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

Israel cover image

Israel

September 19, 2026

Tel Aviv 8:24 pm

27°C

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and French President Emmanuel Macron arrive to hold a joint press conference in Jerusalem, Oct. 24, 2023.

Analysis

After France's settlement ban, Israel sees no warming of ties with Macron government

Israeli diplomats say France’s decision to ban imports from West Bank settlements has brought bilateral relations to an unprecedented low point.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman looks on as he attends a trade agreement signature ceremony at the Elysee Palace in Paris on August 24, 2026. (Photo by LOU BENOIST / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

How Netanyahu is leveraging Houthi threat in secret Saudi normalization push

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to capitalize on Riyadh's need for intelligence assistance to make normalization headway ahead of the October elections.

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

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.

Latest News

Culture

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

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)

Explainer

Why France is pushing to keep UNIFIL in Lebanon beyond 2026

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

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

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

Opposition leader Lapid accuses Netanyahu of turning back on Democrats

Opposition Chair Yair Lapid said this morning that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acts out of his own personal interests when he sidelines ties with Democrats in favor of Republicans and President Donald Trump.

Israeli Right wing Likud party affiliates and supporters od US President Donald Trump attend a pre-election rally in the Israeli city of Beit Shemesh on Novemver 2, 2020, ahead of the US presidential election. (Photo by Menahem KAHANA / AFP) (Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images)

Senior Israeli Orthodox rabbis urge Americans to vote for Trump

A group of Jewish settlers in the Palestinian West Bank also prayed for the US president's victory at Abraham's tomb on Monday.

WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 15: Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu waves as he arrives outside the West Wing of the White House September 15, 2020 in Washington, DC. Netanyahu is in Washington to participate in the signing ceremony of the Abraham Accords. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

With polls plunging, Netanyahu rebrands himself as responsible adult

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu realized that if he wants to preserve his popularity and save the Likud party from plunging in the polls, he must focus on one thing only: defeating the coronavirus pandemic.

Israelis addicted to tweeter specialized in COVID-19 charts

Tweeting under the name Little Moiz, Eldad Sitbon has become a source of reference with his coronavirus graphs and charts.

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men study in a hall divided with plastic sheets as prevention from COVID-19, at their Kollel, a gathering place for full-time advanced Jewish law studies, in the religious city of Bnei Brak near Tel Aviv in central Israel, on October 25, 2020. - As Israel entered lockdown in March, a video emerged showing 92-year-old rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, one of the world's most powerful, flanked by his grandson and top advisor Yaakov, professing ignorance about coronavirus and insisting religious sch

Ultra-Orthodox Israeli town finally leaves coronavirus red zone

The ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak has managed to lower the number of infections, largely because local rabbis convinced their congregations to observe the state-ordered restrictions.

Israeli farm workers harvest Cabernet Sauvignon grapes for Bazelet HaGolan winery, beneath wind turbines constructed between vineyards and fruit orchards as part of a wind farm, near El Rom settlement in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights by the border with Syria, on October 5, 2020. (Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP) (Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel boycott movement furious at UAE over deal to import wine from occupied Golan Heights

The United Arab Emirates signed a deal with Israel to buy wine produced in the settlements of the occupied Golan Heights, prompting a wave of anger among Palestinians and the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.

United Arab Emirates

Intel: US, Sudan sign terror claims agreement

The last major step in restoring US-Sudanese relations is legislation pending in Congress that would restore Sudan's sovereign immunity.

IZMIR, TURKEY - OCTOBER 30: Emergency services personnel search a collapsed building for survivors after a powerful earthquake struck on October 30, 2020 in Izmir, Turkey. Six people have been killed and more than two hundred were injured after an earthquake struck the Aegean Sea off the coast of Turkey's Izmir Province. More than twenty buildings were destroyed in Izmir, Turkey's third largest city. (Photo by Usame Ari/Getty Images)

Israel offers aid to Turkey after earthquake

Israel's defense minister has announced emergency aid to Turkey after an earthquake rocked Izmir and Samos.

An Israeli policewoman stands guard at an entrance of the al-Aqsa compound, leading to the Dome of the Rock mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem on October 18, 2020, amid the novel coronavirus pandemic crisis. - Israel began to ease its month-long coronavirus nationwide lockdown, allowing citizens to venture further than 1km (0.6 miles) away from their home with preschools, daycare centres and places of worship reopening to all, under some restrictions. (Photo by Emmanuel DUNAND / AFP) (Photo by EMMANUEL DUN

New normal takes shape for Israel, Palestinians, UAE

Israelis and Emiratis throw themselves into their new relationship and Palestinians are throwing Gulf visitors out of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

United Arab Emirates

Netanyahu gets one more — perhaps last — gift from Trump

The cancellation of the US ban against supporting research in West Bank settlement institutions would surely benefit Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his efforts to appease the settlers.

Israelis light 25,000 candles at Rabin Square in the Israeli coastal city Tel Aviv, on October 29, 2020, ahead of the 25th anniversary of the assassination of former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, - Rabin was gunned down in Tel Aviv after a peace rally on November 4, 1995 by a right-wing Jewish extremist Yigal Amir. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Violence in air as Israel mourns Rabin

25 years after the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Israeli society is divided more than ever and incitement is reaching new heights.

Benny Gantz (C), Israel's Alternate Prime Minister and Defence Minister, receives US Defense Secretary Mark Esper (2nd-R) and his wife Leah (R), all mask-clad due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, at Ben Gurion International Airport in Lod on October 29, 2020. (Photo by Paul HANDLEY / AFP) (Photo by PAUL HANDLEY/AFP via Getty Images)

After meeting Esper, Gantz says US committed to Israel’s security

It took three meetings between US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz to convince the latter to drop his opposition to the F-35 sale to the United Arab Emirates.

United Arab Emirates