל. זה המבחן של כולנו.
Progressives in America should be standing in solidarity right now with people in Israel who are calling for a Jewish-Palestinian unity government. The time is now.
I wish that the American Left would rally right now for an Arab-Jewish unity government in Israel. This is the moment to do so. The votes are there; what's needed is the political and social movement behind it.
This is a post from 11 years ago by one of Israel's Arab parties mocking Netanyahu's scare tactics. Yet it's as relevant today as ever.
In yesterday's elections in Israel, Arab voter turnout was 80% and Jewish voter turnout was 78%.
In the United States presidential elections of 2024, overall voter turnout was 63.7%
With 92.8% of polls now reporting out of Israel, I wanted to share my top 10 takeaways from yesterday's vote in Israel:
- First, we should celebrate the fact that there was historic voter turnout. People who live in Israel, regardless of religion, ethnicity, sex or geographic location, clearly care about the future of the country. That is good for democracy.
- Second, the Israeli public is deeply divided. If anyone ever tells you "this is what Israelis think" be skeptical. There is no single voice representing Israel.
- Third, support for Likud and Benjamin Netanyahu is down significantly. While Likud got the most votes out of any other party, it received only 20.7% of the vote, down from 23.4% in 2022. It will likely have six fewer seats in the next parliament, a major blow to its power.
- Fourth, Gadi Eisenkot, the leader of Yashar, the main opposition party, got 16.2% of the vote. That is about 220,00 fewer votes than Netanyahu received, a significant difference that cannot be ignored.
- Fifth, the Joint List, one of the primary Israeli Arab parties, led by Yousef Jabareen, received 9.2% of the vote, a significant increase from the 6.7% it received in the last election, meaning that it will have 12 seats in the next parliament, up from five in 2022.
- Sixth, when you combine the Joint List with Ra'am (aka United Arab List), led by Mansour Abbas, Israeli Arab parties received 15% of the vote, a huge increase from 2022. Combined, Israeli Arab parties are slated to have 19 seats in the next parliament, a huge increase of nine more seats.
- Seventh, all combined with other smaller parties, this means that the current government of Netanyahu would have only 53 seats in parliament, a decrease of 11 seats.
- Eighth, the two main opposition blocks combined have 67 seats, composed of 48 seats aligned with Gadi Eisenkot, and 19 seats aligned with Israeli Arab parties.
- Ninth, the clear winners of this election are Israeli Arab parties. For American readers, you probably know very little about them because they are a blind spot in America, including on the Left and Right. Yet they matter. America, and people in America who care about the future of Israel and Palestine, must pay more attention to Israel's Arab parties.
- Tenth, considering all the attention that Itamar Ben Gvir receives (rightfully so), it must be noted that he and his party, Otzma Yehudit, received only 5.5% of the vote.
With 92.8% of polls now reporting out of Israel, I wanted to share my top 10 takeaways from yesterday's vote in Israel:
- First, we should celebrate the fact that there was historic voter turnout. People who live in Israel, regardless of religion, ethnicity, sex or geographic location, clearly care about the future of the country. That is good for democracy.
- Second, the Israeli public is deeply divided. If anyone ever tells you "this is what Israelis think" be skeptical. There is no single voice representing Israel.
- Third, support for Likud and Benjamin Netanyahu is down significantly. While Likud got the most votes out of any other party, it received only 20.7% of the vote, down from 23.4% in 2022. It will likely have six fewer seats in the next parliament, a major blow to its power.
- Fourth, Gadi Eisenkot, the leader of Yashar, the main opposition party, got 16.2% of the vote. That is about 220,00 fewer votes than Netanyahu received, a significant difference that cannot be ignored.
- Fifth, the Joint List, one of the primary Israeli Arab parties, led by Yousef Jabareen, received 9.2% of the vote, a significant increase from the 6.7% it received in the last election, meaning that it will have 12 seats in the next parliament, up from five in 2022.
- Sixth, when you combine the Joint List with Ra'am (aka United Arab List), led by Mansour Abbas, Israeli Arab parties received 15% of the vote, a huge increase from 2022. Combined, Israeli Arab parties are slated to have 19 seats in the next parliament, a huge increase of nine more seats.
- Seventh, all combined with other smaller parties, this means that the current government of Netanyahu would have only 53 seats in parliament, a decrease of 11 seats.
- Eighth, the two main opposition blocks combined have 67 seats, composed of 48 seats aligned with Gadi Eisenkot, and 19 seats aligned with Israeli Arab parties.
- Ninth, the clear winners of this election are Israeli Arab parties. For American readers, you probably know very little about them because they are a blind spot in America, including on the Left and Right. Yet they matter. America, and people in America who care about the future of Israel and Palestine, must pay more attention to Israel's Arab parties.
- Tenth, considering all the attention that Itamar Ben Gvir receives (rightfully so), it must be noted that he and his party, Otzma Yehudit, received only 5.5% of the vote.
President Trump is wrong to withdraw the United States from the UN Human Rights Council. And the UN Human Rights Council is wrong for once again holding an uncontested election for joining the Council. aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/1…
Udi Ofer retweeted
Unify Chief Operating Officer David Safavian joins the United Justice Coalition Summit to discuss reforming probation and parole.
unitedjusticecoalition.com/p…
Udi Ofer retweeted
Unify CEO Timothy Head - “As a Republican myself, I hope Paxton can keep the Senate seat red. But even more important, as an American, I believe it is critical for our public servants to go above and beyond the call of duty in modeling fealty to the U.S. Constitution and to the voting public over any personal or partisan interests. “
unifyus.us/paxton-should-rec…
Udi Ofer retweeted
According to our guest Udi Ofer (@udiofer_), when it comes to criminal justice reform, your vote matters—especially during the midterm elections. Learn how in the newest episode of the Drugs on the Docket podcast: go.osu.edu/drugsonthedocket
Video description in thread.
Enforced disappearances reach decade-high level and human rights defenders face growing repression. In Afghanistan, Taliban targets women human rights defenders through arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, torture and reprisals against their families. Belarus and Russia imprison human rights defenders and China imprisons Hong Kong lawyer Chow Hang Tung. press.un.org/en/2026/gashc44…
Governor Kay Ivey commutes the death sentence of Toforest Johnson, in disagreement with the state’s top prosecutor. al.com/news/birmingham/2026/…
People keep dying at the St. Louis City jail, and the top causes of death at the jail are untreated medical conditions, drug use or suicide.
themarshallproject.org/2026/…
Udi Ofer retweeted
Setting aside the substance of these proposals, using government resources to run these ads isn’t appropriate.
This kind of activity is one of the things I looking at Cuomo for doing during the Moreland Commission.
On November 3rd, you can Vote on Faster Government.
Visit vote.nyc to find where to vote and what's on your ballot.
Udi Ofer retweeted
TOFOREST JOHNSON'S DEATH SENTENCE HAS BEEN COMMUTED! Gov. Kay Ivey grants clemency in long-running wrongful conviction. I am sobbing with gratitude and relief.
More work to do, but this is a victory for truth and justice. Thank you, God!!!!!!!!!!
Wall Street Journal and Trump's Board of Peace are asking Israel to allow new Gaza police force to exit to Egypt for training. Also asking for agreement to give international forces legal authority to operate in Gaza & to finalize water & sanitation arrangements
A sensible approach to advancing the President’s plan in Gaza by @WSJ:
“…Israelis are united on the end goal. Getting there will likely require doing more to help a friendly Board of Peace.”