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

Israel cover image

Israel

September 18, 2026

Tel Aviv 5:05 am

25°C

OLIVER BUNIC/AFP via Getty Images

Serbia opens factory to assemble Israeli-made drones: What to know

Serbian President Vucic said the factory will put together “state-of-the-art” Israeli-designed drones and employ around 100 workers.

Royal Air Maroc Boeing 787-9 'Dreamliner' aircraft

Israel, Morocco agree to exchange ambassadors, open embassies

The move will mark the first time Morocco and Israel have exchanged ambassadors.

ISRAEL-ENTERTAINMENT-TELEVISION-POLITICS-GOVERNMENT-MASS-MEDIA-D (L to R) Lior Raz and Avi Issacharoff, co-creators of the hit Israeli TV show "Fauda", attend a demonstration against the Israeli government's plans to shut-down public broadcaster KAN, in Israel's Mediterranean coastal city of Tel Aviv on January 25, 2023. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Culture

Israeli show ‘Fauda’ tops Netflix in Lebanon, hits top 10 across Arab states

The show was created by Israeli journalist Avi Issacharoff and actor Lior Raz, drawing on their experiences serving in the Israeli military’s elite Duvdevan unit.

UN peacekeepers stand next to an armored vehicle during a patrol in southern Lebanon, Feb. 22, 2026.

Explainer

Why France is pushing to keep UNIFIL in Lebanon beyond 2026

Showing its support for Lebanon, Paris is backing Beirut’s request at the UN for a short-term extension of UNIFIL’s mandate, although French sources acknowledge that the chances of the request being approved are slim.

Latest News

Exclusive

Lacking deterrence, Israel’s security establishment opposes attacks on Houthis

Fighters loyal to the Houthi authorities, brandish their weapons during a rally to recruit more fighters, in Sanaa on September 10, 2026. The country relapsed into war in July after years of calm, drawn into the regional conflict triggered by the US-Israeli offensive against Iran that began at the end of February. (Photo by Mohammed HUWAIS / AFP via Getty Images)

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

Analysis

Europe’s West Bank trade ban fires warning shot at Israel’s economy

Jewish settlement of Kedumim, in the West Bank

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Analysis

Once Netanyahu’s top challenger, Bennett loses ground to Eisenkot: What to know

Erik Marmor

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

Israel says it destroyed Hezbollah tunnels in Ali al-Taher ridge: What to know

A photograph taken from the southern Lebanese area of Nabatieh shows smoke as it rises from the site of Israeli strikes that targeted the hilltops of the mountainous area of the strategic Ali al-Taher Ridge on Aug. 14, 2026.

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

MUNICH, BAVARIA - FEBRUARY 18: In this handout photo Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds up what he claims is a piece of an Iranian drone that was shot down after it flew over Israeli territory at the 2018 Munich Security Conference on February 18, 2018 in Munich, Germany. The annual conference, which brings together political and defense leaders from across the globe, is taking place under heightened tensions between the USA, together with its western allies, and Russia. (Photo by Lennart Pre

Will Israel act against Iran?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toughened his speech against Iran, but the reality on the ground raises questions as to whether or not the Cabinet will follow up in deeds.

Israel builds new wall at Lebanon’s southern border

Tension is rising on the Lebanese southern border, where Israel has started building a wall, despite UNIFIL’s reassurances that the situation there is under control.

Israeli justice minister's stealthy plan to annex the West Bank

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked is trying to erase the legal separation between Israeli settlers and Palestinians on the West Bank, which would amount to annexation of the occupied territory.

Two Palestinian teenagers look at the rubble of destroyed buildings, on June 10, 2015, which were demolished during the 50-day war between Israel and Hamas militants in the summer of 2014, in the Eastern Gaza City Shujaiya neighbourhood. AFP PHOTO / MAHMUD HAMS (Photo credit should read MAHMUD HAMS/AFP/Getty Images)

Gazans sneaking into Israel dodge both IDF, Hamas forces

The Palestinian security forces in Gaza are just as tough as the Israelis on the youths who try to cross the border looking for work.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during an event organized by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organisations in Jerusalem, February 21, 2018. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RC111BBBB180

Israeli right's battle over Netanyahu successor remains behind the scenes

With polls showing that the public supports Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, despite the investigations, his own party members are forced to do the same.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil meets with Acting Assistant U.S. Secretary of State David Satterfield and U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Elizabeth Richard in Beirut, Lebanon February 21, 2018. REUTERS/Aziz Taher - RC1C36783760

Satterfield’s shuttle diplomacy may offer diplomatic opening for Syria

Is there more to the talks about Block 9? Success of UN Security Council cease-fire depends on definition of "terrorist."

A Palestinian woman yells as Israeli police detain a boy during minor clashes between Palestinian stone-throwers and police in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Issawiya May 15, 2012. Israeli security forces were on high alert for violence on Tuesday, the day when Palestinians mark "Nakba", or catastrophe, of Israel's founding in a 1948 war, when hundreds of thousands of their brethren fled or were forced to leave their homes. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST ANNIVERSARY) - GM1E

How Israel treats Palestinian detainees

Israel often detains Palestinians and keeps them in custody for several days or weeks without meeting a lawyer.

Black smoke rises from a petroleum and gas company near the Gulf of Suez north of Cairo, Egypt August 17, 2016. Picture taken August 17, 2016. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh - D1BETYKRPTAA

Egypt faces public backlash after signing $15 billion gas deal with Israel

While President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Egypt "scored a goal" with a new gas deal with Israel, many citizens remain skeptical.

New Israeli education law angers Palestinians

Palestinians believe that recent legislation from the Knesset that applies Israeli education law to academic institutions in settlements in the West Bank is a step closer toward annexation.

Israeli Bedouin women champion social progress

The Israeli Interior Ministry together with the Association of Community Centers initiated a first-of-its-kind course designed to train Bedouin women to become members of executive boards.

Palestinians fear political instability in Israel

Palestinians worry that investigations against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will push him to adopt an even more settlement-friendly policy.

A Palestinian woman sits on a donkey car after receiving food supplies from the United Nations' offices in the southern Gaza Strip February 11, 2018. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa - RC11BF8E4BA0

Will the crisis in Gaza finally force Israel to lift its siege?

Qatar and the UAE have donated money to ease the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, but such assistance will likely only postpone an implosion in the absence of arriving at a solution to the enclave's isolation and lifting of the Israeli blockade.

United Arab Emirates