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

Israel cover image

Israel

July 30, 2026

Tel Aviv 8:02 am

25°C

Win McNamee/Getty Images

Analysis

Katz riles Iran, US as Netanyahu-Trump meeting raises questions

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had to settle for a brief meeting with President Donald Trump, while his defense minister, Israel Katz, appeared intent on provoking Iran by publicly disclosing sensitive intelligence.

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

Israel PM office

Netanyahu lauds 'excellent' Trump meeting as Israel pushes harder Iran line

Hours before the meeting, President Donald Trump signaled impatience with the Israeli leader.

Latest News

On eighth visit, Israel’s Netanyahu seeks to repair ties with Trump

Trump Netanyahu

Analysis

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

JEWEL SAMAD/AFP via Getty Images

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Analysis

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

GIL COHEN-MAGEN / AFP via Getty Images

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

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

Israeli border policemen perform a security check on a Palestinian youth at Damascus Gate just outside Jerusalem's Old City before Friday prayers October 23, 2015. Palestinian factions called for mass rallies against Israel in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem in a "day of rage" on Friday, as world and regional powers pressed on with talks to try to end more than three weeks of bloodshed. Israeli authorities also lifted restrictions on Friday that had banned men aged under 40 from using the flashpoi

Al-Aqsa Mosque back in the eye of the storm with renewed clashes, arrests

Various minor infractions have once again increased tensions at Al-Aqsa Mosque, where Palestinians complain that restoration work has been disrupted and Israeli visitors have exceeded agreed-upon limits.

U.S. President Barack Obama meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval office of the White House in Washington November 9, 2015. The two leaders meet here today for the first time since the Israeli leader lost his battle against the Iran nuclear deal, with Washington seeking his re-commitment to a two-state solution with the Palestinians. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque - RTS66HY

Why Bibi is rejoicing as Obama's term nears end

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told journalists that his relationship with US President Barack Obama got off to a bad start from the first minute, when Obama challenged him on settlement policy.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C), Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz (L) and Cabinet Secretary Avichai Mandelblit attend the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem June 14, 2015. REUTERS/Gali Tibbon/Pool - RTX1GF15

How Netanyahu is sidelining potential rivals

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's trouncing of Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz is one more step toward making the Likud a one-man party with no future.

Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yildrim addresses members of parliament from his ruling AK Party (AKP) during a meeting at the Turkish parliament in Ankara, Turkey July 19, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTSINN0

Resetting Turkey’s Syria policy

Ankara is trying to regain its lost influence over Syria with a radical change in policy, but its past mistakes make that a difficult challenge.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) gestures during his meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Jerusalem July 16, 2012. Clinton, arriving in Jerusalem from newly Islamist-controlled Egypt, told a wary Israel on Monday to treat the Arab Spring as an opportunity as well as a source of uncertainty convulsing the Middle East. REUTERS/Abir Sultan/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR34ZPE

Israelis, Palestinians prepare for next US president

While the Palestinians prepare different strategies depending on the candidate who wins the US election, the Israelis plan to stick with the same approach in either case.

U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby speaks about a hostage situation at a restaurant in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, during a press briefing in Washington DC, U.S. July 1, 2016. State TV/via Reuters TV. ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. EDITORIAL USE ONLY. - RTX2JACV

Has US taken on role of Israeli domestic opposition?

While opposition leaders Isaac Herzog and Yair Lapid keep silent over growing Israeli construction in West Bank settlements, the United States has been issuing rapid-fire condemnations of the government's actions.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman looks on during a meeting with his Russian counterpart in Moscow on January 26, 2015. AFP PHOTO / VASILY MAXIMOV (Photo credit should read VASILY MAXIMOV/AFP/Getty Images)

Could Liberman's West Bank plan play into Hamas' hands?

Palestinians say the benefits and punishments plan introduced by Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman is doomed to fail because it seeks to replace President Mahmoud Abbas with other leading Palestinians.

How Israel hopes to bypass PA and win hearts of Palestinians

The Israeli government recently launched a Facebook page it claims will clarify its positions toward Palestinians, without having to go through official Palestinians channels, but many are reluctant to follow it.

Members of Palestinian security forces loyal to Hamas survey a Hamas site after it was hit by an Israeli air strike in the northern Gaza Strip August 22, 2016. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa - RTX2MINM

Israel's defense minister sets out on his own path in battle against Hamas

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman's carrot-and-stick plan for the West Bank and strong retaliation against Gaza rocket fire reflect an effort to set himself apart from his predecessor, Moshe Ya'alon.

Former Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Barak and his wife Nili Priel arrive for the TIME 100 Gala in New York April 21, 2015. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid - RTX19QSX

Why some think this former Israeli PM is planning a comeback

Accusations by former Prime Minister Ehud Barak against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might be part of Barak's political comeback strategy.

Arabs stand in Iqrit, northern Israel, May 10, 2008, as part of an annual pilgrimage to a village whose residents were ordered out by Jewish fighters during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. The villagers, Arab citizens of Israel, have long demanded a right to return to the site to live. The visit coincided with Palestinian commemorations of the 1948 ?Nakba? or ?Catastrophe?, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were expelled or fled from their homes in what is now Israel. Picture taken May 10, 2008. REUTER

Knesset plans lobby for return of Palestinians to their villages

An effort to create a majority lobby to force the Israeli government to allow Palestinian citizens of Israel to return to their villages is being advocated.

An Israeli soldier uses his binoculars as he looks towards the northern part of the Israeli Gaza border in southern Israel January 13, 2016. An Israeli aircraft attacked a group of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday who the military said planned to detonate a bomb at the border with Israel, and a Palestinian militant faction said one of its men was killed. REUTERS/Amir Cohen - RTX227Q4

Is Israel planning all-out war on Hamas?

There has been a lot of talk lately about Israel launching one last war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to annihilate the group, and Hamas is preparing for this possibility.