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Israel

January 19, 2026

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US President Donald Trump (R) greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) at Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, Dec. 29, 2025.

Analysis

Israel 'frustrated' by Trump’s Iran backtrack, unsure if strategy or cold feet

Israeli leaders had hoped that the US president would order attacks to help topple the government in Tehran and perhaps target Supreme Leader Khamenei.

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

Retired Israeli General and Executive Director of Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) Amos Yadlin attends a session at the Manama Dialogue security conference in the Bahraini capital, on Dec. 5, 2020.

Interview

Yadlin: Israel’s regime-change goal in Iran remote without US 'boots on the ground'

The former head of Israel's military intelligence directorate told Al-Monitor that Israel must prepare itself for a possible Iranian response if the US follows through on its threat to hit the Islamic Republic.

Amos Yadlin

Amos Yadlin

Former head of Israel's Military Intelligence Directorate

Men pass by the destroyed Haifa Bakery in Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip, on Nov. 6, 2025.

US to launch Gaza governance plan amid Hamas disarmament doubts

US envoy Steve Witkoff warned that Hamas' failure to comply with the plan's next phase would "bring serious consequences."

Sheikh Hikmat Salman al-Hijri is pictured at Qanawat, the headquarters of the Druze spiritual presidency, on Dec. 28, 2024, in Suwayda, Syria.

Syria Druze leader Hijri calls for independent entity, says country ‘heading toward partition’

Controversial Druze spiritual leader Hikmat al-Hijri, in Syria’s southern province of Suwayda, praised Israel as the only party he said intervened to stop the killing of Druze during a wave of unrest last summer.

Latest News

Analysis

Israel assesses Trump may opt for Iran strike despite protest crackdown

TEHRAN, IRAN - JANUARY 10: The heavily damaged Tax Affairs building is pictured on January 10, 2026 in Tehran, Iran. Some areas of Tehran sustained heavy damage during ongoing protests that came to a head on January 8, amid a growing economic and political crisis sweeping the country. (Photo by Stringer/Getty Images)

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

Israel holds drills, prepares missile defenses for possible Iran attack: What to know

This picture shows a battery of Israel's Iron Dome air defence system in the southern city of Ashdod on May 12, 2023, as Israel's army and Gaza militants traded heavy cross-border fire. Israel and Gaza militants traded heavy fire today as hopes faded of securing a truce to end days of fighting that have killed dozens, all but one of them Palestinian. (Photo by Jack Guez / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

What Syria and Israel’s new communications cell really signals

Israel military vehicles drive along the border fence into Israel, near the town of Majdal Shams, in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, on July 17, 2025. Syrian government forces have withdrawn from the whole of Sweida province after days of sectarian bloodshed in the heartland of the Druze minority, a war monitor and witnesses said July 17, 2025. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP) (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)

Rina Bassist

By Rosaleen Carroll , Rina Bassist

Interview

Gaza calm could revive East Med Forum, Israel-Jordan projects: Cohen

Israel's Foreign Minister Eli Cohen gives a press conference in Larnaca on December 20, 2023 talking about a humanitarian aid corridor from the Mediterranean island to war-torn Gaza. (Photo by Elisa AMOURET / AFP) (Photo by ELISA AMOURET/AFP via Getty Images)

Eli Cohen

Eli Cohen

Israeli Energy Minister

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

Protesters call on the United Nations to take action against the treatment of women in Iran, following the death of Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the morality police, during a demonstration in Times Square, New York, Nov. 19, 2022.

Israeli intelligence sees genuine, lasting changes in Iran

According to Israeli security sources, the blunt breach of human rights in Iran blocks world powers from advancing on a nuke deal.

US investment Middle East

How the US invests in the Middle East

In our latest PRO Trend Report, we take a deep-dive into American investment in the region and opportunities to expand it.

Joint List Party leader Ayman Odeh meets with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in New York on Dec. 9, 2022.

On US visit, Arab Israeli leader warns against Netanyahu’s new government

In a meeting with the United Nations secretary-general, Hadash-Ta’al party head Ayman Odeh blamed successive governments of neglecting to protect Israeli Arab citizens.

A man walks past a French-language daily newspaper stand displaying the final issue of Algerian French-language daily newspaper "Liberté" in Algeria's capital Algiers on April 14, 2022. (Photo by RYAD KRAMDI/AFP via Getty Images)

In press freedom index, Middle Eastern countries go from bad to worse

Press freedom and journalist safety remain “very bad” in the majority of the Middle East and North Africa nations, Reporters Without Borders' 2022 index shows.

JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP via Getty Images

Israeli army to investigate death of 16-year-old Palestinian girl

Defense Minister Benny Gantz has shot down accusations that Israeli troops intentionally killed teenager Jana Majdi Assam Zakarna during a raid in the West Bank town of Jenin, but the military investigation is ongoing.

Tamar drilling natural gas production platform is seen some 25 kilometers west of the Ashkelon shore in February 2013 in Israel.

Israeli gas sector strengthens with Chevron, Morocco deals

Israel is already exporting gas to Egypt and Jordan and is now eyeing greater energy ties with Morocco following the Abraham Accords.

Amir Levy/Getty Images

Meet Aryeh Deri: Israel's Ultra-Orthodox strongman in Netanyahu’s cabinet

Counting on ultra-Orthodox Shas leader Aryeh Deri to become the more moderate face of his government, Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu has offered him a slew of ministerial portfolios and responsibilities.

Israeli right-wing Knesset member Itamar Ben-Gvir (R) chats with incoming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) during the swearing in ceremony of the new Israeli government at the Knesset, Jerusalem, Nov. 15, 2022.

Crisis imminent as Netanyahu’s far-right partners set to govern West Bank

By handing over responsibilities for administrating lives in the West Bank to his far-right partners, Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu is playing with fire on the international arena.

A view shows the solar tower of Israel's Ashalim power station surrounded by panels, in the Negev desert near the kibbutz of Ashalim on Aug. 20, 2022.

Israel earmarks residential rooftops for electricity production

The new strategy of the Ministry of Energy includes encouraging residential buildings to install solar panels that would then be connected to the national electricity grid.

European Union commissioners meet for the weekly College meeting at the European Commission headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, Nov. 9, 2022.

EU halts talks with Israel on police intelligence-sharing agreement

After signing a draft of a cooperation agreement between Europol and Israeli Police, the political leadership of the European Union is now backing away from the agreement.

basketball

More basketball teams from West Bank settlements enter Israel’s national league

The Israeli Basketball Association and the International Basketball Federation would rather avoid the delicate issue of settlement teams hosting games and playing in the Israel professional national league.

Salah Hamouri in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on Nov. 8, 2021.

France criticizes Israel for prolonging detention of French-Palestinian detainee

Instead of being expelled to France last Sunday, French-Palestinian Salah Hamouri is being kept in prison pending a Jan. 1 court hearing of his case.