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Israel

June 21, 2026

Tel Aviv 2:13 am

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Former Israeli Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot gives a press conference in Tel Aviv, on December 4, 2018.

Can political novice Eisenkot defeat Netanyahu in upcoming elections?

The former military chief of staff is emerging as the prime minister's strongest rival in upcoming elections, overtaking former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in recent polls.

US President Donald Trump holds a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Palm Beach, Florida, Dec. 29, 2025.

Analysis

How Netanyahu used Lebanon strikes to push back on Trump’s Iran deal

The latest ceasefire in Lebanon leaves Netanyahu squeezed between Washington and domestic pressure.

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

Latest News

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

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

Explainer

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

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.

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

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. President Barack Obama shakes hands before speaking after a military briefing at U.S. Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, September 17, 2014. REUTERS/Larry Downing (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR46M8H

US continues to curb its involvement in Middle East

US President Barack Obama's speech on attacking the Islamic State reflects the US regional strategy on Iraq, Syria and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: partial engagement only, since radical Islam and conflicts in the Middle East are first and foremost a regional problem.

Palestinian shoppers browse in a supermarket at a newly opened shopping mall in Gaza City July 20, 2010. The mall, the first of its kind in Gaza, opened to the public last week and contains about 15 shops, including a supermarket and clothing stores. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: SOCIETY BUSINESS POLITICS) - RTR2GK60

Support grows for Gaza's boycott of Israeli goods

The recent Gaza war has seen a boost in support for a local boycott of Israeli goods, but short of alternatives, it is hard to envision how such a boycott campaign will work.

Israel's Education Minister Gideon Saar delivers a speech during the official launch of the European Holocaust Research Infrastructure (EHRI) in Brussels November 16, 2010. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir (BELGIUM - Tags: EDUCATION POLITICS) - RTXUPFM

Saar no match for Netanyahu

Interior Minister Gideon Saar must bear in mind that a political vacuum always fills up, especially when taking into consideration that there are two figures still in the Likud Party who could vie the seat of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and Education Minister Gideon Saar attend the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem October 18, 2009. Netanyahu promised a lengthy diplomatic battle to "delegitimise" United Nations charges that Israel committed war crimes in the Gaza Strip, an official said on Saturday. REUTERS/David Silverman/Pool (JERUSALEM POLITICS) - RTXPR7B

Bibi exhausts another political rival

Over the years, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu managed to drive away those who threatened his position, such as Ministers Roni Milo, Moshe Kahlon and now also Likud’s favorite Gideon Saar, leaving the party empty of political stars.

An African migrant walks on the pavement as buildings are seen in the background, in south Tel Aviv July 17, 2013. Israel's supreme court on Monday struck down a year-old law that meant African migrants could be held in detention for up to three years without charge. Picture taken July 17, 2013. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS SOCIETY IMMIGRATION) - RTX13NKU

The gentrification of Tel Aviv

In 1948, several hundred families were sent to settle a piece of land on the northern outskirts of Tel Aviv, but today the land is valued at billions of shekels and the residents battle a real-estate tycoon over eviction.

Palestinian pedestrians and a motorcyclist commute along a road between ruins of houses, which witnesses said were damaged or destroyed during the Israeli offensive, in Beit Hanoun town in the northern Gaza Strip September 7, 2014. An open-ended ceasefire between Israel and Hamas-led Gaza militants, mediated by Egypt, took effect on August 26 after a seven-week conflict. It called for an indefinite halt to hostilities, the immediate opening of Gaza's blockaded crossings with Israel and Egypt, and a widening

Israel must help Gazans, regardless of Hamas

Israel must consider unilaterally lifting the Gaza blockade because desperate Palestinians there have nothing to lose, a situation far more dangerous for Israel than Hamas rearming.

A Palestinian farmer harvests barley on a farm near the border of southern Gaza Strip with Israel April 28, 2014. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: AGRICULTURE) - RTR3MW43

Gaza farmers want guarantees Israel won’t destroy their lands

Farmers in Gaza are fed up with replanting their battered lands only for Israel to destroy them, and want negotiators in Egypt to guarantee their security.

Eli Yishai 2.png

Former Shas leader: Government has abandoned the poor

In an interview with Al-Monitor, former Shas Party leader Eli Yishai criticizes the government's alleged socioeconomic agenda, claiming that the poor are again subject to political manipulations.

Palestinians wait to receive food supplies from a United Nations food distribution center in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip August 19, 2014. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR42YE1

With $550M in agricultural losses, Gazans going hungry

Israel’s destruction of Gaza’s agricultural sector has resulted in a drop in food supplied to local markets, inflating prices that are out of reach for the impoverished population.

Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman (L) sits with U.S. Representative Eliot Engel (D-NY) (C) and House Foreign Affairs Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) during their joint news conference in Jerusalem September 2, 2014. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR44N5C

Is Israel most important strategic US ally in the region?

US President Barack Obama might follow in the footsteps of Presidents George H. W. and George W. Bush by forcing diplomatic concessions on Israel.

Palestinian labourers work at a construction site in the new Palestinian town dubbed Rawabi or "The Hills", near the West Bank city of Ramallah October 27, 2013. The crackdown on the Gaza Strip as Egypt demolishes the smuggling tunnels along its sandy border, and stagnation in the West Bank mean the Palestinian economy might shrink this year after average annual growth of about nine percent in 2008-2011. To match Analysis PALESTINIANS-ECONOMY/ REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS

Rawabi still controversial among Palestinians

Rawabi, the new Palestinian city under construction in the West Bank, has faced criticism from Palestinians, ranging from the involvement of Israeli companies to its design, which largely mimics an Israeli settlement.

Arab Israeli dancers of the "Salma" dancing group perform "Ala Balee" at Jerash's northern theatre August 2, 2004. Inaugurated in 1981 by Queen Noor Al-Hussein, the Jerash festival is held annually with the participation of dozens of local and international bands and singers and attracts an audience from around the world. REUTERS/Ali Jarekji AJ/DBP - RTR7WSU

Arab-Israelis see Haifa as capital of Palestinian culture

“Palestinians in Israel are a national minority that deserves cultural autonomy,” says Iyad Bargouti, acting director of the Arabic Culture Association, which promotes the establishment of a new Palestinian cultural center in the city of Haifa.