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

Israel cover image

Israel

September 21, 2026

Tel Aviv 7:09 pm

28°C

Gargash

UAE's Gargash expects 'prolonged' war, calls for Iran-Gulf security talks

"We need a new mindset that these sort of discussions ... can happen at an Iranian-American level, it should also take place at an Iranian-Arab level," Gargash told Al-Monitor.

United Arab Emirates

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.

Latest News

Israel, Morocco agree to exchange ambassadors, open embassies

Royal Air Maroc Boeing 787-9 'Dreamliner' aircraft

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

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 Minister of Civil Affairs Mohammad Dahlan speaks during a news conference at King Hussein Medical City in Amman. Palestinian Minister of Civil Affairs Mohammad Dahlan speaks during a news conference at King Hussein Medical City in Amman September 4, 2005. Dahlan received treatment in Jordan for a back complaint. REUTERS/Ali Jarekji - RTRMKD0

Former Favorite Son Dahlan Slams Abu Mazen for Corruption

Two recent cases raise questions about the democratic practices of the parties to the peace.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (2nd L), flanked by Tzipi Livni (L), Israel's chief negotiator with the Palestinians, National Security Adviser Yaakov Amidror (3rd L) and Military Secretary Eyal Zamir, speaks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (not pictured) during a meeting in Jerusalem June 29, 2013. Kerry extended his Middle East peace mission on Saturday, shuttling between Jerusalem and Amman for more talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders on reviving their stalled negotiations. REUT

Livni to Conduct Upcoming Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations

With a small party in a right-wing coalition, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni has only two options if she wants to survive: to ensure that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu conducts negotiations with the Palestinians in good faith, or to pull out of his government.

Israeli police officers stand guard atop a wall overlooking Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City, during the holy month of Ramadan July 26, 2013. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION CRIME LAW) - RTX11ZWT

No Surprises in US Court Decision On Jerusalem's Status

It should surprise no one that a US court has decided to refrain from forcing the president to recognize Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem.

Chen Katz (C) places a rainbow flag on the grave of her brother Nir during his funeral in the Israeli city of Modiin near Tel Aviv August 2, 2009. Israel's gay community was rocked on Sunday by the killing of two people, one of them Katz, in a homosexual and lesbian youth centre and the possibility they fell victim to a hate crime in the Jewish state's most freewheeling city. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (ISRAEL POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTR26CSB

Murder Suspect in Gay Club Killing Tracked to Tel Aviv Slum

Five minutes from Tel Aviv, the poor and neglected Pardes Katz neighborhood, home of the alleged killer in the Bar No’ar murder case, has become a cradle of Israeli delinquency.

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

The Downfall of Minister Lapid

Finance Minister Yair Lapid turns strategically, and obsessively, to his main campaign slogan against the ultra-Orthodox, to blur the fact that he has not owned up to his own promises.

A man pushes a shopping cart outside a Super-Sol supermarket in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Mishor Adumim near Jerusalem May 5, 2013. Ten large business groups, including Israeli tycoon Nochi Dankner's IDB conglomerate, control about 30 percent of the market value of public companies in Israel. Super-Sol, Israel's largest supermarket chain, is part of Dankner's conglomerates' pyramid. Picture taken May 5, 2013. To match ISRAEL-ECONOMY/TYCOONS REUTERS/Ammar Awad (WEST BANK - Tags: BUSINESS POLITICS

Palestinians Still Buying Israeli Settlement Goods

While international efforts increase against Israeli settlement goods, many Palestinians in the West Bank are failing to heed the boycott call.

Netanyahu Blesses and Curses Europe's Role in the Middle East

Decisions by the European Union have the Netanyahu government criticizing it for intervening with sanctions in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, while praising it for blacklisting Hezbollah.

An Israeli soldier sleeps as ultra-Orthodox Jewish youths pray on Tisha B'Av at the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City July 16, 2013. Tisha B'Av, a day of fasting and lament, is traditionally the date in the Jewish calendar on which the First and Second Temples were destroyed, respectively in the sixth century B.C. by the Babylonians and the first century A.D. by the Romans. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (JERUSALEM - Tags: RELIGION TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX11O0M

Lapid Criticizes Idle Ultra-Orthodox For Hurting Israeli Economy

The absence of the ultra-Orthodox from Israel's job market is a real threat to the state, but the aggressive attempts by Finance Minister Yair Lapid to solve the wrong problem will have the opposite effect.

Cars drive behind a truck transporting a Zim container just outside Israel's port of Ashdod February 23, 2012. Zim, Israel's biggest shipping company, had to reach a debt settlement with its bond holders after they were hit by a downturn in the global shipping industry. Greek debt may be making headlines globally, but in Israel a trend of corporate debt settlements are making the front page. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL - Tags: BUSINESS) - RTR2YB9Y

Israeli Intellectuals Support European Sanctions

Many Israeli intellectuals are in favor of the European decision by which future agreements with Israel won't apply to settlements in the territories.

Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman stands in the Hall of Remembrance during a visit to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington June 17, 2009. An elderly gunman linked to an anti-Jewish website killed a security guard at the museum on June 10. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES CRIME LAW POLITICS) - RTR24RDV

Israeli Russian Public Still on Liberman’s Side

Despite the trial against former Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, or maybe because of it, the Israeli Russian public stands by him.

Palestinians wave Palestinian flags as Israeli youths celebrating Jerusalem Day gather in front of the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City May 8, 2013. Jerusalem Day marks the anniversary of Israel's capture of the Eastern part of the city during the 1967 Middle East War. In 1980, Israel's parliament passed a law declaring united Jerusalem as the national capital, a move never recognised internationally. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS ANNIVERSARY) - RTXZEXA

US Appeals Court Rejects 'Jerusalem, Israel' on Passport

A US appeals court rejected an attempt by an American couple to have their son's birthplace listed as "Jerusalem, Israel" on his US passport.

An Israeli soldier gives medical treatment to a young Sudanese migrant suffering from dehydration outside the Sagi Mount military base near the Israeli-Egypt border September 21, 2012. Three armed militants slipped into Israel from Egypt's Sinai peninsula on Friday, killing an Israeli soldier and wounding another before being shot dead, the army said. The commander of Israeli troops in the region said the gunmen ambushed soldiers who had just intercepted some African migrants trying to cross into Israel a

Israelis on Sinai Border Face Islamist Threat

A once quiet border is now threatened by instability and violence from the rise of Salafist groups from Egypt.