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

Israel cover image

Israel

July 7, 2026

Tel Aviv 4:22 am

24°C

ABIR SULTAN / AFP via Getty Images

Israel, Greece conduct military drills ahead of NATO summit in Turkey

Photos published by the Greek military showed fighter jets from both countries flying side by side over the Aegean Sea.

Joint List Party leader Ayman Odeh attends a meeting on April 5, 2021 in Jerusalem, Israel.

Interview

Ayman Odeh says Arab parties could back Bennett or Eisenkot to block Netanyahu

In an interview with Al-Monitor, head of the Arab-Israeli Hadash-Ta'al Knesset faction, Ayman Odeh, said his party is prepared to make difficult decisions to topple Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

Ayman Odeh

Head of the Knesset's Hadash-Ta'al faction

Motorists drive past a billboard bearing a picture of Iran's slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei, ahead of his funeral in Tehran on July 3, 2026. Iranian leaders began paying their respects on July 3 before the coffin of the country's late supreme leader Ali Khamenei, killed in the US-Israeli strikes that triggered the Middle East war, as Tehran prepared for a vast funeral. Khamenei's body arrived at Tehran's Grand Mosalla on July 3 ahead of ceremonies which are expected to draw millions. (Photo by AFP via Ge

Analysis

As US-Iran talks falter, Israel views war outcome as 'total strategic failure’

Israeli officials believe the US failure to attain the kind of agreement with Iran that it originally sought stems from the strategic mistakes made during and after the recent war.

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

Latest News

Who is Melat Kiros, the pro-Palestinian who unseated a longtime Democrat?

Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images

Analysis

For Israel, Lebanon deal 'historic' despite fears Hezbollah will rebuild

Shia Muslim devotees gather for a mourning ritual near the shrine of Hassan Nasrallah, the slain leader of the Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah who was killed in a 2024 Israeli-airstrike, in Beirut's southern suburbs on June 26, 2026 at the peak of Ashura, a 10-day period commemorating the seventh century killing of Prophet Mohammed's grandson Imam Hussein. (Photo by JOSEPH EID / AFP via Getty Images)

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

Ex-defence chief Shaul Mofaz (C) leaves after casting his ballot for the Kadima party primary election at a polling station in the central town of Kfar Saba March 27, 2012. Opinion polls predicted a close race between Tzipi Livni, Israel's former foreign minister, and Mofaz among Kadima's 100,000 eligible voters charged with choosing a candidate to challenge Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a national poll expected by next year. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR2ZY8B

Sephardic candidates face real discrimination in elections

Ahead of the elections, the Israeli political system still shies away from confronting the phenomenon of ''ethnic voting,'' where Sephardic candidates receive less support than those of European candidates.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara (L) attend a reinterment ceremony for Lieutenant-Colonel John Henry Patterson and his wife Frances in the agricultural cooperative of Avihayil, north of Netanya December 4, 2014. Patterson, a British commander of the Jewish Legion during World War I, died in 1947 and his ashes were brought to Israel and re-buried on Thursday. REUTERS/Nir Elias (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY OBITUARY) - RTR4GP0S

Netanyahu's household expenses become campaign issue

The media's preoccupation with funds from bottle deposits allegedly pocketed by the prime minister's wife draws attention away from the real diplomatic issues, and lets Bibi off the hook.

Israel offers to mediate talks between Ukraine, Russia

Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman believes his country is uniquely positioned to negotiate with Russia and Ukraine.

Israeli soldiers stand on concrete blocks near the border with Lebanon January 29, 2015. Israel and Hezbollah signalled on Thursday their rare flare-up in fighting across the Israel-Lebanon border was over, after the Lebanese guerrillas killed two Israeli troops in retaliation for a deadly air strike in Syria last week. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY CONFLICT) - RTR4NHGX

Hezbollah, Israel claim victory, reset deterrence

Nasrallah steps back from confrontation with Israel after attack; Iran sanctions in perspective; Netanyahu plan may backfire; Kurdish victory in Kobani a setback for Turkey; Are Iraqi Kurdish land grabs sowing future conflict?

