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Israel

September 15, 2026

Tel Aviv 3:07 pm

33°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

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara (L) attend a reinterment ceremony for Lieutenant-Colonel John Henry Patterson and his wife Frances in the agricultural cooperative of Avihayil, north of Netanya December 4, 2014. Patterson, a British commander of the Jewish Legion during World War I, died in 1947 and his ashes were brought to Israel and re-buried on Thursday. REUTERS/Nir Elias (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY OBITUARY) - RTR4GP0S

Netanyahu's household expenses become campaign issue

The media's preoccupation with funds from bottle deposits allegedly pocketed by the prime minister's wife draws attention away from the real diplomatic issues, and lets Bibi off the hook.

Israel offers to mediate talks between Ukraine, Russia

Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman believes his country is uniquely positioned to negotiate with Russia and Ukraine.

Israeli soldiers stand on concrete blocks near the border with Lebanon January 29, 2015. Israel and Hezbollah signalled on Thursday their rare flare-up in fighting across the Israel-Lebanon border was over, after the Lebanese guerrillas killed two Israeli troops in retaliation for a deadly air strike in Syria last week. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY CONFLICT) - RTR4NHGX

Hezbollah, Israel claim victory, reset deterrence

Nasrallah steps back from confrontation with Israel after attack; Iran sanctions in perspective; Netanyahu plan may backfire; Kurdish victory in Kobani a setback for Turkey; Are Iraqi Kurdish land grabs sowing future conflict?

People listen during a hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee January 27, 2015 in Washington, DC. The committee held the hearing on negotiations with Iran on their nuclear program. AFP PHOTO/BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

Palestinian Authority in the hot seat

A look at the Middle East issues Congress will be addressing the week of Feb. 2.

A supporter of Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah holds up a poster of him as he appears on a screen to speak at an event to commemorate the deaths of six Hezbollah fighters and an Iranian general killed by an Israeli air strike in Syria on January 18, in Beirut's southern suburbs, January 30, 2015. Nasrallah said on Friday his group did not want war with Israel but was ready for one and had the right to respond to Israeli "aggression" in any time and place. The words on the woman's hand rea

Nasrallah vows to confront Israel at any time and place

In a broadcast speech, Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah tried to re-establish deterrence with Israel after the two sides traded strikes.

Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Brigadier General Mohammad Ali Jafari holds a press conference in Tehran on September 16, 2012. Jafari said members of his elite special operations unit, the Quds Force, are present in Syria and Lebanon but only to provide "counsel." AFP PHOTO/ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/GettyImages)

Hezbollah strike was 'minimum response,' warns Iran commander

The commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also stated that Israel should 'await a stronger response.'

Israeli Economy Minister and head of the ultra-nationalist party Jewish Home, Naftali Bennett speaks during a press conference on December 14, 2014 in Jerusalem. Israeli political leaders agreed earlier this month to hold a snap election on March 17, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gambling on a return to power after his ruling coalition collapsed. AFP PHOTO / GALI TIBBON (Photo credit should read GALI TIBBON/AFP/Getty Images)

Bennett went too far in plan to reshape his party

The HaBayit HaYehudi chairman failed this week in transforming the traditional image of the party — from a sectorial, religious male-dominated one to a young, vibrant and an all-Israel party.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a speech during a memorial ceremony for former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at Sycamore Ranch near the town of Sderot, marking the one-year anniversary of Sharon's death January 29, 2015. Sharon, the trailblazing warrior-statesman who stunned Arab foes with his dramatic turnarounds, died on January 11, 2014 aged 85, after eight years in a coma caused by a stroke. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS ANNIVERSARY) - RTR4NGC7

Security issues become tool for delay

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security conditions for any future agreement with the Palestinians would preclude a Palestinian state all together.

Israeli soldiers are seen next to a sign post pointing to the village of Ghajar near Israel's border with Lebanon January 28, 2015. A Hezbollah missile strike wounded four Israeli soldiers on Wednesday, the biggest attack on Israeli forces by the Lebanese guerrilla group since a 34-day war in 2006. Israeli artillery fired at least 22 shells into open farmland in southern Lebanon after the strike, a Lebanese security source said, and thick smoke rose over the area. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (ISRAEL - Tags: MILITARY

Disputed Alawite village caught between Israel, Hezbollah

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Bilal Khatib of the Ghajar municipal council explains the unique situation of the village; located on the Israel-Lebanon-Syria border and residents' fear of being targeted.

Smoke from Israeli shelling covers the Lebanese town of Al-Majidiyah (L) on the Lebanese border with Israel as the town of Al-Ghajar is seen on the right on January 28, 2015. Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah claimed responsibility on Wednesday for an attack against a military convoy in an Israeli-occupied border area. AFP PHOTO / ALI DIA (Photo credit should read ALI DIA/AFP/Getty Images)

Hezbollah's tactical shift against Israel

Hezbollah is opening another front against Israel in the Golan Heights, where it can blame other organizations for possible escalations.

Issac Herzog (L), leader of Israel's Labour party, and former Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni shake hands after their joint news conference in Tel Aviv December 10, 2014. Livni and the center-left parliamentary opposition leader formed a joint election ticket on Wednesday that polls show could pose a serious challenge to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in March. REUTERS/Stringer (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR4HICW

Israeli candidates offer shallow slogans on security

The escalation on Israel's northern border should have driven Israeli politicians to explain their specific security approaches, but most of them chose to repeat the usual deterrence slogans, without any reference to other diplomatic options.

A wounded Israeli soldier lies on a stretcher near Israel's border with Lebanon January 28, 2015. The threat of a full-blown conflict between Israel and Hezbollah increased on Wednesday after the Lebanese militant group fired a missile at an Israeli army vehicle along the frontier and wounded seven soldiers, the biggest escalation since a 2006 war. REUTERS/JINIPIX (ISRAEL - Tags: MILITARY POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) ISRAEL OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN ISRAEL - RTR4NB95

Hezbollah answers Israeli attack

Al-Monitor reports on the ground from the site of Wednesday's confrontation.