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

Israel cover image

Israel

July 17, 2026

Tel Aviv 6:07 pm

31°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

Israelis use binoculars to see the fighting in the Syrian village of al-Jamlah, from the Israeli occupied Golan Heights, close to the ceasefire line between Israel and Syria March 7, 2013. Israel voiced confidence on Thursday that the United Nations could secure the release of U.N. peacekeepers seized by Syrian rebels near the Golan Heights, signalling it would not intervene in the crisis. Israel captured the Golan Heights in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in 1981 in a move not recognized internati

Israel: Re-thinking Syria's Opposition

Shlomi Eldar writes that a film clip showing Syrian rebels shooting into the air along the Golan border offers an ominous signal to the world, and especially to Israel.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at a reception following the swearing-in ceremony of the 19th Knesset, the new Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem February 5, 2013. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3DE06

Will Netanyahu Redefine Status Quo With Ultra-Orthodox?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has a historic opportunity to redefine the status quo between the state of Israel and the ultra-Orthodox sector, writes Nadav Perry.

Children cross the street as residents of south Tel Aviv carry Israeli flags during a protest against African migrants living in their neighbourhoods May 30, 2012. Last week a similar protest held by residents of the low-income neighbourhoods where many of the border-jumpers from Eritrea, Sudan and South Sudan live led to violence, including a rampage that an Israeli broadcaster dubbed a "pogrom". Fleeing poverty, fighting and authoritarian rule, some 60, 000 Africans have crossed illegally into Israel thro

Sudanese Refugees Face Harassment, Deportation in Israel

Sudanese and other African refugees fleeing persecution often do not find a welcome reception in Israel, writes Jillian Kestler-D’Amours from Tel Aviv.

U.S. President Barack Obama talks to the audience before he signs the Violence Against Women Act while at the Department of Interior in Washington, March 7, 2013. REUTERS/Larry Downing (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3EPDP

Obama’s Visit to Israel Is All About Iran

US President Barack Obama will have a broad regional agenda when he visits Israel, including the peace process, but the trip is really all about Iran, writes Alon Pinkas.

Dr. Aliza Lavie (C), a Yesh Atid (There's a future) party candidate, celebrates exit poll results at the party's headquarters in Tel Aviv January 22, 2013. Israel's parliament, long heavy with retired generals, is getting a new look, with a freshman class that includes two youth protest leaders, an Ethiopian immigrant, a high tech millionaire and more women than ever. Thanks to the surprise second place finish of Yesh Atid, as well as the success of a new far-right group, the 120-member Knesset will have a

The Glass Ceiling Remains For Women in Israeli Politics

Israeli women are bold, assertive, and talented, writes Ben Caspit, but they face an insurmountable obstacle on their way to the highest echelons of political power because they lack a glorious military background.

Members of the Iranian delegation, led by Supreme National Security Council Secretary and chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili (3rd L), sit at a table during talks in Almaty February 26, 2013. World powers began talks with Iran on its nuclear programme in the Kazakh city of Almaty on Tuesday, in a fresh attempt to resolve a decade-old standoff that threatens the Middle East with a new war. REUTERS/Ilyas Omarov/Pool (KAZAKHSTAN - Tags: POLITICS ENERGY) - RTR3EAS0

World Powers Blinked First In Iran Nuclear Talks

Alon Ben David writes that the outcome of the nuclear talks in Kazakhstan has put the option of an Israeli attack back on the agenda in Jerusalem.

Labour party leader Shelly Yachimovich addresses supporters at her party's headquarters in Beit Berl, north of Tel Aviv January 23, 2013. Hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emerged the bruised winner of Israel's election on Tuesday, claiming victory despite unexpected losses to resurgent centre-left challengers. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR3CTBL

Feminists Empower Opposition In New Israeli Knesset

Mazal Mualem foresees the new Knesset opposition parties to be both diverse and formidable.

Palestinian women take part in a protest against the death of a Palestinian detainee in an Israeli jail, in Gaza City February 24, 2013. Palestinian officials on Saturday demanded an international investigation into the death of a Palestinian detainee who died in an Israeli jail hours earlier. A spokeswoman for Israel's Prison Authority said that the detainee, 30-year-old Arafat Jaradat, had apparently died of cardiac arrest. An emergency service team had tried to resuscitate him but failed, she said. REUTE

Arab Women in Israel: From Oppression to Empowerment

Amal Abu Sayyaf, a doctoral candidate from Ben Gurion University of the Negev, levels some harsh charges against the tolerance shown by Israeli society toward the phenomenon of oppressed Arab women, writes Shlomi Eldar.

Palestinian protesters throw stones at Israeli soldiers during clashes in the West Bank village of Qusra near Nablus September 23, 2011. Israeli security forces shot dead a Palestinian in the West Bank on Friday during a confrontation in his village with Jewish settlers, Palestinian officials said. Tensions have been growing between Palestinians and settlers who stake a biblical claim to the West Bank, as the Palestinian leadership prepared to seek full U.N. membership for a state partly on the Israeli-occu

Israeli Authorities Mostly Ignore Settler Attacks on Palestinian Village

The inhabitants of the Palestinian village of Qusra are regularly attacked by the Israeli settlers from nearby settlements, with the Israeli authorities doing little to help, reports Naela Khalil.

- FILE PHOTO 21NOV73 - Prime Minister Golda Meir (R) accompanied by her Defense Minister Moshe Dayan, meets with Israeli soldiers at a base on the Golan Heights after intense fighting during the 1973 Yom Kippur War.[ Israel was simultaneously attacked by Syria and Egypt on Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement when all of Israel comes to a standstill, and was only able to defeat both countries when the United States provided an emergency major resupply of equipment. Israel suffered heavy causalities and m

Israel: From Kitchenette to Octet

Akiva Eldar wonders why women in Israel are excluded from all focal points of crucial decision-making.

A pro-Palestinian activist flashes the victory sign after being detained by Jordanian police during a demonstration in front of the Israeli embassy in Amman August 30, 2012. Activists protested against Israeli and Jordanian authorities after being barred from entering the West Bank through King Hussein Bridge (Allenby Bridge), around 35 km (22 miles) southeast of the Jordanian capital Amman, to deliver aid to students. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed (JORDAN - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR37AIV

Israel Restricts Entry of Foreigners Into Palestinian Territories

Israel is increasingly preventing foreign passport holders from entering the Palestinian territories, Linah Alsaafin reports.

Members of the 19th Knesset, the new Israeli parliament, stand as President Shimon Peres arrives to their swearing-in ceremony in Jerusalem February 5, 2013. REUTERS/Uriel Sinai/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3DDXN

Next Israeli Government Will Be 'Short Term,' Says Knesset Member

Knesset member Moshe Gafni from the ultra-Orthodox Yahadut HaTorah party explains to Mazal Mualem the failings of both Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid and HaBayit HaYehudi Chairman Naftali Bennett, predicting political disaster if they are included in the next Israeli government.