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

Israel cover image

Israel

September 25, 2026

Tel Aviv 9:27 pm

26°C

ANGELA WEISS / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Can Netanyahu turn Israel's UN isolation into strength at home?

The absence of a Trump meeting would have been awkward for Netanyahu, who has long portrayed himself to Israeli voters as uniquely close to the US president.

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

Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu waves to delegates leaving before his UN speech

Delegates walk out as Netanyahu touts Iran war, slams Qatar and Turkey at UN

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa's statement that the Golan Heights will "remain Syrian territory," while praising US President Donald Trump, whom he did not meet on the trip.

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

Latest News

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

Gargash

United Arab Emirates

Analysis

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

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

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

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

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

Latest spat with Sweden highlights Israeli diplomatic shortcomings

Instead of working the diplomatic front and dialoguing with Sweden about the incendiary statement by Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom, reactions from Israel's Foreign Ministry have been uncoordinated and emotional.

22 years after corruption scandal, Deri returns to Israel’s Interior Ministry

Supporters of Shas leader Aryeh Deri are celebrating his appointment to once again head the Ministry of Interior, from which he was forced to resign in 1993.

Who are Israel's true friends?

The Israeli government tends to label every policy critical of Israel as an anti-Israeli policy.

Can Abbas bring hope to desperate young Palestinians?

Demonstrating against the Israeli occupation, young Palestinians have also been pointing a finger at President Mahmoud Abbas, who has finally addressed them and their problems in his latest speeches.

FOR RELEASE WITH FEATURE MIDEAST-SETTLERS - Jewish settler and manager of the Mofaz Etzion bullet-proof vest factory Shamai Ben-Baruch (L) helps his daughter Itamar model a child-sized bullet proof jacket in the West Bank settlement of Gush Etzion, near Hebron. Almost a day does not pass without Jewish settlers being shot at and sometimes killed as they drive on West Bank "bypass" roads. Many settlers are now buying bullet-proof vests to wear when they travel to and from their settlements.

NB - RTRJYGM

Israeli fashion gets tactical

Business is booming for Israeli clothes manufacturers that have developed bullet- and knife-resistant fabrics and apparel, though they may not all deliver what they promise.

A Palestinian worker straightens scrap metal collected from the rubble of a hotel in Gaza City that was destroyed during Israel's three-week offensive nearly two years ago November 7, 2010. Thousands of Gazans, mainly young men and boys, go close to a no-go border zone in the Gaza Strip daily to pick over the wreckage of factories and houses flattened by Israel in the past few years in its conflict with Islamist Hamas militants who control the enclave. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS SOCIETY) -

Gaza scrap collectors finally back in business

Following years of interruption due to Israel's blockade on the Gaza Strip, the scrap trade there has resumed, sparking economic hope.

A member of the Druze community holds a Druze flag as he speaks to an Israeli soldier near the border fence between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, near Majdal Shams June 18, 2015. Gathered at a hilltop in the Israeli-held Golan Heights, a group of Druze sheikhs look through binoculars at the Syrian village of Hader, surrounded by Islamist fighters. They fear their brethren are in imminent danger. Intense battles this week have left Syria's al Qaeda branch, the Nusra Front, in control of hills

Does Bibi limit rights to those who are 'Israeli all the way'?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has tied "loyalty" to the state to budget allocations for improvements in minority communities.

Knesset's public image in free fall

The Israeli public has lost trust in the Knesset as its members advance anti-democratic legislation and provoke each other into embarrassing public altercations.

B'Tselem field researcher Iyad Hadad (2nd R) listens to a testimony from a Palestinian farmer, who said his land was damaged in an attack by Israeli settlers, in the West Bank village of Turmus Aya near Ramallah June 8, 2015. B'Tselem is an Israeli NGO that has long been a bane of the government, tirelessly flagging human rights abuses by Israel's military in the Palestinian territories. Set up by a group of academics, lawyers, journalists and politicians more than 25 years ago, the organisation - whose nam

The dirty war between Israel’s right-wing and left-wing NGOs

Israeli human rights nongovernmental organizations object to an investigative report by Channel 2 that accuses an activist of plotting against Palestinian land owners selling their property to Jews but stained all the NGOs in the process.

Netanyahu offers royal welcome to new IDF submarine

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu personally welcomed Israel's fifth German-made submarine.

Netanyahu runs against himself in Likud primaries

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is currently the only candidate in the upcoming Likud primary for party leadership that he initiated, and yet he still fears losing to blank ballots.

Have Israelis abandoned any hope for change?

A bitter fate awaits Israel's democracy unless the Israeli silent majority shakes off its learned helplessness.