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

Israel cover image

Israel

September 27, 2026

Tel Aviv 9:57 am

26°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

Israeli soldiers stand guard as a Palestinian farmer sits on the ground after planting olive trees during a protest against what Palestinians say is land confiscation for Jewish settlements in the Jordan Valley, a hotly contested part of the occupied West Bank April 8, 2014. REUTERS/Abed Omar Qusini (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS AGRICULTURE MILITARY) - RTR3KEMR

Palestine’s empty breadbasket

The Jordan Valley, once considered Palestine’s most fertile area, has been taken over by Israeli settlers who have barred Palestinians from using the land.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) arrives to deliver a statement at the residence of President Reuven Rivlin in Jerusalem April 20, 2015. Netanyahu will have two more weeks to form a new government after he asked Israel's president on Monday to extend a 28-day period to form a coalition following his election victory. REUTERS/Abir Sultan/Pool - RTX19GUA

Why does Netanyahu really want to sabotage the Iran deal?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's attempt to introduce non-nuclear-related demands in the negotiations with Iran is being dismissed as lacking credibility.

Supporters of the Joint Arab List react after hearing exit poll results in Nazareth March 17, 2015. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu closed a gap with center-left rival Isaac Herzog in a hard-fought Israeli election on Tuesday, exit polls showed, leaving both men with a chance to rule but Netanyahu with the clearer path to forming a coalition. But Herzog also could prevail, should Kulanu and a bloc of Arab Israelis - which the polls predicted would be Israel's third largest party - throw their support behi

New Arab MK jockeys for influence on women's issues, budget

Aida Tuma, one of two Arab women newly elected to the Knesset, told Al-Monitor that her bloc is striving to effect change by securing influential seats on major committees.

Israel-US tensions on Iran prompt Palestinian strategy

Palestinians are adapting their strategy to the Iranian deal, proposing to use the same P5+1 model for negotiations on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and also an international supervision mechanism on the borders.

An Israeli soldier looks through binoculars at an observation post overlooking the Gaza strip near the Israeli-Gaza border August 20, 2014. An Israeli air strike in Gaza killed the wife and infant son of Hamas's military leader, Mohammed Deif, the group said, calling it an attempt to assassinate him after a ceasefire collapsed. Palestinians launched more than 100 rockets, mainly at southern Israel, with some intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system, the military said. No casualties were reported on

Leaked Israeli documents prompt suspicion from Hamas

A recent series of leaked documents from the Israeli government discuss changing Israel's official ruling on the Gaza war victors — but is it a blunder or a strategic move?

'Ugly Israeli' goes viral

A series of videos recently spreading in the media show aggressive and rude Israelis on flights, in shops and at hotels.

Smoke rises after a house is blown up during a military operation by Egyptian security forces in the Egyptian city of Rafah, near the border with southern Gaza Strip November 6, 2014. At Egypt's border with the Gaza Strip, families are emptying their homes - lugging mattresses and furniture onto waiting vans as soldiers look on from armoured cars. In nine villages along the frontier, 680 houses - homes to 1,165 families - are being razed to seal off smugglers' tunnels and try to crush a militant insurgency

Egypt discovers record-length smuggling tunnel

The recent discovery of a 2.8 kilometer-long tunnel linking the Sinai to Gaza raised questions about the parties supporting digging operations, as such work requires expensive and advanced equipment, as well as an extensive labor force.

Israeli police officers stand guard as a house belonging to Palestinians is being demolished in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Beit Hanina October 29, 2013. A statement from the Jerusalem Municipality said there was a court order for the demolition of the house, which was built without a permit. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS CONSTRUCTION) - RTX14SGL

Housing shortage and demolitions push Israeli Arabs to brink

Following the destruction of homes built illegally in Arab settlements, some Israeli Arabs are threatening a general strike.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during the opening ceremony of Holocaust Memorial Day at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem April 15, 2015. Starting Wednesday evening, Israel marks the annual memorial day commemorating the six million Jews killed by the Nazis in the Holocaust during World War Two. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RTR4XHVD

Poll shows Israeli voters happy with status quo

According to a US survey of Israeli voters, security considerations tipped the scale and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won once again for his reputation as a strong leader.

School children from Turkey's Jewish community leave notes on a symbolic railway track during a commemoration event on International Holocaust Remembrance Day at Etz Ahayim Synagogue in Istanbul January 27, 2013. The International Day of Commemoration, which was designated by the United Nations General Assembly to honour Holocaust victims, occurs annually on January 27. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION ANNIVERSARY) - RTR3D1Z7

Turkey commemorates Holocaust, ignores Armenian issue

Istanbul commemorated Jewish musicians who continued to create even when persecuted by the Nazis, in a ceremony reflecting the Turkish policy line of tolerance vis-a-vis minorities, as long as the question of Armenian genocide is not raised.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gives the keynote address at the 2012 Saban Forum at the U.S.-Israel relations gala dinner in Washington, November 30, 2012. REUTERS/Mary F. Calvert (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3B2U2

Should Hillary promote the Clinton Parameters?

Recent statements by former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton suggest that she's adopting a conciliatory tone toward Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instead of pushing forward initiatives for the two-state solution.

MK Nava Boker aims to defend diversity in Likud

In an interview with Al-Monitor, newly elected Knesset member Nava Boker vows to continue fighting for the improvement of emergency services in Israel, so that disasters like the fire that killed her husband will not repeat themselves.