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

Israel cover image

Israel

September 23, 2026

Tel Aviv 11:36 pm

26°C

Leader of the Arab Israeli party Ra'am (United Arab List) Mansour Abbas (R) and Israeli politician Yoav Segalovitz (L) attend a news conference in Nazareth on August 31, 2026. Abbas announced that Segalovitz, an Israeli Jew, will join his party for the upcoming Israeli elections. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP via Getty Images)

Israel election committee bars two Arab lists from upcoming vote: What to know

Israel's Central Elections Committee barred the Arab-majority Raam party, the Arab joint list party and two Arab politicians from participating in the Oct. 27 elections.

ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Why Netanyahu is distancing himself from Trump ahead of Israeli election

No meeting has been announced between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly summit in New York.

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

Gargash

UAE's Gargash expects 'prolonged' war, calls for Iran-Gulf security talks

"We need a new mindset that these sort of discussions ... can happen at an Iranian-American level, it should also take place at an Iranian-Arab level," Gargash told Al-Monitor.

United Arab Emirates

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

Latest News

Analysis

How Netanyahu is leveraging Houthi threat in secret Saudi normalization push

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)

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

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

OLIVER BUNIC/AFP via Getty Images

Israel, Morocco agree to exchange ambassadors, open embassies

Royal Air Maroc Boeing 787-9 'Dreamliner' aircraft

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)

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

Isaac Herzog leader of Zionist Union, gesture as as he delivers a statement at the party headquarters in Tel Aviv, Israel, May 18, 2016. REUTERS/Baz Ratner - RTSEWFI

Can Israel's opposition leader challenge Netanyahu?

With Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu up again in the polls, Zionist Camp leader Isaac Herzog needs to present to the public a coherent and clear political program in order to defeat him.

Meet the IDF’s new deputy chief of staff

Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman decided to act quickly by appointing Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi as the IDF’s deputy chief of staff, before the State Comptroller published his report of Operation Protective Edge.

A general view shows Rabin square during a rally commemorating the 20th anniversary of the assassination of late prime minister Yitzhak Rabin in Tel Aviv, Israel, October 31, 2015. Tens of thousands of Israelis attended the rally in Tel Aviv. REUTERS/Amir Cohen - RTX1U63N

Israel's Zionist Camp is back in the game

The Labor Party announced that it will organize the annual Yitzhak Rabin memorial ceremony, which was originally canceled for budgetary reasons, thus reconnecting with the Zionist Camp's original political-diplomatic peace agenda.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the opening of the winter session of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem October 31, 2016. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RTX2R7C5

How Bibi is trying to punish Arab MKs for skipping Peres’ funeral

The Arab Joint List rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to boycott the list’s members who were absent from former President Shimon Peres’ funeral, but how long can Israel’s Arab population withstand these Israeli pressures?

Students walk at the campus of the Ariel University Centre in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Ariel September 13, 2012. An Israeli government move to upgrade Ariel University Centre in the occupied West Bank to a full-fledged university has put the 30-year-old school at the centre of a debate at the core of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: how the settlements will figure in defining a future Palestinian state. Picture taken September 13, 2012. To match Feature PALESTINIANS-ISRAEL/SETTLEMENTS REUTERS/Ro

Why Israel is pouring cash into this settlement university

Israel's academics are outraged that Ariel College-turned-University is receiving more funding than any other university in Israel, most of which are far more reputable institutions.

U.S. President Barack Obama meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York September 21, 2016. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque - RTSOTEX

Will Obama push for UN settlement-freeze resolution?

US President Barack Obama wants to leave a practical legacy to his successor in the form of a Security Council resolution rejecting West Bank settlements, yet this might have to wait if Hilary Clinton wins the presidential elections.

A general view shows the plenum as Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the opening of the winter session of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem October 31, 2016. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RTX2R7SE

Netanyahu's happiness industry

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech at the opening of the Knesset's 2016 winter session was focused on the wonderful situation of Israeli citizens while ignoring the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and growing disparities within Israeli society.

A Houthi follower carries a mock missile as he shouts slogans during a demonstration against the United Nations in Sanaa, Yemen, July 5, 2015. Hundreds of supporters of the Iran-backed Houthi rebels took to the streets of the Yemeni capital on Sunday to protest against the United Nations and its alleged support of Yemen's exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. REUTERS/Mohamed al-Sayaghi - RTX1J485

What recent Houthi moves in Red Sea mean for Israel

Houthi assaults against US and UAE vessels should indicate to Israel that control of Red Sea waters might be at stake.

Israel's Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (2nd L), Defence Minister Shimon Peres and Security Advisor Ariel Sharon (R) walk together during a visit to an army base in the Golan Heights in this file picture taken December 11, 1975 and released by the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO). REUTERS/Yaacov Sa'ar/GPO/Handout (POLITICS) FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. ISRAEL OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN ISRAEL. BLACK AND WHITE ONLY - RTR2UFU7

How political struggles are blurring Israel's national memory

Israel's love for its assassinated heroes is proving fickle, with Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s legacy of peace diminishing by the year while the right builds up that of far-right tourism minister Rehavam Ze’evi.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) speaks with Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon during the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem January 31, 2016. REUTERS/Amir Cohen - RTX24S18

Can battle over public broadcasting bring down Netanyahu?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is now fighting against the establishment of a new public broadcasting corporation, an entity he himself initiated.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) listens as Israel's new Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman, head of far-right Yisrael Beitenu party, speaks during a media conference following Lieberman's swearing-in ceremony at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem May 30, 2016. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTX2EVP3

Why Netanyahu and Liberman are boycotting Arab party members

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman have called upon the coalition to boycott parliamentary activities of the Joint List for missing the funeral of former President Shimon Peres, even if they themselves were the late president's bitter rivals.

Israeli Interior Minister, Eli Yishai one of the three leaders of the Shas ultra-orthodox Sephardi party gestures during the First High-Tech Conference for Israel's Haredi Sector on January 15, 2013 in Jerusalem. AFP PHOTO/GALI TIBBON (Photo credit should read GALI TIBBON/AFP/Getty Images)

Will first-ever primaries shake up Israel’s ultra-Orthodox?

For the first time since the establishment of Israel, an ultra-Orthodox party will hold primaries to determine its list for the next election instead of relying on rabbis to name them.