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Israel

September 16, 2026

Tel Aviv 11:57 am

32°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

Residents watch Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on a screen during his televised speech at a festival celebrating Resistance and Liberation Day, in Bint Jbeil May 25, 2014. The event commemorates the 14th anniversary of Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon. REUTERS/Sharif Karim (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS ANNIVERSARY) - RTR3QT8E

Hezbollah squeezed out of Golan by Jabhat al-Nusra, Israel

The infiltration of Syrian militants into Lebanon threatens Hezbollah’s presence in the strategic Golan Heights.

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

Desperate Gazans frustrated by Hamas-Fatah squabbles

The disputes between Hamas and Fatah over the reconstruction process in Gaza have infuriated Gazans who desperately need assistance.

Jewish worshippers walk between images of rabbis offered for sale during an annual pilgrimage to the gravesite of Rabbi Yisrael Abuhatzeira, a Moroccan-born sage and kabbalist also known as the Baba Sali, on the anniversary of his death in the southern town of Netivot, January 5, 2014. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL - Tags: ANNIVERSARY RELIGION TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX1735D

Israelis feel betrayed by celebrity rabbi’s corruption

Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto's plea bargain has exposed the extent of abuse by Israel's popular rabbis, some of whom have made hundreds of millions of shekels in donations from their followers.

An elderly couple walk on a path leading to Jerusalem's Old City February 4, 2012. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (JERUSALEM - Tags: SOCIETY RELIGION) - RTR2XB7F

Israel unprepared for its aging population

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Minister of Senior Citizen Affairs Uri Orbach says that Israel is unprepared for the global phenomenon of prolonged lifespans, with too many poor elderly, and must act rapidly to assure pension resources before it's too late.

An Egyptian soldier stands behind a barbed wire fence on the border between Israel and Egypt some 50 km (30 miles) north of Eilat in this November 28, 2010 file photo, after work begun to construct a barrier to seal off part of the border with Egypt's Sinai desert. Arms smuggling by Bedouin tribal networks, mainly by land along Egypt's southern border with Sudan, across the Sinai peninsula and into the Hamas-run Gaza Strip is on the uptick, according to an Egyptian official, who asked not to be named. Sudan

How Israel spies on Sinai

Israel recruits Egyptian smugglers in the Sinai Peninsula to perform various missions for Israeli intelligence.

Members of the Iranian army pray at a university as they attend for Tehran's Friday prayers, April 10, 2009. Reform minded youth see America as the land of opportunity and would like to see ties with the U.S. restored but conservative minded youth see the U.S. as the enemy and feel that the Islamic Revolution?s goals must be kept alive. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl (IRAN) - RTXDXUQ

Iranian conservative says the US needs Iran

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Iranian conservative Amir Mohebian discussed why he believes Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is pessimistic about the nuclear negotiations, how US policy in the Middle East has benefited Iran and how the United States is now in a position where it needs Iran to deal with regional issues.

Palestinians hold posters depicting President Mahmoud Abbas during a rally in the West Bank town of Bethlehem March 17, 2014. Thousands of Palestinians took to the streets on Monday to show their support for Abbas, who is under heavy pressure as he prepares to meet U.S. President Barack Obama. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST RELIGION) - RTR3HFCL

Will Abbas walk the walk on his threats to Israel?

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will present his plan to end the Israeli occupation at the UN General Assembly, with PA officials warning they will launch a political campaign against Israel should the plan be rebuffed.

Yair Lapid, leader of the Yesh Atid (There is a Future) party, addresses supporters at his party's headquarters in Tel Aviv January 23, 2013. The surprise star of Israel's election on Tuesday is Lapid, a former television news anchor whose centrist party, exit polls showed, soared to second place in the balloting only months after he joined politics. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR3CTCL

The new politics of Israel's 'Minister of Facebook Affairs'

Over the last 12 months, social networks have taken over Israeli politics with Finance Minister Yair Lapid and Knesset member Stav Shaffir especially making effective use of communicating with the public in this way.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a conference on counter-terrorism at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, near Tel Aviv September 11, 2014. Netanyahu said on Thursday he would increase the defence budget to meet growing threats but not let the country's credit rating drop one notch through any excessive spending. REUTERS/Nir Elias (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY BUSINESS) - RTR45VNS

Israel prepares for cyberwars

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu established a new espionage organization devoted entirely to cyberwarfare, to prepare Israel for future conflicts.

Senior Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya (C) speaks to the media upon his return to Gaza City from truce talks in Cairo August 14, 2014. A renewed truce between Israel and Hamas appeared to be holding on Thursday despite a shaky start, after both sides agreed to give Egyptian-brokered talks more time to try to end the Gaza war. REUTERS/Ahmed Zakot (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR42EMW

If talks fail, Hamas says it will not return to war

There is little hope a breakthrough will be achieved in the upcoming talks in Cairo between Hamas and Israel, but Hamas officials say they are unlikely to resume armed conflict at this stage.

U.S. President Barack Obama shakes hands before speaking after a military briefing at U.S. Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, September 17, 2014. REUTERS/Larry Downing (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR46M8H

US continues to curb its involvement in Middle East

US President Barack Obama's speech on attacking the Islamic State reflects the US regional strategy on Iraq, Syria and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: partial engagement only, since radical Islam and conflicts in the Middle East are first and foremost a regional problem.

Palestinian shoppers browse in a supermarket at a newly opened shopping mall in Gaza City July 20, 2010. The mall, the first of its kind in Gaza, opened to the public last week and contains about 15 shops, including a supermarket and clothing stores. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: SOCIETY BUSINESS POLITICS) - RTR2GK60

Support grows for Gaza's boycott of Israeli goods

The recent Gaza war has seen a boost in support for a local boycott of Israeli goods, but short of alternatives, it is hard to envision how such a boycott campaign will work.