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

Israel cover image

Israel

August 14, 2026

Tel Aviv 2:00 pm

32°C

Colombia's new president, Abelardo de la Espriella, delivers a speech at the Pichincha Battalion after being sworn in, in Cali, Colombia, on Aug. 7, 2026.

Syria lodges UN complaint against Colombia’s recognition of Israeli sovereignty over Golan

Bogota’s move marked a foreign policy shift under new right-wing President Abelardo de la Espriella, reversing Petro-era policies that strained ties with Israel.

lia YEFIMOVICH / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Netanyahu rejects Trump’s Gaza plan while quietly implementing it

Even as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that he rejects US President Donald Trump’s Gaza reconstruction plan, Israel is advancing its implementation.

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

Latest News

Interview

Israel's deputy FM, Sharren Haskel, bets on a new right after breaking with Netanyahu

Sharren Haskel speaks at an event marking 60 years of diplomatic ties between Germany and Israel hosted by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Berlin, Oct. 16, 2025.

Analysis

As pro-Palestinian candidates gain ground, will AIPAC's influence wane?

Alex Wong/Getty Images

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Analysis

As US rethinks regional presence, Israel shifts focus to destabilizing Iran

Hussein FALEH / AFP via Getty Images

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

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (C) is joined by Israeli President Shimon Peres (L) and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa at the King Hussein Convention Centre, at the Dead Sea May 26, 2013. REUTERS/Jim Young (JORDAN - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS) - RTX101SB

Kerry Plan Ignores Palestinian Economic Independence

The economic plan brought forward by US Secretary of State John Kerry still keeps the Palestinian economy dependent on Israel.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (C) is joined by Israeli President Shimon Peres (L) and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa at the King Hussein Convention Centre, at the Dead Sea May 26, 2013. REUTERS/Jim Young (JORDAN - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS) - RTX101SF

Political Dimension Remains Central in Kerry Approach to Peace

Despite the importance of the economic dimension of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the political dimension of the approach to peace remains paramount.

RAMAT GAN, ISRAEL - JANUARY 22: (ISRAEL OUT) Supporters and activists of the Habayit Hayehudi party (The Jewish Home) react to the announcement of the first projections on the results of Israel's national elections at a post-election rally on January 22, 2013 in Ramat Gan, Israel. Polls are predicting 12 seats of 120 in the Israeli parliament for the right-wing, religious party led by Naftali Bennett, with Israel seeing the highest turnout of voters since 1999. (Photo by Oren Ziv/Getty Images)

'Jewish Home' Party Against Arab Draft

Knesset member Yoni Chetboun opposes (clearly and repeatedly) the drafting of Israeli Arabs to the army: ''I don't want an Arab in IDF uniform.''

Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu draws a red line on a graphic of a bomb as he addresses the 67th United Nations General Assembly at the U.N. Headquarters in New York, September 27, 2012. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR38I5Z

The Failure of Israel's Red Line Policy

By drawing red lines it cannot keep, Israel is harming its credibility and its deterrence capability.

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."