Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan receives Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Turkish House in New York, on Sept. 19, 2023.

Analysis

What’s at stake for Turkey as Israel heads to the polls?

Israel’s Oct. 27 election could offer a chance to ease tensions with Ankara, but competing ambitions in Syria and beyond threaten to push the two US allies toward a dangerous confrontation.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

JACK GUEZ / AFP via Getty Images

Feature

50,000 Israeli expats fly home to vote in potential boon to Netanyahu rivals

Israel prohibits voting from abroad with limited exceptions, and Israelis who spoke to Al-Monitor said they are especially motivated to fly home this year.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Pedestrians cross a street in front of a banner featuring Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Analysis

How Israel opposition infighting is boosting Netanyahu days before election

Discord within the opposition, including its reluctance to name a single candidate for prime minister ahead of the Oct. 27 election, is working in Netanyahu’s favor.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

In first, Israel’s Netanyahu says he held call with Syria’s Ahmed al-Sharaa

It is the first publicly disclosed contact between the leaders of Israel and Syria, which lack formal relations and have fought several wars. Sharaa’s government began US-mediated talks with Israel in 2025.

Latest News

Sisi says Egypt has no ‘territorial ambitions’ after Israel’s Smotrich threatens Sinai

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attends a joint statements and agreements during the EU and Egypt summit in Brussels, on Oct. 22, 2025.

Former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar sues Netanyahu for nearly $1M over Oct. 7 claims

Israel's Chief of the Mossad David Barnea (R) and Security Agency director Ronen Bar, attend a ceremony marking the Hebrew calendar anniversary of the Hamas attack on October 7 last year that sparked the ongoing war in Gaza, at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem on October 27, 2024. (Photo by GIL COHEN-MAGEN / POOL / AFP) (Photo by GIL COHEN-MAGEN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Explainer

Israel-UK relations hit new low over settlements, Gaza: What to know

The British Consulate General in east Jerusalem represents the British government in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza during a protest against the recently announced British sanctions, aimed at economic activity in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, on Sept. 14, 2026, in Jerusalem.

West Bank olive harvest begins amid settler attacks on Palestinians, groves

Palestinian men sitting in and by a tractor look on after another man was injured by gunfire whilst being chased away by Israeli forces, in Aqraba in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Oct. 6, 2026.

Mahmoud Abbas addresses UNGA

Bennett keeps quiet on ministers' planned meeting with Abbas

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is keeping mum on two Meretz members from his cabinet planning to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

WEst Bank

Tensions rise in West Bank after settler violence

Reports say that dozens of masked settlers came to the cave-hamlet Khirbat al-Mufaqara, throwing stones at residents and breaking windows and cars.

Abbas addresses UN

Hamas rips into Abbas after UN speech

Hamas relations with the Palestinian Authority are getting worse, and a recent poll reveals that 78% of Palestinians want Mahmoud Abbas to resign as president.

Israeli Knesset member Emilie Moatti meets with Aurore Berge, a member of the French National Assembly, on her diplomatic trip to France on Sept. 27.

Israel offers EU new approach, constructive dialogue

The French visit of Emilie Moatti, Labor Knesset member and head of the Subcommittee for Foreign Affairs, reflects the new approach that Israel’s government now offers to the European Union: open and constructive dialogue.

Prime Minister of Israel Naftali Bennett addresses the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 27, 2021 at U.N. headquarters in New York City.

Israel’s Bennet makes first speech to UN

Contrary to former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett chose to deliver a straightforward, calm and gimmick-free first speech to the General Assembly.

Nourhan Manougian (R), the Armenian patriarch of Jerusalem, makes his way to the Church of the Nativity during the Epiphany celebrations, Bethlehem, West Bank, Jan. 18, 2020.

Palestinians challenge Armenian Patriarchate over Jerusalem land lease

The Armenian Patriarch’s decision to lease property to an Australian real estate developer has led to a crisis in Palestinian-Armenian ties in Jerusalem

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas delivers a speech remotely at the 76th Session of the U.N. General Assembly at U.N. headquarters on Sept. 24, 2021 in New York City.

Abbas warns Palestinian Authority will no longer recognize Israel

Abbas' threat comes as the Biden administration shows little appetite for taking on the prospect of peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

SAID KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images

Hamas official reports progress in Israel prisoner exchange talks

Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk said a deal could be weeks away.

US President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on August 27, 2021.

Israel assesses frayed ties with US Jews, Democratic Party

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and his government are confronted with the double challenge of rehabilitating ties with the Democrat Party and mending the rift with the American Jewish community.

A Palestinian woman and her child stand next to a window of an aid distribution centre run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza City, on Sept. 16, 2021.

Gaza factions increase calls to revoke US-UNRWA agreement

Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip organized a series of protests to demand cancellation of the framework agreement signed between UNRWA and the US to resume US funding.

Palestinian sibling activists Mona (R) and Mohammed (C) al-Kurd wait at the Israeli Supreme Court in Jerusalem as it convenes to rule on Palestinian evictions in east Jerusalem, on Aug. 2, 2021.

Activist twins say Time recognition shows 'centrality of Palestinian cause'

The parents of Muna and Mohammed say the twins represent many other residents of Sheikh Jarrah who are fighting to defend their homes.

US President Joe Biden addresses the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York on Sept. 21, 2021.

The Takeaway: Iran nuclear diplomacy shows faint pulse at UN

Signs of life at an extraordinary meeting of senior Middle East officials; also, updates from our correspondents on Israel, West Bank, UAE, Turkey, Egypt, Iraq … and more … all in about 1,400 words!