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

Israel cover image

Israel

July 17, 2026

Tel Aviv 5:18 am

23°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

A convoy of Israeli Prison Authority vehicles leaves Ela prison in the southern city of Beersheba, as they transport Egyptian prisoners due to be released through the border crossing next to the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Taba, October 27, 2011. Egyptians gathered at the border with Israel on Thursday awaiting the handover of prisoners to be exchanged for an American-Israeli man held by Egypt and accused of spying. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS CRIME LAW) - RTR2T9EU

Egyptian Prisoners Languish In Israeli Jails

Egyptian prisoners in Israeli jails are launching a hunger strike, in the hope that Cairo starts taking interest in their plight, writes Shlomi Eldar.

Israeli border police officers guard the front of Damascus Gate outside Jerusalem's Old City during a parade marking Jerusalem Day May 8, 2013. Jerusalem Day marks the anniversary of Israel's capture of the Eastern part of the city during the 1967 Middle East War. In 1980, Israel's parliament passed a law declaring united Jerusalem as the national capital, a move never recognised internationally. There were confrontations on Wednesday between Muslims and Jews outside Jerusalem's walled Old City, where al-Aq

Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound UnrestThreatens Israel-Jordan Diplomacy

Jordan has decided to withdraw its ambassador from Tel Aviv, and its parliament has voted unanimously to expel the Israeli ambassador in reaction to the latest Israeli incursion into Al-Aqsa mosque, reports Daoud Kuttab.

Palestinian supporters of leftist parties take part in a protest against Israeli air strikes close to Damascus, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip May 7, 2013. Israel played down weekend air strikes close to Damascus reported to have killed dozens of Syrian soldiers, saying they were not aimed at influencing its neighbour's civil war but only at stopping Iranian missiles reaching Lebanese Hezbollah militants. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTXZDWI

Palestinian Groups in Gaza Condemn Israeli Strikes on Syria

Palestinian factions in Gaza urge Arab states to prevent Israel from taking advantage of the Syrian crisis, reports Mohammed Suliman.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L) shakes hands with Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani as they meet with members of the Arab League at Blair House in Washington April 29, 2013. REUTERS/Jason Reed (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXZ41T

How the Arab League Can Help Israel, Palestine Negotiate

Nassif Hitti writes on the John Kerry–Arab League meeting and how to resume negotiations for a peaceful Israeli-Palestinian resolution.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan addresses members of parliament from his ruling AK Party (AKP) during a meeting at the Turkish parliament in Ankara May 7, 2013. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXZDDJ

Erdogan Says Israeli Strikes On Syria Are 'Unacceptable'

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has broken his silence on the Israeli airstrikes in Syria, declaring them “unacceptable,” writes Tulin Daloglu.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (R) speaks to Moshe Shahal, a member of the Israel Peace Initiative and a former Israeli cabinet minister, during a news conference after Abbas met members of the Israeli Peace Initiative in the West Bank city of Ramallah April 28, 2011. The Israel Peace Initiative, a private group that includes former politicians and security officials, wants Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to renew peace talks, which the Palestinians have frozen over his refusal t

Former Labor Party Minister: 'Israeli Peace Camp Has No Leader'

Former Labor Party Minister Moshe Shahal, a strong supporter of the Arab Peace Initiative, tells Mazal Mualem that his former party has forsaken its leadership on peace with the Palestinians.

An Israeli delegation arrives at the Turkish Foreign Ministry to hold talks on compensation for families of victims killed in a 2010 naval raid on Turkish-led humanitarian-aid convoy to Gaza, in Ankara April 22, 2013. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXYVKG

Turkey-Israel: Toward A 'Cold' Normalization

The second round of compensation talks between Israel and Turkey should not raise hopes in Jerusalem of re-establishing the former ties between the two countries, writes Arad Nir.

GOLAN HEIGHTS - MAY 06: (ISRAEL OUT) A Israeli soldiers of the Golani brigade take part in an exercise near the border with Syria on May 6, 2013 at the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights. Syria has accused Israel of launching a series of airstrikes on targets near the Lebanon/Syria border, including an arms shipment and the Jamraya research centre, that was thought to produce chemical weapons. (Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)

Iran, Israel Need to Talk About Syria

Meir Javedanfar writes that Iran, Hezbollah and Israel share a common and deadly enemy in Jabhat al-Nusra and radical Salafist groups, whose influence is growing.

U.N. peacekeepers serving with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)patrol on their vehicles at the area near the border between Lebanon and Israel in Naqoura, southern Lebanon, May 5, 2013. REUTERS/Ali Hashisho (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTXZAZW

Israeli Flees to Lebanon to Escape ‘Social Suffering’

The Israeli man who jumped the border fence into Lebanon last week did so to escape “his suffering in Israeli society,” writes Nasser Chararah.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (4th R) and Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani (4th L) speak to the media following a meeting with members of the Arab League at Blair House in Washington April 29, 2013. With them are (L-R) Saudi Ambassador to the United States Adel A-Jubeir, Jordan's Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, Bahrain's Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed al Khalifa, Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Araby, Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki and Egypt

Hamas Slams Qatar, Arab League On Peace Plan

Hamas, the PFLP and Islamic Jihad have angrily rejected Qatar's land-swap offer to Israel, Mohammed Suliman reports.

Israeli soldiers walk near tanks 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) - RTXZC64

Israel's Airstrikes on Syria May Prove Costly

The attack in Syria may be considered a short term military success, but in the long run it might prove costly, based upon the lessons from previous Israeli military interventions, writes Shlomi Eldar.

An Israeli border police officer aims pepper spray towards a Palestinian man during clashes between Jewish settlers and Palestinians in the West bank village of Urif, near Nablus April 30, 2013. The clashes erupted after an attack near Nablus. A Palestinian man stabbed and shot dead an Israeli settler in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, the Israeli ambulance service and police said. REUTERS/Abed Omar Qusini (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTXZ4HJ

Imbalance of Power Aids Israeli Occupation

Daoud Kuttab writes that Israel's continued occupation is a result of an imbalance of power, rather than a lack of Palestinian strategy.