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

Israel cover image

Israel

September 18, 2026

Tel Aviv 8:33 am

28°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

Hady Amr

US sends diplomat to urge calm as Israel, Hamas fighting escalates

Hady Amr, the top State Department official on Israeli-Palestinian affairs, will push for both sides to de-escalate.

Heavy smoke and fire surround Al-Sharouk tower as it collapses during an Israeli air strike, in Gaza City on May 12, 2021.

The Takeaway: How Netanyahu gains politically from conflict with Gaza

Also: The United Arab List may be down, but it's not out; Biden administration sends envoy to region; our coverage from Israel, Gaza, Jerusalem and the West Bank; Egypt wants return of pregnant mummy from Poland.

GIL COHEN-MAGEN/AFP via Getty Images

Disaster unfolds as hell breaks loose in Israel, Gaza

Israel was unprepared for the nightmare scenario of simultaneous rioting in the country and massive rocket attacks from Gaza.

Ra'am Party leader Mansour Abbas and other party members attend a meeting with President Reuven Rivlin at the President's residence on April 5, 2021 in Jerusalem.

Arab-supported government in Israel looks less likely

Riots in Lod, Ramle and other mixed Jewish and Arab cities, coupled with Israeli retaliation against the barrage of rockets from Gaza, are making an Arab-backed government coalition look increasing unfeasible.

SAID KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images

1,000 rockets from Gaza fired at Israel overnight

Hundreds of thousands of Israelis ran to shelters over the night as sirens blared warnings of rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.

A torched observation post is seen outside a religious Jewish school in the central city of Lod, near Tel Aviv, following nighttime clashes between Arab Israelis and Israeli Jews, Israel, May 11, 2021.

Protests, violence break out in mixed Jewish-Arab cities of Israel

An Arab-Israeli man was shot dead and Jewish Israeli businesses were attacked in the city of Lod last night.

JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

Israel's security crisis has new political team sweating

Israel's evolving security crisis has put a damper on the formation of a new government.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs a Cabinet meeting, as an escalation of violence raged for a second day in the Gaza Strip, Jerusalem, Nov. 13, 2019.

Will escalation with Hamas benefit Netanyahu?

Escalation with Hamas arrives exactly at the moment when the anti-Netanyahu bloc is trying to cobble up a "government for change."

Israeli police officers clash with Palestinians during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan on April 24, 2021 in Jerusalem.

US expresses 'serious concerns' to Israel over Jerusalem violence

National security adviser Jake Sullivan said the United States had "serious concerns" over the Jerusalem clashes and the potential evictions of Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.

Palestinians run for cover from tear gas fired by Israeli security forces at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound on May 10, 2021, ahead of a planned march to commemorate Israel's takeover of Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War.

Temple Mount violence bares fragility of Turkey’s attempts to fix relations with Israel

Turkey's president and other officials have condemned Israel's crackdown on Palestinians in unrest at Al-Aqsa mosque, posing a serious threat to Ankara's efforts to mend ties with Israel.

Israeli security forces fire tear gas at Palestinian protesters along the Israel-Gaza border, east of Khan Yunis town in the southern Gaza Strip on May 8, 2021. Israel braced for more protests after clashes at Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound wounded more than 200 people and as the international community urged calm after days of escalating violence. The clashes came as tensions have soared over Israeli restrictions on access to parts of the Old City during Ramadan and the threat of eviction h

Jerusalem hit by Hamas rockets

After demanding Israeli police withdraw from the Temple Mount compound, Hamas fired this evening several rockets at Jerusalem and at Israeli communities in the south.

EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP via Getty Images

New loan fund could save small Arab-Israeli businesses

Already fragile small Arab-Israeli businesses were hit especially hard by the pandemic and the ensuing economic crisis.