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September 28, 2026

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Ronen Bar, former chief of Israel's domestic Shin Bet security agency

Ex-Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar to sue Netanyahu over Oct. 7 accusations: What to know

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar of withholding information in the hours before the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, but the former security chief rejected the claim, saying he intends to file a defamation suit.

Israeli PM

On secret UAE visit, Netanyahu asked MBZ to deny pre-Oct. 7 warnings

During his trip to Abu Dhabi, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked President Mohamed bin Zayed to deny reports that he had been warned ahead of the Oct. 7 attack that Hamas was preparing a major assault.

A general view of the damaged building housing Tigray TV, the state broadcaster of the Tigray region, following a drone strike in Mekelle, Ethiopia, Sept. 27, 2026.

20 Israelis stranded in Ethiopia seek evacuation as fighting resumes: What to know

Twenty Israeli tourists are asking the Foreign Ministry to arrange their evacuation from the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia, where fighting resumed on Tuesday.

ANGELA WEISS / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Can Netanyahu turn Israel's UN isolation into strength at home?

The absence of a Trump meeting would have been awkward for Netanyahu, who has long portrayed himself to Israeli voters as uniquely close to the US president.

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

Latest News

Delegates walk out as Netanyahu touts Iran war, slams Qatar and Turkey at UN

Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu waves to delegates leaving before his UN speech

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

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)

Analysis

Why Netanyahu is distancing himself from Trump ahead of Israeli election

ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP via Getty Images

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

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

Gargash

United Arab Emirates

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 Zionist Camp lost the periphery towns

The Zionist Camp's election loss can be explained by its choice to embrace a Tel Aviv-Ashkenazi image, instead of investing time and resources in periphery towns.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stands next to his wife Sara as he delivers a speech to supporters at party headquarters in Tel Aviv March 18, 2015. Netanyahu claimed victory in Israel's election on Tuesday after exit polls showed he had erased his center-left rivals' lead with a hard rightward shift that saw him disavow a commitment to negotiate a Palestinian state. REUTERS/Nir Elias (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR4TRPI

Post-election Netanyahu tries to make amends

In the week since the elections, Benjamin Netanyahu has been trying to erase what he did during the campaign, expressing worries about US backing of Israel and international reactions.

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man stands behind a booth as he votes in the parliamentary election at a polling station in Jerusalem January 22, 2013. Israelis voted on Tuesday in an election that is expected to see Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu win a third term in office, pushing the Jewish state further to the right, away from peace with the Palestinians and towards a showdown with Iran. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR3CSDF

Israeli ultra-Orthodox parties may tip the balance

Demographic tendencies indicate there will be a continuing growth of the Israeli Arab and ultra-Orthodox populations, thus guaranteeing their sectorial parties more political power in next elections.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas speaks at the Egypt Economic Development Conference in Sharm el-Sheikh March 13, 2015. REUTERS/Brian Snyder (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS) - RTR4T9Z1

Bibi's win gives Palestinians chance at UN

Palestinian leadership made a point of not reacting to the Israeli election campaign, but after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's victory they might again try the UN route, with more international support than last time.

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks about Iran during his meeting with Secretary of Defense Ash Carter in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington March 3, 2015.
Obama on Tuesday told reporters "as far as I can tell, there was nothing new" in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to Congress panning U.S.-led nuclear talks with Iran. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR4RXEB

What won't change in Netanyahu’s 'changing reality'?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s explanation for his zigzag on the issue of a Palestinian state is that “reality has changed,” but this excuse cannot justify withdrawing from the only possible solution: an agreement based on the 1967 lines.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a speech to supporters at party headquarters in Tel Aviv March 18, 2015. Netanyahu claimed victory in Israel's election on Tuesday after exit polls showed he had erased his center-left rivals' lead with a hard rightward shift that saw him disavow a commitment to negotiate a Palestinian state. REUTERS/Nir Elias (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR4TROG

Netanyahu’s charm offensive

Palestinians need to be united and move forward with their decisions to join the ICC and suspend the security coordination with Israel, as Benjamin Netantyahu will try, following his victory in the elections, to show political moderation.

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan takes part in a welcoming ceremony in Kiev March 20, 2015. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich - RTR4U5UG

Turkey sidelines itself in US-led coalition against IS

Turkey prefers to be a "reluctant subcontractor" rather than active participant in the international coalition against the Islamic State; US envoy seems to contradict Kerry on Syria diplomacy; Israel faces possible "diplomatic siege" after election; majority of Americans back US negotiations with Iran; Al-Monitor endorses new global standards to protect freelance journalists.

A Likud party supporter hangs a campaign poster depicting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem March 17, 2015. Millions of Israelis voted on Tuesday in a tightly fought election, with Netanyahu facing an uphill battle to defeat a strong campaign by the centre-left opposition to deny him a fourth term in office. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR4TP77

Netanyahu comes back stronger than ever

The next Netanyahu government is expected to be a nationalist, right-wing one by definition, with no forces challenging the prime minister to reopen negotiations with the Palestinians.

Moshe Kahlon, Israel's Communications and Social Welfare Minister (L) speaks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a Likud party meeting at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem October 15, 2012. Netanyahu's Likud party suffered a setback to its popularity on Monday following the announcement by Kahlon, one of the party's best appreciated ministers, that he would step down after an upcoming general election. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3966V

Netanyahu has no diplomatic fig leaf

The setup of the new coalition now being negotiated offers no opening for a renewed diplomatic process, leading Israel into international isolation in a matter of a year.

An ultra-Orthodox woman works at Matrix Global, a hi-tech company, in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Modiin Illit April 3, 2011. Ultra-Orthodox or "Haredi" women are exempt from the demands of religious studies imposed on men and the Bank of Israel says the past decade has seen "a significant increase" in ultra-Orthodox women's employment rate, now almost at 60 percent. To match Feature ISRAEL-ULTRAORTHODOX/ECONOMY Picture taken April 3, 2011 REUTERS/Darren Whiteside (WEST BANK - Tags: RELIGION BUSINE

Number of working Orthodox women on the rise

Over the past few years more and more ultra-Orthodox women are seeking work in the secular Israeli labor market, though not everyone in ultra-Orthodox society accepts this.

Isaac Herzog (L) and Tzipi Livni, co-leaders of Zionist Union, deliver a statement at the party headquarters in Tel Aviv March 18, 2015. Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu pledged on Wednesday to form a new governing coalition quickly after an upset election victory that was built on a shift to the right and is likely to worsen a troubled relationship with the White House. With nearly all votes counted on Wednesday, Netanyahu's Likud had won 30 seats in the 120-member Knesset, comfortably defeating th

Time for Israeli left to reassess after election failure

The Israeli left blames periphery voters for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's victory, instead of admitting that it was the Zionist Camp leadership that failed to attract public support.

A woman walks past a branch of Israel's biggest mobile phone operator Cellcom in Tel Aviv January 28, 2014. Israeli conglomerates, including IDB Holding, will offload billions of dollars worth of assets over the next few years to comply with a new law designed to promote competition and dilute the power of big business in a country where a few tycoons control much of the economy. IDB Holding owns IDB Development, which in turn owns 74 percent of holding company Discount Investment Corp. Discount Investment

Israel's cellphone addiction

Studies indicate that Israelis are adepts of cellphones and the WhatsApp application, which enable them to receive constant updates on the security situation and reconnect with family members at any given moment.