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

Israel cover image

Israel

September 29, 2026

Tel Aviv 4:54 am

24°C

Ronen Bar, former chief of Israel's domestic Shin Bet security agency

Ex-Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar to sue Netanyahu over Oct. 7 accusations: What to know

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar of withholding information in the hours before the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, but the former security chief rejected the claim, saying he intends to file a defamation suit.

Israeli PM

On secret UAE visit, Netanyahu asked MBZ to deny pre-Oct. 7 warnings

During his trip to Abu Dhabi, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked President Mohamed bin Zayed to deny reports that he had been warned ahead of the Oct. 7 attack that Hamas was preparing a major assault.

A general view of the damaged building housing Tigray TV, the state broadcaster of the Tigray region, following a drone strike in Mekelle, Ethiopia, Sept. 27, 2026.

20 Israelis stranded in Ethiopia seek evacuation as fighting resumes: What to know

Twenty Israeli tourists are asking the Foreign Ministry to arrange their evacuation from the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia, where fighting resumed on Tuesday.

ANGELA WEISS / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Can Netanyahu turn Israel's UN isolation into strength at home?

The absence of a Trump meeting would have been awkward for Netanyahu, who has long portrayed himself to Israeli voters as uniquely close to the US president.

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

Latest News

Delegates walk out as Netanyahu touts Iran war, slams Qatar and Turkey at UN

Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu waves to delegates leaving before his UN speech

Israel election committee bars two Arab lists from upcoming vote: What to know

Leader of the Arab Israeli party Ra'am (United Arab List) Mansour Abbas (R) and Israeli politician Yoav Segalovitz (L) attend a news conference in Nazareth on August 31, 2026. Abbas announced that Segalovitz, an Israeli Jew, will join his party for the upcoming Israeli elections. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Why Netanyahu is distancing himself from Trump ahead of Israeli election

ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP via Getty Images

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

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

Gargash

United Arab Emirates

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 Labor chief’s anti-Arab strategy

Comments of Israeli Labor chair Avi Gabbay against Israeli Arab Labor Knesset member Zouheir Bahloul reflects Gabbay’s strategy of abandoning left-wing values to seek right-wing votes.

Traditional meets modern in Israel's ultra-Orthodox art

A new art gallery in the heart of an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Jerusalem reflects the sector's changing attitude toward art.

US optimistic about Mideast peace deal

The US administration will soon publish guidelines for restarting Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

Have Israelis forgotten that Rabin was killed over politics?

After years of sidelining the fact that Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's assassination was politically motivated, his son Yuval Rabin stands up and denounces the political incitement that led to the murder.

Israel, Hezbollah playing Russian roulette in Syria

Russia has managed to prevent confrontations between Israel and Hezbollah in Syria, but will its luck run out in the long term?

Chairman of the FIFA Monitoring Committee Israel-Palestine Tokyo Sexwale poses for photographers after a meeting of the FIFA Council at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland October 14, 2016. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann - D1AEUGXWSFAA

Palestinians cry foul at FIFA decision

Some say FIFA is getting involved in the political game after it refused to take action on six Israeli soccer clubs playing in settlements of the occupied West Bank.

People release pigeons during an event to show support for a unity deal between rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah, in Gaza City, October 13, 2017. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RC13CF7EA9F0

Hamas serious about Palestinian reconciliation deal

The tough economic sanctions carried out by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas against Hamas may have been the final straw to convince Hamas to finally see out a reconciliation agreement.

Netanyahu celebrates Balfour Declaration, yet ignores its legacy

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went to London for the centennial ceremony of the Balfour Declaration, sidelining the essence of the declaration and its vision of peace with the Palestinians.

A Palestinian militant of the National Resistance brigades, the armed wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), gets out of a tunnel during a graduation ceremony in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on November 4, 2016. / AFP / SAID KHATIB (Photo credit should read SAID KHATIB/AFP/Getty Images)

Israel and Gaza's underground battle

Besides constructing an underground wall obstacle to thwart the building of attack tunnels, Israel is also developing technologies to identify tunnel digging from above ground.

Netanyahu's half-truth

The speech delivered by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the opening of the Knesset’s winter session indicates that being at the top for too long has impeded his ability to look down.

Moshe Kahlon, Israel's new Finance Minister, attends a meeting at the Finance Ministry in Jerusalem May 18, 2015. Boosting competition in Israel's banking system and the economy as a whole as well as bringing down property prices will be priorities for the country's new finance minister, he said on Monday. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - GF10000099277

Is Israel really implementing economic aid to Palestinians?

Palestinians argue that Israel has not implemented the economic aid measures it has promised, apart from finalizing the already authorized Hebron industrial park.

US project aims to improve water access for Palestinian farmers

The US consulate in Jerusalem launched a $10 million water project to increase Palestinian farmers' access to treated irrigation water.