Israeli elections

Israeli far-right Minister Itamar Ben Gvir attends a gathering by right-wing activists near the border with Gaza, on Oct. 21, 2024, calling to establish a new Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip.

Israel’s Ben-Gvir visits US Monday, set to meet Trump officials: What to know

While avoiding official travel to the US during the Biden administration, Israel's far-right minister is set to embark on a weeklong trip there next week, where he is expected to meet with Trump officials.

Amir Levy/Getty Images

What does Netanyahu's judicial law mean for Israel's separation of powers?

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Yesh Atid's Karin Elharar slammed the new composition of the nominating committee for judges, a move, she said, toward the government’s goal of eroding the judiciary's power.

Yair Golan in Tel Aviv on Feb. 2, 2025.

Interview

Amid Israel's rightward shift, left struggles for relevance

In a special interview with Al-Monitor, Yair Golan, leader of center-left party the Democrats, insists that the Palestinian Authority must play a pivotal role in the future administration of Gaza.

Yair Golan

Yair Golan

Chair of the Democrats Party

Israeli soldier and kids use binoculars during a Sukkoth gathering, calling for resettling Gaza with Jewish communities near the border with the Gaza Strip on Oct. 21, 2024 in Southern Border, Israel.

Why Israel's far right is embracing Trump’s Gaza displacement plan

Israel's far right is elated by President Donald Trump's calls to drive Gazans away from the Strip and resettle them in other Arab states.

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Analysis

Netanyahu teeters between Trump’s demand to end war, coalition threats

SAEED JARAS/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Analysis

Netanyahu goes all in on Trump: Accepts Gaza deal, shifts to Saudi Arabia and Iran

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 28: U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu participate in a joint statement in the East Room of the White House on January 28, 2020 in Washington, DC. The news conference was held to announce the Trump administration's plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (Photo by Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images)

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Analysis

Why is Sara Netanyahu still in Miami as Israel PM faces health, other crises?

Sara Netanyahu arrives for her husband Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to a joint meeting of Congress at the US Capitol on July 24, 2024, in Washington, DC. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

Analysis

Could Trump intervene against ICC arrest warrants to help Netanyahu?

US President Donald Trump with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu(R) at the White House, Washington, DC, Sept. 15, 2020.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

In this handout image provided by the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shakes hands with US Congressman Kevin McCarthy (L) at the Prime Minister's office on

McCarthy to invite Israel's Netanyahu to Washington if Biden doesn't

In his first abroad as speaker of the US House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy criticized President Joe Biden for not yet inviting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House.

Workers hang a Blue and White Party billboard showing its leader Benny Gantz and Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Analysis

Israel’s Netanyahu sinks in polls as Gantz, Bennett jockey to replace him

Public opinion indicates the life expectancy of Israel’s current government could shorten, with former Defense Minister Benny Gantz and former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett vying to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

A print house worker rolls up a Likud party election campaign poster that shows former Israeli Prime Minister and Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu on October 19, 2022 in Rosh HaAyin, Israel. Legislative elections will be held in Israel on 1 November 2022 to elect the members of the twenty-fifth Knesset. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)

Analysis

Israel's Netanyahu backed into corner as far-right demonstration backfires

A new poll shows a dramatic decline in support for the governing coalition as competing protests in Israel contribute to the chaos.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis attends a press conference at the Museum of Tolerance on April 27, 2023 in Jerusalem, Israel. Ron DeSantis, the Republican governor of Florida and an anticipated US presidential candidate, has been visiting several countries as part of a trade delegation. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)

In Israel, DeSantis slams Biden’s MidEast policies 'alienating the Saudis'

Visiting Israel, Ron DeSantis is set to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has yet to be invited to the White House under President Joe Biden.

This picture taken on August 5, 2022 shows Israeli Iron Dome defence missile system battries, designed to intercept and destroy incoming short-range rockets and artillery shells, in the city of Ashdod in southern Israel. - Israel's army said its air strikes in Gaza today killed an estimated 15 enemy combatants, warning that the operation against the Islamic Jihad militant group was not over. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Multi-front war with Iran proxies irks Israel despite deterrence

Unlike the surprise multi-front attack against Israel in 1973, the threats Israel faces today are much more splintered, but no less deadly.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Iranian and Saudi foreign ministers in China

Analysis

Saudi-Israeli normalization drifts further away as Riyadh courts Iran

The planned visit by a Hamas delegation to Riyadh reflects Saudi Arabia's new diplomatic priorities, which do not include normalization with Israel.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Burhan

Analysis

Sudan turmoil throws wrench into normalization with Israel

Sudanese leaders declared a few months ago that full normalization with Israel will take place only when a civilian transition government is established, now less likely than ever as military infighting continues.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP via Getty Images

Breaking | Last Updated: April 14, 2023, 8:33 pm

Moody’s downgrades Israel’s credit outlook

Despite calls by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog, Moody's has changed Israel's credit outlook from "positive" to "stable."

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives in Downing Street to meet Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, London, England, March 24, 2023.

Israel’s Netanyahu falls in polls, could abandon judicial overhaul

Pressured by security threats, bad polls and criticism from the White House, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tries saving whatever is left to save of his status.

Worshippers visit the tomb of the Virgin Mary in Jerusalem on March 19, 2023 following an attack by Israelis. - The Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem condemned the "heinous" attack that took place during Sunday mass at the Church of the Sepulchre of Saint Mary. (Photo by HAZEM BADER / AFP) (Photo by HAZEM BADER/AFP via Getty Images)

Jordan, Israel spar over access to Christian holy sites in Jerusalem

Israel blames Jordan for escalating tensions on Temple Mount, while Jordan accuses Israel of restricting Christians from Jerusalem's Holy Sepulcher Church.

sraeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir (C) greets Israeli settlers dressed in Purim costumes as he walks in al-Shuhada street, largely closed to Palestinians, in the city centre of the flashpoint city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank on March 7, 2023. (Photo by HAZEM BADER / AFP) (Photo by HAZEM BADER/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel's Ben-Gvir's push for a National Guard could give him own militia

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's plans for a National Guard under his command has its origins in the 2021 communal violence between Jews and Arabs, but the security establishment is not on board.

Palestinians stand inside the Al-Aqsa mosque as Israeli security forces watch at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, also known as the Temple Mount complex to Jews, in Jerusalem on April 9, 2023, during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, also coinciding with the Jewish Passover holiday. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel bans visits of Jews to Temple Mount in last 10 days of Ramadan

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision rejected the request of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.