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September 29, 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

People walk past a grafitti tag reading "I am Charlie" as they take part in a solidarity march (Marche Republicaine) in the streets of Paris January 11, 2015. French citizens will be joined by dozens of foreign leaders, among them Arab and Muslim representatives, in a march on Sunday in an unprecedented tribute to this week's victims following the shootings by gunmen at the offices of the satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo, the killing of a police woman in Montrouge, and the hostage taking at a kosher

Rina Bassist on why she writes

Al-Monitor contributor Rina Bassist shares her thoughts on journalism.

Ultra-Orthodox scene bursting with kosher fashion

Young Israeli ultra-Orthodox fashion designers prove that a woman can dress stylishly, even within limits of religious modesty.

Israeli police officers stand guard on the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City November 5, 2014. As Jordan joins a military campaign against Islamic State militants in Syria, tensions in Jerusalem pose a potentially bigger risk to a nation only slightly scathed by the turmoil sweeping the Middle East. Picture taken November 5, 2014.
To match Insight MIDEAST-CRISIS/JORDAN-STABILITY
REUTERS/Ammar Awad (JERUSALEM - Tags: MILITARY POLITICS RELIGION C

Does Israel's police have a problem with women?

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Erella Shadmi, an academic researcher and retired policewoman, says she was unsurprised by revelations of sexual harassment within the police: ''This phenomenon has been well known for more than 20 years.''

Israeli army soldiers stand guard during a demonstration by Palestinians against the closure of the main road in Jabaa area south of the West Bank city of Bethlehem January 17, 2015. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR4LSL6

Political deadlock could lead to security escalation in West Bank

Palestinian officials view Israel's recent military maneuvers in the West Bank and its prediction of an uprising as attempts to escalate the security situation.

Israeli poet Agi Mishol avoids rallying for political causes

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Israeli poet Agi Mishol speaks about the difference between men and women poets.

Turkish Air Force pilots stand in front of an F-4 fighter plane flanked by Turkish and Israeli flags during a ceremony for F-4E fighter planes at an air base in western Turkish city of Eskisehir January 27. Two F-4E 2020 planes were handed to Turkish air force during a ceremony in Eskisehir air base after they were modernised by Israeli air force as part of modernization of 54 Turkish F-4E fighter planes.

FS/GB - RTRPBQ

Turkey's 'flying coffins'

Turkey's loss of six pilots in the crash of three F-4Es has led to a public outcry as the nation awaits answers and the air force works on replacing the fleet.

A man places a Palestinian flag on a fence surrounding the U.S. consulate during a rally in support of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' bid for statehood recognition in the United Nations, in Arab East Jerusalem September 21, 2011. Abbas plans on Friday to submit an application for full U.N. membership for the state of Palestine based in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the coastal Gaza Strip -- lands occupied by Israel in 1967. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2RM9T

One Palestinian's quest for a US visa

After being granted a scholarship to study in the United States, a Palestinian media lecturer struggled to reach the US Consulate in Jerusalem, where he was shocked to see Palestinians and Israelis being treated equally.

Israeli lawmaker Danny Danon (C), a deputy parliament speaker, is surrounded by police officers as he walks on the compound known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif and to Jews as Temple Mount, in Jerusalem's Old City July 20, 2010. Danon, a lawmaker of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing party, on Tuesday visited the flashpoint religious site in Jerusalem revered by Jews and Muslims, a move that has sparked violence in the past. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION) - RTR2GKI0

Danon: Bibi's speech to Congress sent the right message

In an interview with Al-Monitor, former Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon argues that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech succeeded in shifting the international community's focus back to the essential debate on the imminent agreement with Iran.

An Israeli Arab walks past a campaign poster showing Israeli-Arab candidates who are members of a joint list of Arab parties (from L to R), Ahmad Tibi, Jamal Zahalka, Masud Ghanayem and Ayman Odeh, in Kfar Menda, 16 kilometres northwest of the city of Nazareth, on March 8, 2015. General elections in Israel are to take place on March 17. AFP PHOTO / AHMAD GHARABLI (Photo credit should read AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP/Getty Images)

Joint List isolates itself before elections

The decision by Ayman Odeh, leader of the Joint List of predominantly Arab parties, to refuse a vote-sharing deal with the leftist Zionist Meretz Party might discredit his commitment to rebuild the bridges between Jews and Arabs.

Tzipi Livni (R) and Isaac Herzog, heads of the centrist Zionist Union party, hold a news conference in Tel Aviv to introduce their party's platform for the March 17 election, March 8, 2015. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR4SIUR

Will Herzog compromise party values to join government?

According to his own statements, his openness to the establishment of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders threatens to prevent Zionist Camp leader Isaac Herzog from joining a Likud-led government after the elections.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas gestures as he speaks during a meeting for the Central Council of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, March 4, 2015. Palestinian leaders began a two-day meeting on Wednesday at which they could decide to suspend security coordination with Israel, a move that would have a profound impact on stability in the occupied West Bank. Relations between the two sides have grown dangerously brittle since the collapse of U.S.-brokered peace tal

Is the Oslo process really over?

The Palestinian Central Council announced the end of security cooperation with Israel, though many are skeptical that the decision will be implemented.

Arab-Israeli parliament members and other candidates join their hands after it was announced that a joint political slate of all the Arab parties will be running in the upcoming elections, during a news conference in Nazareth, January 23, 2015. Four political parties that mostly represent Israel's Arab minority have decided to run together in elections on March 17, creating a potential counter-weight to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing allies. Opinion polls suggest the united Arab list

Arab women's new face in the Knesset

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Aida Touma-Sliman, social activist and soon to be Knesset member, explains her long-standing political career in the Arab sector, battling violence against women and promoting coexistence.