The sea bream Diplodus levantinus n. sp. is described from off the coasts of Israel in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, where it replaces Diplodus sargus (Linnaeus, 1758). The new species is characterized by 11-12 spines and 10-16 soft rays in the dorsal fin, 3 spines and 11-13 soft rays in the anal fin, 15-17 pectoral fin rays, 6-9 + 8-12 gill rakers on the first gill arch, upper and lower jaws with a single row of 4 incisors on each side, followed by a total of 16-19 molariform teeth in the upper jaw and 12-14 molariform teeth in the lower jaw, with the molariforms of the upper jaw separated from the incisors by a wide, toothless gap, and the sides of the body in adults with 8 vertical bars of equal width which are present even in large adults, followed by a broad bar on the caudal peduncle which usually nearly reaches the ventral margin of the caudal peduncle. An updated checklist of the species of the genus Diplodus, and a key to species of the Diplodus sargus species group from the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea, are presented.