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

Israel cover image

Israel

June 19, 2026

Tel Aviv 7:47 pm

25°C

US President Donald Trump holds a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Palm Beach, Florida, Dec. 29, 2025.

Analysis

How Netanyahu used Lebanon strikes to push back on Trump’s Iran deal

The latest ceasefire in Lebanon leaves Netanyahu squeezed between Washington and domestic pressure.

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

EVIAN-LES-BAINS, FRANCE - JUNE 16: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a bilateral meeting with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on the sidelines of the G7 summit, on June 16, 2026 in Evian-les-Bains, France. Leaders from the Group of 7 (G7) countries convened in Evian, France, near the Swiss border, for their annual summit to discuss challenges to peace and security for Ukraine and Europe, the situation in the Middle East, and other geopolitical issues. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Get

'Let Syria take care of Hezbollah': Trump criticizes Israel, leans on Sharaa to help in Lebanon

President Donald Trump insisted he has a great relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but criticized the scale of Israel’s strikes in Lebanon.

Latest News

Explainer

Ben-Gvir's move to run separately in Israel elections revives debate over party alliances

Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir takes part in the Jerusalem Day celebrations on May 14, 2026, in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Analysis

'He knew it was over': Inside Netanyahu’s response to Trump’s Iran deal as Israel recalibrates

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

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

Analysis

Erdogan-Netanyahu war of words signals deeper rivalry for regional influence

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Turkish House in New York on Sept. 19, 2023.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Analysis

Squeezed by Trump and Iran war, how vulnerable is Netanyahu in polls?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hosted by President Donald Trump at the White House, Washington, DC, July 7, 2025.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

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

A wounded Israeli soldier lies on a stretcher near Israel's border with Lebanon January 28, 2015. The threat of a full-blown conflict between Israel and Hezbollah increased on Wednesday after the Lebanese militant group fired a missile at an Israeli army vehicle along the frontier and wounded seven soldiers, the biggest escalation since a 2006 war. REUTERS/JINIPIX (ISRAEL - Tags: MILITARY POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) ISRAEL OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN ISRAEL - RTR4NB95

Hezbollah answers Israeli attack

Al-Monitor reports on the ground from the site of Wednesday's confrontation.

Palestinian youths hold weapons during a military-style graduation ceremony after being trained at one of the Hamas-run Liberation Camps, in Gaza City January 29, 2015. Hamas's armed wing organized "Liberation Youths Camps" for young Palestinians aged between 15 and 21 to prepare them to "confront any possible Israeli attack", Hamas officials said. According to organizers, some 17,000 youths graduated from these camps. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem (GAZA - Tags: MILITARY POLITICS) - RTR4NFQZ

Al-Qassam youth training camps open again

The Vanguards of Liberation camps, previously organized under the supervision of the Education and Interior Ministries in Hamas-run Gaza, are now under the control of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, which some think might be using the camps to recruit young men as fighters.

U.N. peacekeepers of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) patrol in Kfar Kila village in south Lebanon, near the border with Israel, January 28, 2015. Two Israeli soldiers and a Spanish peacekeeper were killed on Wednesday in an exchange of fire between Hezbollah and Israel that has raised the threat of a full-blown conflict between the militant Islamist group and Israel. REUTERS/Aziz Taher (LEBANON - Tags: CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR4NCBP

Israel shows restraint in Hezbollah retaliation

Hezbollah’s attack on an Israeli patrol in Lebanon’s occupied Shebaa Farms was expected to break into an all-out war on Lebanon, but sources told Al-Monitor that Israel was asked not to engage in such a war.

Palestinians hold flags during a rally in support of a Gaza-bound flotilla, at the Gaza seaport July 3, 2011. The pro-Palestinian flotilla hopes to leave Greece early this week to challenge Israel's sea blockade of the Gaza Strip, organisers said on Saturday. The convoy of cargo and passenger boats was due to depart at least a week ago but has been held up amid allegations of sabotage sponsored by Israel. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR2OEST

Greece election result brings hope to Palestinians

President Mahmoud Abbas and the Hamas movement welcomed the victory of the Syriza Party in the Greek elections, which promised during its electoral campaign to work on recognizing the Palestinian state.

