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

Israel cover image

Israel

June 26, 2026

Tel Aviv 10:18 pm

24°C

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (C, back) looks on as (L/R, front row) Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter, State Department Chief of Staff Daniel Holler, and Lebanese Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh sign a framework agreement at the US Department of State in Washington, DC, on June 26, 2026. Lebanon, Israel and the United States on Friday signed a trilateral framework agreement aimed at paving the way for a peace deal between the two long-time Middle East adversaries. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP

Breaking | Last Updated: June 26, 2026, 2:56 pm

US brokers Lebanon-Israel framework agreement after days of talks

Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged "a lot of work" remains.

Jalaa MAREY / AFP via Getty Images

Iran vows to respond to Israeli military using neighboring airspace: What to know

Iran’s military headquarters said it “considers responding to these dangerous actions as its right” after alleging that Israeli jets have been operating in the airspace of neighboring countries near Iran.

Vance

Analysis

Vance turning us into 'punching bag': Israel fumes over alleged IRGC-CENTCOM channel in Doha

The US-Iran decision to launch direct talks between the IRGC and CENTCOM in Qatar deepens the rift between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while heightening Israeli fears that Washington is shifting toward Doha and Tehran.

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

Responders arrive to a demolished building at San Bernardino after a magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck Venezuela and other regions in the Caribbean on June 24, 2026 in Caracas, Venezuela.

Israel, Turkey, Iran offer aid as Venezuela’s 2 quakes kill at least 188

Iran, Turkey and Israel were among the first countries to offer assistance to earthquake-hit Venezuela despite their varying diplomatic relationships with Caracas.

Latest News

Explainer

Pro-Palestine Democrats win in NYC elections: What it means

Congressional candidate Claire Valdez, Congressional candidate Brad Lander, Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and Congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier raise their hands during a Get Out the Vote (GOTV) rally at King's Theater on June 18, 2026 in New York City.

Analysis

Pilot zones at center of Israel-Lebanon talks as Trump pressures Netanyahu

Lebanese army forces deploy in the village of Bir al-Salasel in southern Lebanon on June 15, 2026. Iran's foreign ministry on June 15 said the US must ensure that Israel commits to stopping the war in Lebanon under a deal agreed upon with the US to end the Middle East war. Lebanon was pulled into the conflict in early March when Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah launched rocket attacks on Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran's supreme leader, prompting Israeli strikes and a ground invasion. (Pho

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

Israel's President Shimon Peres (R) shakes hands with Greece's Prime Minister Antonis Samaras during their meeting in Jerusalem October 8, 2013. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX143VM

Israel's Ties With Greece No Substitute For Alliance With Turkey

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu develops relations with Greece knowing that, though beneficial to Israel, they cannot replace the strategic alliance with Turkey.

U.S. President Barack Obama (R) meets with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during the United Nations General Assembly in New York September 24, 2013.

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX13Y4X

Palestinian Charm Offensive Latest Twist in Peace Talks

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has adopted a conciliatory tone during the peace talks, but Israel's response is uncertain.

Ginat pic.jpg

Street Art Flourishes on Tel Aviv Walls

Unlike other large cities around the globe, Tel Aviv chose to embrace the works of Klone and other graffiti street artists, giving them exposure at the city's leading museum.

Palestinian protesters run away as an Israeli military bulldozer clears a road block placed by the protesters during clashes at a demonstration against the nearby Jewish settlement of Kdumim, in the West Bank village of Kfar Kadum, near Nablus June 8, 2012. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR33A9S

Israeli Left Sociologist Rejects Two-State Solution

Yehouda Shenhav, author of Beyond the Two-State Solution, advocates one comprehensive space, for Israelis and Palestinians.

Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing, speaks in the newly opened 'Li Ka-shing Centre for Health Information and Discovery' at Oxford University in Oxford, southern England May 3, 2013. REUTERS/Oli Scarff/Pool (BRITAIN - Tags: BUSINESS POLITICS EDUCATION ELECTIONS SOCIETY) - RTXZ8S1

Chinese Billionaire Invests In Israeli Tech Institute

The $130 billion donation by Li Ka-shing to establish a joint Israeli Technion-Chinese research center is just the first step toward unlimited technology cooperation between Israel and China.

