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

Israel cover image

Israel

June 23, 2026

Tel Aviv 8:38 am

25°C

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

The incitement paradox

While Israel complains about Palestinian incitement, the political class pays tribute to IDF warrior Meir Har-Zion, omitting mention of his responsibility for the death of four Bedouin youths in 1955.

Israeli lawmaker Danny Danon (R) stands in front of the Dome of the Rock on the compound known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif and to Jews as Temple Mount, in Jerusalem's Old City July 20, 2010. Danon, a lawmaker of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing party, on Tuesday visited the flashpoint religious site in Jerusalem revered by Jews and Muslims, a move that has sparked violence in the past. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION) - RTR2GKIE

Netanyahu, Danon battle for future of Likud

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Likud Central Committee Chairman Danny Danon challenges Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu openly, orchestrating internal changes within the party to strengthen the settlers' wing.

A Palestinian boy waits with his family, hoping to cross into Egypt, at Rafah crossing between Egypt and the southern Gaza Strip February 4, 2014. Egyptian authorities partially opened the Rafah crossing, Gaza's main window to the world, on Tuesday for three days, Palestinian border officials said. Since July 2013, the authorities have kept the crossing largely closed; only opening it partially for humanitarian purposes. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS SOCIETY IMMIGRATION TPX IMAGES OF T

Gaza patients suffer as Egypt keeps Rafah crossing closed

A sick Gaza toddler died in his parents' arms while waiting for the Rafah crossing to open to get specialized medical treatment abroad.

A boy walks past a bullet-riddled wall inside a house where Palestinian Hamas militant Hamza Abu Alhija was killed in the West Bank refugee camp of Jenin March 22, 2014. Israeli forces shot and killed four Palestinians on Saturday during a raid on the home in the occupied West Bank to capture Alhija, a wanted Hamas Islamist militant, the Israeli military said. Hamas supporters carried three bodies through the streets of the West Bank city of Jenin, shouting slogans against Palestinian President Mahmoud Abba

Jenin and Nablus refugee camps: enclaves of fear

The dire economic situation, coupled with disappointment in the Palestinian Authority, have turned West Bank refugee camps into enclaves of violence, led by armed youths from various organizations.

Israel's Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon (L) attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem April 21, 2013. REUTERS/Gali Tibbon/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXYU9T

Israeli defense minister closes debate on US security plan

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon has rejected the US security plan for the West Bank.

Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Jose Angel Gurria (R) speaks during a news conference with Israel's Finance Minister Yair Lapid in Tel Aviv December 8, 2013. Gurria was in Israel on Sunday to present the organisation's 2013 report on Israel's economy. The Bank of Israel should prepare for interest rate increases once the global economy returns to normal, the OECD said. REUTERS/ Nir Elias (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS) - RTX169RU

Lapid pushes plan to fix housing crisis

For the first time since he was elected, Finance Minister Yair Lapid has justified the trust placed in him by his voters and advanced his program to lower housing costs.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel (R) and his Israeli counterpart Moshe Yaalon speak during their meeting at the Kirya base in Tel Aviv April 22, 2013. Israel suggested on Monday it would be patient before taking any military action against Iran's nuclear programme, saying during a visit by Hagel there was still time for other options. REUTERS/Jim Watson/Pool (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTXYVT1

US takes selective offense against Israeli defense minister

The United States reacts with outrage to Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon’s criticism of US policy, but is silent about Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman’s delegitimization of 1.6 million Arab citizens.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman addresses journalists during a news briefing inside Greece's Foreign Ministry in Athens March 20, 2014. Lieberman held a meeting with Greek counterpart Evangelos Venizelos over Crimea, Turkey relations and Iran nuclear talks and said there is no link between Crimea and problems in the Middle East and that Israel will not interfere. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis (GREECE - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3HX2I

Israeli diplomats go on strike at crucial moment

Israel's international standing requires all possible diplomatic efforts, but years of low salaries and disregard for their working conditions have forced the Foreign Ministry's staff to declare a general strike.

Damages are seen on a street at Yabroud town in Damascus countryside March 20, 2014, after soldiers loyal to President Bashar al-Assad took control of it from the rebel fighters. REUTERS/Khaled al-Hariri (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3HYPI

Syria’s victory in Yabrud may be game changer

At least for now, the recapture of Yabrud by Syrian government forces appears to have tilted the military and political balance in favor of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

BERLIN, GERMANY - DECEMBER 06: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara attend a memorial service at Track 17, the place where the Nazis deported tens of thousands of Berlin Jews to concentration camps during World War II, on December 6, 2012 in Berlin, Germany. The German and Israeli governments are meeting today in Berlin for German-Israeli government consultations. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Israelis indifferent to latest Netanyahu scandal

The latest scandal concerning the behavior of Sara Netanyahu toward the premier's residence manager has not turned into a significant public debate, but generated caricatures and satirical comments on social networks.

Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert stands with Shula Zaken (L), an administrator in his office, during a session of the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, in Jerusalem January 2, 2008. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM) - RTX55O4

The woman who holds the key to Olmert's fate

As Ehud Olmert's former chief of staff, Shula Zaken has decided to unravel evidence which might incriminate the former prime minister for corruption, after realizing that he left her legally unprotected while covering his end in this long legal battlefield.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (C) is greeted during an unveiling ceremony for a monument commemorating the victory of the Soviet Red Army in World War Two in the coastal city of Netanya, north of Tel Aviv June 25, 2012. Israeli President Shimon Peres on Monday urged visiting Putin to take steps to avert the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran and to stop the bloodshed in Syria. REUTERS/Jack Guez/Pool (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR344SB

Israeli immigrants divided on Russia, Ukraine

Israelis of Russian-Ukrainian-Belarus origins are divided between those who support Russian President Vladimir Putin, those opting for the democratic Ukrainian revolt and those claiming that the new Ukrainian forces are anti-Semites.