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

Israel cover image

Israel

September 17, 2026

Tel Aviv 9:51 pm

30°C

OLIVER BUNIC/AFP via Getty Images

Serbia opens factory to assemble Israeli-made drones: What to know

Serbian President Vucic said the factory will put together “state-of-the-art” Israeli-designed drones and employ around 100 workers.

Royal Air Maroc Boeing 787-9 'Dreamliner' aircraft

Israel, Morocco agree to exchange ambassadors, open embassies

The move will mark the first time Morocco and Israel have exchanged ambassadors.

ISRAEL-ENTERTAINMENT-TELEVISION-POLITICS-GOVERNMENT-MASS-MEDIA-D (L to R) Lior Raz and Avi Issacharoff, co-creators of the hit Israeli TV show "Fauda", attend a demonstration against the Israeli government's plans to shut-down public broadcaster KAN, in Israel's Mediterranean coastal city of Tel Aviv on January 25, 2023. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Culture

Israeli show ‘Fauda’ tops Netflix in Lebanon, hits top 10 across Arab states

The show was created by Israeli journalist Avi Issacharoff and actor Lior Raz, drawing on their experiences serving in the Israeli military’s elite Duvdevan unit.

UN peacekeepers stand next to an armored vehicle during a patrol in southern Lebanon, Feb. 22, 2026.

Explainer

Why France is pushing to keep UNIFIL in Lebanon beyond 2026

Showing its support for Lebanon, Paris is backing Beirut’s request at the UN for a short-term extension of UNIFIL’s mandate, although French sources acknowledge that the chances of the request being approved are slim.

Latest News

Exclusive

Lacking deterrence, Israel’s security establishment opposes attacks on Houthis

Fighters loyal to the Houthi authorities, brandish their weapons during a rally to recruit more fighters, in Sanaa on September 10, 2026. The country relapsed into war in July after years of calm, drawn into the regional conflict triggered by the US-Israeli offensive against Iran that began at the end of February. (Photo by Mohammed HUWAIS / AFP via Getty Images)

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

Analysis

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

Jewish settlement of Kedumim, in the West Bank

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Analysis

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

Erik Marmor

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

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

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.

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 is seen on a screen as he speaks at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) policy conference in Washington March 5, 2012. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2YWD1

After AIPAC and J Street, Israel's third lobby: ZPAC?

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman reportedly will break from Likud to run separately in the next elections.

Palestinians show their ID cards to Israeli police inside a bus in Jerusalem August 12, 2004. Investigators were still examining if members of a militant cell which bombed a West Bank checkpoint Wednesday were still at large. The blast killed two Palestinians and wounded 16 people. REUTERS/Gil Cohen Magen GCM/SM - RTR8GY0

Hamas slams PA for removing religion from ID cards

Hamas is saying that the Palestinian Authority's decision to abolish religion from national ID cards is a prelude to accommodating Jewish settlers in a future Palestinian state.

GAZA CITY, -: Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, new Finance Minister Salam Fayad (2R) and new Sports and Youth Minister Bassem Naim (R) arrive for the first meeting of the new Palestinian unity cabinet in Gaza City, 18 March 2007. The new Palestinian government held its first cabinet meeting today, vowing to confront rampant lawlessness and end a crippling international aid freeze but facing a continued Israeli boycott. AFP PHOTO/MAHMUD HAMS (Photo credit should read MAHMUD HAMS/AFP/Getty Images)

Hamas uses backchannel to Tel Aviv

According to Hamas sources, the Islamist movement sent an indirect message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and not for the first time.

Cars burn at the site of an explosion in the Shi'ite town of Hermel February 22, 2014. A suicide bomber killed two Lebanese soldiers with a car bomb near an army checkpoint in a Hezbollah stronghold in northeast Lebanon on Saturday, security sources said.The latest bombing, in a country destabilised by the civil war in neighbouring Syria, was the third such attack in recent weeks in Hermel, a predominantly Shi'ite Muslim area near the border with Syria. Fifteen people were wounded. REUTERS/Rami Bleibel (LEB

Nasrallah talks Palestine after bombings in Lebanon

Following reports that Palestinian nationals have been involved in planning and carrying out recent suicide attacks in Lebanon, there are concerns that it could lead to a division between Palestinian and Lebanese factions involved in the resistance against Israel.