Israeli border police run in front of Dome of the Rock during a protest after Friday prayers at a compound known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif and to Jews as Temple Mount, in Jerusalem's Old City February 22, 2013. Palestinian protesters have said they fear for the life of Samer al-Issawi, who has been on intermittent hunger strike for over 200 days, and three other hunger strikers jailed by Israel. Their cases have been at the centre of intensified clashes with Israeli soldiers throughout the Israeli-oc

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef 'Was Willing To Give Back the Temple Mount'

David Glass, Shas Party legal adviser, reveals in an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor that Rabbi Ovadia Yosef preferred peace to land in dealing with the Palestinians.

DAVOS, Switzerland: Tel Aviv University President Itamar Rabinovich speaks at the "Breaking the Vicious Circle of the Arab-Israeli Conflict" conference, 25 January 2004 at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos. AFP PHOTO Eric FEFERBERG (Photo credit should read ERIC FEFERBERG/AFP/Getty Images)

Rabinovitch Says Israel Benefits From US-Russia Deal on Syria

Former Israeli ambassador to the US, Itamar Rabinovich, says Israel benefited from the chemical weapons agreement with Syria, but warns of a weakening US position relative to Russia in the region.

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men mourn during the funeral of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the spiritual leader of the ultra-religious Shas political party, in Jerusalem October 7, 2013. More than half a million mourners turned out on Monday for the funeral of Yosef, an Iraqi-born sage who transformed an Israeli underclass of Sephardic Jews of Middle East heritage into a powerful political force. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION OBITUARY) - RTX1431P

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef's Funeral And the Secular Media

The massive attendance at the funeral of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef reflects the changes he brought upon Israeli society by building up the political power of Israeli Sephardi Jews.

A student studying in Syria carries his luggage as he crosses through the Quneitra border crossing between Israel and Syria, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights July 11, 2013. A spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross said 23 students, mostly from the Druze community, crossed into the Golan Heights from Syria at Quneitra on Thursday. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (POLITICS SOCIETY) - RTX11JTW

Golan Heights Students Return To Syria Despite War

Despite the war in Syria, some students from the Golan Heights are still crossing back into Syria to continue their university studies.

Iranian women, wearing jeans, shop in Tehran on October 7, 2013. A campaign launched by young Iranians on internet networking sites Facebook and Twitter were mocking Israeli President Benjamin Netayahu following his comments during an interview diffused on October 5, in which he implied there is a supposed ban on wearing jeans and listening to Western music in the Islamic Republic. AFP PHOTO/ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images)

Iranians React With Anger To Netanyahu Comments

While many Western-oriented Iranians mocked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's comments about Iranians not having access to blue jeans, others seemed most angered by his threats to bomb Iran and push for more sanctions.

A YOUNG SUPPORTER OF SHAS PARTY SMILES BEHIND POSTERS OF RABBI JOSEF
OVADIA DURING ELECTIONS RALLY IN ASHDOD. - RTRGS9Y

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef: An Israeli Revolutionary

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, who died on Oct. 7, led a social revolution for equality and integration that is yet to achieve its goals.

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal looks at his watch before his interview with Reuters in Doha November 29, 2012. Meshaal said the de facto recognition of a sovereign Palestinian state won by his rival Mahmoud Abbas should be seen alongside Gaza's latest conflict with Israel as a single, bold strategy that could empower all Palestinians. Meshaal said the short war which claimed 162 Palestinian lives and five Israelis was concluded on terms set by the Palestinian Islamist movement and ended its isolation, creating

Hamas Activists Accuse Meshaal Of Preferring Life in Exile

Rumors about Hamas Chief of Political Bureau Khaled Meshaal leaving Qatar for Beirut have sparked criticism within the movement toward those exiled leaders who refuse to return to Gaza.