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

Israel cover image

Israel

June 28, 2026

Tel Aviv 1:38 pm

32°C

Members of the Jerusalem Armenian community hold placards as they march during commemorations for the 94th anniversary of mass killings of their kin under the Ottoman Empire, Jerusalem's Old City, April 24, 2009.

Explainer

Israel's Armenian genocide recognition marks new front against Turkey

Analysts say the expected vote for recognition is not morally motivated, but intended to spite the Turkish leader.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (C, back) looks on as (L/R, front row) Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter, State Department Chief of Staff Daniel Holler, and Lebanese Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh sign a framework agreement at the US Department of State in Washington, DC, on June 26, 2026. Lebanon, Israel and the United States on Friday signed a trilateral framework agreement aimed at paving the way for a peace deal between the two long-time Middle East adversaries. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP

US brokers deal for limited Israeli withdrawal in south Lebanon

The deal establishes a US-facilitated military coordination group to oversee the creation of two initial pilot zones in southern Lebanon.

Jalaa MAREY / AFP via Getty Images

Iran vows to respond to Israeli military using neighboring airspace: What to know

Iran’s military headquarters said it “considers responding to these dangerous actions as its right” after alleging that Israeli jets have been operating in the airspace of neighboring countries near Iran.

Vance

Analysis

Vance turning us into 'punching bag': Israel fumes over alleged IRGC-CENTCOM channel in Doha

The US-Iran decision to launch direct talks between the IRGC and CENTCOM in Qatar deepens the rift between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while heightening Israeli fears that Washington is shifting toward Doha and Tehran.

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

Latest News

Israel, Turkey, Iran offer aid as Venezuela’s 2 quakes kill at least 188

Responders arrive to a demolished building at San Bernardino after a magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck Venezuela and other regions in the Caribbean on June 24, 2026 in Caracas, Venezuela.

Explainer

Pro-Palestine Democrats win in NYC elections: What it means

Congressional candidate Claire Valdez, Congressional candidate Brad Lander, Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and Congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier raise their hands during a Get Out the Vote (GOTV) rally at King's Theater on June 18, 2026 in New York City.

Analysis

Pilot zones at center of Israel-Lebanon talks as Trump pressures Netanyahu

Lebanese army forces deploy in the village of Bir al-Salasel in southern Lebanon on June 15, 2026. Iran's foreign ministry on June 15 said the US must ensure that Israel commits to stopping the war in Lebanon under a deal agreed upon with the US to end the Middle East war. Lebanon was pulled into the conflict in early March when Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah launched rocket attacks on Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran's supreme leader, prompting Israeli strikes and a ground invasion. (Pho

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

Israeli soldiers of the Caracal battalion walk together during a 23-kilometre march marking the end of their training in Israel's Negev desert, near Kibbutz Sde Boker February 14, 2013. 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/Darren Whiteside (ISRAE

Rabbis speak out against women's enlistment in IDF

The national-religious sector, well represented in the Israel Defense Forces, maintains strong opposition to enlistment by women, and recent proposals to encourage religious women to enlist have met stiff resistance from a group of rabbis.

People dine at a coffee shop as an image of newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump is displayed on a monitor in Tel Aviv, Israel November 9, 2016. REUTERS/Baz Ratner - RTX2SSC5

Netanyahu struggles to control Israeli right in run-up to Trump

The Israeli right is taking matters into its own hands as uncertainty over US President-elect Donald Trump's diplomatic strategy reigns.

Palestinians hold a poster of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan during a Hamas rally in support of Erdogan's government against a coup attempt, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip July 16, 2016. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTSI917

Will Israeli-Turkish relations leave Hamas in the cold?

It remains unclear how Hamas-Turkish ties will be affected by the move by Turkey and Israel toward a resumption of full diplomatic relations.

Israel's new Defence Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, head of far-right Yisrael Beitenu party, reviews an honour guard during a welcoming ceremony at the Defence Ministry in Tel Aviv, Israel May 31, 2016. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RTX2EXRI

Liberman takes seat at switchboard between US administration, Israel

Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman is already busy coordinating with the new US administration on settlement expansion policies in an attempt to build a pragmatic and responsible image for himself, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu watches from a safe distance.

People walk past signs bearing the name of U.S. President-elect Republican Donald Trump in Tel Aviv, Israel November 14, 2016. REUTERS/Baz Ratner - RTX2TLRV

Analysis

Israel, Palestinians prepare for Trump era

Israelis and Palestinians are now redrawing the lines for a new diplomatic battle in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s election.

Uri Savir

Why an Israeli general is Facebook chatting with Palestinians

The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Gen. Yoav Mordechai conducted a first-of-its-kind live chat session on Facebook with Palestinians from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Israeli Health Minister Yaakov Litzman speaks during a briefing to members of the media on the medical condition of former Israeli President Shimon Peres a day after he suffered a stroke, at a hospital near Tel Aviv, Israel September 14, 2016. REUTERS/Baz Ratner - RTSNPU9

How the call to prayer is uniting Israel's Arabs, ultra-Orthodox

Ultra-Orthodox Knesset members have joined forces with Joint List Knesset members in objecting to the bill preventing the muezzin call to prayer.

An entrance to a tunnel which Israel's military said it had discovered is seen just outside the southern Gaza Strip May 6, 2016. REUTERS/ Amir Cohen - RTX2D427

Were Israeli ministers the last to learn about Gaza tunnels?

According to different sources, Israeli Cabinet ministers did not receive information about the tunnels dug by Hamas in 2014, though the information was gathered by Israeli intelligence and was transferred to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

A Palestinian man displays SIM cards of Palestinian Jawwal cellular company in a mobile phone shop in Gaza City November 16, 2016. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa - RTX2U31Z

Israeli 3G SIM cards all the rage in Gaza

SIM cards allowing 3G service on Israeli telecommunications networks are being smuggled into Gaza and snapped up quickly by young Palestinians.

Moshe Kahlon, Israel's new Finance Minister, attends a meeting at the Finance Ministry in Jerusalem May 18, 2015. Boosting competition in Israel's banking system and the economy as a whole as well as bringing down property prices will be priorities for the country's new finance minister, he said on Monday. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RTX1DH88

Has Israel's finance minister lost his fans?

Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon's supporters are disappointed, as they believed he would fight for the rule of law and the new public broadcasting corporation but now see him abandoning political battles that might mark him as a leftist, guided primarily by political survival.

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - APRIL 17: In this handout image provided by the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO), Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shakes hands with Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat watched by Netanyahu's personal envoy, attorney Yitzhak Molcho and the head of Palestinian Authority General Intelligence Majad Faraj during their meeting on April 17, 2012 in Jerusalem, Israel. At the end of the meeting, it was agreed to release the following statement: "Israel and the Palestinian Aut

Will submarine deal sink Netanyahu's ship?

A scandal over a submarine deal has focused the public's attention and that of Israel's attorney general on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s relations with two of his lawyers.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump (L) and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney emerge after their meeting at the main clubhouse at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, U.S., November 19, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Segar - RTSSFB6

Trump’s transition off to rough start

Donald Trump’s administration is turning out to be the year of the white male.