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Israel

September 19, 2026

Tel Aviv 4:59 pm

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and French President Emmanuel Macron arrive to hold a joint press conference in Jerusalem, Oct. 24, 2023.

Analysis

After France's settlement ban, Israel sees no warming of ties with Macron government

Israeli diplomats say France’s decision to ban imports from West Bank settlements has brought bilateral relations to an unprecedented low point.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman looks on as he attends a trade agreement signature ceremony at the Elysee Palace in Paris on August 24, 2026. (Photo by LOU BENOIST / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

How Netanyahu is leveraging Houthi threat in secret Saudi normalization push

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to capitalize on Riyadh's need for intelligence assistance to make normalization headway ahead of the October elections.

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

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.

Latest News

Culture

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

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)

Explainer

Why France is pushing to keep UNIFIL in Lebanon beyond 2026

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

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

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

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. Hamas's exiled leader Meshaal 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 Territor

Up close and personal with Hamas' Mourabitoun unit

In an exclusive, Al-Monitor gained rare access to one of Hamas' most reputable brigades, the Mourabitoun, which are likely to play a lead role in any future confrontation with Israel.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry steps aboard his aircraft en route to Geneva, after holding private talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv November 8, 2013. REUTERS/Jason Reed (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX1553K

Will Israel wag the dog on Iran?

The Obama administration is struggling to make the case that Israel will benefit from a nuclear deal with Iran.

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton (obscured) and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (4th R) arrive at a news conference at the end of the Iranian nuclear talks in Geneva November 10, 2013. Zarif and Ashton said on Sunday they hoped Iran and six world powers would reach an agreement when they gather again in 10 days, adding that the latest round of talks on Tehran's nuclear programme was something all delegations can build on. REUTERS/Jason Reed (SWITZERLAND - Tags: POLITICS)

Iran and the two Genevas

There is widespread understanding that a nuclear deal on Iran will facilitate progress on Syria.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has his tie adjusted before the arrival of Poland's President Bronislaw Komorowski to their meeting in Jerusalem November 4, 2013. REUTERS/Menahem Kahana/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX14ZOS

Netanyahu faces possible lose-lose on Iran, peace process

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may be right in his vigilance on Iran, but if US-Israel relations suffer, he could find himself with a nuclear Iran and a Palestinian state.

Activists unveil a giant Palestine flag in support of a Palestinian statehood outside the European Union Council in Brussels November 19, 2012. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir (BELGIUM - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3ALZ9

Palestinians Sideline EU on peace process

Despite EU aid, the Palestinian government is not insisting on a more prominent European role in the peace process.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry walks to his plane after a private meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv November 8, 2013. REUTERS/Jason Reed (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX1553J

The cost of Netanyahu's campaign against an Iran deal

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's opposition to an Iranian nuclear deal has a cost in US-Israel relations.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heads a special cabinet meeting marking 40 years since the death of David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first prime minister, in Sde Boker in southern Israel November 10, 2013. Netanyahu voiced satisfaction on Sunday over the failure of Iran and world powers to clinch a nuclear deal and said he lobbied against it in calls with government leaders. REUTERS/David Buimovitch/Pool (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX157M9

Netanyahu could lose his Iran card

If Tehran and the world powers enter into a long-term diplomatic process that slows down Iran’s nuclear program, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be left without the one major issue that topped his agenda for the past few years.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reaches out to shake hands with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Jerusalem November 6, 2013. REUTERS/Jason Reed (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX151ZB

Will US cave to Netanyahu again?

US Secretary of State John Kerry's blunt words for Israel shows he is withstanding pressure from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but for how much longer?

A general view of the UNESCO headquarters before a ceremony for the "UNESCO-Equatorial Guinea International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences" in Paris July 17, 2012. Rights groups said on Monday UNESCO's decision to award a science prize sponsored by the president of Equatorial Guinea was "shameful and utterly irresponsible". Despite calls to abandon it, the governing council of Paris-based UNESCO voted by 33 to 18 with six abstentions to approve awarding what was originally called the "UNESCO-Obiang

The US-UNESCO tragedy

Is the US role in UNESCO a casualty of Palestine's membership?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gestures as he delivers a statement to the media after meeting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv November 8, 2013. Israel rejected out of hand on Friday a mooted deal between world powers and Iran, just as Kerry prepared to join nuclear talks that aim to nail down an interim agreement on the decade-old standoff. REUTERS/Debbie Hill/Pool (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX1555A

Netanyahu rejects 'deal of the century for Iran'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of State John Kerry reportedly clash before Kerry headed to Geneva for the Iran talks.

A Palestinian student walks past a mural depicting late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in Gaza City November 7, 2013. Swiss scientists who conducted tests on the remains of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, whose widow Suha says he was poisoned by radioactive polonium, will give a news conference on Thursday on their findings. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CRIME LAW SOCIETY) - RTX153OJ

Despite Swiss report, controversy over Arafat's death continues

The publication of the Swiss inquiry into the death of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat does not offer an end to the debate over whether he was poisoned.

Confetti drops as Labour party leader Shelly Yachimovich stands on stage during an event to mark the end of the party campaign in Tel Aviv January 17, 2013. Opinion polls have shown Labour, which ruled Israel for decades but now holds only eight seats in parliament, bouncing back to second place behind Likud under new leader Yachimovich. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR3CKNE

Israeli Labor Party MK argues Yachimovich is no team player

Labor Party MK Erel Margalit opposes Chair Shelly Yachimovich's leadership, arguing that she has failed to garner the support of the industrial sector and lead a strong opposition socioeconomic agenda.