People listen during a hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee January 27, 2015 in Washington, DC. The committee held the hearing on negotiations with Iran on their nuclear program. AFP PHOTO/BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

Palestinian Authority in the hot seat

A look at the Middle East issues Congress will be addressing the week of Feb. 2.

A supporter of Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah holds up a poster of him as he appears on a screen to speak at an event to commemorate the deaths of six Hezbollah fighters and an Iranian general killed by an Israeli air strike in Syria on January 18, in Beirut's southern suburbs, January 30, 2015. Nasrallah said on Friday his group did not want war with Israel but was ready for one and had the right to respond to Israeli "aggression" in any time and place. The words on the woman's hand rea

Nasrallah vows to confront Israel at any time and place

In a broadcast speech, Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah tried to re-establish deterrence with Israel after the two sides traded strikes.

Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Brigadier General Mohammad Ali Jafari holds a press conference in Tehran on September 16, 2012. Jafari said members of his elite special operations unit, the Quds Force, are present in Syria and Lebanon but only to provide "counsel." AFP PHOTO/ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/GettyImages)

Hezbollah strike was 'minimum response,' warns Iran commander

The commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also stated that Israel should 'await a stronger response.'

Israeli Economy Minister and head of the ultra-nationalist party Jewish Home, Naftali Bennett speaks during a press conference on December 14, 2014 in Jerusalem. Israeli political leaders agreed earlier this month to hold a snap election on March 17, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gambling on a return to power after his ruling coalition collapsed. AFP PHOTO / GALI TIBBON (Photo credit should read GALI TIBBON/AFP/Getty Images)

Bennett went too far in plan to reshape his party

The HaBayit HaYehudi chairman failed this week in transforming the traditional image of the party — from a sectorial, religious male-dominated one to a young, vibrant and an all-Israel party.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a speech during a memorial ceremony for former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at Sycamore Ranch near the town of Sderot, marking the one-year anniversary of Sharon's death January 29, 2015. Sharon, the trailblazing warrior-statesman who stunned Arab foes with his dramatic turnarounds, died on January 11, 2014 aged 85, after eight years in a coma caused by a stroke. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS ANNIVERSARY) - RTR4NGC7

Security issues become tool for delay

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security conditions for any future agreement with the Palestinians would preclude a Palestinian state all together.

Israeli soldiers are seen next to a sign post pointing to the village of Ghajar near Israel's border with Lebanon January 28, 2015. A Hezbollah missile strike wounded four Israeli soldiers on Wednesday, the biggest attack on Israeli forces by the Lebanese guerrilla group since a 34-day war in 2006. Israeli artillery fired at least 22 shells into open farmland in southern Lebanon after the strike, a Lebanese security source said, and thick smoke rose over the area. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (ISRAEL - Tags: MILITARY

Disputed Alawite village caught between Israel, Hezbollah

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Bilal Khatib of the Ghajar municipal council explains the unique situation of the village; located on the Israel-Lebanon-Syria border and residents' fear of being targeted.

Smoke from Israeli shelling covers the Lebanese town of Al-Majidiyah (L) on the Lebanese border with Israel as the town of Al-Ghajar is seen on the right on January 28, 2015. Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah claimed responsibility on Wednesday for an attack against a military convoy in an Israeli-occupied border area. AFP PHOTO / ALI DIA (Photo credit should read ALI DIA/AFP/Getty Images)

Hezbollah's tactical shift against Israel

Hezbollah is opening another front against Israel in the Golan Heights, where it can blame other organizations for possible escalations.

Issac Herzog (L), leader of Israel's Labour party, and former Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni shake hands after their joint news conference in Tel Aviv December 10, 2014. Livni and the center-left parliamentary opposition leader formed a joint election ticket on Wednesday that polls show could pose a serious challenge to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in March. REUTERS/Stringer (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR4HICW

Israeli candidates offer shallow slogans on security

The escalation on Israel's northern border should have driven Israeli politicians to explain their specific security approaches, but most of them chose to repeat the usual deterrence slogans, without any reference to other diplomatic options.