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

Israel cover image

Israel

July 15, 2026

Tel Aviv 3:34 am

24°C

Analysis

As Trump prioritizes Hormuz, Israel fears Iran rebuilding nuclear program while preserving ballistic missile threat

Israel is worried that the United States is centering the Strait of Hormuz, deprioritizing the threat of a nuclear Iran.

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

Israelis turn out to cast their ballots on election day for the 20th Knesset on March 17, 2015 in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Explainer

Israel's next election: Who's leading in polls and what's at stake?

After months of negotiations and speculations, the coalition announced that general elections will take place on Oct. 27.

Latest News

Analysis

As US-Iran fighting resumes, Israel weighs 3 options with restraint winning, for now

Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images

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

New Israeli election poll puts Eisenkot ahead of Netanyahu: What to know

Former Israeli army chief of staff Gadi Eizenkot speaks during the launch of the Yashar party's election campaign in Hod Aharon, in central Israel, on June 30, 2026.

Trump declares MoU with Iran 'over' as Hegseth cancels trip to Israel

U.S. President Donald Trump meets with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (not shown) for bilateral talks at Beştepe Presidential Compound during the NATO Summit on July 08, 2026 in Ankara, Turkey. Leaders from NATO's 32 countries, plus NATO allies like Ukraine, gathered in the Turkish capital to discuss a range of issues involving spending targets, defense industrial production, and support for Ukraine, among other topics. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Samuel Wendel

Senior Market Research Analyst

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

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) talks to his lawyer ahead of a hearing in his corruption trial at the Jerusalem district court, on February 8, 2021. - Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied corruption charges against him in a brief court appearance, as his graft trial intensifies weeks before a fourth national election inside two years. (Photo by Reuven Castro / POOL / AFP) (Photo by REUVEN CASTRO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Netanyahu pushes for evidentiary stage to be postponed until after election

The legal defense team of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tries postponing the evidentiary stage of his trial until after the March 23 election.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a statement next to the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (unseen) after their meeting in the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem on February 8, 2021. (Photo by menahem kahana / POOL / AFP) (Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Netanyahu pleads not guilty in corruption trial

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three separate corruption cases.

French President Emmanuel Macron reacts after a German-French Security Council video conference with German Chancellor, at the Elysee Palace in Paris on February 5, 2021. (Photo by Thibault Camus / POOL / AFP) (Photo by THIBAULT CAMUS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

France, not US, offers to involve Israel in talks with Iran

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not react publicly to the statement by French President Emmanuel Macron over the need to involve Israel and Saudi Arabia in talks with Iran.

An Egyptian soldier stands guard during an organised tour for diplomats to mark the 150th anniversary of the inauguration of the Suez Canal, in the northeastern city of Ismailia on November 17, 2019. - One hundred and fifty years after the Suez Canal opened, the international waterway is hugely significant to the economy of modern-day Egypt, which nationalised it in 1956. The canal, dug in the 19th century using "rudimentary tools" and which links the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, was opened to navigation i

Egypt concerned UAE-Israeli pipeline project will affect Suez Canal

Egyptian officials have been expressing concern over the anticipated competition from the Eilat-Ashkelon pipeline project that would transport Emirati oil to Ashkelon in Israel and from there to European markets.

United Arab Emirates

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a speech at the 5th Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism conference at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem, on May 12, 2015. AFP PHOTO / MENAHEM KAHANA (Photo credit should read MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images)

Netanyahu accuses ICC of anti-Semitism

Israel's prime minister lashed out at the International Criminal Court after it ruled that its jurisdiction includes the West Bank and Gaza Strip, pointing out that the court was created in part to protect the Jewish people.

Israeli Arab women take part in a protest after a student was killed in a reported police shootout this week, in the northern Arab-Israeli town of Umm-Al Fahem on February 5, 2021. - Hundreds of Arab Israelis demonstrated protesters defied coronavirus restrictions on gatherings to demonstrate in front of the police station in the Arab-Israeli city of Umm al-Fahm. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images)

Netanyahu recycles promises to combat soaring crime in Arab towns

Ahead of the March elections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is repeating promises he made nine years ago to control crime rates in Arab towns and villages.

A healthcare worker administers a COVID-19 vaccine at Clalit Health Services, in the ultra-Orthodox Israeli city of Bnei Brak, on January 6, 2021. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Alarming low vaccination rates among Israeli ultra-Orthodox, Bedouins

Washed with fake news and conspiracy theories, anti-corona vaccination rates among the Bedouins and ultra-Orthodox are much lower than in the Jewish sector.

Riot police stand in formation as unseen Turkish protesters demonstrate against Israel's attack on Gaza outside the Israeli embassy in Ankara on November 21, 2012. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday accused Israel of "ethnic cleansing" in Gaza, saying the Jewish state's air raids could not be considered self-defence. AFP Photo/ADEM ALTAN (Photo credit should read ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel still cool to gestures from Turkey

In a positive, yet cautious signal, Israel has nominated senior diplomat ambassador Irit Lillian as charge d’Affairs to its embassy in Ankara.

Netanyahu manipulates parties on left, right

By encouraging a coalition of Israel's far right parties and by pushing for splits within the Arab Joint List, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has increased his chances of winning the March 23 elections.

HEBRON, WEST BANK - SEPTEMBER 04: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks on the phone during an event marking the anniversary of the 1929 killing of 67 Jews by Palestinian rioters, on September 04, 2019 in Hebron, West Bank. Netanyahu is visiting Hebron ahead of Israel's elections on September 17th. (Photo by Lior Mizrahi/Getty Images)

Netanyahu still waiting for Biden’s phone call

The fact that US President Joe Biden is taking his time in calling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the fact that he did not refer to Israel or to the Iranian threat in his first foreign policy speech, deeply worries Jerusalem.

US Presidential Adviser Jared Kushner (L) poses with Ambassador David Friedman (R), and his wife Tammy (C), after the unveiling of a plaque at the embassy grounds in Jerusalem on December 21, 2020. (Photo by Maya Alleruzzo / POOL / AFP) (Photo by MAYA ALLERUZZO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Congress votes to make US Embassy move to Jerusalem permanent

The measure, an amendment to the COVID-19 relief bill, passed the Senate easily on Thursday night.

French President Emmanuel Macron gestures alongside the Israeli President as they address a press conference in Jerusalem on January 22, 2020, - Israel will lobby key leaders at this week's 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on what it considers one of the gravest modern threats to the Jewish people: Iran. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin, Emmanuel Macron of France and top US officials before an event at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial centre in J

Macron advocates Saudi, Israeli inclusion in Iran nuclear talks

The United States says it will present a "unified front" with Europe on Iran strategy once consultations with allies conclude.