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

Israel cover image

Israel

June 23, 2026

Tel Aviv 10:41 pm

24°C

Lebanese army forces deploy in the village of Bir al-Salasel in southern Lebanon on June 15, 2026. Iran's foreign ministry on June 15 said the US must ensure that Israel commits to stopping the war in Lebanon under a deal agreed upon with the US to end the Middle East war. Lebanon was pulled into the conflict in early March when Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah launched rocket attacks on Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran's supreme leader, prompting Israeli strikes and a ground invasion. (Pho

Analysis

Pilot zones at center of Israel-Lebanon talks as Trump pressures Netanyahu

With the fifth round of talks set to begin Tuesday, Israel is prepared to withdraw from at least one “pilot zone,” allowing the Lebanese army to take control of the area.

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

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in Tyre, Lebanon, on June 9, 2026.

Analysis

As US reshapes Lebanon strategy, Israel finds itself sidelined

The deal advanced between Washington and Tehran sees a linkage between the Iranian and Lebanese theaters and creates a deconfliction mechanism — without consulting Israel beforehand.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

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.

Latest News

Analysis

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

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

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

'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

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

BAGHDAD, IRAQ - APRIL 17: Iraqi Jew Yusef Salman, 79, stands in front of the synagogue in the tiny remaining Baghdad Jewish community on Passover April 17, 2003 in Baghdad, Iraq. Salman's brothers left Iraq in 1948 and he has not seen them since. He has no remaining family in Iraq. The community members are not formally celebrating the holiday this year due to a lack of electricity, food and other problems associated with the war. The family has lived their entire life in Baghdad while the Jewish community

Who will compensate Jewish refugees from Arab lands?

Despite a willingness by US envoy Martin Indyk to consider compensation for Jewish refugees as part of an Israeli-Palestinian agreement, no Arab country or the United States has the financial means to make it happen.

HEBRON, WEST BANK, PALESTINIAN TERRITORY, SEPTEMBER 23: Israeli soldiers on patrol on September 23, 2013 in the West Bank city of Hebron. Unknown gunmen shot and killed an Israeli soldier in the city of Al-Khalil (Hebron) in the occupied West Bank on Sunday and troops are searching for the shooter, the military said. (Photo by Mamoun Wazwaz/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Shin Bet report: terror increase originating from West Bank

The 2013 Shin Bet report indicates a rise in terror activities originating in the West Bank, attributed partly to the resignation of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and the weakening of Fatah security mechanisms.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (R) shakes hands with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin after delivering joint statements in the West Bank town of Bethlehem June 26, 2012. REUTERS/Darren Whiteside (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3461J

Russia considers role in peace talks, Gaza energy

The Kremlin prefers a multilateral, not bilateral, approach to the peace process, while Gazprom considers opportunities in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli soldiers ride an army jeep during a patrol along Israel's border with Lebanon near the northern village of Avivim July 3, 2013. Israel is bolstering its forces on the once-quiet frontier with Syria where it believes Lebanese Hezbollah militants are preparing for the day when they could fight Israel. Picture taken July 3, 2013. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (ISRAEL - Tags: MILITARY POLITICS) - RTX11IMI

Al-Qaeda now frontline threat to Israel

With gains in Syria, Lebanon and Egypt, al-Qaeda and its affiliates threaten Israel more than ever.

People visit the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City, where the Dome of the Rock (L) and Al-Aqsa mosque (not seen) stand May 18, 2012. The grand mosques in Mecca and Medina, the two holiest in Islam, draw millions of pilgrims annually. Al-Aqsa, the last of the three sacred sites the Prophet Mohammad urged Muslims to visit, sees only a few thousand foreign worshippers a year. Picture taken May 18, 2012. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITIC

Muslim pilgrims visit Jerusalem

French Imam Hassan Chalghoumi, undeterred by extreme voices, launches Muslim pilgrim voyages to Israel.

