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

Israel cover image

Israel

September 17, 2026

Tel Aviv 10:20 pm

29°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

After Acre blast, fears of vigilantism

Following an alleged act of sabotage that led to the explosion of a residential building, killing five, the city of Acre is trying to keep one of Israel’s most important tourist destinations calm.

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat attends a meeting in his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah July, 19, 2004. [Palestinian President Yasser Arafat sought on Monday to defuse a leadership crisis triggered by unprecedented unrest in the Gaza Strip over corruption within his government and security forces.] - RTXMS1N

Jewish/Palestinian history without borders

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas should return to the statement made in 2004 by Palestinian Chairman Yasser Arafat, recognizing Israel as the Jewish state, while Israelis should recognize Palestine as the homeland of Palestinians.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leaves after attending a ceremony with Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper in the Hall of Remembrance at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem January 21, 2014. Harper told Israel's parliament on Monday any comparison between the Jewish state and apartheid South Africa was "sickening", drawing a standing ovation - and an angry walkout by two Arab legislators. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX17O8X

Hamas denies secret message to Netanyahu

Hamas officials denied that Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh sent a secret message to his Israeli counterpart, but debate continues within the movement about a dialogue with Israel.

Israel's Finance Minister Yair Lapid speaks during a joint news conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer, Energy Minister Silvan Shalom and (not pirctured) in Jerusalem June 19, 2013. Israel said on Wednesday it will keep the majority of it's newfound natural gas for domestic use, but will still allow enough gas to be sold abroad to satisfy exploration companies who want access to the global market. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS ENERGY BUSI

Lapid wins superficial victory over drafting ultra-Orthodox

The ultra-Orthodox leaders cry out in public against the new law requiring their enlistment in the army, but behind the scenes, they're discretely satisfied.

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish protesters, some standing on a bridge, take part a demonstration in Jerusalem February 6, 2014. Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel blocked highways and clashed with police on Thursday in protest at a government decision to cut funds to seminary students who avoid military service. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION CIVIL UNREST) - RTX18AZA

Ultra-Orthodox draft law defuses Israel's 'existential threat'

The ultra-Orthodox draft law proposes a gradual enlistment process, which will not lead to an equal sharing of the burden, but will help the ultra-Orthodox overcome the obstacles between them and the modern world.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman gestures as he speaks at a conference for young members of his Yisrael Beiteinu party in Tel Aviv December 13, 2012. Lieberman said on Thursday he need not resign after the Justice Ministry decided to indict him for fraud and breach of trust, less severe charges than were originally considered. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3BJKC

Knesset bill threatens Israeli-Arab representation

In an interview with Al-Monitor, right-wing Knesset member David Rotem defended the governability bill designed to strengthen the government and its prime minister, even if it put him on a collision course with the Arab Knesset members fearing the rise of an electoral threshold.

A Palestinian man looks at the Facebook page of Avichay Adraee, the spokesman of the Israeli Army to the Arabic media, after hackers replaced his cover photo with that of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigade during the "#Op_Israel" campaign launched by the activist group Anonymous, in Gaza City on April 7, 2013. The hackers reportedly hit several Israeli websites including that of the premier's office, the defence ministry, the education ministry and the Central Bureau of Statistics, among others, but all appeare

Gaza hackers prepare for next assault on Israel

A group of Palestinian hackers in Gaza talk to Al-Monitor about their cyberwar against Israel.

Senior Hamas leaders Mahmoud al-Zahar (L), Saeed Seyam (C) and Khalil al-Hayya wait at the Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip before crossing into Egypt October 7, 2008. Hamas leaders will hold talks in Cairo on Wednesday on proposals to end the schism with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah group by reshaping the way the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip is governed.
REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA) - RTX9AWH

Hamas official says 'Abbas doesn’t represent anyone'

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar says "there is no agreement on the 1967 borders."

Palestinian members of the al-Qassam brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, stand guard as they wait for the arrival of Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip December 7, 2012. Meshaal, Hamas's exiled leader, will step onto Palestinian land for the first time in 45 years on Friday for a "victory rally" in the Gaza Strip, displaying his newfound confidence after last month's conflict with Israel. Meshaal, the Islamist group's leader, who has not visited the Palestinian Territ

Hamas tests anti-aircraft missiles

Palestinian armed groups in Gaza are said to possess anti-aircraft missiles, but their capabilities remain limited.

Foreign and Palestinian activists hold Palestinian flags as they march through a supermarket in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Modiin Illit October 24, 2012. Some 50 activists marched through the supermarket and tried to block a road in the settlement on Wednesday during a protest against Jewish settlements and in a call to boycott settlement products. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST FOOD TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR39IM8

Israeli government turns blind eye to boycott snowball

Companies around the world join the boycott of settlement products, while the Israeli right promotes a controversial law designed to punish Israelis who support the boycott.

Israel's Defence Minister Amir Peretz delivers a speech during a ceremony at the Ministry of Defence in Tel Aviv May 24, 2007. REUTERS/Alon Ron (ISRAEL) ISRAEL OUT - RTR1Q234

The legacy of racism toward Mizrahi Jews

The publication of the protocols of the riots in Wadi Salib, disclosing the racism of Israel’s founding generation toward the Mizrahi Jewish population, could have initiated a genuine debate.

A shoe is seen on a pavement covered with blood in the Red Sea resort town of Taba in the south Sinai, February 16, 2014. An explosion on a tourist bus in Egypt's Sinai peninsula killed three Koreans and the Egyptian driver on Sunday, the Interior Ministry said, an apparent turning point in an Islamist insurgency that has gained pace since an army takeover in July. REUTERS/Stringer (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX18XQD

Israel waits for Egypt to deal with terrorists in Sinai

Israel observes the rise in Salafist violence just over its border in Sinai with alarm and waits for Egypt to take the necessary action.