On May 20, 2026, Israeli politicians gathered in Jerusalem for a vote to dissolve the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, before the end of its term. The photograph from that moment is one of those images that captures the intensity of democratic life in Israel: legislators locked in debate, hands raised, cameras flashing, a government hanging in the balance. It was a scene of high political drama, and in the aftermath of Israel’s recent national elections, it touched off another kind of drama entirely. Two separate but connected talking points began making the rounds in traditional news outlets and across social media,…

Paragraph1: Politics is rarely just about policies; often, it is about the story told around them. This week in Karnal, the Bharatiya Janata Party sought to take control of that story, wrapping itself in the language of democracy and constitutional duty. As the party’s nationwide “Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao” campaign came to a close, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, and Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar addressed workers with a clear message: do not let the Opposition define what the revision of electoral rolls actually means. The campaign, which had been running since October 22,…