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Israel

July 18, 2026

Tel Aviv 9:06 am

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Israeli police officers clash with ultra-Orthodox Jewish men during a protest against their conscription, Bnei Brak, Israel, July 16, 2024.

Analysis

How Netanyahu's bet on ultra-Orthodox exposes his vulnerability in Israel's upcoming election

The prime minister needs the support of the ultra-Orthodox, who reject mandatory conscription, if he is to have a chance at winning reelection and forming the next government.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a session of the Israeli Parliament in Jerusalem on July 16, 2026, before the start of the election recess ahead of the Oct. 27 general election.

Analysis

Trump's ‘180-degree reversal’ on Lebanon, Syria leaves Netanyahu with few options before elections

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hopes an Israeli withdrawal from two pilot zones in southern Lebanon will help ease tensions with President Donald Trump.

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

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.).

Latest News

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

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)

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

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

Palestinian women enjoy themselves at a beach in Tel Aviv during Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan August 20, 2012. A spokesperson for The Israeli Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories' (COGAT) said that improved security had allowed for the entry of over 1 million Palestinians from the occupied West Bank since the beginning of Ramadan. REUTERS/Nir Elias (ISRAEL - Tags: RELIGION SOCIETY)

Tens of Thousands of Palestinians Celebrate Christmas in Israel

For the second time in four months, the IDF opened the crossing points, allowing thousands of Palestinians from the West Bank to visit Israel, a rare opportunity to cross the physical and psychological fence separating both people, writes Shlomi Eldar.

Residents pray near the bodies of people whom activists said were killed during fighting with forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar Al-Assad at Marat AL-Numan, during their funeral in Kafranbel, near Idlib December 26, 2012. REUTERS/Raed Al-Fares/Shaam News Network/Handout (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT)

Syria’s Future Is Vengeance

Shlomi Eldar writes that post-Assad Syria will be a vast campaign of retaliation.

Israel's Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu (R) shakes hands with Foreign Minister and Kadima party leader Tzipi Livni in Jerusalem February 22, 2009. Right-wing leader Netanyahu on Friday accepted a mandate to form Israel's next government and immediately called for a broad, national unity coalition with centrist and left-wing partners. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (JERUSALEM)

Tzipi Livni Could Expose Netanyahu

Israeli politician Tzipi Livni should enter coalition negotiations and position herself to call Prime Minister Netanyahu out on his peace declarations, writes Akiva Eldar.

Haneen Zoabi, an Arab member of the Israeli Knesset (the Israeli parliament), talks to reporters in Amman August 31, 2010. Zoabi is in Amman to contribute to a UN fact-finding mission with Jordanian activists about Israel's May 31 capture of a Gaza-bound boat in which nine people died. The hearings, chaired by a 3-person panel commenced on August 30 in Amman with Arab activists from Israel, including Zoabi, who was aboard the Turkish vessel when the raid occurred. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed (JORDAN - Tags: POLI

Why Israelis Love To Hate Haneen Zoabi

Knesset Member Haneen Zoabi takes advantage of Israeli democracy and undermines Israel’s relations with its Arab citizens, writes Shlomi Eldar.

U.S. President Barack Obama meets with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, March 5, 2012. REUTERS/Jason Reed (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS)

Netanyahu Pummels Obama, And the Public Cheers

If in the past Israelis resented a PM pummeling the US president, nowadays they are indifferent to these words and leave it to Prime Minister Netanyahu to sink the ship, writes Ben Caspit.

Farewell, Subject; Welcome, Citizen

The new Egyptian constitution has loopholes and disputed articles, and still has the potential of leading the Egyptian people towards a just and better future, writes Jacky Hugi.

Israeli border policemen chat behind a police barrier during Friday prayers in Jerusalem's Old City December 14, 2012. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (JERUSALEM - Tags: RELIGION MILITARY)

Regional Chaos Makes Israel Seem Like an Island of Stability

Israel, stable and predictable for the first time in many years, worries about the changes and chaos in which its neighbors have been caught up, writes Ben Caspit.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman gestures as he speaks at a conference for young members of his Yisrael Beiteinu party in Tel Aviv December 13, 2012. Lieberman said on Thursday he need not resign after the Justice Ministry decided to indict him for fraud and breach of trust, less severe charges than were originally considered. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS)

Liberman Resigns — Like a Fox

Avigdor Liberman has resigned immediately from his post as foreign minister — a plan which, writes Ben Caspit, may return him to the head of a new Israeli government in March 2013.

The silhouette of an Israeli boy is seen as he looks out from his home in Givat HaMatos on the southern fringes of Jerusalem's city limits May 17, 2012. Named after a plane that crashed there during the 1967 Six-Day War, Givat HaMatos may yet prove the place where Palestinian hopes of establishing a capital in Jerusalem also fall apart. Of all the obstacles blocking the way to peace between the Palestinians and Israelis, the status of Jerusalem is arguably the most intractable. Picture taken May 17, 2012. T

New Jerusalem Neighborhood Threatens Territorial Solution

The plans for a new Jewish neighborhood in East Jerusalem will preclude any possibility of a territorial solution along the lines of the Clinton Parameters and render those proposals for Israeli-Palestinian peace null and void, writes Akiva Eldar