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

Israel cover image

Israel

September 15, 2026

Tel Aviv 3:02 am

25°C

Jewish settlement of Kedumim, in the West Bank

Analysis

Europe’s West Bank trade ban fires warning shot at Israel’s economy

Weeks before key Israeli elections, a dozen nations announced new trade restrictions targeting settlements in the West Bank, delivering a sharp rebuke to Israel's government that could presage additional international pressure.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Erik Marmor

Analysis

Once Netanyahu’s top challenger, Bennett loses ground to Eisenkot: What to know

Facing the popular Gadi Eisenkot, the Together party of former premiers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid is sinking in Israeli opinion polls.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

A photograph taken from the southern Lebanese area of Nabatieh shows smoke as it rises from the site of Israeli strikes that targeted the hilltops of the mountainous area of the strategic Ali al-Taher Ridge on Aug. 14, 2026.

Israel says it destroyed Hezbollah tunnels in Ali al-Taher ridge: What to know

The ridge has become a flashpoint in the Israel-Hezbollah conflict in Lebanon due to its extensive tunnel network Israel says is utilized by the Iran-backed group.

Chaim Goldberg / AFP via Getty Images

Netanyahu threatens to sue Haaretz for reporting UAE warned Israel of Oct. 7 attack

The Emirati president reportedly warned that a planned attack could cause bloodshed, destabilize the region and threaten the Abraham Accords.

Latest News

Analysis

Israel braces for Iran attack as Trump’s economic squeeze on Tehran intensifies

TOPSHOT - Explosions from projectile interceptions by Israel's Iron Dome missile defence system are pictured over Tel Aviv on February 28, 2026. The United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran on February 28, with Israel's public broadcaster reporting that the Iranian supreme leader had been targeted, as the Islamic republic retaliated with barrages of missiles at Gulf states and Israel. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP via Getty Images)

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

12 countries including France, UK, Canada end trade with West Bank settlements

West Bank settlements

Katz warns PA against 'Oct. 7-style' attack as West Bank violence rises

Israeli soldiers take positions during a military operation in the town of Qalqiya, in the occupied West Bank, Dec. 4, 2025.

Lebanon says at least 12 killed in Israeli strikes as tensions rise in south

An excavator digs as rescuers search for survivors amid the rubble following an overnight Israeli airstrike on the village of Kfar Roummane, southern Lebanon, Sept. 7, 2026.

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

Belarusssian S-300 mobile missile launching systems drive through a military parade during celebrations marking Independence Day in Minsk July 3, 2013. REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko (BELARUS - Tags: MILITARY SOCIETY) - RTX11AYI

Russian missile deal sets off alarm bells in Israel

Israel fears that the nuclear agreement, combined with Russian missiles, will strengthen Iran on all fronts, changing the balance of power of both Iran and Hezbollah vis-a-vis Israel.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (C) speaks to the media during his visit to the headquarters of the Palestinian cabinet in Gaza City October 14, 2014. Ban Ki-moon lamented the vast destruction in Gaza as he visited the area on Tuesday for the first time since the war, calling the situation "beyond description" and urging a speedy reconstruction effort. He also announced that Israel was permitting a first truckload of construction materials to enter the enclave, which has been blockaded by Israe

Hamas warily eyes proposals for long-term truce with Israel

Negotiations are ongoing between Hamas and international envoys on a potential 15-year truce with Israel, a plan some Hamas and Fatah figures see as a way to split the Gaza Strip from the West Bank.

Tamir Pardo (L), head of Israel's spy agency Mossad, and Yoram Cohen, chief of Israel's Shin Bet internal security service, speak during a corner-stone laying ceremony for a memorial commemorating fallen soldiers on Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem April 30, 2014. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3N968

Israeli courts give free hand to Shin Bet

Lawyers specialized in human rights claim that ever since the kidnapping and murder of the three Israeli youths in June 2014, the Israeli judicial system is more lenient concerning the Israeli security apparatus' interrogation methods.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks during a press conference at the United Nations in New York March 10, 2015. REUTERS/Mike Segar (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR4STI7

How will Bibi meddle in next US presidential race?

