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

Israel cover image

Israel

June 30, 2026

Tel Aviv 5:55 am

21°C

KAREN MINASYAN / AFP via Getty Images

Turkey, Azerbaijan slam Israel’s Armenian genocide recognition as Yerevan mum

Ankara accused Israel of weaponizing history as Armenia avoided public comment amid delicate regional diplomacy.

AFP via Getty Images

Traffic plummets through Strait of Hormuz after Iran, US trade fire

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz had recovered somewhat before renewed fighting between Iran and the United States saw traffic drop sharply over the weekend.

A car drives past an United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) outpost in the village of Khan Arnabah, Quneitra, southern Syria, April 29, 2026.

Syria slams Israeli 'violations' in south as ground clashes intensify: What to know

In a rare incident, the Israeli military said it fired at armed men in southern Syria, without identifying the attackers.

Latest News

Explainer

Israel's Armenian genocide recognition marks new front against Turkey

Members of the Jerusalem Armenian community hold placards as they march during commemorations for the 94th anniversary of mass killings of their kin under the Ottoman Empire, Jerusalem's Old City, April 24, 2009.

US brokers deal for limited Israeli withdrawal in south Lebanon

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (C, back) looks on as (L/R, front row) Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter, State Department Chief of Staff Daniel Holler, and Lebanese Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh sign a framework agreement at the US Department of State in Washington, DC, on June 26, 2026. Lebanon, Israel and the United States on Friday signed a trilateral framework agreement aimed at paving the way for a peace deal between the two long-time Middle East adversaries. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP

Iran vows to respond to Israeli military using neighboring airspace: What to know

Jalaa MAREY / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Vance turning us into 'punching bag': Israel fumes over alleged IRGC-CENTCOM channel in Doha

Vance

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

Samuel Wendel

Senior Market Research Analyst

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 take part in searches for three Israeli teenagers believed to have been abducted by Palestinians near the West Bank City of Hebron June 21, 2014. Israel sent more troops to the occupied West Bank on Saturday to search for three missing teenagers it says were abducted by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.
REUTERS/Baz Ratner(WEST BANK - Tags: CIVIL UNREST MILITARY POLITICS) - RTR3UZBB

Palestinian officials fear 'regional crisis' with Israel over kidnappings

The kidnappers of three Israeli teenagers have successfully hidden their tracks, frustrating Israeli and Palestinian efforts to find them.

Jordanian military helicopters fly near Ruweished, near Jordan's eastern border with Iraq, east of Amman June 23, 2014. Sunni tribesmen took control of a border crossing between Iraq and Jordan after Iraq's army pulled out of the area following clashes with rebels, Iraqi and Jordanian intelligence sources said on Monday. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed (JORDAN - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY CONFLICT CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3V9QN

Israel sees Jordan as buffer against regional 'madness'

Most Israeli security officials wonder how much longer Jordan can cope with the threats on its other borders.

An African migrant receives food from a volunteer at Levinsky park in South Tel Aviv June 6, 2012. About 60,000 Africans have crossed into Israel across its porous border with Egypt in recent years. Israel says the vast majority are job seekers, disputing arguments by humanitarian agencies that they should be considered for asylum. Picture taken June 6, 2012. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (ISRAEL - Tags: SOCIETY IMMIGRATION FOOD) - RTR33VHG

Lapid's response tepid to report about rising Israeli poverty

The recommendations of the Elalouf Committee to Reduce Poverty are too ambitious to be fulfilled, and at the same time ignore the core structural problems that brought Israel to this situation.

A Jewish settler reacts as she stands atop the roof of a temporary structure before Israeli policemen demolish it in the West Bank Jewish settler outpost of Maale Rehavam, near Bethlehem May 14, 2014. Some seven structures were razed on Wednesday by Israeli border police officers and no injuries or arrests were made during the incidences, a police spokesman said on Wednesday. The structures were demolished as part of Israel's continuing effort to remove settlements built without government authorization. R

Kidnapping highlights Israelis' surrender to settlers

It is natural that the kidnapping of three Israeli youths would generate solidarity among the public, but it also raises the question of why peace-loving secular Israelis have let themselves be dragged along for years, from clash to clash, by a nationalistic messianic minority.

