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

Israel cover image

Israel

January 17, 2026

Tel Aviv 3:28 pm

19°C

US President Donald Trump (R) greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) at Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, Dec. 29, 2025.

Analysis

Israel 'frustrated' by Trump’s Iran backtrack, unsure if strategy or cold feet

Israeli leaders had hoped that the US president would order attacks to help topple the government in Tehran and perhaps target Supreme Leader Khamenei.

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

Retired Israeli General and Executive Director of Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) Amos Yadlin attends a session at the Manama Dialogue security conference in the Bahraini capital, on Dec. 5, 2020.

Interview

Yadlin: Israel’s regime-change goal in Iran remote without US 'boots on the ground'

The former head of Israel's military intelligence directorate told Al-Monitor that Israel must prepare itself for a possible Iranian response if the US follows through on its threat to hit the Islamic Republic.

Amos Yadlin

Amos Yadlin

Former head of Israel's Military Intelligence Directorate

Men pass by the destroyed Haifa Bakery in Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip, on Nov. 6, 2025.

US to launch Gaza governance plan amid Hamas disarmament doubts

US envoy Steve Witkoff warned that Hamas' failure to comply with the plan's next phase would "bring serious consequences."

Sheikh Hikmat Salman al-Hijri is pictured at Qanawat, the headquarters of the Druze spiritual presidency, on Dec. 28, 2024, in Suwayda, Syria.

Syria Druze leader Hijri calls for independent entity, says country ‘heading toward partition’

Controversial Druze spiritual leader Hikmat al-Hijri, in Syria’s southern province of Suwayda, praised Israel as the only party he said intervened to stop the killing of Druze during a wave of unrest last summer.

Latest News

Analysis

Israel assesses Trump may opt for Iran strike despite protest crackdown

TEHRAN, IRAN - JANUARY 10: The heavily damaged Tax Affairs building is pictured on January 10, 2026 in Tehran, Iran. Some areas of Tehran sustained heavy damage during ongoing protests that came to a head on January 8, amid a growing economic and political crisis sweeping the country. (Photo by Stringer/Getty Images)

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

Israel holds drills, prepares missile defenses for possible Iran attack: What to know

This picture shows a battery of Israel's Iron Dome air defence system in the southern city of Ashdod on May 12, 2023, as Israel's army and Gaza militants traded heavy cross-border fire. Israel and Gaza militants traded heavy fire today as hopes faded of securing a truce to end days of fighting that have killed dozens, all but one of them Palestinian. (Photo by Jack Guez / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

What Syria and Israel’s new communications cell really signals

Israel military vehicles drive along the border fence into Israel, near the town of Majdal Shams, in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, on July 17, 2025. Syrian government forces have withdrawn from the whole of Sweida province after days of sectarian bloodshed in the heartland of the Druze minority, a war monitor and witnesses said July 17, 2025. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP) (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)

Rina Bassist

By Rosaleen Carroll , Rina Bassist

Interview

Gaza calm could revive East Med Forum, Israel-Jordan projects: Cohen

Israel's Foreign Minister Eli Cohen gives a press conference in Larnaca on December 20, 2023 talking about a humanitarian aid corridor from the Mediterranean island to war-torn Gaza. (Photo by Elisa AMOURET / AFP) (Photo by ELISA AMOURET/AFP via Getty Images)

Eli Cohen

Eli Cohen

Israeli Energy Minister

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

Israel technology

Report: Israel tech sector still among world’s strongest

Judicial fallout and layoffs have not hurt the industry's world standing, according to a report from Dealroom.co and Tel Aviv Tech.

Azerbaijani embassy opens

Iran lashes out as Azerbaijan opens embassy in Israel

Israel’s security and political relations with Azerbaijan are strengthening, much to the Islamic Republic’s chagrin.

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos and Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias meet in Nicosia, march 31 2023 Credit: Israel’s embassy in Cyprus

Israeli, Cypriot, Greek FMs discuss Iran's IRGC in Cyprus meeting

The Iranian threat, security cooperation, joint energy projects and tourism were all discussed at the three-way meeting of the Israeli, Cypriot and Greek foreign ministers in Nicosia.

Palestinians pray outside the Dome of the Rock shrine at Al-Aqsa mosque compound, during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan in Jerusalem on March 29, 2023. (Photo by HAZEM BADER / AFP) (Photo by HAZEM BADER/AFP via Getty Images)

Rabbis ask Netanyahu to allow Passover sacrifice on Temple Mount during Ramadan

Jerusalem police is vigilant, as Temple Mount activists are urging Jews to offer biblical Passover sacrifice at the holy site.

Joe Biden Benjamin Netanyahu

Analysis

Israel’s Netanyahu has made himself persona non grata in Washington

The conciliatory phone call between Blinken and Cohen could not hide the growing rift and even crisis developing between Jerusalem and the Biden administration.

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

Israeli defense system Golan Heights

Suspected Israeli missiles hit Syria for second day in a row

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said one of its officers was killed in the attack, and vowed revenge.

An Israeli F-15 Eagle fighter aircraft performs manuevers during the "Noble Dina 23" multilateral aeronautical exercise over the Mediterranean sea on March 27, 2023. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Two Syrian soldiers injured in suspected Israeli strikes

Israel is suspected of carrying out numerous attacks against Syrian and Iranian military targets in Syria this year.

Israeli Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant (R) and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin shake hands after delivering a statement to the press at the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) headquarters near the Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, on March 9, 2023.

Analysis

Sacked Israeli defense chief may apologize as Netanyahu meets replacements

Israelis are outraged by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu firing Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for speaking up against his judicial reform efforts.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Israel soccer

Culture

Explainer: The Israel-Indonesia soccer dispute

FIFA removed Indonesia as the host for an upcoming tournament after the country expressed opposition to hosting the Israeli team, and may sanction its soccer body. Anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian sentiment is strong in Indonesia, despite the country’s distance from the Middle East.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (L) speaks during a press conference with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) in Athens on January 2, 2020 following the signing ceremony of an agreement for the EastMed pipeline project designed to ship gas from the eastern Mediterranean to Europe in Athens on January 2, 2020. (Photo by ARIS MESSINIS / AFP) (Photo by ARIS MESSINIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Mossad says it foiled Iranian-Pakistani attack on Israelis in Greece

Israel’s spy agency assisted its Greek counterpart in dismantling a Pakistani terror cell, affiliated with Iran, that was planning attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden (L) sits with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before a dinner at the Prime Minister's residence March 9, 2010 in Jerusalem, Israel. Biden, visiting Israel as part of U.S.-led efforts to restart Middle East peace talks, on Tuesday condemned Israel's plans for 1,600 new homes in an area of the occupied West Bank it has annexed to Jerusalem. (Photo by Baz Ratner-Pool/Getty Images)

Biden rebukes Netanyahu, says no invite to the White House in 'near term'

In an open crisis with the Israeli government over the judicial overhaul, President Joe Biden nixes inviting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu anytime soon to the White House.

Ghiora Lehler, a 79-year-old veteran Israeli paratrooper, waves a national flag during a rally against the government's judicial reform bill.

Analysis

Winners, losers emerge after Israel’s Netanyahu suspends judicial overhaul

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the ultra-Orthodox parties and even the IDF are on the side of the losers now that the judicial overhaul has been postponed.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics