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

Israel cover image

Israel

June 10, 2026

Tel Aviv 4:25 pm

28°C

US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrive to speak to journalists during a joint press conference at Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, on December 29, 2025. US President Donald Trump hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Florida on December 29 for crucial talks on moving to the next stage of the fragile Gaza truce plan.The two leaders also discussed Iran, with Trump saying that if Tehran rebuilt its nuclear facilities the United States wo

Analysis

'We are already hearing the bus': Israeli insiders fear Netanyahu is losing Trump’s backing on Iran

“He couldn’t afford a confrontation with Trump, who was the last asset he had left,” a Netanyahu associate told Al-Monitor, describing the prime minister’s struggle to balance pressure for retaliation against Iran with the need to preserve his alliance with the US president.

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

Latest News

Vance says US and Israel's 'interests diverge' on Iran nuclear issue: What to know

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

US military helped Israel intercept Iran's missiles: What to know

Rocket trails are seen in the sky above the Israeli coastal city of Netanya on June 7, 2026.

Israel-Iran escalation grounds flights across parts of Middle East

An Airbus A321 airliner arrives at the Mehrabad international airport during the delivery of the first batch of planes to the Iranian state airline Iran Air in the capital Tehran on Jaunary 12, 2017. - The aircraft arrived as part of an order for 100 other Airbus planes with a list price of around $20 billion (19 billion euros) on December 22, placed after the lifting of international sanctions on the Islamic republic. It will be used for internal flights landed at Tehran's Mehrabad airport. (Photo by ATTA

Peace talks tested but continue after Iran-Israel escalation

Women walk past buildings destroyed in a joint attack by Israel and the United States on April 6, 2026, in Tehran, Iran.

Samuel Wendel

Senior Market Research Analyst

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 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomes Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry (L) in Jerusalem July 10, 2016 REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RTSH5PM

Some Egyptians wary of normalizing relations with Israel

Egyptian leaders say they are playing an important role in reviving the Palestinian issue by mediating with Israel, but some sources say Egyptians might actually be losing their sympathy for Palestinians and don't want to normalize relations with Israel.

An Israeli army rabbi blesses a soldier who just returned from Lebanon to north of Israel near the Israeli-Lebanon border August 11, 2006. REUTERS/Petr Josek (ISRAEL) - RTR1GAH4

The cultural war brewing inside the IDF

Statements by leading Zionist-Orthodox rabbis against gays and in support of the exclusion of women from the army reflect the growing war of culture waged in Israel, between liberals and those who aspire for a more Jewish-religious state.

'No military solution' say Israeli, Palestinian ex-fighters

The Israeli and Palestinian former fighters of Combatants for Peace are using their personal stories to advocate a nonviolent, humanitarian approach to ending the Israeli occupation in the Palestinian territories.

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL - FEBRUARY 24: Ayelet Shaked poses for a portrait on February 24, 2015 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Ayelet Shaked of the Bayit Yehudi party is the newly appointed Justice Minister. (Photo by Ilia Yefimovich/Getty Images)

Why nude portrait of an Israeli minister was censored

The president of the Israeli Design College has censored a portrait by a student that depicts Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked nude.

Israeli border policemen take position as a Palestinian woman looks out a shop during clashes in the West Bank town of Al-Ram, near Jerusalem October 22, 2015. Nine Israelis have been killed in Palestinian stabbings, shootings and vehicle attacks since the start of October. Forty-nine Palestinians, including 25 assailants, among them children, have been killed in attacks and during anti-Israeli protests. Among the causes of the turmoil is Palestinians' anger at what they see as Jewish encroachment on the al

BDS movement targets Palestinian investors in West Bank mall

Pro-Palestinian activists are working with a consumer advocacy group to urge Palestinian investors to back out of a new shopping mall in northern Jerusalem, warning that not only will the project harm the Palestinian economy, the investors themselves could face legal action.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and his Ethiopian counterpart Hailemariam Desalegn arrive for a news conference at the National Palace during his State visit to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, July 7, 2016. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri? - RTX2K50Z

What Bibi's Africa visit means for Egypt-Ethiopia dam dispute

As Israel increases its influence with African countries, Egyptians are wondering what impact that could have on them, the Renaissance Dam negotiations and the Palestinian solution.

Ultra-Orthodox Jews take part in a protest against the operation of an Intel plant on the Jewish Sabbath in Jerusalem November 14, 2009. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (JERUSALEM BUSINESS CONFLICT RELIGION) - RTXQPS3

Israel's plan to keep tech giants from fleeing

Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon has announced a plan to slash Israel's 25% corporate tax to just 6% for such internet giants as Google and Facebook in a bid to keep the companies in Israel.

European Union Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (R) arrive for a joint news conference at the Foreign Ministry in Berlin, Germany October 22, 2015.The "Quartet" of Middle East peace mediators will meet in Vienna on Friday to urge Israeli and Palestinian leaders to tone down their rhetoric and calm down the situation on the ground, the EU's top diplomat said on Thursday. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch - RTS5MGB

EU to push Israel-Palestine peace process as Quartet report flops

Despite cold reactions by both Israelis and Palestinians to the Quartet report, the EU is determined to establish a roadmap for an international conference on a two-state solution process.

A member of the Hamas security forces stands guard as an Israeli watchtower (rear) is seen near the fence between Israel and the southern Gaza Strip November 24, 2012. Hamas Islamists enforced a fragile two-day-old truce on Friday by evacuating Palestinians from a "no-go" border zone after Israel shot dead a Gaza resident there in the first fatality since the ceasefire. REUTERS/ Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3ATBQ

Why third Israeli crossing into Gaza may weaken Hamas' hand

With a second Israeli Bedouin crossing the border into Gaza, Hamas now holds three Israeli citizens, all of them reportedly suffering from mental illness.

Members of the activist group "Women of the Wall" wear Jewish prayer shawls which the Orthodox Jewish community traditionally reserves for men, during an event for the Jewish holy day of Passover near the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City, April 24, 2016. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RTX2BE6W

Will Western Wall dispute topple Israeli government?

Despite earlier agreement by religious representatives to a deal allocating a mixed-gender prayer space near the Western Wall, objections remain, with some among the ultra-Orthodox threatening to topple the government over it.

Spain's King Felipe delivers a speech during a ceremony celebrating a law through which Sephardic Jews, that can prove that they are descendants of the Sephardic Jews expelled from Spain in 1492 and that maintain a special relationship with Spain, can apply for Spanish citizenship, at the Royal Palace in Madrid, Spain November 30, 2015. REUTERS/Andrea Comas - RTX1WHWT

Mizrahi heritage committee's quiet revolution

Contrary to the divisive attitude of Israeli Culture Minister Miri Regev, the Mizrahi heritage committee headed by poet Erez Biton presents constructive ideas to integrate Jewish Mizrahi history, culture and literature into school curricula, thus building a new Israeliness.

Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman (C) attends a graduation ceremony for Israeli airforce pilots at the Hatzerim air base in southern Israel June 30, 2016. REUTERS/Amir Cohen - RTX2J3W0

Israel's new defense minister draws up plan to topple Hamas

Upon taking office, Israel's new Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman asked IDF senior officers to elaborate a military plan to topple Hamas rule, without taking over the Gaza Strip.