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

Israel cover image

Israel

September 27, 2026

Tel Aviv 7:46 am

23°C

ANGELA WEISS / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Can Netanyahu turn Israel's UN isolation into strength at home?

The absence of a Trump meeting would have been awkward for Netanyahu, who has long portrayed himself to Israeli voters as uniquely close to the US president.

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

Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu waves to delegates leaving before his UN speech

Delegates walk out as Netanyahu touts Iran war, slams Qatar and Turkey at UN

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa's statement that the Golan Heights will "remain Syrian territory," while praising US President Donald Trump, whom he did not meet on the trip.

Leader of the Arab Israeli party Ra'am (United Arab List) Mansour Abbas (R) and Israeli politician Yoav Segalovitz (L) attend a news conference in Nazareth on August 31, 2026. Abbas announced that Segalovitz, an Israeli Jew, will join his party for the upcoming Israeli elections. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP via Getty Images)

Israel election committee bars two Arab lists from upcoming vote: What to know

Israel's Central Elections Committee barred the Arab-majority Raam party, the Arab joint list party and two Arab politicians from participating in the Oct. 27 elections.

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

Latest News

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

Gargash

United Arab Emirates

Analysis

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

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

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Analysis

How Netanyahu is leveraging Houthi threat in secret Saudi normalization push

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)

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

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

OLIVER BUNIC/AFP via Getty Images

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

Israel's Economy Minister Naftali Bennett, head of far-right Jewish Home party, speaks during a right-wing rally in Tel Aviv's Rabin Square March 15, 2015. Israel's centre-left opposition is poised for an upset victory in the upcoming parliamentary election, with the last opinion polls before Tuesday's vote giving it a solid lead over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's party. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR4TGOG

Bennett to advance Judaism, not democracy, in education system

Future Education Minister Naftali Bennett is likely to advance his own ultra-Orthodox perceptions of Jewish heritage at the expense of democratic values and pluralism in Judaism.

Palestinian children walk past garbage discarded near a section of the controversial Israeli barrier, in Shuafat refugee camp in the West Bank near Jerusalem November 21, 2013. Marooned behind the wall, Israel's controversial barrier, the Shuafat refugee camp reveals the state's uneven treatment of Arab and Jewish neighbourhoods, creating a de facto partition of Jerusalem, which is the epicentre of the Middle East conflict. Picture taken November 21, 2013. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS SOCI

PA isolates West Bank camps

The PA’s crackdown on West Bank refugee camps and withholding of aid is adding to the marginalization of the youth.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (R) shakes hands with former U.S. president Jimmy Carter (C) and former prime minister of Norway Gro Harlem Brundtland during their meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah May 2, 2015. REUTERS/Abbas Momani/Pool - RTX1B7U7

Rejectionist Israeli government becomes Palestinian asset

In face of Israel's new right-wing government, the Palestinian Authority is planning a diplomatic offensive to reconquer the interest of the international community.

Palestinians cover cartons containing vegetables before exporting them to Israel, at the Kerem Shalom crossing in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip March 12, 2015. Israel imported its first fruit and vegetables from the Gaza Strip in almost eight years on Thursday, in a partial easing of an economic blockade maintained since the Islamist group Hamas seized control of the Palestinian territory. Twenty-seven tonnes of tomatoes and five tonnes of eggplants were trucked across the border under an Israeli plan t

Israel eases Gaza blockade, hopes for Hamas stability

Israel understands that Hamas is in Gaza to stay and is now searching for balance between easing the blockade for Gaza residents and limiting Hamas' military activity.

Moshe Kahlon, head of the Kulanu party, speaks during a conference in Tel Aviv March 11, 2015.Israelis will vote in a parliamentary election on March 17, choosing among party lists of candidates to serve in the 120-seat Knesset.
REUTERS/Baz Ratner (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR4SZ53

Will Netanyahu stand in the way of Kahlon's reform plan?

Future Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon fears that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will block the reforms he is planning, which is why he insisted on a much-detailed coalition agreement with unprecedented responsibilities in finance, housing and banking.

