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

Israel cover image

Israel

September 23, 2026

Tel Aviv 3:19 pm

30°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

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during the launch of his Likud Beiteinu party campaign ahead of the upcoming January 22 national elections, in Jerusalem December 25, 2012. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS)

Israeli Politicians Compete for 'Right-Wing' Etiquette

The upcoming Israeli elections are dominated by a strong ''turning to the right'' phenomenon, which sweeps not only the center-right wing, but even the Left Israeli Labor party, writes Mazal Mualem.

Israel's Defence Minister Ehud Barak (R) meets U.S. Senator John Kerry (D-MA) (L) in Tel Aviv February 19, 2009, in this picture released by the Israeli Defence Ministry. The highest-ranking U.S. delegation to visit the Gaza Strip in years toured bomb-damaged buildings on Thursday and blamed the enclave's Hamas rulers for provoking Israel's wrath with cross-border rocket attacks.Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Kerry and two members of the House of Representatives, Brian Baird and Keith Ellison,

Five Tips for John Kerry In Dealing With Israel

Nadav Eyal offers ideas for Senator John Kerry, nominee for US Secretary of State, on how best to manage US-Israel relations.

A Palestinian flag flutters as a Palestinian boy stands atop the rubble of a house, which witnesses said was destroyed in an Israeli air strike during an eight-day conflict, in the northern Gaza Strip December 20, 2012. Eight days of Israeli air strikes on Gaza and cross-border Palestinian rocket attacks ended in an Egyptian-brokered truce agreement last month calling on Israel to ease restrictions on the territory. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: CONFLICT)

Israelis or Palestinians? Where's the Missing Partner?

Akiva Eldar writes about perceptions that the Government of Israel may prefer delaing with Hamas rather than Fatah.

Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon speaks during an interview with Reuters in Jerusalem August 12, 2009. Israel under right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not resume Turkish-mediated peace talks with Syria, insisting that any new negotiations be direct, Ayalon said on Wednesday. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM POLITICS)

Avigdor Liberman and the Revenge of Danny Ayalon

Former Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman's failure to foresee the bitterness of his ousted Deputy Danny Ayalon, might cost him his political future.

Palestinian women enjoy themselves at a beach in Tel Aviv during Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan August 20, 2012. A spokesperson for The Israeli Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories' (COGAT) said that improved security had allowed for the entry of over 1 million Palestinians from the occupied West Bank since the beginning of Ramadan. REUTERS/Nir Elias (ISRAEL - Tags: RELIGION SOCIETY)

Tens of Thousands of Palestinians Celebrate Christmas in Israel

For the second time in four months, the IDF opened the crossing points, allowing thousands of Palestinians from the West Bank to visit Israel, a rare opportunity to cross the physical and psychological fence separating both people, writes Shlomi Eldar.

Residents pray near the bodies of people whom activists said were killed during fighting with forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar Al-Assad at Marat AL-Numan, during their funeral in Kafranbel, near Idlib December 26, 2012. REUTERS/Raed Al-Fares/Shaam News Network/Handout (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT)

Syria’s Future Is Vengeance

Shlomi Eldar writes that post-Assad Syria will be a vast campaign of retaliation.

Israel's Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu (R) shakes hands with Foreign Minister and Kadima party leader Tzipi Livni in Jerusalem February 22, 2009. Right-wing leader Netanyahu on Friday accepted a mandate to form Israel's next government and immediately called for a broad, national unity coalition with centrist and left-wing partners. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (JERUSALEM)

Tzipi Livni Could Expose Netanyahu

Israeli politician Tzipi Livni should enter coalition negotiations and position herself to call Prime Minister Netanyahu out on his peace declarations, writes Akiva Eldar.

Haneen Zoabi, an Arab member of the Israeli Knesset (the Israeli parliament), talks to reporters in Amman August 31, 2010. Zoabi is in Amman to contribute to a UN fact-finding mission with Jordanian activists about Israel's May 31 capture of a Gaza-bound boat in which nine people died. The hearings, chaired by a 3-person panel commenced on August 30 in Amman with Arab activists from Israel, including Zoabi, who was aboard the Turkish vessel when the raid occurred. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed (JORDAN - Tags: POLI

Why Israelis Love To Hate Haneen Zoabi

Knesset Member Haneen Zoabi takes advantage of Israeli democracy and undermines Israel’s relations with its Arab citizens, writes Shlomi Eldar.

U.S. President Barack Obama meets with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, March 5, 2012. REUTERS/Jason Reed (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS)

Netanyahu Pummels Obama, And the Public Cheers

If in the past Israelis resented a PM pummeling the US president, nowadays they are indifferent to these words and leave it to Prime Minister Netanyahu to sink the ship, writes Ben Caspit.

Farewell, Subject; Welcome, Citizen

The new Egyptian constitution has loopholes and disputed articles, and still has the potential of leading the Egyptian people towards a just and better future, writes Jacky Hugi.

Israeli border policemen chat behind a police barrier during Friday prayers in Jerusalem's Old City December 14, 2012. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (JERUSALEM - Tags: RELIGION MILITARY)

Regional Chaos Makes Israel Seem Like an Island of Stability

Israel, stable and predictable for the first time in many years, worries about the changes and chaos in which its neighbors have been caught up, writes Ben Caspit.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman gestures as he speaks at a conference for young members of his Yisrael Beiteinu party in Tel Aviv December 13, 2012. Lieberman said on Thursday he need not resign after the Justice Ministry decided to indict him for fraud and breach of trust, less severe charges than were originally considered. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS)

Liberman Resigns — Like a Fox

Avigdor Liberman has resigned immediately from his post as foreign minister — a plan which, writes Ben Caspit, may return him to the head of a new Israeli government in March 2013.