Associates of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu estimate that casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, and subsequently Netanyahu, will soon decide whom to back in the US presidential race.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) and his wife Sara (2nd R) attend the Mimona ceremony at the Israeli town of Or Akiva near Caesarea April 11, 2015. Mimona is traditionally celebrated by Jews from North Africa at the end of the Passover holidays. REUTERS/Amir Cohen - RTR4WY31

Likud ministers sidelined from coalition negotiations

With coalition negotiations advancing slowly, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is keeping his cards close to his chest and not disclosing his final goal even to senior Likud members.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stands with Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz (C) and Finance Minister Yair Lapid (L) during a groundbreaking ceremony for a new port in Ashdod October 28, 2014. Israel's government, looking to break up the monopoly of two state-owned ports in Haifa and Ashdod through which nearly all exports and imports pass, recently approved erecting private ports adjacent to the current ones. The move, it says, will bring down the cost of goods across the board. REUTERS/Amir

Public transport on Sabbath becomes political dispute

Israeli Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz is catering to right-wing religious voters by opposing a bill allowing public transportation on Saturdays, ignoring the poor people who depend on such services.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius (C) walks with others during a break in a meeting with world representatives seeking to pin down a nuclear deal with Iran at the Beau Rivage Palace Hotel in Lausanne March 31, 2015. The United States said it was prepared to work past a midnight deadline into Wednesday if progress was being made towards clinching a preliminary nuclear deal between Iran and global powers. REUTERS/Brendan Smialowski/Pool - RTR4VN93

France steps up involvement on Iran, Palestine

France has been very proactive during talks on the Iranian framework agreement, and it intends to extend this proactive attitude to the Palestinian issue.

A general view shows crowds of ultra-Orthodox Jewish men attending the funeral of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the spiritual leader of the ultra-religious Shas political party, in Jerusalem October 7, 2013. Yosef, an Iraqi-born sage who turned an Israeli underclass of Sephardic Jews of Middle Eastern heritage into a powerful political force, died on Monday at the age of 93, plunging masses of followers into mourning. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION OBITUARY) - RTX142Z0

Two trampled at massive ultra-Orthodox funeral

Ultra-Orthodox are eager to fulfill the spiritual act of accompanying the deceased on his last journey, but the massively attended funeral of Rabbi Halevi-Wosner entailed the trampling to death of two students in attendance.

Zionist Camp MK: Israel can maximize benefits from Iran deal

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Zionist Camp Knesset member Eyal Ben-Reuven says that the Iranian framework agreement does establish some limits on the nuclear project, and calls to focus on effective deterrence and tight control on Iran.

Palestinian men take part in a demonstration is support of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, on Decembre 11, 2014 in Gaza City. Israel's parliament has passed a law that could block the release in any future peace negotiations of Palestinian prisoners convicted of murder, a spokesman said. AFP PHOTO / MOHAMMED ABED (Photo credit should read MOHAMMED ABED/AFP/Getty Images)

Smuggled Palestinian prison literature gains outside audience

Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons go to great lengths to pass on their artistic work to the outside, with some prisoners' work gaining widespread attention.

Israel literature prize stirs debate over Mizrahi discrimination

The announcement that Erez Biton was to be awarded the Israel Prize for Literature and Poetry generated a debate over his Mizrahi (Sephardic) origins rather than his poetry.

Members of Palestinian National Security Forces march during a military exercise in the West Bank city of Jericho March 20, 2015. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma - RTR4U809

Israeli penalties threaten security cooperation with PA

Some senior Palestinian Authority officials are calling to cut off security cooperation with Israel in response to punitive measures such as deducting debts from the recently unfrozen tax revenues.