A room, which is part of an archaeological site, is seen in the Jewish settler neighbourhood of Tel Rumeida, in the divided city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank January 19, 2014. The Jewish settlers use such sites to deepen their claims on Biblical cities, while Palestinians see the move as a means to grab land they want for a future state and an attempt to scrub out their own historical ties. Picture taken January 19, 2014. To match Feature ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS/ARCHAEOLOGY REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (WEST

Settlements threaten Palestine’s historic sites

Violations carried out by Israeli settlers are destroying historic sites in Palestine in what many see as an attempt to bury Palestinian historic and cultural heritage.

A crater marks the centre of a courtyard at a United Nations-run school sheltering Palestinians displaced by an Israeli ground offensive, that police said was hit by an Israeli shell, in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip July 24, 2014. At least 15 people were killed and many wounded on Thursday when Israeli forces shelled a U.N.-run school sheltering Palestinian refugees in northern Gaza, said a spokesman for the Gaza health ministry, Ashraf al-Qidra. Chris Gunness, spokesman for the main U.N. agency i

UNRWA takes no responsibility for rocket launchers in shelters

The Board of Inquiry report concerning the strikes at UNRWA facilities during Operation Protective Edge fails to address that the agency’s officials turned a blind eye to Hamas militants' use of the facilities as weapon depots.

A Palestinian man holds a child near the Erez crossing in Beit Hanun in the north of the Gaza Strip on January 13, 2015. The head of the Palestinian authority for civil affairs, Hussein al-Sheikh, said that Hamas have taken over the Palestinian side of the Erez Crossing, while the Islamic movement which controls the impoverished Palestinian territory has accused the Palestinian authority of stopping work at the crossing "without justification." AFP PHOTO / MOHAMMED ABED (Photo credit should read MOHA

Gazans pursue jobs in Israel despite danger

Difficult living conditions inside the Gaza Strip have pushed citizens to risk their lives to emigrate in search of work even without the proper Israeli permits.

Three F-35 Joint Strike Fighters (rear to front) AF-2, AF-3 and AF-4, can be seen flying over Edwards Air Force Base in this December 10, 2011 handout photo provided by Lockheed Martin. Lockheed Martin Corp on February 25, 2013 said there was no evidence that a lithium-ion battery contributed to a Feb. 14 incident that caused smoke in the cockpit of an F-35 test plane. Lockheed spokesman Michael Rein said initial reviews indicated a potential failure in the plane's cooling system, which had been removed fro

Will the F-35 change Middle East warfare?

Once it appears in Middle Eastern skies, the F-35 fighter aircraft may alter how wars are waged in the region.

A tagged vulture is released in the Israeli southern Negev Desert, near Sde Boker, on October 26, 2013, after dozens of vultures where captured in operation to monitor the vulture population in the desert by the Israeli nature and park authority. The Vultures in Israel are in danger of extinction due to poisoning and electrocution from high voltage electric lines. AFP PHOTO/MENAHEM KAHANA (Photo credit should read MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/Getty Images)

Saving Israeli vultures

Vultures have existed in the Holy Land since biblical times, and Israel is investing considerable resources to save the local population from extinction due to urban development, hunting and poisoning.

U.S. Under Secretary for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman arrives at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, April 3, 2015. REUTERS/Brendan Smialowski/Pool - RTR4W06S

US restates positions as Israeli government takes shape

Senior Obama administration officials have reiterated the president's commitment in a 2009 Cairo speech to the two-state solution, reinforcing the US stance to Netanyahu's new government.

Palestinians walk out of Israel's Erez Crossing after leaving Gaza July 13, 2014. According to a spokesperson for Israel's Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), about 850 Palestinians with dual citizenship left Gaza on Sunday at the request of their foreign embassies. Israeli naval commandos clashed with Hamas militants in a raid on the coast of the Gaza Strip on Sunday, in what appeared to be the first ground assault of a six-day Israeli offensive on the territory aimed at stopp

Israel's spy recruitment puts Gazans in tough spot

Gaza security services have been receiving complaints submitted by citizens who have been blackmailed or threatened by Israeli security and intelligence officers to work for them as informants.