In the Belly of the Whale

10 portraits of Israelis from all backgrounds, depicting the war-torn landscape of recent Israeli history: complicated, polarized, lively, argumentative, and—increasingly—adrift.

“Captures the personal within the political, offering rare insight.” — Unholy podcast, hosted by Yonit Levi and Jonathan Freedland

Renowned journalist Ruth Margalit revisits 10 profiles of Israeli politicians, cultural figures, and iconoclasts spanning a decade of her reporting for The New Yorker and The New York Times Magazine to create a powerful mosaic of the clashing forces that have led to Israel’s current state.

To live in Israel today, Margalit writes, is to be either a whale or a Jonah—trying to make do in the belly of the whale. The profiles in this collection represent both: outsiders trying to make a life in a system designed against them, and insiders hatching plans and amassing power all while riding the twin waves of populism and jingoism.

Returning to these profiles from her current reality as a writer and mother living in Tel Aviv at a time of war, Margalit reexamines the texts in light of a transformed society and self, adding new updates and insights to journalistic portraits she has created over the course of a dozen years.

Incorporating perspectives of Israelis from all strata of society—Jews, Arabs, activists, artists, politicians, and academics alike—Margalit stitches an enlightening patchwork to help readers better understand the seemingly inscrutable politics of a nation in which so many have a deep and abiding interest.