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

Israel cover image

Israel

September 12, 2026

Tel Aviv 11:26 pm

28°C

Erik Marmor

Analysis

Once Netanyahu’s top challenger, Bennett loses ground to Eisenkot: What to know

Facing the popular Gadi Eisenkot, the Together party of former premiers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid is sinking in Israeli opinion polls.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

A photograph taken from the southern Lebanese area of Nabatieh shows smoke as it rises from the site of Israeli strikes that targeted the hilltops of the mountainous area of the strategic Ali al-Taher Ridge on Aug. 14, 2026.

Israel says it destroyed Hezbollah tunnels in Ali al-Taher ridge: What to know

The ridge has become a flashpoint in the Israel-Hezbollah conflict in Lebanon due to its extensive tunnel network Israel says is utilized by the Iran-backed group.

Chaim Goldberg / AFP via Getty Images

Netanyahu threatens to sue Haaretz for reporting UAE warned Israel of Oct. 7 attack

The Emirati president reportedly warned that a planned attack could cause bloodshed, destabilize the region and threaten the Abraham Accords.

TOPSHOT - Explosions from projectile interceptions by Israel's Iron Dome missile defence system are pictured over Tel Aviv on February 28, 2026. The United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran on February 28, with Israel's public broadcaster reporting that the Iranian supreme leader had been targeted, as the Islamic republic retaliated with barrages of missiles at Gulf states and Israel. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Israel braces for Iran attack as Trump’s economic squeeze on Tehran intensifies

Skeptical about the effectiveness of the American economic blockade on Tehran to weaken the regime, Israel is preparing for the possibility that Iran could decide to strike the Jewish state during the upcoming high holidays.

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

Latest News

12 countries including France, UK, Canada end trade with West Bank settlements

West Bank settlements

Katz warns PA against 'Oct. 7-style' attack as West Bank violence rises

Israeli soldiers take positions during a military operation in the town of Qalqiya, in the occupied West Bank, Dec. 4, 2025.

Lebanon says at least 12 killed in Israeli strikes as tensions rise in south

An excavator digs as rescuers search for survivors amid the rubble following an overnight Israeli airstrike on the village of Kfar Roummane, southern Lebanon, Sept. 7, 2026.

Analysis

LORA missile test reveals limits of Germany’s Gaza criticism of Israel

A woman walks past a model of a Lora missile, Israel's long range artillery missile at the Israel defence stall at the international DefExpo 2008 defence fair, in New Delhi on February 16, 2008. India kicked off South Asia's largest defence fair, with hundreds of global weapons firms offering their latest hardware to the country's technology-hungry military. About 450 weapons companies from 30 countries are present at the four-day "DefExpo" in New Delhi, with several big-ticket announcements expected. AFP P

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Samuel Wendel

Senior Analyst, Middle East Business & Tech

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 winemaker Yaakov Berg's holds a bottle of his red blend named after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the Psagot Winery in the settlers industrial park of Sha'ar Binyamin near the Israeli Psagot settlement in the occupied West Bank north of Jerusalem on November 18, 2020. - Berg's decision to name his red blend after US Secretary Mike Pompeo may capture attention, but for him the hashtag on the label's top right corner "#madeinlegality" is just as important, categorically rejecting the notion tha

Pompeo says settlement products to be labeled 'Made in Israel'

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also announced the United States would identify and label groups that support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement as "anti-Semitic."

Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi (L) speaks alongside US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo following a security briefing on Mount Bental in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, near Merom Golan on the border with Syria, on November 19, 2020. - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo became the first top American diplomat to visit a West Bank Jewish settlement and the Golan Heights, cementing Donald Trump's strongly pro-Israel legacy. (Photo by Patrick Semansky / POOL / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK SEMANSKY/POOL/AFP v

Pompeo first US Secretary of State to visit West Bank settlement

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo not only visited a settlement winery, but also announced that West Bank settlement products exported to the United States may be labeled as made in Israel.

Even with Biden, talks with Palestinians not on Israel’s agenda

Despite the election of Joe Biden, no one in Israel is keen to rush to the negotiating table with the Palestinians.

PA restoring ties with Israel undermines reconciliation, Hamas says

The reconciliation efforts between Hamas and Fatah are likely to go down the drain now that the PA announced that ties and security coordination with Israel have been restored.

Republican senators ask Trump to label West Bank products 'Made in Israel'

The senators want the president to reverse the Clinton-era customs policy before he leaves office in January.

A picture taken on November 18, 2020 from the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights shows the Israel-Syria border, on November 18, 2020. - Israeli warplanes struck Syria Wednesday, hitting Iranian targets and killing 10 Syrian and foreign fighters in what the Israeli army called a retaliatory attack after explosive devices were found near one of its bases on the occupied Golan Heights. (Photo by JALAA MAREY / AFP) (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel reportedly bombs southern Syria

Syrian opposition sources said the airstrikes targeted Iranian militias near the capital Damascus.

A Palestinian youth pushes an elderly man next to the Ibrahimi mosque (background), also known as the Tomb of the Patriarchs, in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron on August 7, 2020, amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic crisis. (Photo by HAZEM BADER / AFP) (Photo by HAZEM BADER/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel advances plan for elevator at Tomb of the Patriarchs

The nongovernmental organization Emek Shaveh, however, is appealing against plans to build a path and an elevator at the entrance to the Tomb of the Patriarchs in the Palestinian city of Hebron.

Israel celebrates first visit of Bahrain foreign minister

Israel and Bahrain's foreign ministers met in Israel today as ties between the two countries warm at a rapid pace.

A member of the Israeli Druze community leaves after casting her vote during Israel's parliamentary elections on September 17, 2019, in Daliyat al-karmel in northern Israel. (Photo by JALAA MAREY / AFP) (Photo credit should read JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)

Druze, Circassians not seduced by Netanyahu’s budget

A ridiculously small budget of 50 million shekels won’t help Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu win over the Druze and the Circassian communities ahead of possible new elections.

Palestinians demonstrate near the Israeli settlement of Psagot, built on the lands of the city of al-Bireh, against the visit by US Secretary of State's to the settlement, on November 18, 2020 in the occupied West Bank. - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was due to arrive in Jerusalem today for a farewell visit as the chief diplomat of the strongly pro-Israeli Trump administration. (Photo by ABBAS MOMANI / AFP) (Photo by ABBAS MOMANI/AFP via Getty Images)

Biden victory breathes life back into Israeli-Palestinian cooperation

The Palestinian Authority is resuming cooperation with Israel, meaning the Oslo process may finally be back on track.

Palestinian Authority to resume cooperation with Israel

A senior Palestinian official said Tuesday that the Israeli-Palestinian relationship will "return to how it was."

Israelis try resettling West Bank settlement evacuated in 2005

Families evacuated from the West Bank Sa-Nur settlement in 2005 sneaked back during the night and vowed to resettle the site.