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

Israel cover image

Israel

July 5, 2026

Tel Aviv 9:47 pm

27°C

Joint List Party leader Ayman Odeh attends a meeting on April 5, 2021 in Jerusalem, Israel.

Interview

Ayman Odeh says Arab parties could back Bennett or Eisenkot to block Netanyahu

In an interview with Al-Monitor, head of the Arab-Israeli Hadash-Ta'al Knesset faction, Ayman Odeh, said his party is prepared to make difficult decisions to topple Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

Ayman Odeh

Head of the Knesset's Hadash-Ta'al faction

Motorists drive past a billboard bearing a picture of Iran's slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei, ahead of his funeral in Tehran on July 3, 2026. Iranian leaders began paying their respects on July 3 before the coffin of the country's late supreme leader Ali Khamenei, killed in the US-Israeli strikes that triggered the Middle East war, as Tehran prepared for a vast funeral. Khamenei's body arrived at Tehran's Grand Mosalla on July 3 ahead of ceremonies which are expected to draw millions. (Photo by AFP via Ge

Analysis

As US-Iran talks falter, Israel views war outcome as 'total strategic failure’

Israeli officials believe the US failure to attain the kind of agreement with Iran that it originally sought stems from the strategic mistakes made during and after the recent war.

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

Latest News

Who is Melat Kiros, the pro-Palestinian who unseated a longtime Democrat?

Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images

Analysis

For Israel, Lebanon deal 'historic' despite fears Hezbollah will rebuild

Shia Muslim devotees gather for a mourning ritual near the shrine of Hassan Nasrallah, the slain leader of the Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah who was killed in a 2024 Israeli-airstrike, in Beirut's southern suburbs on June 26, 2026 at the peak of Ashura, a 10-day period commemorating the seventh century killing of Prophet Mohammed's grandson Imam Hussein. (Photo by JOSEPH EID / AFP via Getty Images)

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

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

KAREN MINASYAN / AFP via Getty Images

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

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attend a news conference at the Bocharov Ruchei state residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, May 14, 2013. Putin said on Tuesday it was important to avoid actions that might aggravate Syria's civil war, a veiled warning against foreign military intervention or arming anti-government forces. REUTERS/Maxim Shipenkov/Pool (RUSSIA - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXZLY6

Israel Rethinks Assumptions About Syria

The sudden change in assumptions on the Syrian war should invite us to wonder about the basis on which they were made.

Members of "Women of the Wall" group wear prayer shawls and one (C) wearing Tefillin, leather straps and boxes containing sacred parchments, that Orthodox law says only men should don, during a monthly prayer session at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City May 10, 2013. An Israeli police spokesman said on Friday that five ultra-Orthodox Jewish men were detained during a protest against the group. Last month the Jerusalem District Court said that the women should not be arrested for wearing prayer shawls

At Jerusalem’s Western Wall: 'Not Only A Feminist Battle'

After winning in the judicial arena, “Women of the Wall” prepare for the political battle over the ability to pray freely by the Western Wall.

A Palestinian protester waves a Palestinian flag in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem May 17, 2013, during a weekly demonstration against Jewish settlements and the possible eviction of a Palestinian family from their home. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTXZQQH

Israeli Supreme Court To Rule on Eviction

A day before the arrival of US Secretary of State John Kerry to the region, Israel's Supreme Court will rule on the eviction of a Palestinian family in East Jerusalem.

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad (R) meets Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi in Damascus September 19, 2012, in this handout photograph released by Syria's national news agency SANA.REUTERS/SANA (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS ) FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS - RTR385DC

Iran Key to Success of Geneva II Talks on Syria

The United States should invite Iran to the Geneva II talks on Syria and consider it a start for a more expansive regional dialogue.

