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

Israel cover image

Israel

June 19, 2026

Tel Aviv 3:18 pm

29°C

EVIAN-LES-BAINS, FRANCE - JUNE 16: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a bilateral meeting with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on the sidelines of the G7 summit, on June 16, 2026 in Evian-les-Bains, France. Leaders from the Group of 7 (G7) countries convened in Evian, France, near the Swiss border, for their annual summit to discuss challenges to peace and security for Ukraine and Europe, the situation in the Middle East, and other geopolitical issues. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Get

'Let Syria take care of Hezbollah': Trump criticizes Israel, leans on Sharaa to help in Lebanon

President Donald Trump insisted he has a great relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but criticized the scale of Israel’s strikes in Lebanon.

Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir takes part in the Jerusalem Day celebrations on May 14, 2026, in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Explainer

Ben-Gvir's move to run separately in Israel elections revives debate over party alliances

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, head of the far-right Jewish Power party, has refused to merge with the far-right Religious Zionism party ahead of the elections.

Latest News

Analysis

'He knew it was over': Inside Netanyahu’s response to Trump’s Iran deal as Israel recalibrates

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

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

Analysis

Erdogan-Netanyahu war of words signals deeper rivalry for regional influence

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Turkish House in New York on Sept. 19, 2023.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Analysis

Squeezed by Trump and Iran war, how vulnerable is Netanyahu in polls?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hosted by President Donald Trump at the White House, Washington, DC, July 7, 2025.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

'Pilot zones' offer litmus test for Lebanon to clear Israel border of Hezbollah

Smoke rises following Israeli bombardment in southern Lebanon close to the Beaufort Castle as seen from a position across the border in the Upper Galilee, in northern Israel on June 4, 2026.

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

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (C) meets Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (R) and Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri in Cairo July 22, 2014. Israel pounded targets across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, saying no ceasefire was near as top U.S. and U.N. diplomats pursued talks on halting fighting that has claimed more than 500 lives. Dispatched by U.S. President Barack Obama to the Middle East to seek a ceasefire, Kerry held talks on Tuesday in Cairo with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri. REU

US-Israel relationship at lowest point

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's acceptance of US House Speaker's invitation to speak is viewed by some as a direct affront to President Barack Obama's international domestic interests.

A US-made Apache Longbow helicopter flies in front of a control tower at Ramon Air Base in southern Israel. A U.S.-made Apache Longbow helicopter flies in front of a control tower during a presentation to the media at the Israeli Ramon Air Base in southern Israel April 10, 2005. REUTERS/Pawel Wolberg/Pool - RTR7PVR

Congress may re-examine special arms deals with Israel

The US policy of giving Israel a Qualitative Military Edge policy over its neighbors has been called into question now that they are fighting on the same side against the Islamic State.

Israeli Meretz party members Nitzan Horowitz (2nd from R), Zehava Galon (C) and Issawi Frej (c-L) take part in a visit of the "Al-Shuhada" street in the West Bank city of Hebron on February 25, 2014 in support of Palestinians who were forced out of the old quarter at the outset of the second Palestinian intifada by the Israeli army to allow for Jewish settlers to move securely in the area. Today also marks the 20th anniversary of the massacre of 29 Palestinian Muslim worshipers by Jewish extremist Baruch Go

Zionist Camp, leftist Meretz battle over base

Meretz Chairwoman Zehava Gal-On is campaigning to preserve her party's constituency, which is turning toward the Zionist Camp list in hopes of an electoral upset.

The head of the Israel Police, Major General Yohanan Danino, attends the Interpol European Regional Conference on its opening day in Tel Aviv on May 9, 2012. Israel, which is hosting the May 8-10 Interpol European parley for the first time, joined the France-based organisation in 1949, a year after the foundation of the Jewish state, initially as part of the Asia region, where it is geographically located. AFP PHOTO / JACK GUEZ (Photo credit should read JACK GUEZ/AFP/GettyImages)

Sex scandals shake Israeli police

In the last 18 months, seven top Israeli police commanders have been forced to resign — four under sexual misconduct charges — leaving the police force shattered and leaderless.

