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

Israel cover image

Israel

June 17, 2026

Tel Aviv 9:11 pm

25°C

EVIAN-LES-BAINS, FRANCE - JUNE 16: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a bilateral meeting with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on the sidelines of the G7 summit, on June 16, 2026 in Evian-les-Bains, France. Leaders from the Group of 7 (G7) countries convened in Evian, France, near the Swiss border, for their annual summit to discuss challenges to peace and security for Ukraine and Europe, the situation in the Middle East, and other geopolitical issues. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Get

'Let Syria take care of Hezbollah': Trump criticizes Israel, leans on Sharaa to help in Lebanon

President Donald Trump insisted he has a great relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but criticized the scale of Israel’s strikes in Lebanon.

Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir takes part in the Jerusalem Day celebrations on May 14, 2026, in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Explainer

Ben-Gvir's move to run separately in Israel elections revives debate over party alliances

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, head of the far-right Jewish Power party, has refused to merge with the far-right Religious Zionism party ahead of the elections.

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Analysis

'He knew it was over': Inside Netanyahu’s response to Trump’s Iran deal as Israel recalibrates

Despite all his efforts, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu realized there is nothing he could do to prevent President Donald Trump from signing a deal with Iran.

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

Latest News

Analysis

Erdogan-Netanyahu war of words signals deeper rivalry for regional influence

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

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Analysis

Squeezed by Trump and Iran war, how vulnerable is Netanyahu in polls?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hosted by President Donald Trump at the White House, Washington, DC, July 7, 2025.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

'Pilot zones' offer litmus test for Lebanon to clear Israel border of Hezbollah

Smoke rises following Israeli bombardment in southern Lebanon close to the Beaufort Castle as seen from a position across the border in the Upper Galilee, in northern Israel on June 4, 2026.

Analysis

'A complete disaster': Israel scrambles for clarity as Trump touts emerging Iran deal

US President Donald Trump talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Knesset, Jerusalem, Oct. 13, 2025.

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

Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid attends a women's committee convention in Tel Aviv March 1, 2015. The era of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is ending, with Israeli voters clearly more concerned about economic and social issues than about security or fears over Iran, a leading election candidate said on Monday. Lapid, a telegenic former news anchor and TV host, leads the centrist, secular Yesh Atid party ("There's a Future"), which emerged out of the cost-of-living protests that swept Israel in 2011. Picture

Israeli centrist leader speaks, says little

The measured response of Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid to the state comptroller’s Gaza war report reflects his ongoing strategy to become Israel's next prime minister.

Hezbollah members on motorbikes and vehicles parade during a procession ahead of the day of Ashura, in the Saksakieh village, in southern Lebanon, October 9, 2016. REUTERS/Ali Hashisho - RTSRH2G

Will Hezbollah join Palestinian factions in confrontation with Israel?

Amid calls to unify fronts between Palestinian resistance factions in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, experts envision many difficulties in this possibility of coordination.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) meets with Australia's Foreign Minister Julie Bishop in Sydney, Australia, February 26, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Reed - RTS10BWE

Will international forces enter Gaza Strip?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s suggestion to deploy international forces in the Gaza Strip as a security solution has been met with stiff opposition from Palestinians.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson meets with European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini at the State Department in Washington, U.S., February 9, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts - RTX30C9R

What EU’s Mogherini, Tillerson agreed on

European Union leaders are exploring new policies on the Middle East, including the idea of convening a Madrid II conference.

Palestinians walk on a road during a power cut in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip January 11, 2017. Picture taken January 11, 2017. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem - RTX2YNDC

Can senior Hamas figure resolve Gaza's electricity crisis?

Palestinians and Israelis are both pinning their hopes on the new Gaza Energy Authority chief, Ghazi Hamad, to resolve the escalating electricity crisis in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) gestures as he speaks to incoming minister Aryeh Deri, party leader of the Ultra-Orthodox Shas party, in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem May 13, 2015. Netanyahu's emerging government scraped by its first parliamentary test on Wednesday, paving the way for the new cabinet to be sworn in after two months of difficult coalition building. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTX1CSJH

Israel's chronic impunity disorder

With so many politicians suspected or convicted of corruption, Israelis have given up on expecting public figures to have morals.

A Palestinian flag and a Hamas flag (R) flutter atop the wreckage of a house, which witnesses said was destroyed during the seven-week Israeli offensive, in the east of Gaza City September 3, 2014. Fifty days of war in one of the most densely populated parts of the world have left swathes of Gaza in ruins. With the economy reeling under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade, the enclave now faces an almost impossible task of rebuilding. Picture taken September 3, 2014. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem (GAZA - Tags: CIVIL UNRES

Has Israel recognized link between Gaza blockade, security threat?

The report of Israel’s state comptroller about the management of the 2014 war in the Gaza Strip evokes officially for the first time the linkage between the distress of Gaza residents and the Hamas campaign against Israel.

Palestinians survey a house which police said was destroyed in an Israeli air strikes in Gaza City July 8, 2014. Israel launched an aerial offensive in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, bombing more than 30 targets including homes and calling it part of a campaign named "Operation Protective Edge" targeting Hamas Islamist militants firing rockets at the Jewish state. The military urged Israelis within a 40-km (24-mile) radius of the southern coastal territory to stay within reach of protected areas and ordered su

Israel has no Gaza policy

A recently published report on the 2014 Gaza war reveals that Israel failed to develop its own goals before launching the war and still has not developed a real strategy concerning the Gaza Strip.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) sits next to Education Minister Naftali Bennett during the weekly cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem, 30 August 2016. REUTERS/Abir Sultan/Pool - RTX2NKGO

How Israel’s Gaza War report became a political battlefield

Missing the purpose of the state comptroller's report to debate the Gaza War, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon are busy defending themselves while Education Minister Naftali Bennett marks a political victory.

An Israeli Arab couple watches the view, which includes Israel's controversial separation barrier (top R), during the photo shooting before their wedding in Jerusalem on November 26, 2009. Israel's offer to freeze settlement building in the occupied West Bank for 10 months does not go far enough, Russia's foreign ministry said, urging a full stop to construction. AFP PHOTO/JONATHAN NACKSTRAND (Photo credit should read JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP/Getty Images)

What's behind Israeli Cabinet's anti-polygamy plan?

The Israeli Cabinet has created a plan to strictly enforce an anti-polygamy law from 1977, but why now?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at a joint news conference with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull (not pictured) at Kirribilli House in Sydney, Australia, February 22, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Reed - RTSZQ7G

Netanyahu and the 'apartheid state'

Under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the term “apartheid state” has gone from being a label to becoming substance.

Ayelet Shaked, Israel's new Justice Minister of the far-right Jewish Home party, speaks during a ceremony at the Justice Ministry in Jerusalem May 17, 2015. Shaked said on Sunday she would seek a new balance that would rein in the powers of the Supreme Court over parliament and the government, a policy critics fear would restrict judicial oversight. REUTERS/Gali Tibbon/Pool - RTX1DBE4

Will 'conservative' justices deliver for the Israeli right?

Right-wing Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked's declarations of victory in getting conservatives appointed to the Supreme Court might be premature.