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

Israel cover image

Israel

August 5, 2026

Tel Aviv 8:42 pm

28°C

Israeli battle tanks deploy in the village of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah (Eastern Zawtar) in southern Lebanon as pictured from the nearby village of Zawtar al-Gharbiyah (Western Zawtar) on August 2, 2026. Under a US-sponsored agreement signed in June, Lebanon's army is to disarm Hezbollah and the Israeli military is to withdraw from "pilot zones" where Lebanese forces will subsequently deploy. The deal came more than three months after Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East with rocket fire at Israel in suppo

Israel-Lebanon talks suspended amid escalation, set to resume Thursday

The Israeli delegation asked the American representatives to suspend the direct talks with Lebanon for a few hours over alleged leaks by Beirut.

Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Netanyahu’s Gaza double game: Back Trump, reassure Israel’s right

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to both give the impression that Israel retains total freedom of action in Gaza while allowing the Board of Peace to move ahead with President Donald Trump’s peace plan.

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

Tiziana FABI / AFP via Getty Images

What to know about Lebanon-Israel 7th round of talks held in Rome

The US, Israel and Lebanon have sent expanded delegations to the talks, set to continue for three days and expected to focus on security arrangements, border issues and reconstruction.

Latest News

Analysis

Lacking leverage over Trump, Israel stays quiet on US-Iran talks

US President Donald Trump (C) is welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Ben Gurion International Airport on Oct. 13, 2025 in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Analysis

How strike on Damietta port exposes Egypt's energy infrastructure risks

An Egyptian man looks at the Qatari Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) carrier "Duhail" as its passes through the Suez Canal near the Egyptian port city of Ismailia on April 1, 2008. The vessel has a capacity of 210,100 cu.m making it one of the largest LNG carriers constructed to date. AFP PHOTO/STR (Photo credit should read -/AFP via Getty Images)

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Analysis

No Iran commitment, no Trump endorsement: Netanyahu leaves US empty-handed

US President Donald Trump walks to board Marine One on the Ellipse near the White House in Washington, DC, on July 31, 2026. President Trump is traveling to Camp David in Maryland to hold a cabinet meeting and later to Bedminster, New Jersey to spend the weekend at his golf club. (Photo by Oliver Contreras / 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 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) and Jerusalem's mayor Nir Barkat (L) talk to journalists during a joint press conference on February 23, 2015 in Jerusalem, a day after Barkat and his bodyguard apprehended a young Palestinian who stabbed an ultra-Orthodox Jew in Jerusalem. AFP PHOTO / GALI TIBBON (Photo credit should read GALI TIBBON/AFP/Getty Images)

Netanyahu, Herzog battle over Israeli press

Netanyahu's schedule, as well as newly revealed sections of the coalition agreements, attest to the fact that the prime minister attributes paramount importance to his control of the media.

Palestinian Senior Hamas legislator Mohammed Totah (L) and former Palestinian minister for Jerusalem affairs Khaled Abu Arafeh (C), are seen at the Magistrate's Court for their hearing in Jerusalem on January 24, 2012. The men were arrested the day before from the offices of the International Committee of the Red Cross in east Jerusalem where they were taking refuge to avoid deportation from Jerusalem to the West Bank. Over 20 of Hamas's 74 MPs in the 132-member PLC are currently being held by Israel, with

Israeli court to rule on minister's deportation case

After nine years, the Israeli Supreme Court is expected to decide whether the Israeli minister of interior has the right to deport a bona fide permanent resident of the city of Jerusalem.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the plenum at Israel's parliament in Jerusalem May 4, 2015. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Monday he would not join the new coalition government being formed by Netanyahu, citing disputes over legislation. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RTX1BHTM

New Israeli government makes no pretense of peace

For the first time in 20 years, an Israeli government will be sworn in without a mention or plan of resolving the Palestinian conflict.