Bedouins of the Jahalin tribe watch television at their encampment, al-Khan al-Ahmar, in the Judean desert close to the road between Jericho and Jerusalem June 16, 2012. Bedouin tents and wandering goats dot the barren hills on the drive from Jerusalem down to the Dead Sea. But the Bedouin tradition is slowly dying out as Israel clears the camps to make way for expanding Jewish urban settlements. Picture taken June 16, 2012. To match Feature PALESTINIANS-ISRAEL/BEDOUIN .REUTERS/Darren Whiteside (WEST BANK -

Israel's deadliest roads

Despite well-documented fatalities on roads in the Negev, successive Israeli governments have turned a blind eye, choosing instead to allocate funds to build and expand settlement infrastructure.

A general view of the Gaza Seaport March 30, 2011. Israel is considering building an artificial island with sea and air ports off blockaded Gaza, as a long-term solution to shipping goods into the Hamas-run Palestinian enclave, the transport minister said. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS TRANSPORT) - RTR2KLWL

Hamas declares opening of Gaza seaport

Hamas is working to open and operate its Gaza seaport, especially since countries such as Turkey, Cyprus and Greece apparently have agreed to send and receive ships from Gaza.

Crushed plastic bottles are seen at a recycling centre in Paris May 4, 2011. The recycling centre, which is the first one in Paris, has a capacity to treat around 15000 tons of wastes per year. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer (FRANCE - Tags: SOCIETY BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT) - RTR2LZ8C

'Bottlegate' and corruption rank low on Israel's political agenda

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to lead in polls despite the "Bottlegate" scandal surrounding his wife, suggesting that fighting corruption holds little importance in the eyes of the Israeli voter.

Palestinian workers participate in efforts to clear the rubble of a school, that witnesses said was destroyed by Israeli shelling during the most recent conflict between Israel and Hamas, in the east of Gaza City, December 3, 2014. According to housing minister Mufeed al-Hasayna, Gaza needs 8,000 tonnes of cement a day to meet demand. A new system set up with the United Nations to comply with Israeli requirements lets through at most 2,000, he said. At that rate, reconstruction would take more than 30 years

Fate of Gazans is in Hamas' hands

The Hamas movement is at a decisive crossroads: either it relinquishes its military control and concentrates on rehabilitating the Gaza Strip or it risks destroying all of Gaza's residents.

Palestinians, hoping to cross into Egypt, climb a wall as policemen loyal to Hamas stand guard at the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the southern Gaza Strip January 20, 2015. Egyptian authorities opened Rafah crossing, Gaza's main window to the outside world, on Tuesday for three days, officials said. Egypt shut the crossing over violence with Islamist militants in Egypt's adjacent Sinai region last October. Since then, it opened the crossing partially and on a few occasions to allow thousands of Palestin

Israel reluctantly accepts Hamas rule

Israel has quietly changed its stance toward Gaza with a loosening of the blockade to improve the transfer of goods and movement of people in the hope of averting another explosion in the enclave.

Palestinian fishermen ride in fishing boats at Gaza Seaport in Gaza City November 25, 2012. Israel eased restrictions on Gaza fishermen on Saturday, further implementing a three-day-old truce brokered by Egypt after a week of fierce fighting, Palestinian officials said. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR3AUHV

Gaza’s fishermen confront multiple dangers

Not only are fishermen from Gaza subject to being shot by Israeli sailors, they also struggle against potentially fatal weather conditions.

Why Israeli cartoonists don't draw Muhammad

The massacre at the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo hasn’t changed the practice of Israeli cartoonists of refraining from insulting Islam, picking political targets instead.

Ex-defence chief Shaul Mofaz (C) leaves after casting his ballot for the Kadima party primary election at a polling station in the central town of Kfar Saba March 27, 2012. Opinion polls predicted a close race between Tzipi Livni, Israel's former foreign minister, and Mofaz among Kadima's 100,000 eligible voters charged with choosing a candidate to challenge Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a national poll expected by next year. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR2ZY8B

Sephardic candidates face real discrimination in elections

Ahead of the elections, the Israeli political system still shies away from confronting the phenomenon of ''ethnic voting,'' where Sephardic candidates receive less support than those of European candidates.