An Ultra-Orthodox Jewish man begs for change as he sits on a sidewalk in Jerusalem March 26, 2006. A growing number of Israelis live beneath the poverty line, many of them ultra-Orthodox Jews, immigrants and elderly. Poverty is a prominent issue in Israel's campaign for a March 28 parliamentary election. Picture taken march 26, 2006. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RTR17NNS

Israel faces crisis of growing poverty

Israel's new national committee on poverty has been asked to propose a comprehensive solution to the alarming increase in Israeli families living below the poverty line, most of them working poor.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L) walks with U.S. Special Envoy for Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations Martin Indyk after returning from a day trip to Jordan and Saudi Arabia at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv January 5, 2014. REUTERS/Brendan Smialowski/Pool (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX173CK

Kerry may address Israeli public on peace deal

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman agree on most points of US Secretary of State John Kerry's ''terms of reference'' document.

Police officers display seized firearms and ammunition for the media after a smuggling bust in Kaohsiung September 26, 2009. A haul of 181 guns and 22,685 rounds of ammunition were displayed for the media on Saturday as six suspects were arrested in what may be the largest arms smuggling bust ever in Taiwan, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said. CIB officials said the seized weapons are standard models manufactured in Italy, Germany, Israel and the U.S. Picture taken September 26, 2009. REUTERS/St

Crime, arms possession increase in Israeli Arab society

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Knesset member Issawi Frej deplores the increase of weapons within Israeli Arab society and criticizes Israeli policy for not dealing with the phenomenon.

A PORTER PUSHES AN ELDERLY PALESTINIAN CANCER PATIENT THROUGH THE EREZ CROSSING BETWEEN THE GAZA STRIP AND ISRAEL. A porter pushes an elderly Palestinian cancer patient through the Erez crossing between the Gaza Strip and Israel March 21, 2004. Palestinian doctors complain Israel has stopped allowing ambulances to bring patients into Israel from Gaza, forcing the sick to cross unaided through the heavily guarded checkpoint. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic - RTRFRM5

Checkpoint hardship for sick Gazans seeking care in Israel

Some sick patients in the Gaza Strip have reported that Israeli security officers offered to exchange travel permits for information.

Israeli President Shimon Peres (R) shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L) as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sits in between them during a ceremony marking Israel's annual day of Holocaust remembrance, at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem April 8, 2013. Israel on Monday commemorates the six million Jews killed by the Nazis in the Holocaust during World War Two.
REUTERS/Gali Tibbon/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS ANNIVERSARY CONFLICT) - RTXYDCO

Israeli Knesset member calls US pressure 'pure anti-Semitism'

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Knesset member Moti Yogev attacks US Secretary of State John Kerry for his role as mediator and warns President Shimon Peres is "delusional" for preaching in favor of a Palestinian state.

Israel's new Economics and Trade Minister Naftali Bennett, leader of the Jewish Home party, gestures as he arrives to attend the first cabinet meeting after the swearing-in of the new Israeli government in Jerusalem on March 18, 2013. A new Israeli governing coalition with a strong showing of pro-settlement hardliners formally took office after confirmation by parliament days before a landmark US presidential visit. AFP PHOTO/POOL/DAVID VAAKNIN (Photo credit should read DAVID VAAKNIN/AFP/Getty Images

Netanyahu seizes chance to put Bennett in his place

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must be encouraged by a poll that anticipates 18 mandates for a new party headed by him, if he decides to reshape the Likud Party or form a new coalition.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (L) talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as leaders gathered to deliver a joint statement on Middle East Peace talks in the East Room of the White House in Washington September 1, 2010. REUTERS/Jason Reed (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2HTDF

Netanyahu reveals no intention of settler withdrawal

Against the backdrop of Israeli attempts to blame President Mahmoud Abbas for the failure of the peace talks, a new study recommends immediate steps to separate from the Palestinians, thus preserving Israel’s Jewish-democratic character.