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

Israel cover image

Israel

September 28, 2026

Tel Aviv 7:55 pm

26°C

Israeli PM

On secret UAE visit, Netanyahu asked MBZ to deny pre-Oct. 7 warnings

During his trip to Abu Dhabi, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked President Mohamed bin Zayed to deny reports that he had been warned ahead of the Oct. 7 attack that Hamas was preparing a major assault.

A general view of the damaged building housing Tigray TV, the state broadcaster of the Tigray region, following a drone strike in Mekelle, Ethiopia, Sept. 27, 2026.

20 Israelis stranded in Ethiopia seek evacuation as fighting resumes: What to know

Twenty Israeli tourists are asking the Foreign Ministry to arrange their evacuation from the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia, where fighting resumed on Tuesday.

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.

Latest News

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

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)

Analysis

Why Netanyahu is distancing himself from Trump ahead of Israeli election

ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP via Getty Images

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

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

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

Arab MKs aim to restore dialogue with Israelis

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Arab Knesset members Haneen Zoabi, Basel Ghattas and Jamal Zahalka claim that the Israeli media categorize and demonize them in a way that prevents them from entering into a dialogue with the public.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and Finance Minister Yair Lapid attend a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem October 7, 2014. REUTERS/Dan Balilty/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS) - RTR499SD

Lapid finally steps up to the plate

Finance Minister Yair Lapid has apparently cut a deal with Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, enabling him to promote his flagship bill proposal over a zero-VAT for housing.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas speaks at the opening of a museum of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in the West Bank city of Ramallah, November 9, 2014. REUTERS/Abbas Momani/Pool (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR4DGOL

Israeli security officials view Abbas as key to stability

Despite the latest terror attacks in the Etzion settlement and at the center of Tel Aviv, Israeli security sources say that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is committed to security cooperation with Israel and will work to defuse tension.

Mourners chant slogans during the funeral of two Palestinians, who were shot dead by Israeli forces on Thursday, in the West Bank city of Ramallah May 16, 2014. Israeli forces shot dead the two Palestinians during a stone-throwing protest on Thursday to mark the "Nakba", or "catastrophe", as Palestinians term their displacement when Israel was founded. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3PFK8

Israel investigates B'Tselem claims on shooting Palestinians

In an interview with Al-Monitor, B'Tselem Director Hagai El-Ad defends the organization's unequivocal, yet unpopular stance against Israeli policies: ''The moral image of the state is important for many Israelis and not just for B’Tselem activists.''

European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini (L) attends a media conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem November 7, 2014. REUTERS/Jim Hollander/Pool (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR4D9OH

Netanyahu captains Israel into the doldrums

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boasted about the uniqueness of Israeli democracy in the region, but no Western democratic state would withhold basic rights from millions of people living under its rule, as Israel does.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the opening of the winter session of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem October 27, 2014. Netanyahu will expedite planning for some 1,000 settler homes in East Jerusalem, a government official said on Monday, in a bid to placate a restive coalition ally without further aggravating a dispute with Washington. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR4BSDI

For Israelis, Bibi no longer means security

Unlike the late Prime Minister Sharon, who initiated the Gaza disengagement precisely when his status as Mr. Security was at stake, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won't seek a diplomatic initiative even after the same security failure.

The golden Dome of the Rock (C) in Jerusalem's old city is seen in the distance beyond a section of the controversial Israeli barrier in the West Bank city of Abu Dis, October 29 , 2014. The Dome of the Rock is situated within the Al-Aqsa compound, known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount. On the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, there are still barriers separating communities around the world, from the barbed wire fence dividing the two Koreas, the fence around the Spa

Jerusalem, a sanctuary for all

The conflict over the Temple Mount, or Noble Sanctuary, is over walls both literal and figurative — and until these separating walls come down, peace in the Middle East will remain just a dream.

Druze women empowered through sports

A new generation of Israeli Druze girls and women are increasingly participating in sports, exhibiting independence and advocating for gender equality in their traditional society.

Members of the Israeli Zaka emergency response team work at the scene of a stabbing in Tel Aviv November 10, 2014. A Palestinian stabbed and critically an Israeli soldier near a Tel Aviv train station on Monday, police said, as anti-Israel violence that has raised fears of a new Palestinian uprising in the making reached the country's business capital. REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST MILITARY CRIME LAW TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR4DJZA

Are the Palestinian assaults on Israelis lone wolf attacks?

Palestinians largely support the latest spate of attacks on Israelis, which they see as retaliation for Israel’s attempted desecration of Al-Asqa Mosque and the occupation.

Israel's Defence Minister Ehud Barak (L) sits across from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (R) and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni during the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem February 15, 2009. REUTERS/Emil Salman/JINI/Pool (JERUSALEM) - RTXBNIE

No love lost between Barak, Olmert

Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein ordered the police to open an investigation, following taped conversations of former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert allegedly accusing former Prime Minister Ehud Barak of taking a bribe.

Young Palestinians from Hamas's "popular army" chant anti-Israel slogans as they take part in a military graduation ceremony in Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip November 7, 2014. Hamas recently formed a "popular army" for young Palestinians to prepare them to "confront any possible Israeli attack", Hamas officials said. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR4D9VA

How Hamas uses Temple Mount

Hamas leaders have been calling on West Bank Palestinians to attack Israel in efforts to provoke a religious war against Israel, as they depict a situation where the Israeli right wing is about to take over the Temple Mount.

A Palestinian woman holds an umbrella to cover herself from rain as she makes her way to fill containers with water in Shejaia neighborhood, that witnesses said was devastated during a seven-week Israeli offensive, in the east of Gaza City October 19, 2014. An open-ended ceasefire between Israel and Hamas-led Gaza militants, mediated by Egypt, took effect on August 26 after a seven-week conflict. It called for an indefinite halt to hostilities, the immediate opening of Gaza's blockaded crossings with Israe

Hamas: Israel fails to implement cease-fire deal

Israel is keeping Gaza's borders closed as efforts to begin reconstruction stall, heightening the despair of ordinary Palestinians and frustrating Hamas.