A man from the minority Yazidi sect stands guard at Mount Sinjar, in the town of Sinjar, December 20, 2014. Iraqi Kurdish fighters flashed victory signs as they swept across the northern side of Sinjar mountain on Saturday, two days after breaking through to free hundreds of Yazidis trapped there for months by Islamic State fighters. REUTERS/Ari Jalal (IRAQ - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST MILITARY) - RTR4IV2I

Yazidis ask Israel for help

Desperate Yazidis are reaching out to Israel, asking for understanding and assistance, especially in the military domain for their fight against the Islamic State.

Israeli Meretz party members Nitzan Horowitz (2nd from R), Zehava Galon (C) and Issawi Frej (c-L) take part in a visit of the "Al-Shuhada" street in the West Bank city of Hebron on February 25, 2014 in support of Palestinians who were forced out of the old quarter at the outset of the second Palestinian intifada by the Israeli army to allow for Jewish settlers to move securely in the area. Today also marks the 20th anniversary of the massacre of 29 Palestinian Muslim worshipers by Jewish extremist Baruch Go

Could Meretz Party amass more Arab votes?

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Knesset member Esawi Frij says that the strong tribal or family identity of Israeli Arabs will not necessarily encourage them to support the United Arab Party, opening the way to support leftist Meretz.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a cornerstone laying ceremony for a new neighbourhood in the southern town of Sderot January 28, 2015. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR4NAB3

Netanyahu's Iranian boomerang

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's rejection of an agreement with Iran will result in Israel losing the support of its Western allies and in Iran being legitimized as a nuclear threshold state by its Arab neighbors.

Israeli pollsters struggle to keep pace with social media

Following the unexpected results of the 2013 elections, can Israeli pollsters grasp the socio-economic concerns of young Israelis expressed online?

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iran's envoy to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), speaks during a news conference about the new political relations between Iran and Egypt after the newly elected Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi was sworn in, at the Iranian embassy in Cairo June 9, 2014. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3SWSY

Iran warned US of 'consequences' for killing general

Iran's deputy foreign minister has said that Iran told the United States that there will be "consequences" for Israel over the Jan. 18 killing of an Iranian general.

$30 Apr 1997: Eli Ohana of Israel in action during the World Cup Qualifier against Cyprus in Tel Aviv, Israel. Israel won 2-0. \ Mandatory Credit: Mark Thompson /Allsport$

Who wants to be a Knesset member?

The political arena has lost its attractiveness for people of substantial public service and achievement, opening the stage for media celebrities, and even for the world of soccer.

An Israeli mobile artillery unit fires towards the southern Gaza in this August 1, 2014 file photo. The July-August war in Gaza drew international condemnation for a number of reasons, but one episode proved more deadly than any other: an Israeli air and artillery bombardment on Aug. 1 that killed 150 people in a matter of hours.The events unfolded just as a three-day ceasefire was supposed to come into force. Hamas militants emerged from a tunnel inside Gaza and ambushed three Israeli soldiers, killing two

Palestinians prepare ICC files

Palestine is preparing files on Israeli settlement activity and the 2014 war on Gaza for submission to the International Criminal Court come April 1.

Abu Ubaida, the spokesman of the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigade, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, is pictured on a television screen as he delivers a televised statement on Hamas TV, in Gaza August 20, 2014. Hamas's military wing said on Wednesday an Israeli air strike in Gaza had failed to kill its military commander, Mohammed Deif. In a televised statement, Ubaida said Israel had missed its target. Deif's wife and seven-month-old son were killed in the attack. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITI

Mohammed al-Deif lives

Commander of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades Mohammed al-Deif is responsible for some of the most murderous terror attacks against Israelis, yet during the Gaza war the IDF failed again to eliminate him.