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Israel

September 16, 2026

Tel Aviv 7:50 am

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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

Beitar Jerusalem's new player Dzhabrail Kadiyev (R) plays during a match against Bnei Sakhnin as part of the Israeli Premier League, at Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem February 10, 2013. There was heightened security at Sunday's match following last week's arraignment of four fans in connection with racist incitement against the team's recruitment of Muslim players. REUTERS/Nir Elias (JERUSALEM - Tags: SPORT SOCCER POLITICS) - RTR3DLJ2

Israeli soccer team honors alleged spy for Hezbollah

In an interview with Al-Monitor, the spokesperson of Israel's Bnei Sakhnin soccer team explains that it honored former Knesset member Azmi Bishara because he facilitated Qatari financial support.

Hamas supporters acting as freed prisoners take part in a rally, calling for the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, in Jabalya, in the northern Gaza Strip, April 13, 2012. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR30OFL

Hamas, Israel prepare for new prisoner exchange deal

Signs are showing of a new prisoner/detainee swap between Israel and Hamas as part of the truce signed in Cairo.

Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak gestures during the 49th Conference on Security Policy in Munich February 3, 2013. Senior politicians along with the leader of the Syrian opposition are in Munich providing a rare opportunity for talks to revive efforts to end the civil war in Syria. REUTERS/Michael Dalder(GERMANY - Tags: MILITARY POLITICS) - RTR3DAJJ

Will Ehud Barak return to politics?

Labor party activists, who met recently with former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, believe that he is the only person able to defeat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

RAMALLAH, -: Palestinian Information Minister Mustafa al-Barghuti speaks during a press conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah, 14 April 2007. The Palestinian government approved today a new security plan in the Palestinian territories that will create a centralized security service, al-Barghuti told in a press conference. AFP PHOTO/JAMAL ARURI (Photo credit should read JAMAL ARURI/AFP/Getty Images)

Mustafa Barghouti: US-Palestinian ties strong

In an interview with Al-Monitor, former Palestinian Minister Mustafa Barghouti says that the US commitment to the Palestinian Authority's survival will withstand the Palestinian initiative of seeking UN recognition.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledges applause as he arrives to address the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), in Washington, March 4, 2014. Netanyahu urged world powers on Tuesday not to allow Iran to retain the ability to enrich uranium, saying it must be stripped of all nuclear technologies with bomb-making potential. REUTERS/Mike Theiler (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR3G15H

Netanyahu hangs hopes on US midterm elections

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mistakenly believes that a Republican US Congress would pressure President Barack Obama to change his policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Sweden's Foreign Minister Carl Bildt attend a meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah February 28, 2011. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2J926

Mideast conflict needs Scandinavian drive

Scandinavian experience at peacemaking and human rights could again prove useful at jump-starting the deadlocked Israel-Palestine negotiations.

Rabin's son says Israelis ready for regional agreement

In an interview with Al-Monitor shortly before the commemoration of Yitzhak Rabin's assassination, his son Yuval Rabin called for a regional agreement.

Trucks loaded with bags of cement enter the Gaza Strip from Israel through the Kerem Shalom crossing on October 14, 2014, in Rafah in southern Gaza. International donors pledged about $5.4 billion in aid to the devastated Gaza Strip on October 13, 2014 and urged Israel and the Palestinians to renew peace efforts. AFP PHOTO / SAID KHATIB (Photo credit should read SAID KHATIB/AFP/Getty Images)

Israel eases restrictions on Gaza

Israel has started to provide facilities to the Gaza Strip, but many Palestinians see these efforts as a facade that changes little.

A Palestinian flag and a Hamas flag (R) flutter atop the wreckage of a house, which witnesses said was destroyed during the seven-week Israeli offensive, in the east of Gaza City September 3, 2014. Fifty days of war in one of the most densely populated parts of the world have left swathes of Gaza in ruins. With the economy reeling under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade, the enclave now faces an almost impossible task of rebuilding. Picture taken September 3, 2014. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem (GAZA - Tags: CIVIL UNRES

Donor pledges not enough to rehabilitate Gaza

The Palestinian Authority needs at least $15 billion to properly restore Gaza’s economy, while donors have only pledged $5.4 billion for interim reconstruction.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks during a joint news conference with Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri in Cairo October 12, 2014. Kerry said on Sunday the United States was deeply concerned about what he called the "tragedy" in the Syrian town of Kobani, where Islamic State fighters have been tightening their grip. REUTERS/Carolyn Kaster/Pool (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR49W49

Kerry's three Israel-Palestinian options

The Obama administration objects to the Palestinian plan of turning to the UN for recognizing Palestine, thus hesitating between two options: a new outline based on former negotiations or a series of gestures and negotiations without a deadline.

Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah (C) waves as he visits houses that witnesses said were destroyed during the recent seven-week Israeli offensive, in the Shejaia neighbourhood, east of Gaza City October 9, 2014. Technocrat Hamdallah arrived in the Hamas-dominated Gaza Strip on Thursday to convene the first meeting of a unity government there since a brief civil war in 2007 between Hamas and forces loyal to the Fatah party. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES O

Has Israel accepted the Palestinian unity government?

Israel has allowed trucks with goods to enter Gaza, thus cooperating with the same Fatah-Hamas government it refused to recognize four months ago.

Tubs of cottage cheese 'Tnuva' are seen at a shop in Jerusalem July 27, 2011. A two-week-long cottage cheese boycott caused Israelis to question the power of the country's tycoons. A scathing parliamentary report from June last year found that 10 large business groups control 30 percent of the market value of public companies, while 16 control half the money in the entire country. Picture taken July 27, 2011. To match Special Report ISRAEL-CONCENTRATION/ REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (ISRAEL - Tags: BUSINES

Israeli social justice protests still alive, just not in streets

In an interview with Al-Monitor, social activist Itzik Alrov argues that even though people don't take to the streets to protest, as they did in the summer of 2011, they keep watch on the distortions of price centralization and expect the government to intervene.