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

Israel cover image

Israel

October 13, 2026

Tel Aviv 10:36 pm

25°C

A giant electoral poster for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party with the slogan "no surrender" is displayed on the facade of a building in Tel Aviv on Sept. 29, 2026

Exclusive

In bid to win over Saudi Arabia, Netanyahu may strike Yemen before elections

Attacks on Iran or its Yemeni proxy before the elections cannot be ruled out, but the Israeli prime minister appears more inclined to support Saudi Arabia against the Houthis in Yemen.

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

The British Consulate General in east Jerusalem represents the British government in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza during a protest against the recently announced British sanctions, aimed at economic activity in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, on Sept. 14, 2026, in Jerusalem.

Explainer

Israel-UK relations hit new low over settlements, Gaza: What to know

Despite Britain’s ban on goods from Israeli settlements and Israel’s closure of the British Consulate in East Jerusalem, both countries are seeking to keep communication channels open.

GRAND ISLAND, NEBRASKA - OCTOBER 05: U.S. President Donald Trump wraps up an appearance at a campaign rally at Pinnacle Bank Expo Center on the Nebraska State Fairgrounds on October 05, 2026 in Grand Island, Nebraska. Trump is campaigning for incumbent U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) and Gov. Jim Pillen ahead of the November midterm elections. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Analysis

Deal or war? Israel fears fallout from Trump’s next move on Iran

Israel is struggling to decipher the White House’s intentions toward Iran, given Washington's contradictions around launching a fresh military campaign.

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

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.

Latest News

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

Jewish settlers cry as they walk to the synagogue for a ceremony before departing the Jewish settlement of Ganei Tal, in the Gush Katif settlement bloc, in the southern Gaza Strip, August 17, 2005. Israeli troops began the forced evacuation on Wednesday of thousands of Jewish settlers gripped by rage and anguish over their eviction from the Gaza Strip after nearly four decades of occupation. - RTXNOV8

A Holocaust Remembrance Day For Evacuated Gaza Settlers

Daniel Ben Simon spent the Holocaust Remembrance Day with Ganei Tal settlement evacuees, for whom the disengagement from Gaza is more than a memory.

Israel's Finance Minister Yair Lapid arrives to the first cabinet meeting of the 33rd Israeli government, in Jerusalem March 18, 2013. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new governing coalition took office after a parliamentary vote on Monday with powerful roles reserved for supporters of settlers in occupied territory. REUTERS/David Vaaknin/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3F60Q

The 'Nice Guy' ImageOf Israel's Finance Minister

Israeli Finance Minister Yair Lapid faces the impossible task of maintaining his popularity while implementing budget cuts, writes Nadav Perry.

An Israeli soldier looks through binoculars in front of a mural depicting the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on the controversial Israeli barrier, during clashes with Palestinian stone-throwers at Qalandiya checkpoint near the West Bank city of Ramallah November 21, 2012. Clashes broke out between Palestinians and the Israeli army in multiple locations across the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, underlining heightened tensions by the Gaza conflict. REUTERS/Marko Djurica (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS CI

Is Israel Heading Toward Apartheid?

Akiva Eldar contends that Israel's discrimination against the Palestinians contradicts the intentions of its forefathers.

The motorcade of U.S. President George W. Bush moves towards the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank town of Bethlehem January 10, 2008. Passing through a tiny "Door of Humility", Bush made a pilgrimage to the traditional birthplace of Jesus on Thursday in the first U.S. presidential visit to the occupied West Bank. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (WEST BANK) - RTX5EYY

What Do Peace Envoys Actually Do in the Middle East?

For many years, the world’s powers have been sending envoys to the Middle East to secure peace deals. Given their lack of success, however, Omar Shaban asks what their point is.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks to U.S. foreign service workers during his visit to the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem April 8, 2013. REUTERS/Paul J. Richards/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXYDPV

Kerry's Visit Leaves Israelis Indifferent

Mazal Mualem wonders why the optimism left by President Barack Obama turned into indifference toward his secretary of state.

A Druze man uses binoculars as he looks towards Syria from part of an abandoned military outpost near the Druze village of Buqata in the Golan Heights July 24, 2012. The Syrian government is still in full control of its chemical weapons stockpiles, Israeli defence officials said on Tuesday, in an apparent bid to calm fears that a non-conventional war could be looming. Israel captured the Golan Heights in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in 1981 in a move not recognized internationally. REUTERS/Ronen

Golan's Druze DividedOn the Syrian Struggle

Shlomi Eldar reports from the Golan Heights that Druze there are just as divided about events in Syria as residents of the country.

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - MARCH 22: (ISRAEL OUT) U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial museum on March 22, 2013 in Jerusalem, Israel. This is Obama's first visit as president to the region and his itinerary includes meetings with the Palestinian and Israeli leaders as well as a visit to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. (Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)

What Really Happened Between Netanyahu and Obama

From confidential, well-placed sources, Ben Caspit discloses the arguments in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's chambers hidden behind friendly gestures in public during the US president’s visit.

Barbra Streisand accepts the applause after performing the song "Memories" from the film "The Way We Were" at the 85th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California February 24, 2013. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni (UNITED STATES TAGS:ENTERTAINMENT) (OSCARS-SHOW) - RTR3E946

Israel Welcomes Barbra Streisand

Israelis love President Shimon Peres and Barbra Streisand as “the sane and lovely faces of the Jewish people,” writes Michal Aharoni.

Sculptures are seen on a hill near the Israeli Syrian border in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights March 24, 2013. Israel said it fired into Syria on Sunday and destroyed a machinegun position in the Golan Heights from where shots had been fired at Israeli soldiers in a further spillover of the Syrian civil war along a tense front. Israel captured the Golan Heights in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in 1981 in a move not recognized internationally. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (MILITARY POLITICS) - RTXXW5G

Israel and Muslim Brotherhood Face the Same Enemy

As Israel prepares to celebrate its 65th Independence Day free of conventional threats, Iran's nuclear threat still looms, writes Alon Ben David.

World War Two veterans return to their seats after laying a wreath 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/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS ANNIVERSARY CONFLICT) - RTXYD5G

To Understand Israel, Understand the Holocaust

The scars of the Holocaust are ingrained in the Israeli experience, and in Israel's relations with — and fears of — its neighbors, writes Ben Caspit.

Labour party leader Shelly Yachimovich gestures during a ceremony for Tu Bishvat, the Jewish arbor day, in Ben-Shemen forest, near the Israeli town of Modiin between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem January 20, 2013. Opinion polls have shown Labour, which ruled Israel for decades but now holds only eight seats in parliament, bouncing back to second place behind Likud under new leader Yachimovich. REUTERS/ Nir Elias (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR3COPJ

Can Yachimovich Keep Her Job As Israel's Labor Party Leader?

Sources within the Labor party told Mazal Mualem that an initiative is being kicked around to hold "lightning primaries," to bring an “end to the Yachimovich dictatorship era.”

U.S. President Barack Obama holds a souvenir book presented to him by Chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate Avner Shalev during Obama's visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem, March 22, 2013. REUTERS/Jason Reed (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3FBHE

Obama's Lesson in Zionism

During his visit to Israel, President Barack Obama reminded the world of the values of liberation and self-determination on which Zionism is based, writes Einat Wilf.