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

Israel cover image

Israel

August 26, 2026

Tel Aviv 1:30 am

26°C

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani (C) watches as US special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack prepares to sign an agreement in Damascus on September 16, 2025. Shaibani announced on September 16 a plan backed by Jordan and the United States to restore calm to Druze-majority Sweida province, which witnessed deadly violence in July. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP) (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images)

Exclusive

Israel recalibrates Syria policy, explores path to security deal

Israel is rethinking its hard-line Syria policy and seeking to repair ties with US envoy and Donald Trump's confidant Tom Barrack amid a push for a security agreement with Damascus.

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

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.

Latest News

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

ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP via Getty Images

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

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

Israel's Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan is seen as he receives Italy's interior minister at a hotel in Jerusalem on December 11, 2018. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP) (Photo credit should read AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel's ambassador says not interested in working with US on return to Iran deal

The Biden administration has pledged to consult with Israel and other allies before making any moves to join the landmark nuclear deal.

Israeli mayors offer gifts, incentives for people to get vaccinated

Some Israeli mayors offer gifts and benefits for residents getting vaccinated; others sanction those who refuse.

Head of Israel's National Security Council Meir Ben-Shabbat delivers a statement upon his arrival at the Bahraini International Airport on October 18, 2020. - Israel and Bahrain will officially establish diplomatic relations at a ceremony in Manama, an Israeli official said, after the two states reached a US-brokered normalisation deal last month. (Photo by RONEN ZVULUN / POOL / AFP) (Photo by RONEN ZVULUN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Netanyahu’s pick of Iran file envoy signals confrontation with US

Picking national security adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat over real Iran experts such as Mossad Chief Yossi Cohen or retired Gen. Amos Yadlin means that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not believe dialoguing with the Biden administration on Iran will do any good.

Hadi, the father of Mohammad one of the four victims of the extended Bakr family gather at their house in al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City on February 7, 2021, surrounded by posters in memory of four children who were killed while playing on the beach during the 2014 Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Gaza. - The International Criminal Court's ruling that it has jurisdiction over the situation in the Palestinian territories opens the way to it investigating alleged war crimes committed in the 2014 Israeli-Pa

ICC ruling means war crimes investigations go both ways

The International Criminal Court’s ruling that it has jurisdiction over the Palestinian territories has pleased many residents but alarmed others that Palestinian leaders could face investigations they fear will be political.

This picture taken from the Israeli side of the Mitar checkpoint on September 17, 2020 shows Palestinian workers crossing out of Israel a day ahead of Rosh-Hashana (the Jewish New Year) and of a nationwide lockdown aimed at curbing a spike of coronavirus cases. - Israel has the world's second-highest virus infection rate after Bahrain, according to an AFP tally over the past fortnight, and on September 18 it is set to be the first country to impose a second lockdown. (Photo by HAZEM BADER / AFP) (Photo by H

Conflicting messages leave Palestinian workers outside Israel jobless

Conflicting messages from Israeli authorities cause tens of thousands of Palestinian laborers to be stuck in the West Bank, unable to reenter Israel for work.

New Israeli Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi attends a ceremony at the Western Wall, the holiest place where Jews can pray, on January 15, 2019, in the Old City of Jerusalem. (Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP) (Photo credit should read MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images)

Rivalry heats up between IDF, Mossad chiefs

Statements on Iran in recent weeks have laid bare an intensifying rivalry between IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi and Mossad chief Yossi Cohen.

Newly confirmed US Secretary of State Antony Blinken removes his face mask to speak during a welcome ceremony at the State Department in Washington,DC on January 27, 2021. - (Photo by CARLOS BARRIA / POOL / AFP) (Photo by CARLOS BARRIA/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel campaigns against the US rushing to negotiate with Iran

A report issued by the Israel Defense Forces about Iran two years away from a nuclear bomb was designed first and foremost to calm the American sense of urgency over negotiating with Tehran.

Israel's Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi speaks during a news conference with his UAE Foreign Minister counterpart and German Foreign Minister following their historic meeting at Villa Borsig in Berlin, on October 6, 2020. (Photo by HANNIBAL HANSCHKE / POOL / AFP) (Photo by HANNIBAL HANSCHKE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel’s Ashkenazi on diplomatic blitz against ICC ruling

Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi is busy calling counterparts worldwide, to convince them to object the ICC ruling on judging Israel for alleged war crimes.

(L to R) Members of the Joint List Osama Saadi, Ayman Odeh, Ahmad Tibi and Mansour Abbas arrive for a consulting meeting with the Israeli President, to decide who to task with trying to form a new government, in Jerusalem on September 22, 2019. (Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP) (Photo credit should read MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images)

Joint List splits as elections near

Ra'am has left the Joint List, saying it can't do the work needed to effect decision-making in Israel while tied to lawmakers who refuse to engage in the political process.

Israeli health workers monitor Covid-19 patients an isolation ward at Ichilov Medical Centre in Tel Aviv, on February 11, 2021. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Israeli-developed coronavirus medicine shows promising results

The coronavirus medicine developed by the Tel Aviv Ichilov Hospital shows promising results, thus offering hope to patients.

Israeli F-35 fighter jets roll on the tarmac during the "Blue Flag" multinational aerial exercise at the Ovda air force base, north of the Israeli city of Eilat, on November 11, 2019. (Photo by Emmanuel DUNAND / AFP) (Photo by EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel’s military skirts budget restrictions for $9 billion air force upgrade

The IDF will use a chunk of US aid and foreign borrowing to help fund its planned expansion of the air force's strike range

Israeli ministers reach out to homeland Morocco

Israeli ministers of Moroccan origins rejoice over tightening bilateral relations with Israel, multiplying their contacts with ministers in their homeland.