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Israel

September 23, 2026

Tel Aviv 2:52 pm

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ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Why Netanyahu is distancing himself from Trump ahead of Israeli election

No meeting has been announced between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly summit in New York.

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

Gargash

UAE's Gargash expects 'prolonged' war, calls for Iran-Gulf security talks

"We need a new mindset that these sort of discussions ... can happen at an Iranian-American level, it should also take place at an Iranian-Arab level," Gargash told Al-Monitor.

United Arab Emirates

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

Latest News

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

OLIVER BUNIC/AFP via Getty Images

Israel, Morocco agree to exchange ambassadors, open embassies

Royal Air Maroc Boeing 787-9 'Dreamliner' aircraft

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.

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

A picture taken on February 27, 2018 shows a view of the mobile and temporary dwellings of Palestinian families living near the Israeli settlement of Susya, which have been warned to evacuate due to being in the so-called "Area C" in the occupied West Bank near Yatta south of the city of Hebron. / AFP PHOTO / HAZEM BADER (Photo credit should read HAZEM BADER/AFP via Getty Images)

France to support Palestinian agriculture in West Bank areas under Israeli control

The Palestinian government and the French Development Agency signed agreements that will support the development of agriculture and water networks in Area C.

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - MAY 08: israeli minister of defense Avigdor Liberman greeting the Veterans of the Red army celebrating and comemorating victory over Nazi Germany 73 yeras ago at the Isreali Parlament (The Knesset) on May 8, 2018 in Jerusalem, Israel. Total numbers of deaths during World War II vary but the Soviet Union bore an incredible brunt of casualties during WWII. An estimated 16,825,000 people died in the war, over 15% of its population, many of them were jewish soldiers and Partisan fighters. In

Israelis from Russia: A voyage from atheism to religion

Despite the secular campaign by Yisrael Beitenu leader Avigdor Liberman, and despite their atheist upbringing, a significant number of Jews who immigrated to Israel from the former Soviet Union have become religious.

Police check the IDs of suspected prostitutes in Tel Aviv. (Photo by Antoine GYORI/Sygma via Getty Images)

Sex workers fall victim to Israeli government paralysis

Due to the paralysis of successive transitional governments in Israel, millions of shekels allocated to the Welfare Ministry to help sex workers get out of the business have gone unused and might therefore be returned to the Finance Ministry.

Could Israeli legal system force Netanyahu to resign?

Faced with the cases against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit and the Supreme Court justices will be unable to ignore the precedent that booted indicted politicians.

Will Netanyahu go to prison?

If convicted, Benjamin Netanyahu would become the second Israeli prime minister to serve jail time.

Israel to further tighten the noose on Hamas

As a part of the financial restrictions on Hamas, Israel issued a decision to economically pursue Palestinian and foreign figures whom Israel accuses of funding terrorism, and added the president of the Arab Organization for Human Rights on the list of those pursued.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looks on as he sits next to Benny Gantz, leader of Blue and White party, during a memorial ceremony for late Israeli President Shimon Peres, at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem September 19, 2019. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RC140183F6E0

Demands for term limits rise as Netanyahu clings to power

Benjamin Netanyahu's endless fight to keep the premiership has prompted calls for change from Israelis exhausted from three elections in one year.

A Palestinian man shows his ink-stained finger after casting his ballot at a polling station during municipal elections in the West Bank village of Yatta, near Hebron May 13, 2017. REUTERS/Ammar Awad - RC19806991C0

Israel must set conditions for Hamas over Palestinian elections

Israel should agree to the Palestinian demand of enabling elections also in East Jerusalem, but it should not agree for terror group Hamas to participate in the electoral process.

What’s behind Abbas’ demand for voting stations in Jerusalem?

The insistence of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Israel enabling East Jerusalem residents to vote in the upcoming Palestinian elections might hide his fear of a Hamas victory.

Palestinians plan legal steps to stop new Hebron settlement

A controversial proposal for a new settlement in the heart of Hebron calls for bulldozing a long-barricaded Palestinian vegetable market to build new shops and housing for Israelis.

Cairo hosts Islamic Jihad summit as incentive for truce talks

Egypt has hosted critical meetings for Hamas and now the Palestinian Islamic Jihad's political bureau both to promote its own role as mediator and as a reward for participating in cease-fire agreements.

Israel to begin exporting gas to Egypt next month

In just a few weeks, Egypt should be receiving natural gas from Israel's Leviathan field.