Civil Society

Omer Messinger/Getty Images

Europe’s top court moves to fast-track Turkish philanthropist Osman Kavala's case: What to know

The new move is expected to speed up review of Osman Kavala’s continued imprisonment and Turkey’s repeated failures to release him.

Head of Israel's Raam, Mansour Abbas, speaks at his campaign headquarters in the northern Israeli city of Tamra before national election polls close, on Nov. 1, 2022

Analysis

Stunt or recalibration? Israel's Raam to break with Muslim Brotherhood

Raam leader Mansour Abbas took a huge political risk this week, announcing the party will sever its ties with the Islamic Movement.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

People take part in a demonstration at Hostage Square in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv on Oct. 25, 2025, calling for the release of all the bodies of hostages held in Gaza by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Israel's Hostage Square takes new shape as one last body left in Gaza

Tel Aviv's Hostage Square, the epicenter of demonstrations for the release of the hostages, is evolving with the long-suffering movement that created it.

Shikma Bressler, an Israeli physicist and one of the leaders of the protest against the government's judicial overhaul.

Interview

Can protests in Israel halt Netanyahu's second attempt at judicial overhaul?

After two years of focusing on the battle to release the hostages, Israelis are now once again demonstrating against the government’s judicial overhaul plan.

Latest News

Fed up with Netanyahu, more Israelis seek European passports

Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images

Analysis

After Trump’s pardon letter to Herzog, 4 scenarios emerge for Netanyahu’s trial

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu participates in a joint news conference with US President Donald Trump (not pictured) in the State Dining Room at the White House, on Sept. 29, 2025, in Washington.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

EU Commission chief seeks sanctions, partial trade freeze on Israel: What to know

SEBASTIEN BOZON/AFP via Getty Images

Israeli universities, tech firms, cities to join strike over Netanyahu’s Gaza takeover plan

Demonstrators gather during an anti-government protest calling for action to secure the release of Israeli hostages held captive in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli anti-government protesters prepare to release yellow balloons during a demonstration demanding action to release the hostages taken captive by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip in the Oct. 7 attacks, central Tel Aviv, July 6, 2024.

Analysis

Why is Israel's anti-government protest movement struggling to gain steam?

Hundreds of thousands of people come out to support the families of the hostages in their call for a deal to release them, but fewer join rallies calling for the Netanyahu government to resign over the failures of Oct. 7.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

A visitor looks at portraits of late Franco-Lebanese film director Maroun Baghdadi and pictures from his movies at the venue of an exhibition dedicated to his memory in Beirut on December 12, 2023, as Lebanon commemorates the 30th annivesary of his death in an accident at the age of 43. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP) (Photo by ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

Culture

Lebanon's resistance through culture: Return of Beirut’s Metropolis Cinema

As Beirut continues to navigate its path toward recovery, Metropolis Cinema stands as a symbol of the enduring power of art and culture to resist, unite and inspire.

AFP via Getty Images

Israel ramps up attacks on northern Gaza as 60,000 flee Rafah

As the Israeli military expanded its operation in Rafah, the government faced strident criticism over its failures on and since Oct. 7 at Memorial Day observances around the country.

ZAIN JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images

US, EU slap sanctions on Israeli Jewish supremacist, extremist settler groups

The European Union and the United States have published new lists of radical Israeli individuals and groups to be sanctioned.

Amir Levy/Getty Images

Israel’s Shin Bet warns violent Jerusalem protests could lead to 'dangerous' escalation

Rallies for the release of the hostages and calls for the resignation of the government are ramping up in Israel, where some desperate protesters have resorted to violence.

Ultra Orthodox Jewish youths block a road in Bnei Brak as they protest against their conscription into the Israeli armed forces, on April 1, 2024.

Analysis

Row in Israel over ultra-Orthodox draft threatens Netanyahu’s government

Ultra-Orthodox leaders are threatening to topple the government should the IDF start recruiting yeshiva students to serve in the army.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Getty

Analysis

How Israel’s far right is courting European populist, nationalist parties

Nationalist Israeli politicians have been reaching out to conservative and populist parties in Europe since Oct. 7.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images

Chemi Peres: Israeli tech back to business, cyber security among most resilient

Despite the war and the divides within the Israeli society, tech entrepreneur Chemi Peres embraces the optimism of his father, late President Shimon Peres, for the future of the country’s innovation ecosystem.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the site where dozens were killed in crush at a religious festival, Mount Meron, April 30, 2021.

Analysis

Inquiry finds Netanyahu responsible for 2021 festival stampede

The commission said the 45 deaths in Mount Meron could have been avoided.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 24: Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu leaves 10, Downing Street after meeting Britain's Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, on March 24, 2023 in London, England. Benjamin Netanyahu visits London against a backdrop of unrest at home. Protest are being held weekly across Israel against legislation neing pushed through the Knesset by his government to restain the judiciary. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

Analysis

Can't count him out: Netanyahu, allies score big in Israel's municipal elections

Despite the Likud's plunge in the polls, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party preserved most of its power in this week's municipal elections.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

An Israeli soldier stops a driver at a checkpoint at the entrance of the Palestinian village of Orif, south of Nablus in the northern West Bank, on June 22, 2023, following an incursion by Israeli forces into the village. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP) (Photo by JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP via Getty Images)

In West Bank, Israeli army ramps ups WhatsApp surveillance of Palestinians

No sense of privacy remains in Israel's checkpoints in the West Bank, where civilians face increasing intrusions into their digital lives and social media apps.

First Lady Michal Herzog at a consolation visit by the Idan family, Oct. 25 Kibbutz Mishmar Haemek.

Israel’s first lady speaks out about 'unbearable' plight of women hostages in Gaza

Michal Herzog, Israel's first lady, spoke to Al-Monitor about her mission to make the world recognize the sexual violence perpetrated against Israeli women on and since Oct. 7.