Israelis take part in a mass prayer at the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City, for the return of three teenagers who were abducted June 15, 2014. Israel said on Sunday that Hamas militants had abducted three Israeli teenagers in the occupied West Bank, warning of "serious consequences" as it pressed on with a search and detained dozens of Palestinians. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST RELIGION TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR3TX4G

Knesset takes action on kidnappings

Legislation introduced in the Knesset to prevent future kidnappings may just be to please constituencies on Israel's right.

Israeli soldiers block a side entrance into the West Bank City of Hebron during an operation to locate three Israeli teens June 17, 2014. Israel decided on Tuesday to widen a crackdown on Hamas in the West Bank after troops detained more than 40 members of the Palestinian Islamist group in sweeps conducted in tandem with a search for the three missing Jewish teenagers. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR3UAVZ

Hamas fears Israel will deport its leaders

Hamas leaders are also concerned that Israel will launch a military campaign if the kidnapped boys are not found.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas gestures as he speaks during a conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah June 19, 2014. Israeli forces traded gunfire with Palestinians on Thursday, the military said, in the fiercest street battles in the occupied West Bank since a search began for three Israeli teenagers missing for a week. Abbas roundly condemned the kidnappers on Wednesday and promised to hold to account those responsible. His words in turn were denounced by Hamas and other factions, who accused h

Israel sees Palestinian unity as possible casualty of kidnapping

As Israel deals with the kidnappings, US-Israel relations are at an all-time low.

Palestinian and foreign activists remove debris from a structure in an old village known as Ein Hajla, in the Jordan Valley near the West Bank city of Jericho January 31, 2014. Some 100 activists took part in a campaign to try to resettle the village and to protest Israel's occupation of the West Bank including the Jordan Valley. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX182J1

Mosul events warning on Palestinians' eastern border

The defeat of the trained Iraqi army in Mosul has made many Israelis worry about worst-case scenarios on its own borders.

A Palestinian man stands outside his house as an Israeli soldier takes part in an operation to locate three Israeli teens in the West Bank City of Hebron June 19, 2014. Israeli forces traded gunfire with Palestinians on Thursday, the military said, in the fiercest street battles in the occupied West Bank since a search began for three Israeli teenagers missing for a week. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR3UOFG

Kidnappings force rethink of Israel’s Hamas strategy

As it searches for the kidnapped teenagers, Israeli decision-makers are considering how their actions will affect Hamas’ influence in the long run.

$Israeli men and women, separated by a green divider, pray in the town of Elad, home of Eyal Yifrach, one of three missing teenagers, June 16, 2014. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepared Israel for a long drawn-out operation to find the three missing teenagers as troops expanded the search into a crackdown on the Islamist group accused of abducting them and arrested dozens of its officials. REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly (ISRAEL - Tags: RELIGION POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3U421$

Youths' abduction stirs Israeli sympathy for settlers

Politicians from both the right and the left are sympathizing with the families of the abducted youths in an unusual wave of empathy from the Israeli public toward the settlers at this moment of national distress.

Israeli Arab lawmaker Haneen Zoabi (L) waits before a hearing at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem December 27, 2012. Zoabi appealed to the Supreme Court after Israel's electoral authority barred her from re-election on December 19, saying she had supported the nation's enemies by joining a protest ship that tried to break a naval blockade of Gaza. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3BXBA

Knesset member Zoabi says kidnappers 'aren't terrorists'

Knesset member Haneen Zoabi has decided to continue to focus more on provocation than on action.

Palestinians lean against a car as Israeli soldiers take part in an operation to locate three Israeli teens in the West Bank City of Hebron June 17, 2014. Israel decided on Tuesday to widen a crackdown on Hamas in the West Bank after troops detained more than 40 members of the Palestinian Islamist group in sweeps conducted in tandem with a search for the three missing Jewish teenagers. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR3UAUQ

Kidnapping of Israeli boys 'no joke' for Palestinians

Israel is tightening its grip on the West Bank and intensifying mock air raids over the Gaza Strip, as Palestinians anticipate an Israeli response to the June 12 kidnappings.