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Israel

September 23, 2026

Tel Aviv 6:10 am

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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

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Jordan's King Abdullah II and Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak (L-R) listen to U.S. President Barack Obama make a statement on Middle East peace in the East Room of the White House in Washington September 1, 2010. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2HTFY

'Jordanian Option' Not an Option, Says Shimon Shamir

Shimon Shamir, former Israeli ambassador to Jordan, tells Akiva Eldar why raising the possibility of Jordan annexing the West Bank is a slap in the face to Amman and runs counter to Israel's interests.

U.S. President Barack Obama (R) speaks to Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor at a plenary session during the Nuclear Security Summit at the Convention and Exhibition Center (COEX) in Seoul March 27, 2012. The man at centre at an unidentified member of the U.S. delegation. REUTERS/Larry Downing (SOUTH KOREA - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR2ZXN6

Dan Meridor: Struggle With Iran Will 'Shape the Middle East'

Departing Likud Minister Dan Meridor tells Mazal Mualem about the squandered diplomatic opportunities with the Palestinians, and how the struggle with Iran will shape the Middle East.

Palestinians, together with Israeli and foreign activists, stand near newly-erected tents in an area known as E1, near Jerusalem January 12, 2013. Palestinians from villages in the occupied West Bank near Jerusalem pitched tents on Friday on the land Israel has earmarked for a new urban settlement, looking to preserve the area for an independent Palestinian state. REUTER/Baz Ratner (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST BUSINESS CONSTRUCTION) - RTR3CD0D

Israeli Military Cracks Down On Palestinian Tent Villages

Palestinian activists continue to set up tent villages to protest Israel's land grab, and are often met with force by the Israeli army, Linah Alsaafin reports.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (R) and chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat (C) speak with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Amman November 6, 2012. REUTERS/Majed Jaber (JORDAN - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3A22U

Erekat: No Settlement Freeze Means No Negotiations

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat explains that a freeze on Israeli settlement activity is a condition for resuming negotiations with Israel in an interview with Shlomi Eldar.

A Palestinian protester throws a stone towards Israeli security forces during clashes at a protest in solidarity with prisoners on hunger strike, outside Ofer prison near the West Bank city of Ramallah October 22, 2012. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR39FGM

'Prisoner X' Draws Attention To Palestinians in Israeli Jails

The case of Israel’s Prisoner X is drawing attention to other cases of Palestinians in Israeli jails, Daoud Kuttab writes.

Israel's Defence Minister and Labour party leader Ehud Barak stands with Minister for Welfare and Social Services Isaac Herzog (R) during a visit to party headquarters in Tel Aviv February 10, 2009. Israelis voted on Tuesday in a tight election race, with right-wing opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu bidding to oust the centrist party of Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. REUTERS/Gil Cohen Magen (ISRAEL) - RTXBGFP

PA Collapse Will Be 'Catastrophe,' Says Knesset Labor Leader

“If the Palestinian Authority collapses, we will all regret it,” says Knesset Member Isaac Herzog, the Labor Party’s number two, in an interview with Mazal Mualem.

Members of the 19th Knesset, the new Israeli parliament, stand as President Shimon Peres arrives to their swearing-in ceremony in Jerusalem February 5, 2013. REUTERS/Uriel Sinai/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3DDXN

Knesset Member Elkin: 'I Don't Believe in Real Peace'

Likud Knesset member Zeev Elkin is the reflection of the Israeli right's new elite: Russian, Orthodox and a settler, explains Lily Galili.

Jordan's King Abdullah (R) and Jordanian Chief of Staff General Mashal Mohammad Zaben attend "Eager Lion" military exercises at the Jordan-Saudi Arabia border, 260 km (162 miles) south of Amman, May 24, 2012. The U.S. Army special operations forces are leading 12,000 troops from 18 countries during "Eager Lion" exercises.REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed(JORDAN - Tags: MILITARY ROYALS) - RTR32L1G

Israel Concerned For Jordan's Stability

Israel fears that a jihadist victory in Syria could mean the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is next, writes Alon Ben David.

An Israeli soldier looks on as a United Nations jeep drives past the Quneitra border crossing between Israel and Syria, in the Golan Heights, on the Israeli side of the 1973 ceasefire line with Syria January 31, 2013. Israeli forces attacked a convoy on the Syrian-Lebanese border overnight, a Western diplomat and regional security sources said on Wednesday, as concern has grown in the Jewish state over the fate of Syrian chemical and advanced conventional weapons. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (POLITICS CIVIL UNREST)

The Strategic Bargain Of Israel-Hezbollah Deterrence

Israel’s strike against the Syrian convoy on Jan. 30 was not to escalate the conflict with Damascus, but to contain it, while maintaining deterrence between Israeli forces and Hezbollah, writes Jean-Loup Samaan.

Former Israeli Foreign Minister and head of the Yisrael Beitenu party Avigdor Lieberman attends a Likud-Yisrael Beitenu campaign rally in the southern city of Ashdod January 16, 2013. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party, allied with the nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party, continues to lead opinion polls ahead of Israel's Jan. 22 parliamentary election. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR3CJ8V

Avigdor Liberman's Moment of Truth

On the eve of his trial, former Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman will probably leave politics and return to the business world if convicted; if acquitted, he will resume his quest to become the Israeli right's leader, writes Ben Caspit.

A Palestinian labourer works at a construction site in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip January 2, 2013. Israel eased its blockade of Gaza on Sunday, allowing a shipment of gravel for private construction into the Palestinian territory for the first time since Hamas seized control in 2007. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS CONSTRUCTION) - RTR3C1PS

Israel Eases Economic Siege of Gaza

Shlomi Eldar writes that the economic stranglehold failed to take down the Hamas government, and it may yet be the economy that restores broken bridges between the two peoples.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem February 10, 2013. Iran's nuclear ambitions, the civil war in Syria and stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts will top the agenda of U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Israel, Netanyahu said on Sunday. REUTERS/Uriel Sinai/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3DKNE

Netanyahu Weighs Deal Or No Deal With Palestinians

Will Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu initiate negotiations with the Palestinians on an interim agreement, as Mazal Mualem predicts, or, as suggested by Akiva Eldar, stick to the claim that there is no partner on the other side?