An Israeli policeman scuffles with a Palestinian during clashes near Lion's Gate in Jerusalem's Old City February 7, 2014. Tensions briefly ran high on Friday in Jerusalem's Old City following clashes that erupted between Israeli police and stone-throwing Palestinians on a compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount. REUTERS/Darren Whiteside (JERUSALEM - Tags: RELIGION POLITICS CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX18CFC

The Jordan Option and Al-Aqsa Mosque

Jordan is torn between its special role in East Jerusalem and its concerns over the Palestinian impact on Jordanian identity.

A member of Palestinian civil defense extinguishes a fire at a Hamas training camp after it was hit by an Israeli air strike in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip December 24, 2013. A Gaza sniper shot dead an Israeli civilian over the border on Tuesday and Israel hit back with air strikes on two Hamas training camps which hospital officials said killed a Palestinian girl near one of the targets. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX16TBF

Gaza border residents live under constant Israeli fire

Israeli troops regularly fire on Gaza's border residents, with locals suspecting Israel is trying to reestablish a buffer zone inside the Gaza Strip.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is greeted by U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro (L) as he arrives in Tel Aviv November 8, 2013. Kerry met privately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday before joining nuclear talks between major powers and Iran in Geneva. REUTERS/Jason Reed (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX154Z7

Knesset member: Netanyahu can't pass an agreement

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Knesset member Orit Strock repeats the message she and her associates delivered to US Ambassador Dan Shapiro — that their coalition will block an agreement with the Palestinians.

Aarhus, DENMARK: TO GO WITH STORY BY SLIM ALLAGUI: Vials of sperm are frozen at Cryos, the world's biggest sperm bank, 12 March 2007 in Aarhus, Denmark. The existence of the firm is being threatened by the Danish income tax administration, which wants to tax revenue from sperm donations by lifting the anonymity of donors. The tax measure has yet to be approved by parliament, but could sound the death knell for the sperm bank, which has grown into an international success in the last 15 years thanks to what

Israeli sperm donor crisis

Contrary to widespread medical procedures designed to help women get pregnant, the sperm donation procedure is controversial among Israeli heterosexual couples, be it for psychological or religious reasons.

Israel's Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu visits the Mount of Olives during a tour in Jerusalem February 2, 2009. Netanyahu is a candidate for prime minister in Israel's February 10 election. Opinion polls forecast victory for right-winger Netanyahu. In the background is the Dome of the Rock in the compound known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif, and to Jews as Temple Mount, in Jerusalem's Old City. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM) - RTXB5P8

Bibi becomes victim of Israel’s radical right

Twenty years after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu led the campaign of incitement against the “Oslo criminals,” he has become a victim of the same messianic political movement that he nurtured.

Milk produced by Bright Food is displayed for sale on shelves at a supermarket in Shanghai September 27, 2010. China's Bright Food Group is exploring the purchase of Britain's United Biscuits, a source said on Monday, a deal that at roughly $3.2 billion would be the largest ever international purchase by a Chinese company in the food and beverage sector. REUTERS/Aly Song (CHINA - Tags: BUSINESS FOOD) - RTXSPM8

China seeks to buy Israeli food company

With no proper regulation or restrictions to safeguard Israeli national interests, China multiplies its efforts at taking over leading Israeli companies in the food, insurance and high-tech sectors.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) stands next to German Chancellor Angela Merkel after their joint news conference in Jerusalem February 25, 2014. Germany views Iran as a potential threat not just to Israel, but also to European countries, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3FPD4

Merkel visits Israel as violence flares on Temple Mount

The violent clashes on the Temple Mount and the attack on an arms convoy on its way to Lebanon, both while German Chancellor Angela Merkel was visiting Israel, are warning signs of the current situation's fragility.

U.S. President Barack Obama is pictured on-screen speaking at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) policy conference in Washington March 4, 2012. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2YU77

AIPAC sets 'guidelines' for Iran nuclear deal

AIPAC, the American Israel Political Action Committee, makes the case for congressional pressure on Iran.