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Israel

September 20, 2026

Tel Aviv 11:12 am

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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

Netanyahu challenged from the right, not from the left

Israel’s political left is doing so badly that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s most serious challenger currently is right-wing politician Naftali Bennett.

Israeli Economy Minister and head of the far-right Jewish Home party, Naftali Bennett gestures as he gives a speech during a debate on economy on March 11, 2015 in the costal Israeli city of Tel Aviv. Six days before Israel votes in a snap general election, the centre-left Zionist Union opened a lead of several points over the ruling rightwing Likud party, a poll showed. Bennett, 42, is a champion of the settler movement and a key challenger of Netanyahu to head Israel's rightwing. AFP PHOTO / GIL COHEN-

Is Israel ready for a religious prime minister?

Israel never had a religious prime minister, but popular Yamina leader Naftali Bennett is adamant in trying to get hold of the job.

Balloons carrying an incendiary device floats after being released by masked Palestinians near Gaza's Bureij refugee camp, along the Israel-Gaza border fence, on February 10, 2020. (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS / AFP) (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images)

After barrage of explosive balloons, Israel closes crossing point with Gaza

Signaling to Hamas it won’t tolerate more incendiary balloons, Israel announced it will close the Kerem Shalom goods crossing for an undetermined period, allowing only the entry of fuel, food and humanitarian supplies.

Shiite Muslims Hezbollah militants stand to attention as hundreds of people gather in a huge hall waiting to watch a televised speech by Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Shiite Muslim Lebanese Hezbollah militant group on February 22, 2008, in Beirut's southern suburb, ten days after the assassination of Hezbollah commander Imad Mughnieh in a bomb attack in Damascus. Nasrallah's televised speech marked the killing of Mughnieh and the 1992 assassination of its former leader Abbas Mussawi in an Israeli heli

Gantz calls Hezbollah chief Nasrallah 'Lebanon’s biggest problem'

On the backdrop of the explosion in Beirut, Defense Minister Benny Gantz warned that Hezbollah has the habit of stocking ammunition in homes of civilians.

Israel shoots down drone near Lebanon border

The drone incident comes as the Israeli military braces for retaliation from Lebanese militant group Hezbollah along its northern border.

TOPSHOT - Masked Palestinians prepare to attach balloons to a gas canister before releasing it with an incendiary device near Gaza's Bureij refugee camp, along the Israel-Gaza border fence, on February 10, 2020. (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS / AFP) (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images)

Incendiary balloons may spell end of quiet on Israel-Hamas border

The rocket fired from Gaza at the beginning of the week and the incendiary balloons yesterday, might signal that the six months of quiet on the Israel-Hamas border are now over.

Israel's Liberman appoints himself project manager for Netanyahu’s removal

Yisrael Beitenu leader Avigdor Liberman is determined to bring about the toppling of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in any elections to come.

<<enter caption here>> on February 16, 2017 in Washington, DC.

Only Trump can revive Netanyahu’s annexation plan

While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu produces excuses and scapegoats, the only way for his annexation plan to stay alive is if President Donald Trump decides it can help him get reelected.

A picture taken on July 19, 2016 shows the tail of an El Al Israel Airlines' Boeing 777-258 on the tarmac at the Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv. / AFP / JACK GUEZ (Photo credit should read JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel prepares to resume air travel in mid-August

Israel’s coronavirus cabinet has decided to reopen Israeli skies on Aug. 16.

Israel struggles to reach out to Lebanon after blast

Not all Israelis were pleased with Tel Aviv's gesture of solidarity with Lebanon, with quite a few saying that lighting the city hall up like the Lebanese flag went too far.

Tel Aviv outlines plan to face climate crisis

The Tel Aviv-Yafo municipality has unveiled an ambitious plan to meet the challenges of climate change, a first for Israeli cities.

An Israeli police officer, dressed in protective outfit, speaks to a Yeshiva (Jewish educational institution for studies of traditional religious texts)student, in the Israeli city of Bnei Brak on April 2, 2020, during a control to insure that social distancing measures imposed by Israeli authorities meant to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus are being respected. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Despite COVID-19, Israel allows foreign yeshiva students to enter country

After a weekslong battle, foreign yeshiva students will be allowed to enter Israel with lenient quarantine requirements.