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

Israel cover image

Israel

September 18, 2026

Tel Aviv 5:05 am

25°C

OLIVER BUNIC/AFP via Getty Images

Serbia opens factory to assemble Israeli-made drones: What to know

Serbian President Vucic said the factory will put together “state-of-the-art” Israeli-designed drones and employ around 100 workers.

Royal Air Maroc Boeing 787-9 'Dreamliner' aircraft

Israel, Morocco agree to exchange ambassadors, open embassies

The move will mark the first time Morocco and Israel have exchanged ambassadors.

ISRAEL-ENTERTAINMENT-TELEVISION-POLITICS-GOVERNMENT-MASS-MEDIA-D (L to R) Lior Raz and Avi Issacharoff, co-creators of the hit Israeli TV show "Fauda", attend a demonstration against the Israeli government's plans to shut-down public broadcaster KAN, in Israel's Mediterranean coastal city of Tel Aviv on January 25, 2023. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Culture

Israeli show ‘Fauda’ tops Netflix in Lebanon, hits top 10 across Arab states

The show was created by Israeli journalist Avi Issacharoff and actor Lior Raz, drawing on their experiences serving in the Israeli military’s elite Duvdevan unit.

UN peacekeepers stand next to an armored vehicle during a patrol in southern Lebanon, Feb. 22, 2026.

Explainer

Why France is pushing to keep UNIFIL in Lebanon beyond 2026

Showing its support for Lebanon, Paris is backing Beirut’s request at the UN for a short-term extension of UNIFIL’s mandate, although French sources acknowledge that the chances of the request being approved are slim.

Latest News

Exclusive

Lacking deterrence, Israel’s security establishment opposes attacks on Houthis

Fighters loyal to the Houthi authorities, brandish their weapons during a rally to recruit more fighters, in Sanaa on September 10, 2026. The country relapsed into war in July after years of calm, drawn into the regional conflict triggered by the US-Israeli offensive against Iran that began at the end of February. (Photo by Mohammed HUWAIS / AFP via Getty Images)

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

Analysis

Europe’s West Bank trade ban fires warning shot at Israel’s economy

Jewish settlement of Kedumim, in the West Bank

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Analysis

Once Netanyahu’s top challenger, Bennett loses ground to Eisenkot: What to know

Erik Marmor

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

Israel says it destroyed Hezbollah tunnels in Ali al-Taher ridge: What to know

A photograph taken from the southern Lebanese area of Nabatieh shows smoke as it rises from the site of Israeli strikes that targeted the hilltops of the mountainous area of the strategic Ali al-Taher Ridge on Aug. 14, 2026.

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 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrive for a joint press conference, days after an Egypt-brokered truce halted fighting between the Jewish state and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Jerusalem, May 25, 2021.

Is two-state solution back on Israel’s agenda?

Israel’s leadership must understand that as far as the Biden administration is concerned the two-state solution is back on the agenda.

In this handout image provided by the Israeli Government Press Office, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the first leg of his four-day trip to the Middle East, Jerusalem, May 25, 2021.

Israel sets conditions for talks with Palestinians via Egypt

Reports say Israel is interested in the Egyptian initiative for indirect talks with Hamas, but conditions Hamas on advancing the return of Israeli captives and bodies of soldiers held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

This picture shows a view of the predominantly Arab neighbourhood of Silwan, just outside the Old City in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, on Nov. 9, 2020.

Israeli court postpones ruling on East Jerusalem evictions

The Jerusalem court delayed ruling on whether two Palestinians families must vacate their homes in favor of Israeli settlers in the Silwan neighborhood.

Palestinians scuffle with Israeli security forces outside the court in Jerusalem on May 26, 2021 during a protest over Israel's planned evictions of Palestinian families from homes in the eastern sector's Silwan district.

In Israel, Jewish-Arab tensions remain high

The cease-fire between Israel and Hamas is in place and working for the moment, but tensions within Jewish-Arab mixed cities inside Israel have not disappeared yet.

Blinken in Jerusalem

Blinken announces US aid to Gaza, says Hamas won't benefit

Secretary of State Antony Blinken also said the US will move to reopen the US Consulate in Jerusalem, which served as a de facto American embassy for the Palestinians before it was shuttered by the prior administration.

AMIT SHABI/AFP via Getty Images

Gaza war puts Netanyahu, Gantz back on same team

During Operation Guardian of the Walls, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Benny Gantz put aside their differences and bitterness.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) and Israeli Ambassador to the United States Gilad Erdan (R), Jerusalem, May 25, 2021.

Netanyahu, Blinken discuss Israel’s security, Gaza reconstruction

Meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated US commitment for Israel’s security, and said the United States is committed also to the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.

An Israeli farmer tries to extinguish a fire caused by inflammable material attached to a helium balloon flown by Palestinian protesters from across the border, in a wheat field near the Nahal Oz kibbutz, along the border with the Gaza Strip, Israel, May 15, 2019.

After cease-fire, Israel prepares for next round of Gaza conflict

Seniors in the political and security echelons are convinced that the current cease-fire with Hamas does not mean quiet for a very long time.

Egypt's Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry speaks during a joint press conference following a meeting on the Middle East Peace process, at the quai d'Orsay, in Paris, on March 11, 2021.

Israeli-Egyptian cooperation grows following end of Gaza conflict

Israel has been quiet on its contacts with Egypt throughout the latest security crisis, but the agreement on the cease-fire with Hamas, Friday's phone call between the two foreign ministers and the reopening yesterday of two Gaza crossing points for humanitarian aid reflect growing cooperation between Jerusalem and Cairo.

Barnea, Netanyahu and Cohen of Israel's Mossad.

David Barnea to be nominated as next Mossad head

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced today that current Deputy Mossad Chief David Barnea will replace head of the espionage agency Yossi Cohen, who finishes his mandate at the beginning of June.

AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images

Israeli soldier, civilian stabbed in east Jerusalem

Israeli police shot and killed a Palestinian man after he allegedly stabbed a soldier and civilian in east Jerusalem Monday.

Stefani Reynolds/Getty Images

Blinken visits Middle East to bolster Israel-Hamas cease-fire

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Jerusalem, Ramallah, Cairo and Amman this week for discussions on maintaining the fragile cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.