Jordan's King Abdullah (R) meets with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the Royal Palace in Amman November 12, 2014. REUTERS/Majed Jaber (JORDAN - Tags: POLITICS ROYALS) - RTR4DV07

Could Jordan-Palestine confederation be in the cards?

Palestinian and Jordanian officials are contemplating the idea of a Jordan-Palestine confederation, to be created after the establishment of a Palestinian state and with Israeli involvement.

Netanyahu bitter over justice minister appointee

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s shrinking coalition forces him to appoint his old nemesis, Knesset member Ayelet Shaked, to the post of justice minister.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C), Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon (L), and Energy and Water Minister Silvan Shalom attend a session of parliament in Jerusalem May 4, 2015. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Monday he would not join the new coalition government being formed by Netanyahu, citing disputes over legislation. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RTX1BHVV

Netanyahu snatches defeat from jaws of victory

Instead of composing a large and stable coalition, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finds himself with only 61 coalition members and must try to persuade the Zionist Camp to join his government.

AL-Midan Theater.JPG

Haifa's Arab theater shocked by uproar over play

“A Parallel Time,” at Al-Midan Theater in Haifa, has sparked an outcry amid allegations that the play glorifies an alleged terrorist.

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man attends a computer course at a technical college in Jerusalem October 16, 2013. Adhering to a strict religious lifestyle, Haredim - Hebrew for "those who fear God" - mostly live in their own towns and neighbourhoods, keep to their own schools and shun secular culture. But there are signs of a growing, dispersed movement driving change inside the cloistered, and also poor, community. Picture taken October 16, 2013. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS EDUCATION SOCIETY

Ultra-Orthodox start to join 'startup nation'

Six high-tech startups by ultra-Orthodox Israelis, some of them women, were selected by the Kamatech accelerator project for mentorship and funding assistance.

Israeli Labor party leader Shelly Yachimovich delivers a speech on January 22, 2013 at the party's headquarters in Kfar Saba, central Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was necessary to form the "broadest possible government" after his Likud-Beitenu list won a narrow election victory, with the centrist Yesh Atid in second place. AFP PHOTO/GALI TIBBON (Photo credit should read GALI TIBBON/AFP/Getty Images)

Yachimovich offensive a bid for Labor leadership

Preparing for a term in the opposition and for next year's party primaries, former Labor head Shelly Yachimovich has come out against the Zionist Camp's dual leadership, taking aim in particular at Tzipi Livni.

France's President Francois Hollande addresses the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem November 18, 2013. Hollande called on Israel on Monday to halt settlement building on occupied territory, saying it hampers chances for a peace agreement with the Palestinians. REUTERS/Debbie Hill/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX15J2L

New Knesset supports two-state solution

With Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman joining the opposition, the balance of power in the Knesset is clearly in favor of those supporting a two-state solution.

Bahamas Prime Minister Perry Christie (L) looks on as US Vice President Joseph R. Biden (C) and Amos J. Hochstein, US State Department Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs, talk before the Caribbean Energy Security Initiative Luncheon during the Caribbean Energy Security Summit at the US Department of States January 26, 2015 in Washington, DC. Leaders from around the Caribbean attended the summit to discuss energy and regional issues. AFP PHOTO/BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI (Photo cre

Price impact of Iranian oil uncertain, says US official

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Amos Hochstein, special envoy and coordinator for International Energy Affairs at the US State Department, says Middle Eastern countries are increasingly investing in renewables, international oil companies are returning to Egypt and Israel needs get its regulatory house in order if it wants foreign investments in offshore natural gas.

Palestinians walk near an opening in Israel's controversial barrier in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of A-tur January 3, 2014. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered a gloomy assessment of peace prospects with the Palestinians on Thursday as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry began his 10th visit to the region in pursuit of a deal. Leaders from both sides have to address core issues of the decades-old conflict, such as the question of borders, security, refugees and the status of Jerusalem. RE

US, international community should take lead on two-state solution

To advance toward a two-state solution, the United States and the international community must change the paradigm of seeking an agreement only through direct negotiations and adopt an approach favoring independent steps.