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

Israel cover image

Israel

September 29, 2026

Tel Aviv 7:47 pm

26°C

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

A Palestinian woman holds an umbrella to cover herself from rain as she makes her way to fill containers with water in Shejaia neighborhood, that witnesses said was devastated during a seven-week Israeli offensive, in the east of Gaza City October 19, 2014. An open-ended ceasefire between Israel and Hamas-led Gaza militants, mediated by Egypt, took effect on August 26 after a seven-week conflict. It called for an indefinite halt to hostilities, the immediate opening of Gaza's blockaded crossings with Israe

Hamas: Israel fails to implement cease-fire deal

Israel is keeping Gaza's borders closed as efforts to begin reconstruction stall, heightening the despair of ordinary Palestinians and frustrating Hamas.

Israeli policemen detain an Arab youth during clashes at the entrance to the town of Kfar Kanna, north of Israel, November 8, 2014. Thousands took to the streets on Saturday hours after Khayr al-Din al-Hamdan was shot by police, after he attacked them as they came to arrest a relative. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST RELIGION) - RTR4DDLH

Police shooting of Arab Israeli youth could ignite Israel

The police shooting of a young Arab resident of Kafr Kana proves that 14 years after the killing of protesters in the October 2000 riot police still discriminate against Arab citizens and treat them like enemies.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel welcomes Israel's Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon to an Honor Cordon at the Pentagon in Washington, October 21, 2014. REUTERS/Larry Downing (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR4B0IM

Israel risks losing support from US, Europe

The continued settlement policy of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might drive the United States to reduce its diplomatic support of Israel, thus damaging its strategic security interests and ability to respond to security threats.

Palestinian protesters take up position during clashes with Israeli troops following a protest against what organizers say are recent visits by Jewish activists to al-Aqsa mosque, at Qalandia checkpoint near the West Bank city of Ramallah November 7, 2014. In recent months, a campaign for the prayer ban on Jewish worshippers at the site, known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount, to be overturned, led by settler activists, has gathered momentum, raising alarm among Palestinians and

Temple Mount blindness: Bibi takes the nation for a ride

Ministers Tzipi Livni and Yair Lapid, who continue to hold to their Cabinet seats, are as much to blame as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the lack of diplomatic progress with the Palestinians and the risk of a third intifada.

Israeli school children stand next to a memorial marking the site where Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated in Tel Aviv October 20, 2010. On Wednesday Israel marks the 15th anniversary of Rabin's killing by an ultra-nationalist Jewish assassin. REUTERS/Nir Elias (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST ANNIVERSARY) - RTXTMUL

Israelis remember Rabin, but many reject his legacy

Educators, especially within the national-religious sector, debate whether Rabin Memorial Day should be dedicated to his political legacy or to tolerance and coexistence.

U.S. President Barack Obama (R) meets with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in Washington October 1, 2014. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR48IZD

Palestinians see US-Israel 'crisis' as temporary

According to Palestinian officials, reports of a crisis threatening US-Israeli ties are overblown, as the US administration remains committed to Israel.

Israeli border police officers walks in front of the Dome of the Rock on the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City November 5, 2014. Israeli security forces hurling stun grenades clashed with Palestinian stone-throwers at al-Aqsa mosque - a confrontation that has played out frequently over the past several weeks. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST RELIGION) - RTR4CY31

The third intifada is here

Preventing Jews from ascending Temple Mount seems to be the only solution to avoid further conflict in Jerusalem and the risk of another "Al-Aqsa intifada."

An Israeli solider points his weapon toward Palestinian protesters during clashes following an anti-Israel demonstration over the recent entry restrictions to the al-Aqsa mosque, at Qalandia checkpoint near the West Bank city of Ramallah November 2, 2014. A far-right politician who wants Jews to be allowed to pray at Jerusalem's al-Aqsa compound visited the site on Sunday, defying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's calls for restraint after clashes this week between Israeli police and Palestinians. Sunday

Israel, Jordan fear violence over Temple Mount

Jordan is caught between a rock and a hard place: It has recalled its envoy in reaction to violence outbreaks on the Temple Mount, but still seeks to maintain its strategic ties with Israel.

Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon speaks during an interview with Reuters in Jerusalem August 12, 2009. Israel under right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not resume Turkish-mediated peace talks with Syria, insisting that any new negotiations be direct, Ayalon said on Wednesday. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM POLITICS) - RTR26MPZ

Israel's Ayalon: GOP victories won't affect US foreign policy

In an interview with Al-Monitor, former Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon discusses the effects of the US midterm elections.

Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman exits a news conference on the sidelines of the 69th United Nations General Assembly at the U.N. headquarters in New York September 29, 2014. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR487C1

Netanyahu, Liberman deepening Israel's isolation

The Israeli government has to understand that its barbs at European and American allies critical of settlement construction are ineffective, because settlement expansion will continue to isolate Israel internationally.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (C) leaves Tel Aviv District Court May 13, 2014. Olmert was sentenced to six years in jail on Tuesday for taking bribes in a massive real estate deal, a crime the judge said was akin to treason. REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS CRIME LAW TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR3OW3Q

Was Olmert's peace proposal a political maneuver?

Evidence introduced in the trial of former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert recalls his hurried peace proposal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2008, shedding a new light on the possible motives behind it.

Fresh Paint 3 - Yuval Avivi.jpg

Israeli art fair aims to attract new collectors

The Fresh Paint contemporary art fair, which opened this week in Tel Aviv, offers art lovers a chance to acquire Israeli works of art at reasonable prices, while introducing a new generation of up-and-coming young artists.