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

Israel cover image

Israel

October 8, 2026

Tel Aviv 1:54 pm

29°C

Passengers board a flydubai flight, bound for Dubai, before taking off from Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, on Sept. 30, 2026.

Mossad, Shin Bet in UAE: What we know about Israel’s FlyDubai probe

The National Security Council is probing foreign carrier security protocols, while police investigate two senior Transportation Ministry officials suspected of providing private services for aviation companies.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lays a wreath during the state memorial ceremony for the third anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack, at Mount Herzl military cemetery, Jerusalem, Oct. 5, 2026.

Why Netanyahu still resists an independent probe 3 years after Oct. 7

Alongside official memorial ceremonies taking place across Israel on Monday, civil society groups are holding protests calling on Prime Minister Netanyahu to take responsibility for the Oct. 7 attacks.

Palestinian men sitting in and by a tractor look on after another man was injured by gunfire whilst being chased away by Israeli forces, in Aqraba in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Oct. 6, 2026.

West Bank olive harvest begins amid settler attacks on Palestinians, groves

Between 80,000 and 100,000 Palestinian families in the West Bank rely on the olive harvest for primary or secondary sources of income, according to the United Nations.

Latest News

Analysis

Three years after Oct. 7, Hamas’ grip on Gaza tests Netanyahu’s ‘total victory’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during the state memorial ceremony for the third anniversary of Oct. 7 attack, at Mount Herzl military cemetery, Jerusalem, Oct. 5, 2026.

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

Israel bars UK Greens leader over Zionism-racism resolution: What to know

Green Party leader Zack Polanski delivers his speech during day one of the Green Party annual conference at Brighton Centre on Oct. 2, 2026, in Brighton, England.

Analysis

How Netanyahu is capitalizing on MBZ meeting, FlyDubai attack to gain in election polls

Israeli Prime Minister and Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to supporters at the lectern during a party campaign rally at Expo Tel Aviv on Sept. 17, 2026 in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

Analysis

How FlyDubai attack exposes gaps in Israel-UAE security ties

Abraham Accords signing

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

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

TEL-AVIV, ISRAEL: The crowd of Jews assembled in the streets of Tel Aviv 20 May 1948 a few hours before the British Mandate in Palestine ended, celebrate the proclamation of a new Jewish state of Israel. Israel was founded on 14 May 1948 by the Jewish National Council and was recognized by the United States and the Soviet Union 15 and 17 May. (Photo credit should read AFP/Getty Images)

Israel is a Jewish state; get over it

The Israeli demand that Palestinians recognize the Jewish state does not contradict the two-state solution, but it exposes the Palestinian reluctance to consider the Jews as a people instead of a religion.

A police tape is seen over the entrance of the Jewish Museum, the site of a shooting incident, in central Brussels, May 25, 2014. Two women and a man were killed and one person seriously injured during a shooting at the Jewish Museum in central Brussels on Saturday, with Belgian officials saying anti-Semitic motives could not be ruled out. REUTERS/Eric Vidal (BELGIUM - Tags: CRIME LAW) - RTR3QQRS

Israel prefers right wing over radical Islam in Europe

The shooting at the Jewish Museum in Brussels coupled with the rise of the extreme right in recent EU elections brings the “new anti-Semitism” into Israeli public discourse, though the context of these two events might hide another reality.

Israel's army chief Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi (front) sits before testifying at a state-appointed inquiry into the Israeli naval raid on a Gaza aid flotilla, in Jerusalem, August 11, 2010. Ashkenazi acknowledged on Wednesday that his troops were not ready for the violent resistance encountered when they boarded the Gaza-bound aid ship and ended up killing nine pro-Palestinian activists. REUTERS/Gali Tibbon/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST MILITARY) - RTR2H8JL

Leviathan gas deal may be catalyst for Israel-Turkey reset

Is the Turkish court’s decision to indict former Israeli army chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi for the Mavi Marmara flotilla raid part of the reconciliatory diplomatic ballet by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, eyeing the “Leviathan” gas field?

Kadima party leader Shaul Mofaz (C) leaves after convening a news conference in Petah Tikva, near Tel Aviv July 17, 2012. Israel's Kadima party quit Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition on Tuesday in a dispute over drafting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the military, but the government was not expected to collapse because it still had a majority in parliament. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY RELIGION) - RTR350PV

Mofaz: 'Strategic situation worse' on Iran

In an interview with Al-Monitor, former Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz argues that US over-involvement in Israeli-Palestinian talks only alienated both sides, and the only feasible solution is a two-stage agreement with the Palestinians, even while talking with Hamas.

Israel's Defence Minister Ehud Barak (L) sits across from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (R) and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni during the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem February 15, 2009. REUTERS/Emil Salman/JINI/Pool (JERUSALEM) - RTXBNIE

Tzipi Livni in Ehud Barak’s footsteps

Five years ago, Tzipi Livni criticized Ehud Barak for being part of a diplomatically stagnating right-wing government but she, too, will soon have to choose: negotiations with a Palestinian unity government, or diplomatic stagnation that will lead to a binational state.

An Egyptian soldier stands near the Egyptian national flag and the Israeli flag at the Taba crossing between Egypt and Israel, about 430 km (256 miles) northeast of Cairo, October 26, 2011. Israel and Egypt said on Monday they have struck a deal to swap 25 Egyptians in Israeli custody for a U.S.-Israeli dual national accused by Cairo of espionage, in a step seen as easing strains between the strategic neighbors. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El-Ghany (EGYPT - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS) - RTR2T7XN

Israel-Egypt anti-terrorism cooperation at zenith

Israel adapts to a new alliance structure based on common security interests, and in anticipation of a nuclear Middle East.

Winners of the 2012 Wolf Prize listen to Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin's speech during an award ceremony in the Knesset (Israeli parliament) in Jerusalem on May 13, 2012. Winners (L-R); US Paul Alivisatos in Chemistry, from University of California at Berkeley, US Charles Lieber in Chemistry from Harvard University, US Michael Aschbacher in Mathematics, from California institute of technology, US Luis Caffarelli in Mathematics, from University of Texas at Austin, Israeli Jacob D. Bekenstein in Physics, from

Netanyahu tries again to derail Rivlin presidency bid

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rushed into battle against presidential hopeful and Knesset member Reuven Rivlin, all the while offending other potential presidential hopefuls.

Visitors sit in front of paintings by Israeli artist Joseph Zaritsky in a section of a new wing of the Tel Aviv Museum November 2, 2011, during its official opening. The additional wing named after it's American donors Herta and Paul Amir was designed by Architect Preston Scott Cohen who heads the Harvard University Graduate School of Architecture. REUTERS/ Nir Elias (ISRAEL - Tags: SOCIETY) - RTR2TJ1H

The decline of humanities in Israel

The faculties of humanities in Israel have failed to adapt to the new digital era, and convince the students why humanities are still relevant in a profit-oriented society.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) listens to Defence Minister Moshe Ya'alon (2nd R) as Chief of the General Staff Lieutenant General Benny Gantz (R) sits beside them during an air force pilots' graduation ceremony at Hatzerim air base in southern Israel December 26, 2013. REUTERS/Nir Elias (ISRAEL - Tags: MILITARY POLITICS) - RTX16UH7

Israel's defense budget means costs elsewhere

Unlike late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will likely once again give in to the terrifying annual intimidation campaign of the defense establishment eager to secure its budget.

Palestinian girls walk up stairs near the Dome of the Rock (L) on a compound revered by Jews as the Temple Mount and by Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, in Jerusalem's Old City June 23, 2013. Far-right Israelis have stepped up efforts to hold Jewish prayers at the Jerusalem holy compound once dominated by Biblical temples and now home to al-Aqsa mosque, one of Islam's most revered sites. Picture taken June 23, 2013. REUTERS/Darren Whiteside (JERUSALEM - Tags: RELIGION CIVIL UNREST) - RTX10ZBH

Knesset member withdraws Temple Mount bill amid warnings

Labor Party Knesset member Hilik Bar, champion of the two-state solution, retracted his bill designed to organize prayer time slots for both Jews and Muslims on Temple Mount, after harsh reactions from both the Jordanian monarchy and the Shin Bet.

Patriarch of Lebanese Christian Maronites Bishara Boutros al-Rai (C) prays along with other clerics for peace in Syria, in Harisa, Jounieh September 7, 2013. REUTERS/Hasan Shaaban (LEBANON - Tags: RELIGION POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX13BZL

Most Palestinian Christians back Maronite patriarch's visit

Many Palestinian Christians support the visit to the Holy Land by Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rai, although the PFLP, the Boycott movement and others have criticized it

Palestinian labourers wait to cross into Israel at dawn at Hashmonaim checkpoint near the West Bank village of Nilin, west of Ramallah March 14, 2013. Israel's system of checkpoints and restrictions in the occupied West Bank inflicts long-term damage on Palestinians' ability to compete in the global market, the World Bank said on Tuesday. REUTERS/Darren Whiteside (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT) - RTR3EYTV

Israel pushes West Bank toward economic disaster

Turning the West Bank into the economic twin of the Gaza Strip will provoke new threats to Israel's security, which is why the US administration leans toward cooperating with the new Palestinian unity government.