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

Israel cover image

Israel

September 20, 2026

Tel Aviv 4:25 am

24°C

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

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem September 17, 2013. Netanyahu will meet U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington on September 30, an Israeli official said on Tuesday, for talks expected to focus on Iran's nuclear programme. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX13O88

Israel's Dismissal of Iran A Lost Opportunity

It's arrogant for Israel to dismiss Rouhani's overtures and refuse to consider the possibility of a new era in Iran.

Iranian-Jewish minority Member of Parliament, Siamak Meresedgh, poses for a photograph in front of a banner for the 2012 parliamentary elections, after he registered as a candidate at the Interior Ministry building in Tehran December 25, 2011. Candidates began registering on Saturday for Iran's parliamentary elections in March, the first litmus test of the clerical establishment's popularity since the 2009 disputed presidential vote. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl (IRAN - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR2VMNV

Rouhani Enlists Iran Jewish MP Against Hard-Liners

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani looks to put behind the charges of Holocaust denial by his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The Israeli High Court's 11 justices prepare to hear petitions filed by
politicians banned from participating in the January 28 general
elections in Jerusalem January 7, 2003. Among the petitioners are two
Israeli Arabs and two Jewish extremists. REUTERS/Gil Cohen Magen

GCM/FMS - RTRG6N0

Israeli Mayors Facing Charges Can Run for Re-Election

Despite a court decision to dismiss two mayors charged with corruption, both will be allowed to run for another term in next month's municipal elections.

Palestinians wave a national flag and an Egyptian flag (R) as they take part in a rally calling on Egyptian authorities to open the Rafah crossing, outside the crossing in the southern Gaza Strip September 16, 2013. Cairo closed the Rafah crossing, Gaza's main window to the world, completely last week after assailants crashed two explosive-laden cars into a security building adjacent to the border zone, killing six Egyptian soldiers. Ashraf al-Qidra, spokesman for the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, said 1,

Hamas Tries to Reconcile With Egypt

Hostile Egyptian public opinion might stand in the way of a reconciliation between Gaza and Cairo.

Israeli Minister Lapid Hears 'New Music' in Iran

In a recent CNN interview, Israeli Minister Yair Lapid seems to distance himself somewhat from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Iran.

Mariam Aborkeek mixes plants with olive oil for her "Desert Daughter" soap in the Bedouin village of Tel Sheva, near the southern Israeli city of Beersheba, February 11, 2013. The cosmetics line, set up in 2005, is the brainchild of Aborkeek, a Bedouin. Brought up by the female members of her family, Aborkeek said she decided to share her Bedouin beauty secrets by transforming them into a variety of lotions and cosmetic products, using ingredients like desert melon, cumin, and bitter apple. Picture taken Fe

Israeli Job Market Closed To Arab Women Graduates

The Israeli economy loses an estimated NIS 30 billion annually because most Arabs are not being employed.

Israeli Artists Pay Price For Political Views

The decision by singer Ehud Banai to perform at the Susya settlement reignited the debate over the political commitment of Israeli artists.

A Palestinian boy is seen through an opening in Israel's controversial barrier in Shuafat in the West Bank near Jerusalem February 17, 2009. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (WEST BANK) - RTXBQ43

US-Russia Cooperation Opens New Era in Middle East

It may be time to "think big" about addressing the Arab-Israeli conflict.

A student uses his mobile phone during a break as he is silhouetted against the "Ardon Windows? in the library of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem June 3, 2002. The Ardon windows are Isaiah's vision of eternal peace in a triptych by artist Mordecal Ardon. The part of the triptych in the photo focuses on Jerusalem, in the lower section the city wall is represented as the Dead Sea Scroll of the book of Isaiah. Above the wall a piece of parchment carries part of the Prophecy, "and they shall beat their sword

Israeli Colleges Cut Funding for Humanities

The Hebrew University, for generations the breeding ground of Jewish thinkers, is cutting dozens of faculty positions in the humanities, succumbing to the powerful forces of the market.

Israeli's Demonstrate outside of the King David Hotel where United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan meets with Israeli Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai March 24. Dozens of members of the "Four Mothers" group demonstrated to bring the troops home from south Lebanon security zone.

ISRAEL - RTRCHFQ

Israeli NGOs Demand Greater Role For Women in National Security

Israeli women’s organizations have formulated an action plan to implement UN Resolution 1325, which calls for increasing the representation of women in security and diplomatic deliberations.

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

AIPAC, J Street And the 'Dual Loyalty' Question

The pro-Israel organization J Street, AIPAC's liberal rival, must confront its dual loyalty dilemma, which will be tested once Jerusalem's division is put on the Israeli-Palestinian negotiating table.

Protesters hold a placard in Hebrew reading, "the People demand social justice" during a demonstration calling for social justice in Tel Aviv June 30, 2012. REUTERS/Nir Elias (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST SOCIETY) - RTR34F92

Mayor: Israel's 'Structural Injustice' In Resource Distribution

According to the mayor of Yeruham, Michael Biton, the Israeli government refuses to decide on differential allocation that would rescue the development towns, “because its main beneficiaries would be Arab municipalities.”