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Israel

July 17, 2026

Tel Aviv 10:14 pm

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Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a session of the Israeli Parliament in Jerusalem on July 16, 2026, before the start of the election recess ahead of the Oct. 27 general election.

Analysis

Trump's ‘180-degree reversal’ on Lebanon, Syria leaves Netanyahu with few options before elections

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hopes an Israeli withdrawal from two pilot zones in southern Lebanon will help ease tensions with President Donald Trump.

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

US Vice President JD Vance speaks at the Wisconsin Air National Guard facility at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport on July 8, 2026, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Vance says Israeli intelligence had ties to Epstein: What to know

Vice President JD Vance has grown more critical of Israel, possibly in an effort to capitalize on changing views among voters with an eye on the 2028 presidential election.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a cornerstone laying ceremony for the Atarot Heritage Center at an abandon airport in East Jerusalem near the separation wall with the Israeli occupied West Bank city of Ramallah on July 5, 2026.

Israeli PM Netanyahu 'will not travel' to US next week, his office says

On Wednesday, an Israeli official had told Al-Monitor that Netanyahu was planning to travel on Saturday and meet with President Donald Trump next week and attend the memorial service for Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).

Latest News

Ahmadinejad denies alleged Mossad plot to install him as Iran leader: What to know

BEIRUT, LEBANON - OCTOBER 13: Lebanese people wave flags and hold portraits of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (not pictured) as he arrives in southern suberb of Beirut on October 13, 2010 in Lebanon. The controversial visit is seen as a boost for key ally Hezbollah. According to reports Mr Ahmadinejad may visit the border with Israel - the site of recent deadly clashes between Israeli and Lebanese forces. (Photo by Salah Malkawi/Getty Images)

Analysis

As Trump prioritizes Hormuz, Israel fears Iran rebuilding nuclear program while preserving ballistic missile threat

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

Explainer

Israel's next election: Who's leading in polls and what's at stake?

Israelis turn out to cast their ballots on election day for the 20th Knesset on March 17, 2015 in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Samuel Wendel

Senior Market Research Analyst

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Adam Lucente

News and Business Correspondent

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

Jack Dutton

Chief Business Correspondent

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

Ben Caspit

Israel Columnist

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

Francesco Schiavi

In Bologna, reporting on security, defense, economy, governance

Rina Bassist

Associate Editor (Israel)

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

A general view picture shows the Lebanese village of Adaisseh on the left-hand-side of the Israel-Lebanon border, as seen from Kibbutz Misgav Am in northern Israel August 26, 2019. REUTERS/Amir Cohen - RC165B60A890

Hezbollah, Israel losing red lines

Destroying the precision missile project of Hezbollah and Iran has now become the second-most important priority of Israel after eliminating the Iranian nuclear threat.

IDF spokesman's deceit about effects of Hezbollah attack costs Israel credibility

The IDF spokesman told a bald lie, then mumbled, then denied, and within a short time had to admit to the failure of his maneuver to outwit Hezbollah.

How much are Palestinians paying for 'peace' with Israel?

After receiving another big batch of financial aid from Qatar, some Palestinians are wondering what the on-again, off-again truce with Israel is really costing them.

Ayman Odeh, leader of Hadash-Ta'al party, attends a hearing at Israel's Supreme Court in Jerusalem March 13, 2019. Picture taken March 13, 2019. REUTERS/Ammar Awad - RC18080E1180

Israeli Arab party says ready to join a center-left coalition

It seems that the statement by Joint List leader Ayman Odeh about joining a Blue and White-led coalition was, first of all, meant to encourage Israeli Arabs to vote.

Interview

Former PM Olmert: 'Netanyahu is finished'

In an exclusive Al-Monitor interview, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will fail to form a government after the Sept. 17 elections and will be cast aside by Likud before a third round of elections.

Gaza explosions leave Hamas exposed

The two terrorist explosions that rocked the Gaza Strip despite Hamas’ tight security measures triggered questions about the movement’s capacity to stand up to the Islamic State.

An employee tends to medical cannabis plants at Pharmocann, an Israeli medical cannabis company in northern Israel January 24, 2019. Picture taken January 24, 2019. REUTERS/Amir Cohen - RC116A4F32D0

Ahead of elections, Netanyahu 'remembers' cannabis-needing patients

It was only when he needed the Zehut party for electoral reasons that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ''remembered'' the thousands of patients needing cannabis for medical reasons.

An Israeli police officer stands outside the Turkish embassy in Tel Aviv August 17, 2010. A Palestinian man known to Israeli police was shot and wounded by Turkish embassy security guards on Tuesday after breaking into the mission in Tel Aviv and holding hostages. REUTERS/Nir Elias (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - GM1E68I0AH701

Will rancor or realism prevail in Turkish-Israeli ties?

While there continues to be a large political gap between Turkey and Israel, economic ties continue to be strong despite the lack of a gas pipeline deal.

US delay reflects fear in Netanyahu losing

The Donald Trump administration has yet again delayed the announcement of its long-awaited peace plan for the Middle East, which some say is linked to the Israeli elections next month and fear of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu losing them.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh gestures during an interview with Reuters in his office in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, June 27, 2019. REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta - RC1C9C2B1E70

Palestinian Authority must pay $3.61 million in torture case

Israel recently collected several million dollars from Palestinian Authority funds to compensate Arab-Israelis wrongly arrested two decades ago.

An Arab Israeli woman casts her vote during Israel's parliamentary elections on April 9, 2019 at a polling station in the northern Israeli town of Taiyiba. - Israelis voted today in a high-stakes election that will decide whether to extend Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's long right-wing tenure despite corruption allegations or to replace him with an ex-military chief new to politics. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP) (Photo credit should read AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP/Getty Images)

What really matters to Israeli Arab voters

The problem that most concerns Israel's Palestinian citizens is personal safety, an issue on which the Blue and White could make significant positive contributions and in doing so attract Arab voters, potentially breaking the prevailing electoral deadlock with the right.

A picture taken on November 25, 2017, shows the Rawda mosque, roughly 40 kilometres west of the North Sinai capital of El-Arish, after a gun and bombing attack.
Armed attackers killed at least 235 worshippers in a bomb and gun assault on the packed mosque in Egypt's restive North Sinai province, in the country's deadliest attack in recent memory. / AFP PHOTO / STR (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)

Israel, Egypt, Hamas against global jihad

Egypt considers Hamas to be a vital and integral partner in the war that it is waging with Israel against the international jihadist movement, its branches in the Sinai Peninsula and the Salafist cells that started flourishing in the Gaza Strip recently.