Israel - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Israel cover image

Israel

September 19, 2026

Tel Aviv 2:59 pm

30°C

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and French President Emmanuel Macron arrive to hold a joint press conference in Jerusalem, Oct. 24, 2023.

Analysis

After France's settlement ban, Israel sees no warming of ties with Macron government

Israeli diplomats say France’s decision to ban imports from West Bank settlements has brought bilateral relations to an unprecedented low point.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman looks on as he attends a trade agreement signature ceremony at the Elysee Palace in Paris on August 24, 2026. (Photo by LOU BENOIST / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

How Netanyahu is leveraging Houthi threat in secret Saudi normalization push

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to capitalize on Riyadh's need for intelligence assistance to make normalization headway ahead of the October elections.

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

OLIVER BUNIC/AFP via Getty Images

Serbia opens factory to assemble Israeli-made drones: What to know

Serbian President Vucic said the factory will put together “state-of-the-art” Israeli-designed drones and employ around 100 workers.

Royal Air Maroc Boeing 787-9 'Dreamliner' aircraft

Israel, Morocco agree to exchange ambassadors, open embassies

The move will mark the first time Morocco and Israel have exchanged ambassadors.

Latest News

Culture

Israeli show ‘Fauda’ tops Netflix in Lebanon, hits top 10 across Arab states

ISRAEL-ENTERTAINMENT-TELEVISION-POLITICS-GOVERNMENT-MASS-MEDIA-D (L to R) Lior Raz and Avi Issacharoff, co-creators of the hit Israeli TV show "Fauda", attend a demonstration against the Israeli government's plans to shut-down public broadcaster KAN, in Israel's Mediterranean coastal city of Tel Aviv on January 25, 2023. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Explainer

Why France is pushing to keep UNIFIL in Lebanon beyond 2026

UN peacekeepers stand next to an armored vehicle during a patrol in southern Lebanon, Feb. 22, 2026.

Exclusive

Lacking deterrence, Israel’s security establishment opposes attacks on Houthis

Fighters loyal to the Houthi authorities, brandish their weapons during a rally to recruit more fighters, in Sanaa on September 10, 2026. The country relapsed into war in July after years of calm, drawn into the regional conflict triggered by the US-Israeli offensive against Iran that began at the end of February. (Photo by Mohammed HUWAIS / AFP via Getty Images)

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

Analysis

Europe’s West Bank trade ban fires warning shot at Israel’s economy

Jewish settlement of Kedumim, in the West Bank

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Samuel Wendel

Senior Analyst, Middle East Business & Tech

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

Israel's Labor Party pays price for political integrity

Even if some media ridiculed the Labor Party's leaders for their support of the government's agreement with the United Nations — which was canceled four hours after it was signed — the leaders were right to stick to the party's human rights agenda as a compass.

How Netanyahu plans to bypass High Court rulings

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and leaders of coalition partner HaBayit HaYehudi are advancing a clause that would enable to Knesset to override High Court rulings with an absolute majority.

Presidents Hassan Rouhani of Iran, Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and Vladimir Putin of Russia hold a joint news conference after their meeting in Ankara, Turkey April 4, 2018. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RC17DDDED670

Putin, Erdogan, Rouhani extend circle of trust in Syria

As the Astana process seizes the initiative on Syria, the United States could put Israel-Lebanon shuttle diplomacy to the test on Hezbollah.

A member of U.S forces rides on a military vehicle in the town of Darbasiya next to the Turkish border, Syria April 28, 2017. REUTERS/Rodi Said - RC1FBF066A10

Conditioning American withdrawal from Syria

Now that President Donald Trump has announced US forces will be soon leaving Syria, the administration must rethink its previously stated conditions for withdrawal.

Why have recent mass Palestinian protests been limited to Gaza?

The recent mass protests along the Gaza-Israel border raise questions as to why similar events aren't happening in the West Bank.

Egypt struggles to edge Qatar out of Palestine

Egypt is trying to block Qatar from the Palestinian scene, but Israel is unlikely to be moved by its efforts, counting on the Qatari assistance that has helped avoid a humanitarian crisis.

Gazans hope protests lead to change as border clashes turn deadly

Thousands of Palestinians participated in Friday protests along the Gaza-Israel border for the second week in a row, with clashes leaving at least seven dead.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a regional development conference in Dimona, southern Israel, March 20, 2018. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RC13BCC74340

Humiliated Netanyahu scapegoats pro-democracy NGO

Frantic to extract himself from his immigration failure, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is accusing a US-based nongovernmental organization called the New Israel Fund of sabotaging an agreement with Rwanda.

Are Palestinians contemplating one-state solution?

Now that demography indicates a Palestinian majority between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, a one-state solution could replace the vision of an independent Palestinian state.

Netanyahu moves to co-opt Independence Day celebrations

Despite the tradition of the Knesset leading the April 18 festivities as a gesture of Israeli unity, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to preside over the celebrations himself.

African migrants walk behind a fence as they leave Holot detention centre in Israel's southern Negev desert August 25, 2015. Israel on Tuesday began releasing some 1,200 African migrants whom it has interned for more than a year in the detention centre. Under the terms of their release, they are banned from living or working in Tel Aviv and the southern resort city of Eilat, which both have large migrant communities. Two weeks ago, Israelís Supreme Court reduced from 20 months to 12 months the period of tim

Netanyahu clashes with left-wing US Jews over migrants, Gaza

The latest actions by Israel’s right-wing government are further straining historically bipartisan support in Congress.

Why Netanyahu’s flip-flopping endangers Israel

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu caved under light pressure from the Israeli right and canceled an agreement he'd just reached with the UN on African immigrants.