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

Israel cover image

Israel

September 8, 2026

Tel Aviv 12:44 am

27°C

Israeli soldiers take positions during a military operation in the town of Qalqiya, in the occupied West Bank, Dec. 4, 2025.

Katz warns PA against 'Oct. 7-style' attack as West Bank violence rises

After a West Bank stabbing of an Israeli settler, Defense Minister Israel Katz warns the Palestinian Authority against launching an “Oct. 7-style” assault.

An excavator digs as rescuers search for survivors amid the rubble following an overnight Israeli airstrike on the village of Kfar Roummane, southern Lebanon, Sept. 7, 2026.

Lebanon says at least 12 killed in Israeli strikes as tensions rise in south

The escalation in southern Lebanon casts a shadow over upcoming Israel-Lebanon talks in Rome.

A woman walks past a model of a Lora missile, Israel's long range artillery missile at the Israel defence stall at the international DefExpo 2008 defence fair, in New Delhi on February 16, 2008. India kicked off South Asia's largest defence fair, with hundreds of global weapons firms offering their latest hardware to the country's technology-hungry military. About 450 weapons companies from 30 countries are present at the four-day "DefExpo" in New Delhi, with several big-ticket announcements expected. AFP P

Analysis

LORA missile test reveals limits of Germany’s Gaza criticism of Israel

The German navy tested Israel’s LORA ballistic missile as Berlin considers acquiring the system, deepening defense ties with Israel despite criticism of the Gaza war.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Raam

Analysis

How Jewish politician joining Arab party could reshape Israeli politics

Former Yesh Atid lawmaker Yoav Segalovitz, a Jewish centrist, has joined Raam, potentially paving the way for cooperation between the Arab Islamist party and opposition factions that have so far refused to work with it.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Latest News

Analysis

Playing for time: Despite US pressure, Israel stalls Lebanon talks until after election

Ammar Ammar / AFP via Getty Images

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

Analysis

As Israeli settler attacks mount, Trump avoids public pressure on Netanyahu

Israeli soldiers arrive in the village of Qusra, south of Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which has faced escalating Israeli settler violence over the past month, on Aug. 29, 2026.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

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

Israel to release 5 Lebanese prisoners ahead of next talks: What to know

Anwar AMRO / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Israel favors status quo as tensions in Iran's leadership fuel escalation risk

missile

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

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

Israeli Arab women take part in a protest after a student was killed in a reported police shootout this week, in the northern Arab-Israeli town of Umm-Al Fahem on February 5, 2021. - Hundreds of Arab Israelis demonstrated protesters defied coronavirus restrictions on gatherings to demonstrate in front of the police station in the Arab-Israeli city of Umm al-Fahm. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images)

Netanyahu recycles promises to combat soaring crime in Arab towns

Ahead of the March elections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is repeating promises he made nine years ago to control crime rates in Arab towns and villages.

A healthcare worker administers a COVID-19 vaccine at Clalit Health Services, in the ultra-Orthodox Israeli city of Bnei Brak, on January 6, 2021. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Alarming low vaccination rates among Israeli ultra-Orthodox, Bedouins

Washed with fake news and conspiracy theories, anti-corona vaccination rates among the Bedouins and ultra-Orthodox are much lower than in the Jewish sector.

Riot police stand in formation as unseen Turkish protesters demonstrate against Israel's attack on Gaza outside the Israeli embassy in Ankara on November 21, 2012. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday accused Israel of "ethnic cleansing" in Gaza, saying the Jewish state's air raids could not be considered self-defence. AFP Photo/ADEM ALTAN (Photo credit should read ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel still cool to gestures from Turkey

In a positive, yet cautious signal, Israel has nominated senior diplomat ambassador Irit Lillian as charge d’Affairs to its embassy in Ankara.

Netanyahu manipulates parties on left, right

By encouraging a coalition of Israel's far right parties and by pushing for splits within the Arab Joint List, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has increased his chances of winning the March 23 elections.

HEBRON, WEST BANK - SEPTEMBER 04: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks on the phone during an event marking the anniversary of the 1929 killing of 67 Jews by Palestinian rioters, on September 04, 2019 in Hebron, West Bank. Netanyahu is visiting Hebron ahead of Israel's elections on September 17th. (Photo by Lior Mizrahi/Getty Images)

Netanyahu still waiting for Biden’s phone call

The fact that US President Joe Biden is taking his time in calling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the fact that he did not refer to Israel or to the Iranian threat in his first foreign policy speech, deeply worries Jerusalem.

US Presidential Adviser Jared Kushner (L) poses with Ambassador David Friedman (R), and his wife Tammy (C), after the unveiling of a plaque at the embassy grounds in Jerusalem on December 21, 2020. (Photo by Maya Alleruzzo / POOL / AFP) (Photo by MAYA ALLERUZZO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Congress votes to make US Embassy move to Jerusalem permanent

The measure, an amendment to the COVID-19 relief bill, passed the Senate easily on Thursday night.

French President Emmanuel Macron gestures alongside the Israeli President as they address a press conference in Jerusalem on January 22, 2020, - Israel will lobby key leaders at this week's 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on what it considers one of the gravest modern threats to the Jewish people: Iran. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin, Emmanuel Macron of France and top US officials before an event at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial centre in J

Macron advocates Saudi, Israeli inclusion in Iran nuclear talks

The United States says it will present a "unified front" with Europe on Iran strategy once consultations with allies conclude.

Israel's Netanyahu postpones trip to UAE and Bahrain amid virus surge

The prime minister cited Israel's suspension of flights for pushing back the historic trip to the Gulf.

United Arab Emirates

A picture taken on October 18, 2018 shows the US Consulate in Jerusalem. - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced today that the US office in Jerusalem dealing with Palestinians is being merged into the controversial new US embassy in the city. (Photo by THOMAS COEX / AFP) (Photo credit should read THOMAS COEX/AFP via Getty Images)

Jerusalem deputy mayor advances embassy district

Jerusalem's deputy mayor responsible for international affairs, Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, is promoting a plan to develop an embassy district in the south of the city.

A worker walks with a piece of wood on his shoulder at the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), near Guba in Ethiopia, on December 26, 2019. - The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, a 145-metre-high, 1.8-kilometre-long concrete colossus is set to become the largest hydropower plant in Africa.
Across Ethiopia, poor farmers and rich businessmen alike eagerly await the more than 6,000 megawatts of electricity officials say it will ultimately provide.
Yet as thousands of workers toil day and night to finish

The Takeaway: Egypt welcomes US mediation to help break high-stakes deadlock over Nile dam

Motaz Zahran, Egypt’s ambassador to the United States, says Ethiopia has "no political will" to resolve dam dispute; who’s buying Golani’s makeover?; former ambassador to United States says Israel needs "united front" against Iran nuclear deal; Egypt’s first female mixed martial arts fighter.

Initial data from Israel unclear on preventing infections

Data from Israel's vaccination campaign only shows the vaccine against COVID-19 prevents serious illness so far.

merav michaeli 1 (002).jpg

Israeli Labor picks gender warrior Michaeli as its new leader

Polls indicate that the election of gender-equality activist Merav Michaeli to head the struggling labor party was a good pick.