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

Israel cover image

Israel

August 25, 2026

Tel Aviv 5:42 pm

31°C

Palestinian militant group Hamas police officers stand guard as people attend the opening of the Fatah party's eighth general conference at Al-Azhar University in Gaza City on May 14, 2026.

Ex-defense minister: Israel in ‘worst possible’ Gaza situation as Hamas gains strength

Former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant criticized the Israeli government for allowing Hamas to retain control over half of the Gaza Strip.

A merchant ship "Jabotinsky" (former "Altalena"), chartered by Jewish military group Irgun Zvaei Leumi to carry weapons for Israeli fighters, burns near Tel Aviv beach, after being shelled by the Haganah, Israel, June 27, 1948.

Wreck of ship sunk by Israeli military in Irgun clash found after 78 years

The wreck of the Irgun underground's Altalena ship, bombed by the Israeli military in 1948 and deliberately sunk in 1949, was located off Israel's coast at a depth of 1,650 feet.

ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP via Getty Images

Israel tightens election safeguards as public distrust surges: What to know

Israelis have lost trust in the government and in its ability or willingness to conduct free and fair elections.

Latest News

Analysis

Why Turkey sees Israeli strikes in Syria as warning over its military role, Mecca Pact

A Turkish soldier from the 1st Border Regiment Command looks out over the border wall to Syria during alert drills at a military outpost on the Turkey/Syria border on March 2, 2017 in Kilis, Turkey.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Analysis

Turkey bets on US deconfliction as Israel widens Syria red lines

Turkey/Syria border

Ezgi Akin

Rina Bassist

By Ezgi Akin , Rina Bassist

Analysis

Israel fears Turkey’s Syria ambitions and doubts Trump will stop them

ANKARA, TURKEY - JULY 7: U.S. President Donald Trump (L)shakes hands with with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) during a formal arrival at the Bestepe Presidential Palace during the NATO summit on July 7, 2026 in Ankara, Turkey. Leaders from NATO's 32 countries, plus NATO allies like Ukraine, gathered in the Turkish capital to discuss a range of issues involving spending targets, defense industrial production, and support for Ukraine, among other topics. (Photo by Emrah Gurel - Pool/Getty Images)

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

Turkey seeks Interpol Red Notices for Netanyahu over Gaza flotilla

Murat Kocabas / Middle East Images / 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

Herzog

Herzog's visit to Cave of the Patriarchs stirs criticism

Leftist Knesset members were angered by President Isaac Herzog visiting the Cave of the Patriarchs in the West Bank city of Hebron for Hannukah.

GIL COHEN-MAGEN/AFP via Getty Images

As Vienna talks open, Israel pleads for firmness with Iran

Israel's leadership has ramped up diplomatic efforts to convince world powers to keep the sanctions on Iran in place and not give an inch during the renewed talks.

EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP via Getty Images

Israel approves $2.4 billion purchase of US CH-53 helicopters

Israel is seeking to replace its fleet of heavy-lift helicopters over the next few years.

A picture shows machinery working on the tarmac of the former Atarot airport (Jerusalem International Airport), which has been closed to civilian traffic since the breakout of the second Palestinian intifada (uprising) in 2000, near the village of Qalandia between the West Bank city of Ramallah and Israel-annexed east Jerusalem on November 25, 2021.

Jerusalem construction plan rattles Israeli government

The government of Naftali Bennett would like to shelve plans for constructing the Atarot Jerusalem neighborhood on the other side of the Green Line, yet it is facing a hard-core Jerusalem municipality that is adamant to advance the plan.

A staff member assists arriving passengers at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport in Lod, east of Tel Aviv, on Nov. 28, 2021.

MidEast states issue new travel restrictions as Omicron variant spreads

Israel has announced a two-week ban on foreign nationals entering the country and Morocco has banned all incoming flights.

Stuart Mitchell

Israel’s Lapid campaigns against new deal with Iran in London

Visiting London while the Vienna talks resume, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid argued that Tehran has no intention of stopping its nuclear program.

Morocco's Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita (R) shakes hands with Israel's Defence Minister Benny Gantz, Rabat, Morocco, Nov. 24, 2021.

Gantz says Israel, Morocco ‘leap together’ in historic agreement

Defense Minister Benny Gantz signed this week in Rabat a landmark cooperation agreement with Morocco — the first such agreement signed by Israel with an Arab state.

A picture taken on Sept. 18, 2019, shows displayed fragments of what the Saudi Defense Ministry spokesman said were Iranian cruise missiles and drones recovered from the attack site that targeted Saudi Aramco's facilities.

Israel ups the alarm on Iranian drones

Defense Minister Benny Gantz revealed this week that Iran tried transferring explosives in 2018 from Syria to terror elements in the West Bank using an unmanned aerial vehicle.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) is flanked by lawyers before testimony by star witness Nir Hefetz, a former aide, in his corruption trial at the District Court in east Jerusalem, on Nov. 22, 2021.

As Netanyahu’s trial continues, Knesset advances term limit law

Justice Minister Gideon Saar's proposed law to limit the term of the prime minister to eight years was approved at a preliminary Knesset hearing.

This picture shows the Mughrabi ramp, leading from the Western Wall (Wailing Wall) to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound that includes the Dome of the Rock Mosque (background) in Jerusalem's Old City, on Sept. 10, 2021.

Western Wall rabbi in eye of storm

Progressive Jews believe Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz is preventing them from obtaining an egalitarian prayer space, but for the ultra-Orthodox, Rabinowitz is too much of a compromiser.

NICOLAS MAETERLINCK/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images

Israel halts meetings as Belgium labels West Bank settlement products

The Belgian decision to label West Bank settlement products was made as Deputy Foreign Minister Idan Roll is visiting the country and ahead of a scheduled meeting with Belgian Foreign Minister Sophie Wilmes.

Ariel Hermoni/Ministry of Defense

Israel formalizes bilateral defense ties in Rabat

In a first official visit to Rabat, Defense Minister Benny Gantz signed a landmark memorandum of understanding with his Moroccan counterpart Abdellatif Loudiyi.