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

Israel cover image

Israel

September 17, 2026

Tel Aviv 8:48 pm

31°C

OLIVER BUNIC/AFP via Getty Images

Serbia opens factory to assemble Israeli-made drones: What to know

Serbian President Vucic said the factory will put together “state-of-the-art” Israeli-designed drones and employ around 100 workers.

Royal Air Maroc Boeing 787-9 'Dreamliner' aircraft

Israel, Morocco agree to exchange ambassadors, open embassies

The move will mark the first time Morocco and Israel have exchanged ambassadors.

ISRAEL-ENTERTAINMENT-TELEVISION-POLITICS-GOVERNMENT-MASS-MEDIA-D (L to R) Lior Raz and Avi Issacharoff, co-creators of the hit Israeli TV show "Fauda", attend a demonstration against the Israeli government's plans to shut-down public broadcaster KAN, in Israel's Mediterranean coastal city of Tel Aviv on January 25, 2023. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Culture

Israeli show ‘Fauda’ tops Netflix in Lebanon, hits top 10 across Arab states

The show was created by Israeli journalist Avi Issacharoff and actor Lior Raz, drawing on their experiences serving in the Israeli military’s elite Duvdevan unit.

UN peacekeepers stand next to an armored vehicle during a patrol in southern Lebanon, Feb. 22, 2026.

Explainer

Why France is pushing to keep UNIFIL in Lebanon beyond 2026

Showing its support for Lebanon, Paris is backing Beirut’s request at the UN for a short-term extension of UNIFIL’s mandate, although French sources acknowledge that the chances of the request being approved are slim.

Latest News

Exclusive

Lacking deterrence, Israel’s security establishment opposes attacks on Houthis

Fighters loyal to the Houthi authorities, brandish their weapons during a rally to recruit more fighters, in Sanaa on September 10, 2026. The country relapsed into war in July after years of calm, drawn into the regional conflict triggered by the US-Israeli offensive against Iran that began at the end of February. (Photo by Mohammed HUWAIS / AFP via Getty Images)

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

Analysis

Europe’s West Bank trade ban fires warning shot at Israel’s economy

Jewish settlement of Kedumim, in the West Bank

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Analysis

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

Erik Marmor

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

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

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.

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

Disqualification battle camouflages real danger to Israel: Benjamin Netanyahu

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is exploiting a fraudulent symmetry between Kahane’s racial doctrine and a minority’s struggle for equal rights to incite against Israel’s Arab citizens.

Iranian MP's display their disagreement over the a bill to counter terrorist financing in parliament in Tehran on October 7, 2018. - The bill, one of four put forward by the government to meet demands set by the international Financial Action Task Force (FATF), was passed by 143 votes to 120, according to the semi-official ISNA news agency. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images)

As Iran mulls joining financial watchdog, Israel sees win-win situation

If Iran joins the FATF anti-money laundering organization, the Islamic Republic might find it harder to fund militant organizations in the region, but if Iran does not join, it may lose what few international banking connections it already has.

The Dome of the Rock is seen in the background as Palestinian men take part in Friday prayers on the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City October 23, 2015. Palestinian factions called for mass rallies against Israel in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem in a "day of rage" on Friday, as world and regional powers pressed on with talks to try to end more than three weeks of bloodshed. Israeli authorities also lifted restrictions on Friday that

Clock winding down on Israel's Bab al-Rahma ultimatum

After Palestinians broke open the Bab al-Rahma gate and decided to keep the prayer house open and renovate it, Israel has given them a deadline to close it up again — which isn't expected to happen.

US diplomats speak out against closure of Palestine mission

Several former US diplomats have expressed anger and disappointment over the administration’s decision to merge the mission that handled diplomatic contacts with Palestinians with its new embassy in Jerusalem.

FILE PHOTO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) sits next to Israeli Public security Minister Gilad Erdan during the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem April 10, 2016. REUTERS/Gali Tibbon/Pool/File photo - RC17175E03C0

Signal jamming promises to rile Palestinian prisoners in Israel

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan's push to jam cellphones in prisons has infuriated Hamas prisoners and security heads warn the move could backfire on Israel.

Start-up nation Israel: Where women are the future

More and more women are starting high-tech businesses in Israel, site of the second-largest technology hub in the world.

Why Netanyahu is ignoring growing Israeli-Palestinian tensions

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would typically convene his Security Cabinet and security chiefs to avoid violence with the Palestinians, but this election season has altered business as usual.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a speech at the launch of his Likud party election campaign in Ramat Gan, Israel March 4, 2019. REUTERS/Amir Cohen - RC1F91530CC0

Netanyahu’s war against the ex-generals

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sticks with the same strategy that worked for him in the past: depicting his rival as a "leftist."

Newly released Palestinian prisoners wait to disembark from a bus upon their arrival to the West Bank city of Ramallah December 18, 2011. Israel released 550 Palestinian prisoners on Sunday in the second stage of a deal with Hamas that brought home soldier Gilad Shalit after five years of captivity in the Gaza Strip. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS) - GM1E7CJ0IXQ01

Will Israel release Palestinian prisoners re-arrested in 2014?

Thirty-one prisoners who were arrested in 2014, three years after their release in the Shalit prisoner-exchange deal, are now petitioning the Israeli High Court of Justice against their incarceration.

Is Netanyahu’s election campaign on the way to war?

Benjamin Netanyahu claimed in 2008 that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had no moral authority to launch peace talks in Palestinians, so he should now implement the same rule on himself and avoid generating a war.

Yemenis divided over Mideast peace deal, Iran

The controversy that ensued after a photo emerged of Yemen's foreign minister sitting next to the Israeli premier in Warsaw indicates that Arab states may be further divided by stances on Iran and a Palestinian-Israeli peace deal.

Zarif’s stock rises with support from Soleimani

While Iran’s foreign minister carries the day against hard-liners, Israel hopes to exploit possible cracks in Tehran’s Syria policy.