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

Israel cover image

Israel

June 18, 2026

Tel Aviv 7:53 pm

25°C

EVIAN-LES-BAINS, FRANCE - JUNE 16: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a bilateral meeting with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on the sidelines of the G7 summit, on June 16, 2026 in Evian-les-Bains, France. Leaders from the Group of 7 (G7) countries convened in Evian, France, near the Swiss border, for their annual summit to discuss challenges to peace and security for Ukraine and Europe, the situation in the Middle East, and other geopolitical issues. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Get

'Let Syria take care of Hezbollah': Trump criticizes Israel, leans on Sharaa to help in Lebanon

President Donald Trump insisted he has a great relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but criticized the scale of Israel’s strikes in Lebanon.

Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir takes part in the Jerusalem Day celebrations on May 14, 2026, in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Explainer

Ben-Gvir's move to run separately in Israel elections revives debate over party alliances

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, head of the far-right Jewish Power party, has refused to merge with the far-right Religious Zionism party ahead of the elections.

Latest News

Analysis

'He knew it was over': Inside Netanyahu’s response to Trump’s Iran deal as Israel recalibrates

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

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

Analysis

Erdogan-Netanyahu war of words signals deeper rivalry for regional influence

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Turkish House in New York on Sept. 19, 2023.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Analysis

Squeezed by Trump and Iran war, how vulnerable is Netanyahu in polls?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hosted by President Donald Trump at the White House, Washington, DC, July 7, 2025.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

'Pilot zones' offer litmus test for Lebanon to clear Israel border of Hezbollah

Smoke rises following Israeli bombardment in southern Lebanon close to the Beaufort Castle as seen from a position across the border in the Upper Galilee, in northern Israel on June 4, 2026.

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

Palestinian policemen loyal to Hamas guard outside the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) headquarters during a protest demanding to resume financial aid for refugees, in Gaza City April 15, 2013. Robert Turner, UNRWA's director of Gaza operations, said the agency faced a $68 million shortfall in 2013 and that it had decided to cut a $40 annual handout to 106,000 Gaza refugees to save some $5.5 million. To soften the blow, the agency offered job programmes to help the poorest families. REUTERS/M

Israeli centrist leader finds himself alone in battle against UN agency

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Yesh Atid Leader Yair Lapid expressed surprise that his government is cooperating with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, while the rest of the Israeli political establishment is reluctant to disrupt the aid that keeps Gaza afloat.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and Isaac Herzog, Co-leader of the centre-left Zionist Union, are pictured together as campaign billboards rotate in Tel Aviv, March 9, 2015. Israelis will vote in a parliamentary election on March 17, choosing among party lists of candidates to serve in the 120-seat Knesset. Currently, polls show Netanyahu's Likud party and the centre-left Zionist Union opposition running neck-and-neck, with each predicted to win around 24 seats in the Knesset.
REUTERS/Baz Ra

Can open primaries heal Israeli politics?

Israelis are debating the feasibility of open primaries, which would allow all eligible voters to select the leader of the political bloc they support.

Ultra-Orthodox Jews dance outside a synagogue during a wedding in Jerusalem February 27, 2007. The Gur Hasidism dynasty celebrated their Rabbi's grandson's wedding on February 27. REUTERS/Yonathan Weitzman (JERUSALEM) - RTR1MW8Q

Secret sex life of the ultra-Orthodox has Israelis reading

The story of Esti Weinsten, who fled the very strict Gur Hasidic sect and later committed suicide, has shaken and enthralled both secular and Orthodox Israelis.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) enters to a media conference together with Israel's new Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman, head of far-right Yisrael Beitenu party, following Lieberman's swearing-in ceremony at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem May 30, 2016. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RTX2EVOW

Will Netanyahu dare to engage in regional settlement?

According to a New Wave Institute poll, most Israelis support the regional guidelines proposed by the Israeli Initiative group — namely the two-state solution, normalization of economic ties with Arab states and international security guarantees.

An Israeli border policeman stands guard during the demolition of a Palestinian house under the order of the Israeli army, in the West Bank town of Dura, south of Hebron January 20, 2016. The owners of the house said they were informed by the Israeli army that the demolition was carried out because they did not have an Israeli-issued construction permit. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma - RTX236ZL

UN report: West Bank house demolitions up 25%

The number of Palestinian homes demolished by Israel has sharply increased this year, leading experts to question Israel's agenda.

Musician Carlos Santana (L) performs during a concert at the Starlite Festival in Marbella, southern Spain, July 24, 2016. REUTERS/Jon Nazca - RTSJFY7

How Carlos Santana is helping to promote coexistence in Israel

Carlos Santana will transfer part of his Tel Aviv concert benefits to the Hand in Hand network of Jewish-Arab joint schools in Israel.

Founder and managing partner of Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP) Erel Margalit poses for a photo during an interview with Reuters in Jerusalem January 30, 2012. Headquartered in Jerusalem, JVP, a venture capital firm focused on digital media technologies, has over $900 million under management and is invested in 30 companies. Picture taken January 30, 2012. To match Interview JERUSALEMVENTURE/ REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM - Tags: BUSINESS SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY ENTERTAINMENT) - RTR2XHQ9

Millionaire MK's plan: Partners in business will be partners for peace

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Knesset member Erel Margalit argues that Israel should focus on joint regional economic ventures to build confidence, and from there advance to negotiating with the Palestinians.

U.S. President Barack Obama holds a news conference at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, U.S. August 4, 2016. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTSL3XJ

Was Israel's Iran deal-Nazi agreement comparison step too far?

Amid an effort to quickly conclude a US military aid deal, the Israeli Defense Ministry issued a statement comparing US President Barack Obama to Neville Chamberlin and the Iranian deal to the Munich Agreement.

An ultra-Orthodox Jew shouts at a policeman during a protest against the opening of a road on the Sabbath, near a religious neighborhood in Jerusalem July 30, 2011. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM - Tags: RELIGION CIVIL UNREST IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR2PGWG

Why Israel's ultra-Orthodox are not happy with proposed Sabbath law

This time, secular Israelis are pushing for a Sabbath-observance law while the ultra-Orthodox resist, claiming the legislation falls short of preserving the day's character.

TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY ADEL ZAANOUN A Hamas police officer shows confiscated drugs, alcohol and medication at a police station in the northern Gaza Strip town of Jabalia on November 4, 2009. Drug use was once rare in Gaza's conservative society, but addiction experts say prescription painkillers and marijuana have become more common since Israel and Egypt sealed off the territory to all but basic goods in the wake of the Islamist Hamas movement's bloody takeover in June 2007. AFP PHOTO/MOHAMMED ABED (Phot

Is Gaza facing an opioid epidemic?

The impossible circumstances of day-to-day life in the Gaza Strip has led to a Tramadol epidemic that Hamas is struggling to address.

Palestinian fighters from the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, are 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. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTR42YKK

Has Hamas lost its monopoly on tunnel business in Gaza?

Islamic Jihad announced July 10 the death of one of its members after a tunnel collapsed, which signals that Hamas is no longer the only movement that makes use of tunnels in the Gaza Strip.

Why one Israeli Knesset member is calling out colleagues on racism

In an Al-Monitor interview, former Welfare Minister Meir Cohen, of Mizrahi origin, challenged the acceptance of racist practices among his Knesset colleagues.