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September 24, 2026

Tel Aviv 3:22 am

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Leader of the Arab Israeli party Ra'am (United Arab List) Mansour Abbas (R) and Israeli politician Yoav Segalovitz (L) attend a news conference in Nazareth on August 31, 2026. Abbas announced that Segalovitz, an Israeli Jew, will join his party for the upcoming Israeli elections. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP via Getty Images)

Israel election committee bars two Arab lists from upcoming vote: What to know

Israel's Central Elections Committee barred the Arab-majority Raam party, the Arab joint list party and two Arab politicians from participating in the Oct. 27 elections.

ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Why Netanyahu is distancing himself from Trump ahead of Israeli election

No meeting has been announced between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly summit in New York.

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

Gargash

UAE's Gargash expects 'prolonged' war, calls for Iran-Gulf security talks

"We need a new mindset that these sort of discussions ... can happen at an Iranian-American level, it should also take place at an Iranian-Arab level," Gargash told Al-Monitor.

United Arab Emirates

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and French President Emmanuel Macron arrive to hold a joint press conference in Jerusalem, Oct. 24, 2023.

Analysis

After France's settlement ban, Israel sees no warming of ties with Macron government

Israeli diplomats say France’s decision to ban imports from West Bank settlements has brought bilateral relations to an unprecedented low point.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Latest News

Analysis

How Netanyahu is leveraging Houthi threat in secret Saudi normalization push

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman looks on as he attends a trade agreement signature ceremony at the Elysee Palace in Paris on August 24, 2026. (Photo by LOU BENOIST / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

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

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

OLIVER BUNIC/AFP via Getty Images

Israel, Morocco agree to exchange ambassadors, open embassies

Royal Air Maroc Boeing 787-9 'Dreamliner' aircraft

Culture

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

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)

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

A girl pushes a stroller on a road in the Israeli settlement of Beitar Illit in the occupied West Bank February 15, 2017. REUTERS/Amir Cohen TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTSYS6S

Israel's 'slow' plan for peace

Israeli politicians are arguing that at least 10 years of calm and negotiations are required before the possibility of founding an independent Palestinian state.

Hamas Gaza Chief Yehya Al-Sinwar (C) and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh (L) take part in the funeral of senior militant Mazen Fuqaha in Gaza City March 25, 2017. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem - RTX32NQR

Will Hamas respond to leader's assassination?

Hamas is still considering its options on how to respond to the assassination of its military leader, Mazen Faqha, which was blamed on Israel.

Lebanon's Hezbollah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem gestures as he speaks during an interview with Reuters at his office in Beirut's suburbs, Lebanon August 3, 2016. REUTERS/Aziz Taher - RTSKVYY

Interview

Hezbollah’s No. 2: US strike on Syria mere ‘muscle flexing'

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Sheikh Naim Qassem, the deputy secretary-general of Hezbollah in Lebanon, spoke about the US military strikes on a Syrian air base and Israel and its potential moves in the region among other things.

Naim Qassem

Naim Qassem

Deputy secretary-general of Hezbollah

Battle damage assessment image of Shayrat Airfield, Syria, is seen in this DigitalGlobe satellite image, released by the Pentagon following U.S. Tomahawk Land Attack Missile strikes from Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, the USS Ross and USS Porter on April 7, 2017. DigitalGlobe/Courtesy U.S. Department of Defense/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. EDITORIAL USE ONLY. MANDATORY CREDIT. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTX34MOP

After US missile strikes, can Tillerson find common ground with Russia in Syria?

US strategy to defeat Islamic State in play as secretary of state heads to Moscow and UN secretary-general calls for restraint.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu takes part in a ceremony in which Israel declared its "David's Sling" intermediate-range air defence shield fully operational, at Hatzor air base in southern Israel April 2, 2017. REUTERS/Amir Cohen - RTX33QI6

Eyes roll in Tel Aviv at Netanyahu's one-man band

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is quick to appropriate the achievements of his ministers, and the habit has become a running joke in political circles.

Yehuda Glick, an activist of the "temple mount faithful" group, poses for a photo in Jerusalem June 30, 2011. Glick was shot and severely wounded in Jerusalem on October 29, 2014 as he left a conference promoting a Jewish campaign to permit praying at a compound in the Old City that that has become a flashpoint as both Jews and Muslims regard it as a holy site, Israeli officials said. Israeli police shot dead a Palestinian on Thursday after he fired at them resisting arrest in East Jerusalem hours after the

Why this Likud MK presents unique challenge to Netanyahu

Knesset member Yehuda Glick advocates for the right of Jews to pray at the Temple Mount, but at the same time he champions liberal values such as freedom of the press.

The political scenarios to defeat Netanyahu in early elections

With the prospect for early elections in Israel, the Zionist Camp must decide whether to join forces with left-wing Meretz and its liberal-humanist ideology or tag along with Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid.

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man dips cooking utensils in boiling water to remove remains of leaven in preparation for the Jewish holiday of Passover in the city of Ashdod April 5, 2017. REUTERS/Amir Cohen - RTX3497Q

Israeli chefs get creative during Passover

Israeli chefs recount to Al-Monitor how Passover restrictions force them to become more innovative than ever before in their cooking and baking.

Israeli soldiers of the Caracal battalion rest after finishing a 20-kilometre march in Israel's Negev desert, near Kibbutz Sde Boker, marking the end of their training, May 29, 2014. The "Caracal" battalion, two-thirds of whose members are women, was established in 2004 with the purpose of incorporating female soldiers in combat units. The main mission of Caracal is routine patrols on Israel's border with Egypt to intercept infiltrators and smuggling from the Sinai desert. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL - Tags:

How religious female soldiers are transforming the IDF

Female commanders of combat units in the Israel Defense Forces, especially religious women, are provoking apprehension among religious Zionist leaders in Israel.

Could an offshore seaport be Gaza's salvation?

Israeli Transportation and Intelligence Minister Israel Katz continues to promote his idea of an artificial island and port off the Gaza coast and recently pitched it to President Donald Trump’s envoy.

U.S. President Donald Trump waits to welcome Denmark's Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen at the White House in Washington, U.S. March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst - RTX33FJG

Trump's envoy pushing two-state solution as Abbas' US visit nears

US President Donald Trump's stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been vague so far, but initial signs indicate that an attempt at an Israeli-Palestinian deal is not out of the question.

Orthodox Christian worshippers hold crosses before a procession along the Via Dolorosa on Good Friday during Holy Week in Jerusalem's Old City April 29, 2016. REUTERS/Ammar Awad - RTX2C6DI

Jerusalem's Old City braces for massive Easter crowds

The Old City of Jerusalem is expected to be extremely crowded this year as all the churches will celebrate Easter on the same schedule, renovations have attracted a higher pilgrim turnout and Passover visitors will add to the throngs.