![Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) sits after speaking at the opening of the winter session of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem October 14, 2013. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX14AZX](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/10/Knessetbibi.jpg/Knessetbibi.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=9IJ-QQtg)
![Mazal Mualem](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2022-09/mazal%20book%202.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=28S04G5r)
In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics
Mazal Mualem is a columnist for Al-Monitor's Israel Pulse and formerly the senior political correspondent for Maariv and Haaretz. She also presents a weekly TV show covering social issues on the Knesset channel. She is the author of "Cracking the Netanyahu Code" (published 2022). On Twitter: @mazalm3
![Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) sits after speaking at the opening of the winter session of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem October 14, 2013. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX14AZX](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/10/Knessetbibi.jpg/Knessetbibi.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=9IJ-QQtg)
![Rabin.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/10/Rabin.jpg/Rabin.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=tAL-Uhbe)
![Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is silhouetted as he arrives to deliver a statement to the media at the Knesset, Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem July 22, 2013. Netanyahu will seek formal cabinet backing for reviving U.S.-sponsored peace talks with the Palestinians, an Israeli official said, after pro-settler ministers threatened to try and thwart the initiative. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX11V4Y](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/10/BibiSilhouette.jpg/BibiSilhouette.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=L0hwcWnc)
![Palestinian protesters run away as an Israeli military bulldozer clears a road block placed by the protesters during clashes at a demonstration against the nearby Jewish settlement of Kdumim, in the West Bank village of Kfar Kadum, near Nablus June 8, 2012. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR33A9S](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/10/wo%20state.jpg/wo%20state.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=QwD2Ys0C)
![Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing, speaks in the newly opened 'Li Ka-shing Centre for Health Information and Discovery' at Oxford University in Oxford, southern England May 3, 2013. REUTERS/Oli Scarff/Pool (BRITAIN - Tags: BUSINESS POLITICS EDUCATION ELECTIONS SOCIETY) - RTXZ8S1](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/10/LiKaShing.jpg/LiKaShing.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=K6SrioMh)
![Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men mourn during the funeral of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the spiritual leader of the ultra-religious Shas political party, in Jerusalem October 7, 2013. More than half a million mourners turned out on Monday for the funeral of Yosef, an Iraqi-born sage who transformed an Israeli underclass of Sephardic Jews of Middle East heritage into a powerful political force. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION OBITUARY) - RTX1431P](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/10/RabbiOvadiaFuneral.jpg/RabbiOvadiaFuneral.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=dClWemCn)
![Surrogate mothers (L-R) Daksha, 37, Renuka, 23, and Rajia, 39, pose for a photograph inside a temporary home for surrogates provided by Akanksha IVF centre in Anand town, about 70 km (44 miles) south of the western Indian city of Ahmedabad August 27, 2013. India is a leading centre for surrogate motherhood, partly due to Hinduism's acceptance of the concept. The world's second test tube baby was born in Kolkata only two months after Louise Brown in 1978. Rising demand from abroad for Indian surrogate mother](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/10/Pregnant.jpg/Pregnant.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=1cAUw4Qg)
![Israel's President Shimon Peres (R) meets head of the Bayit Yehudi party Naftali Bennett at Peres' residence in Jerusalem January 31, 2013. Peres began talks with political parties on Wednesday over who should form a new government and appears certain to ask incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to assemble it. REUTERS/Sebastian Scheiner/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR3D6TK](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/10/Bennett.jpg/Bennett.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=CzTE-eeK)
![Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pictured on a television monitor while addressing the 68th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York October 1, 2013. REUTERS/Adrees Latif (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3FHES](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/10/DoubleBibi.jpg/DoubleBibi.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=yTI5SB3p)
![Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, also seen on a television monitor, addresses the 68th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York October 1, 2013. Netanyahu said on Tuesday the only way to peacefully stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons is to combine tough sanctions with a credible military threat and that Israel was ready to stand alone in defending itself. REUTERS/Adrees Latif (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3FHF1](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/10/Netanyahu%20speechpublic.jpg/Netanyahu%20speechpublic.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=JYDYzkls)
![Former Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman is seen in Jerusalem's magistrate court at the continuation of his trial April 25, 2013. Lieberman was indicted on charges relating to the promotion of an Israeli diplomat who had illegally given him information about a police investigation against him. The allegations led Lieberman, a key ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to resign from cabinet last December. REUTERS/Uriel Sinai/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS CRIME LAW) - RTXYZC4](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/09/Libermantrial.jpg/Libermantrial.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=VruqWg2o)
![Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during the inauguration ceremony of a hi-tech industry park in the southern city of Beersheba September 3, 2013. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY) - RTX135KM](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/09/Bibi%20%283%29.jpg/Bibi%20%283%29.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=djwTEiet)