Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan receives Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Turkish House in New York, on Sept. 19, 2023.

Analysis

What’s at stake for Turkey as Israel heads to the polls?

Israel’s Oct. 27 election could offer a chance to ease tensions with Ankara, but competing ambitions in Syria and beyond threaten to push the two US allies toward a dangerous confrontation.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

JACK GUEZ / AFP via Getty Images

Feature

50,000 Israeli expats fly home to vote in potential boon to Netanyahu rivals

Israel prohibits voting from abroad with limited exceptions, and Israelis who spoke to Al-Monitor said they are especially motivated to fly home this year.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

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

Pedestrians cross a street in front of a banner featuring Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Analysis

How Israel opposition infighting is boosting Netanyahu days before election

Discord within the opposition, including its reluctance to name a single candidate for prime minister ahead of the Oct. 27 election, is working in Netanyahu’s favor.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

In first, Israel’s Netanyahu says he held call with Syria’s Ahmed al-Sharaa

It is the first publicly disclosed contact between the leaders of Israel and Syria, which lack formal relations and have fought several wars. Sharaa’s government began US-mediated talks with Israel in 2025.

Latest News

Sisi says Egypt has no ‘territorial ambitions’ after Israel’s Smotrich threatens Sinai

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attends a joint statements and agreements during the EU and Egypt summit in Brussels, on Oct. 22, 2025.

Former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar sues Netanyahu for nearly $1M over Oct. 7 claims

Israel's Chief of the Mossad David Barnea (R) and Security Agency director Ronen Bar, attend a ceremony marking the Hebrew calendar anniversary of the Hamas attack on October 7 last year that sparked the ongoing war in Gaza, at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem on October 27, 2024. (Photo by GIL COHEN-MAGEN / POOL / AFP) (Photo by GIL COHEN-MAGEN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Explainer

Israel-UK relations hit new low over settlements, Gaza: What to know

The British Consulate General in east Jerusalem represents the British government in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza during a protest against the recently announced British sanctions, aimed at economic activity in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, on Sept. 14, 2026, in Jerusalem.

West Bank olive harvest begins amid settler attacks on Palestinians, groves

Palestinian men sitting in and by a tractor look on after another man was injured by gunfire whilst being chased away by Israeli forces, in Aqraba in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Oct. 6, 2026.

ASHKELON, ISRAEL - JUNE 01: (ISRAEL OUT) Sheikh Raed Salah, the head of the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, sits in Magistrates Court after he was arrested on the Gaza flotilla on June 1, 2010 in Ashkelon, Israel. Salah was interviewed by Israeli police on his role in the Gaza aid flotilla after participating in the flotilla which clashed with Israeli forces. Other members of the Arab sector are also being held in police custody. (Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)

Israeli court rejects Islamic leader’s appeal against conviction, imprisonment

Five months after his sentencing, the Haifa District Court rejected an appeal submitted by Sheikh Raed Salah, chief of the outlawed Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement, against his imminent imprisonment.

Israel compiles list of officials who could be targeted by ICC

Israel has compiled a list of 200 to 300 names of officials who might be targeted in the future by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - MAY 24: Israelis hold flags and signs as they protest against Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu on May 24, 2020 in Jerusalem, Israel. The prime minister, who strongly denies the charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, was recently sworn in to office at the head of a national unity government formed with his opponent Benny Gantz. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)

Netanyahu's annexation plan turning into fiasco

With the Americans losing interest and on the backdrop of the coronavirus crisis, the West Bank annexation plan of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is likely to turn into his greatest diplomatic fiasco.

Palestinian shot and killed by Israeli military after alleged attack

Israeli and Palestinian officials disagree on the circumstances behind the death of a 29-year-old Palestinian in a West Bank village Thursday.

Intel: US lawmakers tussle over key condition on restoring Palestinian aid

Democrats and Republicans clashed today over a newly proposed restriction on Palestinian assistance in this year’s foreign aid spending bill — the latest chapter in the struggle to resume economic support for the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Palestinian labourers queue to enter Israel through the Mitar checkpoint in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron on June 28, 2020, (Photo by HAZEM BADER / AFP) (Photo by HAZEM BADER/AFP via Getty Images)

Palestinian workers stay in Israel for three weeks in a row

Some 46,000 Palestinians are now lodged on construction sites in Israel; they must stay where they work for three weeks before going back home.

Palestinian demonstrators wave national flags during a protest against the expansion of existing Jewish settlements, in the town of Biddya, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on July 6, 2020. In the background bungalows built by settlers on the outskirts of the Karni Shamron settlement are visible. (Photo by JAAFAR ASHTIYEH / AFP) (Photo by JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkish diplomat criticizes West Bank annexation in Jordan

Turkey's ambassador to Jordan is the latest Middle Eastern and international politician to criticize Israel's plans to annex parts of the Palestinian territory.

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 28: Representative Nita Lowey (D-NY) speaks about the things she witnessed on a trip to Israel and Auschwitz-Birkenau as part of a bipartisan delegation from the House of Representatives on January 28, 2020 in Washington, DC. The 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau is being remembered this week around the world. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Nita Lowey

House Democrats revive bid to fully restore Palestinian aid

The Democratic-held House is launching another bid to increase Palestinian economic aid while facilitating people-to-people programs with Israel.

Germany, France, Egypt and Jordan issue statement against West Bank annexation

The countries wrote that they oppose Israel's planned incorporation of parts of the Palestinian territory. The plans have hit roadblocks in Israel this month.

Palestinian Authority to pay civil servants half their monthly wages amid cash crunch

Faced with a worsening financial crisis, the Palestinian Authority has slashed the salaries of its public sector employees.

Palestinian girls walk past a mural of Pope Francis in the Jabal al-Baba Bedouin encampment, near the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim in the occupied West Bank on the outskirts of Jerusalem, on November 23, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / AHMAD GHARABLI (Photo credit should read AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images)

Vatican summons Israel, US ambassadors over West Bank annexation

The Vatican's secretary of state met with US Ambassador Callista Gingrich and Israeli Ambassador Oren David on Tuesday.

TOPSHOT - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a cabinet meeting of the new government at Chagall State Hall in the Knesset (Israeli parliament) in Jerusalem on May 24, 2020. (Photo by ABIR SULTAN / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ABIR SULTAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Crickets as Netanyahu's annexation date comes and goes

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had to admit his annexation plan did not move forward July 1 amid tepid US support and a populace distracted by more pressing issues.