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

Israel cover image

Israel

September 27, 2026

Tel Aviv 5:24 pm

28°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 army soldiers stand guard during a demonstration by Palestinians against the closure of the main road in Jabaa area south of the West Bank city of Bethlehem January 17, 2015. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR4LSL6

Political deadlock could lead to security escalation in West Bank

Palestinian officials view Israel's recent military maneuvers in the West Bank and its prediction of an uprising as attempts to escalate the security situation.

Israeli poet Agi Mishol avoids rallying for political causes

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Israeli poet Agi Mishol speaks about the difference between men and women poets.

Turkish Air Force pilots stand in front of an F-4 fighter plane flanked by Turkish and Israeli flags during a ceremony for F-4E fighter planes at an air base in western Turkish city of Eskisehir January 27. Two F-4E 2020 planes were handed to Turkish air force during a ceremony in Eskisehir air base after they were modernised by Israeli air force as part of modernization of 54 Turkish F-4E fighter planes.

FS/GB - RTRPBQ

Turkey's 'flying coffins'

Turkey's loss of six pilots in the crash of three F-4Es has led to a public outcry as the nation awaits answers and the air force works on replacing the fleet.

A man places a Palestinian flag on a fence surrounding the U.S. consulate during a rally in support of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' bid for statehood recognition in the United Nations, in Arab East Jerusalem September 21, 2011. Abbas plans on Friday to submit an application for full U.N. membership for the state of Palestine based in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the coastal Gaza Strip -- lands occupied by Israel in 1967. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2RM9T

One Palestinian's quest for a US visa

After being granted a scholarship to study in the United States, a Palestinian media lecturer struggled to reach the US Consulate in Jerusalem, where he was shocked to see Palestinians and Israelis being treated equally.

Israeli lawmaker Danny Danon (C), a deputy parliament speaker, is surrounded by police officers as he walks on the compound known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif and to Jews as Temple Mount, in Jerusalem's Old City July 20, 2010. Danon, a lawmaker of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing party, on Tuesday visited the flashpoint religious site in Jerusalem revered by Jews and Muslims, a move that has sparked violence in the past. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION) - RTR2GKI0

Danon: Bibi's speech to Congress sent the right message

In an interview with Al-Monitor, former Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon argues that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech succeeded in shifting the international community's focus back to the essential debate on the imminent agreement with Iran.

An Israeli Arab walks past a campaign poster showing Israeli-Arab candidates who are members of a joint list of Arab parties (from L to R), Ahmad Tibi, Jamal Zahalka, Masud Ghanayem and Ayman Odeh, in Kfar Menda, 16 kilometres northwest of the city of Nazareth, on March 8, 2015. General elections in Israel are to take place on March 17. AFP PHOTO / AHMAD GHARABLI (Photo credit should read AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP/Getty Images)

Joint List isolates itself before elections

The decision by Ayman Odeh, leader of the Joint List of predominantly Arab parties, to refuse a vote-sharing deal with the leftist Zionist Meretz Party might discredit his commitment to rebuild the bridges between Jews and Arabs.

Tzipi Livni (R) and Isaac Herzog, heads of the centrist Zionist Union party, hold a news conference in Tel Aviv to introduce their party's platform for the March 17 election, March 8, 2015. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR4SIUR

Will Herzog compromise party values to join government?

According to his own statements, his openness to the establishment of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders threatens to prevent Zionist Camp leader Isaac Herzog from joining a Likud-led government after the elections.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas gestures as he speaks during a meeting for the Central Council of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, March 4, 2015. Palestinian leaders began a two-day meeting on Wednesday at which they could decide to suspend security coordination with Israel, a move that would have a profound impact on stability in the occupied West Bank. Relations between the two sides have grown dangerously brittle since the collapse of U.S.-brokered peace tal

Is the Oslo process really over?

The Palestinian Central Council announced the end of security cooperation with Israel, though many are skeptical that the decision will be implemented.

Arab-Israeli parliament members and other candidates join their hands after it was announced that a joint political slate of all the Arab parties will be running in the upcoming elections, during a news conference in Nazareth, January 23, 2015. Four political parties that mostly represent Israel's Arab minority have decided to run together in elections on March 17, creating a potential counter-weight to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing allies. Opinion polls suggest the united Arab list

Arab women's new face in the Knesset

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Aida Touma-Sliman, social activist and soon to be Knesset member, explains her long-standing political career in the Arab sector, battling violence against women and promoting coexistence.

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish women watch as another woman casts her ballot for the parliamentary election at a polling station in Jerusalem January 22, 2013. Israelis voted on Tuesday in an election that is expected to see Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu win a third term in office, pushing the Jewish state further to the right, away from peace with the Palestinians and towards a showdown with Iran. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR3CSE6

Ultra-Orthodox woman fights for representation in Knesset

Ruth Colian managed to gather the needed resources to establish an ultra-Orthodox women's party that ran for a seat in the Knesset on March 17, but the ultra-Orthodox establishment keeps setting up obstacles.

TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY PATRICK MOSER
Israeli Arab waiter Majed Ibrahim carries various types of hummus dishes at a restaurant in the town of Abu Gosh near Jerusalem on January 4, 2010. At the risk of whipping up discord with Lebanon, the Arab-Israeli village is planning to make the world's biggest hummus, a humble chickpea dip that stirs passions across the Middle East. AFP PHOTO/Menahem KAHANA (Photo credit should read MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/Getty Images)

Upscale Palestinian cuisine flourishes in Israel

Top Israeli Arab chefs have dispelled the notion of Palestinian cuisine being simple and cheap, serving traditional dishes, some with innovative twists, in enjoyable surroundings.

A Palestinian fighter from the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, is seen inside an underground tunnel in Gaza August 18, 2014. A rare tour that Hamas granted to a Reuters reporter, photographer and cameraman appeared to be an attempt to dispute Israel's claim that it had demolished all of the Islamist group's border infiltration tunnels in the Gaza war. Picture taken August 18, 2014. To match Exclusive MIDEAST-GAZA/TUNNELS REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags:

Hamas focuses on rebuilding tunnels as Gazans suffer

Hamas' focus on reconstructing its tunnel infrastructure and rearming, while ignoring the lack of housing in Gaza and the general misery of Gaza residents, points to the military wing's dominance in the organization.