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

Israel cover image

Israel

September 22, 2026

Tel Aviv 7:35 pm

27°C

ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Why Netanyahu is distancing himself from Trump ahead of Israeli election

No meeting has been announced between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly summit in New York.

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

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

Latest News

Serbia opens factory to assemble Israeli-made drones: What to know

OLIVER BUNIC/AFP via Getty Images

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.

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

An Israeli settler (front) and Palestinians demonstrators, one wearing a mask depicting U.S. President Barack Obama, scuffle during a protest against the continued closure by the Israeli army of Shuhada street to Palestinians in the West Bank city of Hebron March 20, 2013. Obama arrived in Israel on Wednesday without any new peace initiative to offer disillusioned Palestinians and facing deep Israeli doubts over his pledge to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran. REUTERS/ Mussa Qawasma (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS C

Settlers in Hebron Celebrate 'Freedom' While Palestinians Suffer

As the Jewish people of the world celebrate Passover and their freedom, repression still stings in the streets of Hebron, where the conflict and discrimination epitomize the story of all Israeli settlement activity, writes Akiva Eldar.

A Palestinian fisherman prepares his net with his sons at the seaport of Gaza City March 22, 2013. Hamas complained to Egypt on Friday after Israel suspended part of a Cairo-brokered truce agreement by halving Palestinian access to fishing waters in response to a rocket attack from the Gaza Strip. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3FBX0

Gaza Fishermen Outraged By Renewed Israeli Restrictions

Israel has again reduced Gaza's fishing zone to three nautical miles offshore, in violation of last November's cease-fire agreement with Hamas, Mohammed Suliman writes.

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses the media before his flight to Denmark for an official visit at Esenboga Airport in Ankara March 19, 2013. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3F72Q

Erdogan's Good Fortune And Israel's Apology

Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been Turkey's prime minister for over 10 years, and during that time he has had an incredible number of political victories; so many in fact that Cengiz Çandar writes that nobody is as lucky as Erdogan.

U.S. President Barack Obama (R) chats with Jordan's King Abdullah (C) and his son Crown Prince Hussein during a meeting at Al-Hummar Palace in Amman in this March 22, 2013 handout photo by the Jordanian Royal Palace. REUTERS/Yousef Allan/Jordanian Royal Palace/Handout (JORDAN - Tags: POLITICS ROYALS)

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 SERV

Will Jordan Allow Syria's Palestinian Refugees to Resettle?

As the 2-year-old civil war in Syria drags on and refugees continue to stream from Syria into Jordan, Adnan Abu Amer asks whether Jordan will consider resettling Syria’s Palestinian refugees.

An Israeli tank is transported on a truck to the Israeli Syrian border in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights March 24, 2013. Israel said it fired into Syria on Sunday and destroyed a machinegun position in the Golan Heights from where shots had been fired at Israeli soldiers in a further spillover of the Syrian civil war along a tense front. Israel captured the Golan Heights in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in 1981 in a move not recognized internationally. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (MILITARY POLITICS) -

Israeli Soldiers Enter Syrian Golan Heights

After Israel was forced to rescue UN forces in the Golan Heights, the UN warned of instability in the Syrian Golan and the danger posed by Syrian rebels affiliated with al-Qaeda, reports Inna Lazareva.

Palestinians wait for the return of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement activists at the Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip December 3, 2012. The Islamist Hamas group allowed the 10 activists, who fled Gaza into Egypt in 2007 during internal fighting between the two political rivals, to return home in what the group said was a sign of rapprochement, according to a Hamas official. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR3B66N

Palestinian Activists Prepare For Refugee Return

Palestinian activists are taking practical measures to prepare for the return of refugees, Jillian Kestler-D’amours writes.

Pedestrians look at billboards with the pictures of Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (R) and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu (L), in Ankara March 25, 2013. Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday an Israeli apology for the 2010 deaths of nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists that was brokered by U.S. President Barack Obama met Turkey's conditions and signalled its growing regional clout. The billboard reads, "Israel apologized to Turkey. Dear Prime Minister (Erdogan), We ar

Israel Apologizes; Turkey Steps Back

Kadri Gursel writes that Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan's acceptance of the Israeli apology, although a positive development, is more important than the actual apology.

U.S. President Barack Obama (2nd L) participates in a farewell ceremony with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (2nd R) and President Shimon Peres (L) at Tel Aviv International Airport, March 22, 2013. REUTERS/Jason Reed (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3FBUJ

In Israeli Foreign Policy, Everything Is Connected

The apology and the reconciliation with Turkey, writes Akiva Eldar, teaches us that Israel cannot address only one threat and sweep the others under the rug.

Protesters hold Palestinian flags opposite Israeli security officers standing guard before Friday prayers on Land Day outside Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City March 30, 2012. Israeli security forces fired rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades to break up groups of Palestinian stone-throwers on Friday as annual Land Day rallies turned violent. Police said they had made five arrests at Damascus Gate. Land Day commemorates the killing by security forces of six Arabs in 1976 during protests against go

Why Palestinians Continue To Commemorate Land Day

March 30 is a reminder that Palestinian citizens of Israel are still enduring oppression and are irrevocably tied to their land, writes Dalia Hatuqa.

Deputy Defense Minister Ephriam Sneh in front of a large map of the West Bank during a press conference March 19 at which he announced the Israeli cabinet decision to go ahead with a further redeployment from 6.1% of West Bank land to be handed over to full Palestinian Authority. control. The dark brown areas show areas to be included in the redeployment in the northern part of the West Bank. The Palestinians will control 60% of their population but only a bit less than 20% of the West Bank land after the 6

Former Israeli Minister Calls Palestinian State Unavoidable

Ephraim Sneh, former Labor minister and today’s worried citizen, tells Mazal Mualem that whether Israel likes it or not, a Palestinian state will come.

A Palestinian harvests wheat in the West Bank village of Luban al-Sharkiya near Nablus June 27, 2012. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman (WEST BANK - Tags: SOCIETY AGRICULTURE) - RTR347LX

Palestinian Land Owner Suffers Repeated Settler Attacks

In an effort to push Abu Jamal's family from their land in the West Bank, the family has faced continual attacks from Israeli settlers for more than a decade, Linah Alsaafin writes.

Sheikha Mozah of Qatar Much More Than Fashion Icon

Sheikha Mozah, the second wife of the emir of Qatar, is the principal benefactor behind a new foundation which aims to improve the lives of Arab Israeli students, writes Shlomi Eldar.