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Israel

September 23, 2026

Tel Aviv 2:15 pm

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ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP via Getty Images

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

Amit (2nd L), a 7 year old cancer patient, sits on his intravenous drip stand decorated with an animal figure at Schneider Children's Medical Center in Petah Tikva March 23, 2006. The hospital offers art therapy for children undergoing cancer treatments as a way to make their treatments more friendly. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RTR17JJ2

Is Israel banning entry of Gaza cancer patients?

Israeli physicians say that many cancer patients from the Gaza Strip are banned from entering Israel, and so they are hospitalized in Gaza where there is no adequate medical treatment.

A Turkish flag flutters atop the Turkish embassy as an Israeli flag is seen nearby, in Tel Aviv, Israel June 26, 2016. REUTERS/Baz Ratner/File Photo - RTSOQGS

Why Netanyahu and Erdogan prefer ‘cold normalization’

Neither Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are particularly enthusiastic about implementing the reconciliation agreement between the two countries.

Meet Netanyahu’s right-hand man in the Knesset

Knesset member David Bitan, coalition chairman and a close associate of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has proposed legislation that would make it easy to revoke the nationality of activists like B’Tselem chief Hagai El-Ad.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev chairs a meeting on social and economic development of regions in Pskov, Russia, August 16, 2016. REUTERS/Dmitry Astakhov/Sputnik/Pool - ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. EDITORIAL USE ONLY. - RTX2L9WK

Russian-Palestinian relations better than during Soviet era

Russian-Palestinian relations remain strong at both the official and public level, as Moscow has always supported the Palestinians’ right to self-determination and regularly funds cultural centers in the Palestinian territories.

Hagai El-Ad, Executive Director of B'Tselem, a leading Israeli human rights organisation, poses in his office in Jerusalem December 16, 2015. An ultra-nationalist Israeli group has published a video accusing the heads of four of Israel's leading human rights organizations, including "B'Tselem", of being foreign agents funded by Europe and supporting Palestinians "involved in terrorism." REUTERS/Ammar Awad - RTX1YYPY

Will foreign pressure save or destroy Israel?

After the executive director of Israeli human rights group B'Tselem spoke out against settlements before the UN Security Council, the resulting criticism took issue only with his call for international intervention to advance peace.

Protesters and family members of 9/11 victims protest in front of the White House regarding President Barack Obama's threatened veto of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) in Washington, U.S., September 20, 2016. REUTERS/Gary Cameron - RTSOMWI

Has JASTA pushed Saudi Arabia and Israel closer?

Riyadh has become convinced more than ever that the closer it gets to Tel Aviv, which it believes has influence in US decision-making circles, the stronger and safer it will become in the face of JASTA.

Why one Palestinian actor came back to the Israeli stage

Actor George Ibrahim appeared at the Acre Fringe Theater Festival almost 30 years after leaving the Israeli art scene and establishing the Al-Kasaba Ramallah Theater.

Russian Navy's reconnaissance ship Liman of the Black Sea fleet sails in the Bosphorus, on its way to the Mediterranean Sea, in Istanbul, Turkey, October 21, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RTX2PW0Q

Israel wary of Russian comeback to the region

Russia has extended its presence in the region to such an extent that any IDF jet crossing the Israeli border in the north immediately appears on Russian military radar screens.

People take part in a rally, the closing event of the March of Hope, a 2-week-long event organised by Women Wage Peace, a non-political movement calling for a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and women's participation in such a solution, outside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office in Jerusalem October 19, 2016. REUTERS/Baz Ratner - RTX2PJST

Why the March of Hope inspired few Israeli politicians

Many Israeli politicians chose to ignore the March of Hope for fear of being branded "leftist," although participants spanned the spectrum.

A Palestinian woman collects barley during harvest on a farm in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip April 25, 2016. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa - RTX2BJRS

Gaza agriculture on brink of collapse

With new Israeli encroachment in the name of security and restrictions on the importation of chemicals and fertilizers, even more of Gaza's farmers are being forced to abandon their lands despite a near-total lack of other employment options.

A Palestinian supporter of former head of Fatah in Gaza, Mohammed Dahlan, holds a poster depicting Dahlan during a protest against Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Gaza City December 18, 2014. Dahlan, who lives in exile in the Gulf, is a powerful political foe of Abbas.
REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR4IJ7B

Will these Palestinian and Israeli leaders achieve peace?

A re-entry into politics of former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and former Palestinian security chief Mohammed Dahlan could bring about pragmatic moves towards a two-state solution.

Haim Saban (R) and Cheryl Saban (L) arrive for a State Dinner honoring Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi at the White House in Washington October 18, 2016. REUTERS/James Lawler Duggan - RTX2PFE5

The American billionaires influencing Israeli policy

Israeli-born American billionaires like Haim Saban and Dr. Miriam Adelson influence Israeli politics and the fate of the country, without assuming the consequences.