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

Israel cover image

Israel

June 28, 2026

Tel Aviv 6:09 pm

28°C

Members of the Jerusalem Armenian community hold placards as they march during commemorations for the 94th anniversary of mass killings of their kin under the Ottoman Empire, Jerusalem's Old City, April 24, 2009.

Explainer

Israel's Armenian genocide recognition marks new front against Turkey

Analysts say the expected vote for recognition is not morally motivated, but intended to spite the Turkish leader.

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

US brokers deal for limited Israeli withdrawal in south Lebanon

The deal establishes a US-facilitated military coordination group to oversee the creation of two initial pilot zones in southern Lebanon.

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

Latest News

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

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.

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 steps into his car after attending a memorial ceremony at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem July 16, 2007. Nobel peace laureate Peres was sworn in as Israel's president on Sunday and pledged to seize the opportunity to encourage long-delayed efforts to achieve a diplomatic resolution to conflict in the Middle East. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM) - RTR1RX70

Peres Holds False Hope For a 'Better Place'

Will the fate of Israeli President Shimon Peres' vision of peace be any different from that of the Israeli electric car, which shattered in a resounding crash?

Israeli Energy Minister Uzi Landau speaks during an investment energy summit in Athens, March 28, 2012. REUTERS/John Kolesidis(GREECE - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS ENERGY) - RTR3000V

Israeli Minister: 'A Palestinian State Is not the Solution'

For Israeli Tourism Minister Uzi Landau: “One thing must be clear: A Palestinian state is not the solution."

Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni (R) hugs a woman living in a shelter for battered women in Jerusalem November 25, 2008. Tuesday marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. REUTERS/Eliana Aponte (JERUSALEM) - RTXAYH7

Arab Israeli Women Fight Domestic Violence

“Violence against women is not the whole of the problem, but just a symptom,” says Arab feminist activist Aida Tuma-Suliman.

Smoke rises after shells exploded in the Syrian village of Al Rafeed, close to the ceasefire line between Israel and Syria, as seen from the Israeli occupied Golan Heights May 7, 2013. Israel played down weekend air strikes close to Damascus reported to have killed dozens of Syrian soldiers, saying they were not aimed at influencing its neighbour's civil war but only at stopping Iranian missiles reaching Lebanese Hezbollah militants. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTXZDAV

Syrians in Israeli-Occupied Golan Remain Divided on Assad

While Syrian President Bashar al-Assad enjoys considerable support from Golan Syrians under Israeli occupation, many are speaking up against his rule.

A Palestinian refugee knocks on the closed gate of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) headquarters with his walking stick, during a protest demanding UNRWA to resume aid for refugees in Gaza City April 8, 2013. The main U.N. humanitarian agency for Palestinians closed all of its relief and distribution centres in Gaza after protesters stormed its headquarters on Thursday demanding it to reverse a decision to cut annual cash handouts of $40 for the poorest beneficiaries. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem

Palestinian Activists Seek New Strategies to Confront Israel

Palestinian activists look for alternatives to international law to hold Israel accountable for its settlement policies.

Musical Bridges Between Israel and Turkey

Israeli musician Yinon Muallem, who has been living in Istanbul for more than a decade, succeeds in using his music to bring Israelis and Turks closer.

Palestinian women walk by the walls of the destroyed Hamas headquarters compound in Gaza January 24, 2009. The Hamas headquarters was repeatedly bombed during Israel's devastating three-week war. On the background are portraits of (L-R) Khalil Al Wazir (second in command in Fatah movement, Yassir Arafat (Late Palestinian President) and Salah Khalaf (co-founder of the Palestinian Liberation Organization), all deceased. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis (GAZA) - RTR23TCK

The Consequences of 'Bogie' Killing Abu Jihad

“Show of Force” was a successful Israeli operation killing Fatah Military Chief Abu Jihad, but did it not also kill a potential peace partner?

Marwan Barghouthi, head of the Palestinian Fatah Tanzim and al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades, gestures as Israeli police bring him into the District Court for his judgment hearing in Tel Aviv May 20, 2004. An Israeli court on Thursday convicted Barghouthi, a leader of the Palestinian uprising, on murder charges over the killing of five Israelis by militants. REUTERS/Pool/David Silverman - RTRJYWL

Barghouti: Arab peace plan damages Palestinian cause

In an exclusive written interview, jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti warns that the alternative to a two-state solution is a conflict "with no middle ground."

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (R) meets with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Paris, May 27, 2013. REUTERS/Jim Young (FRANCE - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX103D0

The Missing Syrian Peace

US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov are still working on the invitation list for Geneva II.

Eviatar, a new makeshift settlement named after Eviatar Borovsky, the Israeli settler killed by Palestinian Salam Zaghal in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, is seen on a hilltop about 1km from the fatal attack, near the West Bank city of Nablus May 2, 2013. While the family of the dead settler mourned their loss, the Zaghal family, living in poverty in the north of the Palestinian territory, defended Salam's action as justified. REUTERS/Abed Omar Qusini (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTXZ7L1

Is the Two-State Solution Bankrupt? (Take Two)

The current political climate in Israel favors continuation of the settlement enterprise in the West Bank, pushing away any chance of a "two-state solution."

Jewish settlers, one of them wearing a garment printed with a map showing the borders of Biblical Israel, pray during a protest at the site of a stabbing attack by a Palestinian, at Tapuach junction, near the West Bank city of Nablus April 30, 2013. A Palestinian man stabbed and shot dead an Israeli settler in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, the Israeli ambulance service and police said. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTXZ5CZ

Even $4 Billion Can't Buy Love Or Peace

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains committed to Former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s approach: “Everything we don't grab will go to them."

Israel's former Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman (C) prays during a visit to the Tomb of the Patriarchs in the West Bank city of Hebron January 14, 2013. Entrenched in what they view as their Biblical heartland, the hardline Jewish settlers of Hebron look forward with delight to next week's Israeli election. To match ISRAEL-ELECTION/SETTLERS REUTERS/Baz Ratner (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS RELIGION) - RTR3CG2V

Liberman Bill To Draft Israeli Arabs Just a Cheap Trick

Former Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman’s demand to include Israel’s Arabs in the new universal national service plan is no more than a desperate attempt to show that he is still relevant.