A sign post near Kibbutz Merom Golan in the Golan Heights shows the distance from Israel's northern border to other destinations May 2, 2013. Israel's military said on Tuesday it had called up hundreds of reservists for a drill in northern Israel where tensions are high with neighbours Syria and Lebanon, but a military spokesman said there was no change in the overall security situation. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed the territory in 1981, a move not re

Israel, Region Need Middle East Security Forum

The need for security dialogue among the states of the Middle East region is more urgent than ever.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attend a news conference at the Bocharov Ruchei state residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, May 14, 2013. Putin said on Tuesday it was important to avoid actions that might aggravate Syria's civil war, a veiled warning against foreign military intervention or arming anti-government forces. REUTERS/Maxim Shipenkov/Pool (RUSSIA - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXZLY7

Will Israel Take Out The Russian Missiles in Syria?

Israel considers its options if Russia goes ahead with its plan to sell S-300 missiles to Syria.

An Israeli Air Force F-15I jet is seen in the background as Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon (3rd R) speaks to reporters while standing next to Israel's armed forces chief Major-General Benny Gantz (R) and commander of Israel's Air Force Major-General Amir Eshel (4th R) during a presentation at Hatzerim air base in southern Israel April 30, 2013. Israel on Tuesday launched its first targeted attack on a militant in Gaza since a war in November, killing a Palestinian jihadist in an air strike that put f

Israel’s Mistake in Attacking Syria

Israel’s air strikes on Syria have set back its interests in the region.

Women walk past a Hebrew graffiti that reads "Love" in the "Train" neighbourhood in Lod May 15, 2012. The backstreets of Lod, a mixed Arab-Jewish city just 20 minutes from the tree-lined boulevards of Tel Aviv, reveal a seamy underside of Israel that few visitors get to see, tucked away behind Ben Gurion airport off the main highway to Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank. Picture taken May 15, 2012. To match Feature ISRAEL-ARABS/CRIME REUTERS/Nir Elias (ISRAEL - Tags: SOCIETY) - RTR32TYI

Secular, Religious Israeli Activists Flock to Lod

Tensions are rising in the ethnically mixed Israeli city of Lod between progressive and religiously motivated Israeli activists over the city's demographic future.

An Israeli flag is seen as labourers work on a construction site in a Jewish settlement near Jerusalem known to Israelis as Har Homa and to Palestinians as Jabal Abu Ghneim May 7, 2013. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has quietly curbed new building projects in Jewish settlements, an Israeli watchdog group and media reports said on Tuesday, in an apparent bid to help U.S. efforts to revive peace talks with the Palestinians. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (BUSINESS CONSTRUCTION POLITICS) - RTXZDIA

Israeli Outposts Remain Illegal Under International Law

Despite Israel's attempts to "legalize" four outposts in the West Bank within its own judicial system, the legal maneuvering will not change international law.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) and his wife Sara (R) are greeted by opposition Labour party leader Ed Miliband (L) during the funeral service of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher at St Paul's Cathedral in London April 17, 2013. Thatcher, who was Conservative prime minister between 1979 and 1990, died on April 8 at the age of 87. Reuters/Christopher Furlong/Pool (BRITAIN - Tags: POLITICS OBITUARY SOCIETY) - RTXYOU0

Netanyahus Take Flack For Royal Lifestyle

The Netanyahus continue enjoying an extravagant lifestyle despite criticism from the public, which faces a new austerity plan.

A boy watches as a crane lowers the belongings of families moving out of the Ulpana neighbourhood of the Beit El settlement June 26, 2012. Settlers on Tuesday began moving out of apartment blocs that Israel's Supreme Court ruled had been built illegally on Palestinian-owned land, after reaching an agreement with the government to go quietly. His T-shirt reads, "Ulpana neighbourhood, will return". REUTERS/Baz Ratner (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION) - RTR3463H

Controversy Erupts Over Settlement On Eve of Kerry Visit to Israel

A report from the settlement of Beit El, north of Ramallah.

China's Premier Li Keqiang (R) toasts with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (2nd R) during a signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, May 8, 2013. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon (CHINA - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXZEQB

Israel, China and the Arab Initiative

For how long will China continue its “business as usual” policy with Israel if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu keeps squandering the Arab Peace Initiative?