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.

The building of the European Court of Human Rights is seen ahead of the start of a hearing concerning Ukraine's lawsuit against Russia regarding human rights violations in Crimea, at in Strasbourg, France, September 11, 2019. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler - RC16452E08A0

European court rules against French conviction of BDS activists

The European Court of Human Rights ruled that boycotts are protected forms of protest, saying France erred in convicting activists of incitement to discrimination for asking people stop buying Israeli products.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wears a mask as he looks on during the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem May 31, 2020. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RC2LZG9EHLTK

Will Netanyahu opt for partial annexation?

Some reports say Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might opt for a phased annexation plan for the West Bank that, at least at first, would exclude the Jordan Valley.

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Israel’s top court strikes settlement Regulation Law

Israel’s High Court ordered the state to cancel the Regulation Law that enables to retroactively legalize settlement homes built on private Palestinian lands.

Palestinians say they were not informed of second virus aid flight from UAE to Israel

The second-ever direct flight from the United Arab Emirates to Israel took place today, but Palestinians say they were not informed of the aid delivery.

United Arab Emirates

Israel seeks to bypass PA, directly engage with Palestinians

After the Palestinian Authority announced its disengagement from the agreements with Israel, the latter has been working on opening direct communication channels with Palestinians, in an attempt to weaken the PA.

Palestinians reveal Israeli alternatives to two-state solution

Palestinians seem to be caught between a rock and a hard place with Israel’s shifting away from a two-state solution and the diminishing chances of such an option after the announcement of the US Middle East peace plan.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a statement overlooking the Israeli settlement of Har Homa, located in an area of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, that Israel annexed to Jerusalem after the region's capture in the 1967 Middle East war, February 20, 2020. Debbie Hill/Pool via REUTERS - RC2E4F9ALPB6

Netanyahu’s dilemma over his annexation plan

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must now decide whether he wants to go ahead with his annexation plan, or hope that the White House will get him out of it.

Jordan Valley Palestinians watch as Israel imposes authority ahead of looming annexation

Israel has intensified its measures in West Bank areas facing the threat of annexation at a time when Palestinians feel the imminence of the annexation project more than ever.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) shakes hands with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia July 14, 2018. Pool/Yuri Kadobnov via REUTERS - RC11D68C34E0

Will Moscow save the West Bank from annexation?

The Palestinian leadership is looking to Russia for help resisting Israel's annexation plans.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks as he and U.S. President Donald Trump discuss a Middle East peace plan proposal in the East Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid - RC26PE94BY08

Israel denies policy change on deducting payouts to Palestinian assailants from PA taxes

The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied any change in the policy of deducting funds paid by the Palestinian Authority from the tax revenues collected on its behalf by Israel.

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES - 2018/09/25: Yousef Al Otaiba, Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to the United States, at the United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) 2018 Iran Summit in New York City. (Photo by Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Emirati ambassador: West Bank annexation will make region ‘unstable’

The United Arab Emirates Ambassador to the United States Yousef Al-Otaiba discussed Israel's annexation plans on Al-Monitor's podcast following criticisms by another Emirati diplomat.

Israeli soldiers walk as Palestinian demonstrators gather on a hilltop during a protest against Israeli settlements in the town of Beita in the Israeli occupied West Bank, March 2, 2020. Picture taken March 2, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman - RC2LDF9965R4

IDF instructed to start preparing for possible annexation

It is not yet clear if and when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will present his annexation plan, but the army has already been instructed to prepare for escalation scenarios.