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

Israel cover image

Israel

July 27, 2026

Tel Aviv 4:07 pm

32°C

JEWEL SAMAD/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Why US carriers unlikely to rush back to Beirut as Trump lifts Lebanon flight ban

The White House is set to allow US airlines to fly to Beirut for the first time in decades, but experts say the move is more about politics than planes as Washington creates new openings for Lebanon's battered economy.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

GIL COHEN-MAGEN / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Ahead of Trump meeting, Netanyahu lays groundwork for Israel to rejoin Iran war

Reports of an Iranian espionage ring and nuclear centrifuges movement could help Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu make the case to the Israeli public and Donald Trump to rejoin the war, ahead of a critical election in October.

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

David's Sling.

Explainer

As Turkey rivalry heats up, Greece to acquire $4B Israeli air defense system

The Greek defense minister said that the air defense system will be operational within 35 months.

Latest News

Trump says Saudi nuclear deal 'totally subject' to Israel normalization

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Israel fears US deal would allow Saudi Arabia to enrich uranium

US President Donald Trump (R) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands as they arrive to speak to journalists during a joint press conference at Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, on Dec. 29, 2025.

Analysis

Why Mamdani concluded he can’t arrest Israel’s PM Netanyahu

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks during a primary-night watch party for NYC Congressional candidate Claire Valdez at 99 Scott Studio on June 23, 2026 in the East Williamsburg neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough in New York City.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

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

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

Avi Gabbai, the new leader of Israel's centre-left Labour party, gestures as he delivers his victory speech after winning the Labour party primary runoff, at an event in Tel Aviv, Israel July 10, 2017. REUTERS/Amir Cohen TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTX3AWT5

New Israeli Labor chief plans party takeover

Avi Gabbay is not the first chairman of the Labor Party who wanted to change the party's constitution in order to gain control, but he is the most ambitious one.

A picture taken from the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah shows a member of the Egyptian forces standing guard near the border between Gaza and Egypt on August 17, 2017.

A suicide bomber killed a Hamas guard in southern Gaza, officials said, in what was seen as a rare Islamist attack against the Palestinian group that has run the impoverished enclave for a decade. / AFP PHOTO / SAID KHATIB (Photo credit should read SAID KHATIB/AFP/Getty Images)

Israel, Hamas, Egypt indirectly cooperating against IS

While Egypt and Hamas coordinate efforts against the Islamic State in the Sinai Peninsula, Israel is providing intelligence to Egypt to boost these efforts.

Hamas Chief Ismail Haniyeh gestures during a news conference in Gaza City May 11, 2017. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem - RTS166IF

Saudi gamble on Hamas could pay off, or enrich rival Iran

The Saudis are increasing pressure on Hamas, which might win them points with US President Donald Trump and Israel, but drive the Palestinian movement and its allies toward Iran.

A general view shows the Prophet Eliyahu Hanavi synagogue also known as the Temple of the Eliyahu Hanabi of Alexandria in Nabi Daniel Street in the northern Egyptian coastal city of Alexandria on November 14, 2016.

Once a flourishing community, only a handful of Egyptian Jews, mostly elderly women, is all that remains in the Arab world's most populous country, aiming at least to preserve their heritage. Egypt still has about a dozen synagogues, but like many of the country's monuments they need restoration

Egypt acts to preserve Jewish heritage

The Ministry of Antiquities has begun preservation and renovation of Eliyahu Hanavi in Alexandria, one of the biggest synagogues in the Middle East.

U.S. President Donald Trump (R) escorts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into the White House in Washington, U.S., February 15, 2017.REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque - RTSYUJN

Trump’s Mideast envoys moving to next phase

With President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu entangled in domestic scandals, a dramatic launching of a peace process might serve them well in terms of media coverage.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) attends the Likud party meeting in the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, in this March 28, 2016 file picture. REUTERS/Nir Elias/Files - RTX29L3P

Outsiders target Israeli Likud Party’s agenda

The organizers of the "New Likud" estimate that some 12,000 people have joined the Likud Party because of them, with the goal of creating a bloc powerful enough to influence the party's direction from the inside.

Leader of the northern Islamic Movement Sheikh Raed Salah gestures after leaving the district court in Jerusalem October 27, 2015. The Arab Israeli Muslim leader, seen by Israel as a powerful voice stoking Palestinian anger over a Jerusalem holy site, was ordered jailed for 11 months on Tuesday for comments he made in 2007. Sheik Raed Salah, leader of the Islamic Movement's northern section was convicted for incitement to violence in 2013, the Justice Ministry said, charges he denied. His attorney said he w

How Israel's arrest of Islamic Movement leader could backfire

The Israeli right has made the leader of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement, Raed Salah, the focus of its fight against terrorism, but the move misses crucial parts of fighting against incitement to violence.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) sits next to Education Minister Naftali Bennett during the weekly cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem, 30 August 2016. REUTERS/Abir Sultan/Pool - RTX2NKHK

The Israeli right's hypocrisy on discrimination

Israeli right-wing politicians, though quick to criticize others for what they deem anti-Semitism, support discrimination against Arabs.

RAMALLAH, WEST BANK - AUGUST 7: In this handout image supplied by the office of the Palestinian president, King Abdullah II of Jordan is greeted by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during his visit on August 7, 2017 in Ramallah, West Bank. (Photo by PPO via Getty Images)

Palestinians may be on verge of charting new political path

It appears that President Mahmoud Abbas wants to convene the Palestinian National Council, after a hiatus of more than 20 years, which would allow the Palestinian movement to move toward a change in leadership.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seen on monitors before the evening news bulletin at Channel 10's control room in Jerusalem November 18, 2015. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/File Photo - RTX2SI5L

Journalists fear for safety as Netanyahu ups war on media

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's attacks on the media are creating a climate that threatens journalists' lives.

Supporters of Sheikh Raed Salah, head of Islamic Movement's northern branch, protest in the Israeli-Arab town of Umm el-Fahm against the initial approval of a bill to enforce lowering the volume of mosque loudspeakers calling worshippers to prayer, November 17, 2016. The placards reads " The mosque's call to prayer will not be silenced" REUTERS/Ammar Awad - RTX2U4XL

Why did Israel now decide to arrest Islamic Movement leader?

Police waited three weeks before detaining Sheikh Raed Salah, leader of the outlawed Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement, fearing that his arrest during the Al-Aqsa crisis might lead Israeli Arabs to riot.

Jordan's King Abdullah II welcomes Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi during a reception ceremony at the Queen Alia International Airport in Amman, Jordan March 28, 2017. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed - RTX336E2

Israel pushes security ties while Cairo, Amman embassies sit empty

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seems to care little about Israel’s diplomatic ties with Egypt and Jordan so long as security ties are maintained.