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September 22, 2026

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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

Lebanon's Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri meets with Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov in Beirut April 26, 2013. REUTERS/Hassan Ibrahim/Lebanese Parliament/Handout (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS) ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS PICTURE IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS - RTXZ0YT

Russia Confronts Mideast SalafistsBy Courting Christians, Minorities

Russia is courting Middle Eastern minorities, especially Christians, in a bid to confront Salafist extremism, writes an Al-Monitor correspondent in Beirut.

Children watch Israeli Air Force planes fly over the Mediterranean Sea from a Tel Aviv beach, during an aerial show as part of celebrations for Israel's Independence Day, marking the 65th anniversary of the creation of the state, April 16, 2013. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL - Tags: ANNIVERSARY ENVIRONMENT TRANSPORT MILITARY) - RTXYNTO

'Israel Has Nothing to Fear'

Daniel Abraham, founder of the Center for Middle East Peace, warns Ben Caspit that without an agreement with the Palestinians, Israel will find itself with a non-Jewish majority.

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad waves to supporters during a ceremony to swear Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro (not pictured) into office, in Caracas April 19, 2013. Maduro was sworn in as Venezuela's president on Friday at a ceremony attended by several countries' leaders, after a decision to widen an electronic audit of the vote took some of the heat out of a dispute over his election. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins (VENEZUELA - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTXYSR0

Post-Ahmadinejad Iran: A New Challenge to the West

Shlomi Eldar argues that with the upcoming elections in Iran, the international community should try another, more conciliatory approach.

U.S. President Barack Obama embraces former president George W. Bush following remarks at the dedication ceremony of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, April 25, 2013. Obama is in Texas to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Bush in what could serve as a powerful reminder of the ongoing struggle against terrorism, from the Sept. 11 attacks to the Boston Marathon bombings. REUTERS/Jason Reed (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXYZY9

Why Is Obama Giving Up On Bush's Road Map?

Akiva Eldar writes that the Road Map, Annapolis Declaration, and Arab Peace Initiative should be a start for the latest round of US Middle East diplomacy.

Israel's President Shimon Peres (2nd L) meets Aryeh Deri (L), Eli Yishai and Ariel Attias (R), leaders of the religious Shas party, at his residence in Jerusalem January 31, 2013. Peres began talks with political parties on Wednesday over who should form a new government and appears certain to ask incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to assemble it. REUTERS/Sebastian Scheiner/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR3D6U4

Israel's Shas in Leadership Crisis

On the eve of its 30th anniversary, the Ultra-Orthodox party Shas finds itself in the opposition and in the throes of a severe leadership crisis, writes Nadav Perry.

U.S. President Barack Obama (R) listens to remarks by Jordan's King Abdullah prior to a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office of the White House to discuss issues like the Syrian crisis and regional security, in Washington, April 26, 2013. REUTERS/Mike Theiler (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXZ19P

Syria’s Chemical Weapons, Israel and Hezbollah

The US statement about Syrian chemical weapons; Israel weighs in; the debate within Hezbollah about Syria.

Surrounded by security Deputy Speaker of the Israeli parliament, Danny Danon is taken on a tour of the Temple Mount or Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound the holy site for Judaism and the Islam in Israeli annexed east Jerusalem's old City July 20, 2010, during the 9th of Av day of mourning for the destruction of the First and Second holy temples. AFP PHOTO/AHMAD GHARABLI (Photo credit should read AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP/Getty Images)

Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Wants to Accelerate Settlements

In an interview with Mazal Mualem, Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon promises to help the settlements in the West Bank and to institute compulsory national service for Israeli-Arabs.

Smoke rises after what activists said was a missile fired by a Syrian Air Force fighter jet loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in Deraa, April 26, 2013. REUTERS/Mazen Abu Mahmoud/Shaam News Network/Handout (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS IMAGE. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS PICTURE IS DISTRIBUTE

The Red Line in Syria Has Long Been Crossed

Shlomi Eldar wonders why the world waits for the use of chemical weapons to launch a military operation ending the bloodshed in Syria.

An Israeli soldier sits behind concrete blocks in the village of Ghajar on the Israeli-Lebanese border November 17, 2010. Israel said on Wednesday it would withdraw troops from the village straddling the Lebanese border, in a gesture to the United Nations that drew residents onto the streets protesting the division of their community. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (POLITICS) - RTXUQYD

Israel Fencing Off Lebanese Village Would Violate UN Resolution

Israel is attempting to build a fence around the northern part of Ghajar, a Lebanese village that lies on its northern border with Lebanon, in violation of UN Resolution 1701, writes Nasser Chararah.

Hamas mediator Ahmed Al-Jaabari (L) escorts Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing in this October 18, 2011 file photo. Israel killed Jaabari, the military commander of the Islamist group Hamas, in a missile strike on the Gaza Strip on November 14, 2012 and launched air raids across the enclave, pushing the two sides to the brink of a new war. REUTERS/Middle East News Agency (MENA)/Khalid Farid/File (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY

Is Hamas PlanningTo Kidnap More Israelis?

Hamas seems to be seriously planning to kidnap another Israeli soldier or settler after the success of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange, writes Adnan Abu Amer.

A child waves a Hezbollah flag as she holds pictures of martyrs as Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah addresses his supporters during a rally to commemorate Martyrs' Day in Beirut, February 16, 2013. REUTERS/Sharif Karim (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3DVC2

Is Hezbollah Losing Its Grip?

The drone sent by Hezbollah to Israel must be interpreted as an outcry for survival by its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, writes Shlomi Eldar.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel (R) and his Israeli counterpart Moshe Yaalon (L) look out of the window during a helicopter tour of the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights April 22, 2013. Israel suggested on Monday it would be patient before taking any military action against Iran's nuclear programme, saying during a visit by Hagel there was still time for other options. REUTERS/Jim Watson/Pool (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY TRAVEL) - RTXYVU8

Did Israel Ambush the US on Syria?

Whether or not Israel planned to ambush the US on Syria's chemical weapon use, the result has been successful in moving the US closer to Israel's position, writes Alon Ben David.