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Israel

September 23, 2026

Tel Aviv 11:39 am

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Analysis

Why Netanyahu is distancing himself from Trump ahead of Israeli election

No meeting has been announced between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly summit in New York.

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

Gargash

UAE's Gargash expects 'prolonged' war, calls for Iran-Gulf security talks

"We need a new mindset that these sort of discussions ... can happen at an Iranian-American level, it should also take place at an Iranian-Arab level," Gargash told Al-Monitor.

United Arab Emirates

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and French President Emmanuel Macron arrive to hold a joint press conference in Jerusalem, Oct. 24, 2023.

Analysis

After France's settlement ban, Israel sees no warming of ties with Macron government

Israeli diplomats say France’s decision to ban imports from West Bank settlements has brought bilateral relations to an unprecedented low point.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman looks on as he attends a trade agreement signature ceremony at the Elysee Palace in Paris on August 24, 2026. (Photo by LOU BENOIST / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

How Netanyahu is leveraging Houthi threat in secret Saudi normalization push

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to capitalize on Riyadh's need for intelligence assistance to make normalization headway ahead of the October elections.

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

Latest News

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

OLIVER BUNIC/AFP via Getty Images

Israel, Morocco agree to exchange ambassadors, open embassies

Royal Air Maroc Boeing 787-9 'Dreamliner' aircraft

Culture

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

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)

Explainer

Why France is pushing to keep UNIFIL in Lebanon beyond 2026

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

Houses are seen in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim as the Palestinian village of Al-Eizariya is seen in the background May 24, 2016. REUTERS/Baz Ratner - RTX2EZIG

The West Bank outpost champion

By advancing the regularization bill for legalizing West Bank outposts, HaBayit HaYehudi Chair Naftali Bennett shows the settlers that he is fighting for their cause.

U.S. President Barack Obama meets with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (L) at the White House in Washington March 17, 2014. President Barack Obama on Monday urged Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to make tough decisions and take risks for peace with Israel, saying he hoped to see progress in U.S.-brokered negotiations in coming weeks.
REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3HG6Q

Will state of Palestine be Obama's legacy?

Some observers are urging that President Barack Obama allow a vote in favor of recognizing the state of Palestine at the UN Security Council before leaving office.

The four minarets of a new mosque are seen in the Israeli-Arab village of Abu Ghosh, near Jerusalem November 22, 2013.In a Holy Land rich with religious sites, the new Abu Ghosh mosque is rare - as is the hilly village from which it rises. Bankrolled largely by Chechnya and named after its former leader Akhmad Kadyrov, who was slain by Islamist militants in 2004, the glimmering shrine tells of this small Israeli Arab community's historical ties to the restive Russian province. Picture taken November 22, 201

Will the Knesset silence call to prayer?

Israeli legislators are advancing a bill to ban calls to prayer at mosques via loudspeakers.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) speaks to Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump during their meeting in New York, September 25, 2016. Kobi Gideon/Government Press Office (GPO)/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. - RTX2SIOS

What Netanyahu wants from Trump

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already started preparing his first meeting with President-elect Donald Trump in order to persuade him to embrace his two-state rejectionist position.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, July 24, 2016. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RTSJDJ0

Netanyahu's media 'reform' will sabotage Arab-Israeli press

Journalists claim that the decision to establish a second Arabic-language radio station in the north of Israel and not the south, where there is none, is driven by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s strategy of weakening independent Arab-Israeli media outlets.

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish man walk next to a poster of Donald Trump in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighbourhood, October 13, 2016. REUTERS/Amir Cohen - RTSS53C

Middle East will quickly teach Trump rules of the game

As US president, Donald Trump will have little option but to engage in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and when he does, judiciously.

A woman is seen through a coffee shop window as she reads an article about Ben Zygier in an Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper in Jerusalem February 15, 2013. Zygier, the Australian immigrant reported to have been recruited by Israel's Mossad spy agency, was charged with grave crimes before he committed suicide in an Israeli jail, one of his lawyers said on Thursday. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS CRIME LAW) - RTR3DTPG

How Netanyahu profits from media reports against him

Likud members fear Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wrath and thus do not react to his statements criticizing the press.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) attends the weekly cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem November 6, 2016. REUTERS/Abir Sultan/Pool - RTX2S46T

Netanyahu’s new target: Israel's media

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu moved beyond his traditional enemies of Iran and Palestine and has designated the Israeli media as his new nemesis.

U.S. President Barack Obama looks up during his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York September 21, 2016. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque - RTSOTI2

Obama’s last chance of ending Israeli occupation

President Barack Obama must now muster the courage to fulfill his 2009 Cairo speech pledge to push for the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Why Israeli Arabs prefer studying in the West Bank

Israeli-Arab students find it difficult to pass the entry exams of universities in Israel that favor Hebrew-speaking Israeli Jews, and prefer enrolling in West Bank universities.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attend a concert, dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the restoration of diplomatic relations between the two countries at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, June 7, 2016. Sputnik/Kremlin/Mikhail Klimentyev/via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. EDITORIAL USE ONLY. - RTSGGFA

Russia emerges as a center of gravity for Israel

Given that Russia’s influence in the Middle East excluding Syria remains limited, Moscow is looking for other entry points — but can Israel offer such an opportunity?

Isaac Herzog leader of Zionist Union, gesture as as he delivers a statement at the party headquarters in Tel Aviv, Israel, May 18, 2016. REUTERS/Baz Ratner - RTSEWFI

Can Israel's opposition leader challenge Netanyahu?

With Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu up again in the polls, Zionist Camp leader Isaac Herzog needs to present to the public a coherent and clear political program in order to defeat him.