Israel in September 2026: the most important developments in politics
Israeli politics in September 2026 was dominated by the election campaign and by questions over what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knew before 7 October 2023. On 8 September Haaretz reported that the United Arab Emirates had warned Netanyahu about a Hamas attack about ten days before it happened. Netanyahu called the report false and announced a libel suit against the newspaper; Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid accused him of inaction, and calls for a state inquiry grew. A UAE official later denied that such a warning was given. On 27 September Netanyahu travelled to Abu Dhabi and met the UAE president, a visit first described as secret and then confirmed by both sides; Iran condemned it. Polls showed Netanyahu's bloc and the bloc around Gadi Eisenkot close, with neither reaching 61 seats. The election committee disqualified an Arab party and two candidates on 24 September, and on 29 September the Attorney-General asked the Supreme Court to disqualify the Balad leader.
The second theme was the dispute with Britain and other European governments over West Bank settlements. On 8 September the UK announced a ban on trade with settlements; Israel ordered the British consulate in Jerusalem closed and imposed entry bans on 11 British lawmakers and a lawyer. Israel later revoked the diplomatic status of Dutch officials in Ramallah over the Netherlands' ban on settlement products, and the Netherlands summoned Israel's envoy.
Netanyahu addressed the UN General Assembly on 24 September, calling the decision to attack Iran one of the easiest he had made; many delegates walked out, and Zohran Mamdani had called him a war criminal beforehand. Macron's remark that Hamas had never operated in the West Bank was rejected by Israeli officials.
On Gaza, a minister presented a plan on 3 September to move 250,000 Palestinians abroad within a year, and Itamar Ben-Gvir proposed moving 1.8 million over seven years; the US ambassador said Israel was not planning forced displacement. Israel and Lebanon held talks in Washington on 16 September, with a Rome round postponed to October. Syria's al-Sharaa said the Golan Heights would remain Syrian, and Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel would not leave the buffer zone. Morocco and Israel opened embassies.
by WorldBrief & Maksim Micheliov | AI-generated summary
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