Israeli-Gulf relations

Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia, Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 15, 2026.

Israeli president meets FM Wang Yi as reports link China to Iran’s military buildup

Israeli President Isaac Herzog held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussed topics ranging from economic and cultural cooperation to regional security.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog met with Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani

Israel’s Herzog holds rare meeting with Bahraini FM in Azerbaijan

In the framework of an international summit, Israeli President Isaac Herzog met with the Foreign minister of Bahrain Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani.

A giant electoral poster for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party with the slogan "no surrender" is displayed on the facade of a building in Tel Aviv on Sept. 29, 2026

Exclusive

In bid to win over Saudi Arabia, Netanyahu may strike Yemen before elections

Attacks on Iran or its Yemeni proxy before the elections cannot be ruled out, but the Israeli prime minister appears more inclined to support Saudi Arabia against the Houthis in Yemen.

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

Passengers board a flydubai flight, bound for Dubai, before taking off from Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, on Sept. 30, 2026.

Mossad, Shin Bet in UAE: What we know about Israel’s FlyDubai probe

The National Security Council is probing foreign carrier security protocols, while police investigate two senior Transportation Ministry officials suspected of providing private services for aviation companies.

Latest News

Analysis

How Netanyahu is capitalizing on MBZ meeting, FlyDubai attack to gain in election polls

Israeli Prime Minister and Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to supporters at the lectern during a party campaign rally at Expo Tel Aviv on Sept. 17, 2026 in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

Analysis

How FlyDubai attack exposes gaps in Israel-UAE security ties

Abraham Accords signing

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

Explainer

FlyDubai incident spotlights key global link for Israeli travelers

Israelis pick up their luggage upon arrival from Tel Aviv to the Dubai airport in the United Arab Emirates, on Nov. 26, 2020, on the first scheduled commercial flight operated by budget airline flydubai.

Live Updates

FlyDubai flight lands in Tel Aviv after distress alert, Saudi diversion

Flydubai

Adhering to Jewish tradition, Rabbi Levi Duchman burns willow branches.

Culture

Jews celebrate end of Passover in UAE

Muslims and Christians gathered inside the Jewish Council of the Emirates in Dubai upon the invitation of Rabbi Eliyahu Abadi to celebrate together the Mimouna — a Jewish feast that comes seven days after Passover.

A police officer stands guard at the Palestinian Authority side of the Erez crossing in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip.

Gaza rocket won't stop Israel's policy efforts

Defense Minister Benny Gantz has for several months been advancing policies to better the lives of Palestinians, and last Friday's rocket won't derail them.

US President Joe Biden shakes hands with Michael Herzog, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, after the menorah lighting ceremony in celebration of Hanukkah in the East Room of the White House, Washington, Dec. 1, 2021.

Analysis

Israel wants to see improved US-Saudi relations in sign of changed Middle East

Israel's ambassador to the United States also addresses Palestinian political process; violence escalates at Jerusalem holy sites; Hamas focuses on West Bank and resistance dramas; Christian population of Jerusalem dwindles further.

Week in Review

By Week in Review

Herzog

Delisting IRGC as terror group would send 'terribly wrong message,' says Israel's US ambassador

Michael Herzog, Israel's ambassador to the United States, discussed the looming Iranian nuclear accord, chances of a Palestinian political process, the war in Ukraine, Arab-Israeli normalization and more, at a breakfast hosted by Al-Monitor.

Israel biomed

Israeli innovations in medical tech embraced worldwide

In Europe, the US, Africa, and now also in Gulf states, hospitals and healthcare systems are adopting Israeli med-tech companies' new products.

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid (L) welcomes the United Arab Emirates' Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan upon his arrival for the Negev summit, at Sde Boker in the southern Negev desert, Israel, March 27, 2022.

Free trade agreement opens new horizons for Israel, UAE

The economy and trade ministers of Israel and the United Arab Emirates concluded last week negotiations on a ground-breaking agreement for a free trade zone, the first of its kind Israel has ever reached with an Arab country.

Israel's centrist former television anchor Yair Lapid, the prime minister's main challenger, votes at a polling station, in the fourth national election in two years, Tel Aviv, Israel, March 23, 2021.

Israel’s Yair Lapid battered by security, coalition crises

Instead of basking in the success of the regional Negev summit, Foreign Minister and Alternate Prime Minister Yair Lapid must face security challenges and severe coalition crisis.

An Israeli air force F-15 Eagle fighter plane performs at an air show during the graduation of new cadet pilots at Hatzerim base in the Negev desert, near the southern city of Beer Sheva, Israel, June 29, 2017.

For Israel, new Iran deal perhaps better than no deal at all

Officially, Israel is against the negotiated new nuclear deal with Iran, but unofficially, it thinks the new deal would be better than no deal at all.

French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli, and Egyptian Trade and Industry Minister Nevine Gamea.

Egypt, Israel expand economic ties

Cairo and Tel Aviv strengthen trade and economic cooperation and increase their export capacity under the protocol of the Qualified Industrial Zone.

Bahrain's Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Israel's Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Morocco's Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and United Arab Emirates' Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, pose for a group photo following their Negev meeting in the kibbutz of Sde Boker, Israel, March 28, 2022.

Israeli business leaders expect surge in trade with Morocco

Morocco hopes to replicate, and even exceed, Israel-UAE business ties.

MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images

Second attack rattles Israel during landmark regional summit in Negev

The terror attack in Hadera, the second murderous rampage in days, did not dim the Negev Summit or the commitment of its participants for a regional alliance.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett (R) and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Terror attacks in Israel turn settlers against Bennett

Disillusioned by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, the leaders of the settlers are now campaigning against what they perceive as an unprecedented freeze of settlement construction in the West Bank.