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

Israel cover image

Israel

October 2, 2026

Tel Aviv 11:11 am

28°C

JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

Exclusive

Rights, faith groups urge Congress to block $2.8B bomb sale to Israel

If the Trump administration moves forward with the transfer, dozens of groups are urging lawmakers to seek a joint resolution of disapproval.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

Erik Marmor/Getty Images

West Bank settlers attack Israeli activists as Netanyahu claims 'hoax'

On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attention surrounding settler violence was a “tremendous hoax.”

Jack GUEZ / AFP via Getty Images

Israel-UAE flights disrupted as airlines plan rescue flights: What to know

Israeli carriers are preparing repatriation flights from Dubai starting on Friday, subject to security approval.

United Arab Emirates

MOHAMMED ATTAR/AFP via Getty Images

Explainer

FlyDubai incident recalls decades of Middle East airline hijackings: What to know

In 1968, the PFLP hijacked an El Al flight from Rome to Tel Aviv, marking the first political hijacking of an aircraft tied to the Middle East.

United Arab Emirates

Latest News

Explainer

FlyDubai incident spotlights key global link for Israeli travelers

Israelis pick up their luggage upon arrival from Tel Aviv to the Dubai airport in the United Arab Emirates, on Nov. 26, 2020, on the first scheduled commercial flight operated by budget airline flydubai.

Live Updates

FlyDubai flight lands in Tel Aviv after distress alert, Saudi diversion

Flydubai

Exclusive

Inside Netanyahu’s relentless push for meeting with UAE’s MBZ

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after speaking during the 81st United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2026.

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

Ex-Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar to sue Netanyahu over Oct. 7 accusations: What to know

Ronen Bar, former chief of Israel's domestic Shin Bet security agency

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

A battered teddy bear belonging to Ina Rennert, a 75-year-old Holocaust survivor, is displayed with a picture of her as a child at the Yad Vashem Holocaust History Museum in Jerusalem April 17, 2011. Rennert had handed over to Yad Vashem for safekeeping the toy she says she once clung to as a little girl while hiding from the Nazis in Poland during World War Two. Thousands of aging Israeli survivors have answered a call by Yad Vashem to hand in Holocaust-era keepsakes to preserve their memory for future gen

Israel Debates Holocaust Education For First Graders

The proposal by Israel's education minister to introduce the Holocaust into the first-grade curriculum has sparked an ethical debate about the role these studies play in shaping Israeli society.

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat (C) walks after praying at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City October 23, 2013. Barkat won re-election on Wednesday in a hotly contested race that dealt a political blow to his challenger's main backers, former Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and the ultra-Orthodox Shas party. REUTER/Baz Ratner (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTX14KZG

Palestinians Again BoycottEast Jerusalem Elections

Voter turnout among Palestinians varied drastically among regions for municipal elections in Israel on Oct. 22, amid a near-comprehensive boycott in east Jerusalem.

Palestinian children hoping to cross into Egypt, look out of a bus window at the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the southern Gaza Strip October 8, 2013. Egypt partially reopened its border crossing with the Gaza Strip for four days on Tuesday for the humanitarian needs of patients seeking treatment, and students studying outside of Gaza, a Palestinian official said. REUTERS/Ahmed Zakot (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY SOCIETY IMMIGRATION) - RTX143OA

Solidarity Visits to Gaza Dwindle

International solidarity delegations to Gaza have struggled to enter the territory since Egypt's tightening of its blockade, cutting off a vital source of essential medical assistance.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (R) walks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Villa Taverna in Rome October 23, 2013. REUTERS/Gregorio Borgia/Pool (ITALY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX14L0M

US Forces Israel to Consider Strategic Reset

Will Israel finally embrace the Arab Peace Initiative?

Turkey's Prime Minister and leader of ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Tayyip Erdogan (R) welcomes his guest Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal during the AKP congress in Ankara September 30, 2012. Erdogan trumpeted Turkey's credentials as a rising democratic power on Sunday, saying his Islamist-rooted ruling party had become an example to the Muslim world after a decade in charge. Addressing thousands of party members and regional leaders at a congress of his Justice and Development (AK) Party, Erdogan

Turkey on Defensive Over Hamas

Claims that Turkey is obstructing Palestinian reconciliation are fueling the AKP's belief in an international campaign to isolate Ankara politically at an already low point in its foreign relations.

A supporter of the left wing Meretz party campaigning for municipal elections hangs balloons next to campaign posters of Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat in Jerusalem October 22, 2013. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTX14JPY

Apathetic Israeli Voters Shun Municipal Elections

The low voting rate in local elections testifies that two years after the social justice protest movement, the Israeli public no longer believes in its power to influence and change their municipalities.

Residents run from a fire at a gasoline and oil shop in Aleppo's Bustan Al-Qasr neighbourhood October 20, 2013. Witnesses said the fire was caused by a bullet fired by a sniper loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad at the Karaj al-Hajez crossing, a passageway separating Aleppo's Bustan al-Qasr, which is under the rebels' control and Al-Masharqa neighborhood, an area controlled by the regime. REUTERS/Haleem Al-Halabi (SYRIA - Tags: DISASTER TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX14HWX

Syria's Impasse Likely to Last Years

Former UN official Salman Shaikh contends that neither the Bashar al-Assad regime nor the official opposition represent the true will of the Syrian people.

A general view shows the plenum as Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the opening of the winter session of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem October 14, 2013. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX14AZT

Knesset Opens with Populist Bills Going Nowhere

Populist legislation, spotlighted by the news media, emerged from the right and left of the governing coalition after the Knesset winter session began, but no dramatic change should be expected.

Turkey’s Spymaster: The Making of a Hero

An impressive campaign by Hakan Fidan’s media team has made almost an entire nation worship him.

Ismail Haniyeh, prime minister of the Hamas Gaza government, prays before delivering a speech in Gaza City October 19, 2013. Haniyeh urged rival Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to speed up the implementation of the faltering Egyptian-brokered unity deal to heal six years of political rifts. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX14GN2

Haniyeh Torn Between Honor And Gaza's Survival

With the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas has found itself isolated and dependent on Israel for Gaza's daily survival.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gestures during a joint news conference with his Italian counterpart Enrico Letta during a meeting at Chigi Palace in Rome October 22, 2013. REUTERS/Tony Gentile (ITALY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX14K1Q

Israel's Next Best Thing? It's Bibi

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains the only stable factor in the Middle East, with no potential successor jeopardizing his leadership.

Palestinians Protest Israeli Gentrification In Acre

Palestinian residents of Acre have protested against the Israeli government’s decision to sell an old khan to investors.