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

Israel cover image

Israel

July 17, 2026

Tel Aviv 12:28 am

26°C

US Vice President JD Vance speaks at the Wisconsin Air National Guard facility at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport on July 8, 2026, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Vance says Israeli intelligence had ties to Epstein: What to know

Vice President JD Vance has grown more critical of Israel, possibly in an effort to capitalize on changing views among voters with an eye on the 2028 presidential election.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a cornerstone laying ceremony for the Atarot Heritage Center at an abandon airport in East Jerusalem near the separation wall with the Israeli occupied West Bank city of Ramallah on July 5, 2026.

Israeli PM Netanyahu 'will not travel' to US next week, his office says

On Wednesday, an Israeli official had told Al-Monitor that Netanyahu was planning to travel on Saturday and meet with President Donald Trump next week and attend the memorial service for Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).

BEIRUT, LEBANON - OCTOBER 13: Lebanese people wave flags and hold portraits of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (not pictured) as he arrives in southern suberb of Beirut on October 13, 2010 in Lebanon. The controversial visit is seen as a boost for key ally Hezbollah. According to reports Mr Ahmadinejad may visit the border with Israel - the site of recent deadly clashes between Israeli and Lebanese forces. (Photo by Salah Malkawi/Getty Images)

Ahmadinejad denies alleged Mossad plot to install him as Iran leader: What to know

The former president, who was a virulent critic of Israel while in office, was reportedly part of a Mossad plan to replace the current Iranian leadership.

Latest News

Analysis

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

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

Explainer

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

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

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 soldiers from the Nahal infantry brigade take part in a drill in the Golan Heights, near Israel's border with Syria March 5, 2013. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed the territory in 1981, a move not recognised internationally. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (MILITARY) - RTR3ELLJ

Syrian Minister Defends 'Legitimate Right' to Fire on Israel

An exchange of fire between Israel and Syria on the Golan Heights raises the question of whether Damascus has adopted a new policy toward Israel and the possibility of an active Golan front.

A newborn baby girl lies next to her mother in the maternity ward of Al-Hilal hospital in the West bank city of Ramallah October 30, 2011. The world's population will reach seven billion on Oct. 31, according to projections by the United Nations, which says this global milestone presents both an opportunity and a challenge for the planet. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman (WEST BANK - Tags: HEALTH) - RTR2TFEF

Gaza Prisoner's Wife Impregnated Via Sperm Smuggled From Jail

With many married Palestinian prisoners unable to have children because they are separated from their wives, some are resorting to in-vitro fertilization after smuggling their sperm samples from prison.

A protester waving a Palestinian flag shouts at an Orthodox Jewish man in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem May 17, 2013, during a weekly demonstration against Jewish settlements and the possible eviction of a Palestinian family from their home. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTXZQQB

Jerusalem Eviction Postponed, Offering a Glimmer of Hope

The Shamasneh family, residents of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in east Jerusalem, are facing eviction under Israeli laws that allow Jewish residents to take back property owned prior to 1948.

Palestinian boys carrying Hamas and Palestinian flags in the Gaza Strip October 6, 2000 as they walk past graffiti showing the death last Saturday of 12-year old Mohammad al-Durra, who was shot dead during Israeli-Palestinian clashes. Israeli soldiers clashed with Palestinian stone-throwers on Friday in the West Bank and Gaza Strip where Islamic militants had declared a "Day of Rage". Five Palestinians were shot dead on Friday, brionging the feath toll in nine days of violence to at least 74. - RTXK21I

Durrah's Father: My Son Is Dead

At the site of Muhammad al-Durrah's grave, his father Jamal recounts his son's final moments, rebuking Israeli claims that he was not killed by Israeli gunfire.

A labourer works on a construction site in a Jewish settlement near Jerusalem known to Israelis as Har Homa and to Palestinians as Jabal Abu Ghneim May 7, 2013. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has quietly curbed new building projects in Jewish settlements, an Israeli watchdog group and media reports said on Tuesday, in an apparent bid to help U.S. efforts to revive peace talks with the Palestinians. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (POLITICS BUSINESS CONSTRUCTION) - RTXZDI4

New Palestinian Movement Calls for One-State Solution

Frustrated at the lack of progress, Palestinians of various backgrounds have joined to create a movement that explicitly calls for a single democratic state in historic Palestine.

Lapid Alienates Israel's Center

Israeli Finance Minister Yair Lapid reveals himself not just as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's economic twin, but also as his political clone.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman attend a session of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem December 28, 2011. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2VOT2

Netanyahu Sees Liberman As Key to Likud's Future

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to strengthen his alliance and unification with Avigdor Liberman’s party.

An Israeli soldier prays atop a tank close to the ceasefire line between Israel and Syria on the Israeli occupied Golan Heights May 6, 2013. Israel sought to persuade Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday that its recent air strikes around Damascus did not aim to weaken him in the face of a more than two-year-old rebellion. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTXZC70

Israel’s Triple Challenge On the Syrian Front

Israel faces tactical, operative and strategic challenges on its Syrian front, trying to combine efficient deterrence without sinking into the Syria quagmire.

Yair Lapid, leader of the Yesh Atid (There's a Future) party, speaks to members of the media outside his home in Tel Aviv January 23, 2013. Lapid, a former television news anchor whose new centrist party stormed to second place in Israel's election, may well be the kingmaker holding the keys to the next coalition government. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR3CUU2

Knesset (Res.) Colonel: 'We Can Withstand' the Syrian Threat

Israel is threatened more by diplomatic deadlock than by Syrian jihadists, says Knesset member Col. (res.) Omer Bar-Lev of the Labor Party.

Israel Was Right to Publish Al-Durrah Report

A response to Shlomi Eldar’s article about the irrelevance of the Israeli Commission of Inquiry investigating the circumstances of Muhammad al-Durrah’s death.

A handout photograph distributed by Syria's national news agency SANA, on May 20,2013, shows a vehicle which it says is an Israeli military vehicle being used by rebel fighters in Qusair near Homs city. Syrian television also showed footage of what it said was an Israeli military Jeep which it said the rebels had been using and which showed the extent of their foreign backing. An Israeli military spokeswoman said the vehicle was decommissioned a decade ago and dismissed the footage as "poor propaganda". SAN

As Assad’s Forces Take Control Of Qusair, What Comes Next?

Now that the Syrian regime’s forces control half of the city of Qusair near Lebanon’s northern border, the balance seems to once again be shifting in the Syrian conflict.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) answers a question as he and U.S. President Barack Obama hold a joint news conference in the White House Rose Garden in Washington, May 16, 2013. REUTERS/Jason Reed (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXZPBV

Erdogan Paints Himself Into Corner over Gaza

After his meeting with US President Barack Obama, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan cannot seem to win on Gaza.