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

Israel cover image

Israel

May 1, 2026

Tel Aviv 11:56 pm

17°C

Ibrahim AMRO / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Without exit strategy, Israel faces emboldened Hezbollah, limited options on Iran

While President Donald Trump remains undecided on striking Iran again, the Israeli military is sinking deeper into its Lebanon quagmire with a reinforced Hezbollah.

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

Members of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), from the British Army's 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards, No. 2 Company, patrol along the buffer zone separating the internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus and the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in the divided capital Nicosia on Feb. 17, 2026.

Turkey warns France over Cyprus troop deployment: What to know

A potential French deployment to Greek Cyprus comes amid Turkey’s growing concerns of strategic encirclement in the Eastern Mediterranean.

President Donald Trump gives a speech during the State Arrival Ceremony on the South Lawn on April 28, 2026, in Washington.

Trump speaks with Netanyahu, Putin as Iran pressure campaign escalates

President Donald Trump spoke by phone separately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin, discussing the situation in Iran and the possibility of extending the ceasefire.

DENIS LOVROVIC/AFP via Getty Images

Israel rejects Ukraine's claim that Russian shadow fleet vessel docked in Haifa

Ukraine alleges the vessel unloaded wheat taken from occupied territories in Haifa, while Israel says ship had not entered the port.

Latest News

Analysis

Despite Trump pressure to limit Israel's Lebanon attacks, Aoun-Netanyahu meeting still unlikely

ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images

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

Turkey’s military spending jumps to $30B, leads Mideast growth in 2025

Turkey's submarines and fast-attack craft ships participate in the live-fire phase of the Blue Homeland-2026 (Mavi Vatan) tactical military exercises in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, in Antalya on April 9, 2026.

Why US, Israel are freezing France out of Lebanon talks

French President Emmanuel Macron speaks to journalists as he arrives for an informal meeting of the European Council in Nicosia, Cyprus, April 24, 2026.

Analysis

Why Saudi Arabia, Egypt are wary of Turkey’s proposed 4-way defense pact with Pakistan

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan hosted the third meeting of the foreign ministers of Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia on the margins of the 5th Antalya Diplomacy Forum, on April 17, 2026.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

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

Israeli F-35 fighter jets roll on the tarmac during the "Blue Flag" multinational aerial exercise at the Ovda air force base, north of the Israeli city of Eilat, on November 11, 2019. (Photo by Emmanuel DUNAND / AFP) (Photo by EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel’s military skirts budget restrictions for $9 billion air force upgrade

The IDF will use a chunk of US aid and foreign borrowing to help fund its planned expansion of the air force's strike range

Israeli ministers reach out to homeland Morocco

Israeli ministers of Moroccan origins rejoice over tightening bilateral relations with Israel, multiplying their contacts with ministers in their homeland.

French nuns living in Israel queue with other foreign residents to receive a dose of COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine at the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Centre for foreign nationals in the Mediterranean coastal city of Tel Aviv on February 9, 2021 during a campaign to vaccinate foreign workers and refugees against coronavirus. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Foreigners in Tel Aviv begin receiving vaccines

Israel continues to lead the world in the percentage of people who have received at least one vaccine dose.

Memebers of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) stand near an old Israeli tank as they look toward the Syrian governorate of Quneitra from the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, on February 4, 2021. (Photo by JALAA MAREY / AFP) (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)

Golan 'forever' part of Israel, Netanyahu says after Blinken comments

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken appeared to question the previous administration's controversial decision to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

A member of the French Civil Defence checks an air traveller's documents at Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport in Roissy, north of Paris, on February 5, 2021, after France implemented tough border restrictions as part of new efforts to contain Covid-19 (novel coronavirus) infections. - France on February 1, 2021, curbed international travel by banning most flights outside the European Union. Only urgent reasons for travel are accepted and border police require written proof before allowing passengers to board.

Israel, Greece agree on 'green passports' for citizens vaccinated for COVID-19

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed Feb. 9 to adopt a mutual tourism pact, which will enable those already vaccinated against the coronavirus to travel between the two countries freely.

Netanyahu’s fate to be determined by COVID-19, not corruption trial

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fears failure in dealing with Israel's coronavirus pandemic even more than his corruption trial.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) talks to his lawyer ahead of a hearing in his corruption trial at the Jerusalem district court, on February 8, 2021. - Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied corruption charges against him in a brief court appearance, as his graft trial intensifies weeks before a fourth national election inside two years. (Photo by Reuven Castro / POOL / AFP) (Photo by REUVEN CASTRO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Netanyahu pushes for evidentiary stage to be postponed until after election

The legal defense team of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tries postponing the evidentiary stage of his trial until after the March 23 election.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a statement next to the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (unseen) after their meeting in the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem on February 8, 2021. (Photo by menahem kahana / POOL / AFP) (Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Netanyahu pleads not guilty in corruption trial

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three separate corruption cases.

French President Emmanuel Macron reacts after a German-French Security Council video conference with German Chancellor, at the Elysee Palace in Paris on February 5, 2021. (Photo by Thibault Camus / POOL / AFP) (Photo by THIBAULT CAMUS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

France, not US, offers to involve Israel in talks with Iran

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not react publicly to the statement by French President Emmanuel Macron over the need to involve Israel and Saudi Arabia in talks with Iran.

An Egyptian soldier stands guard during an organised tour for diplomats to mark the 150th anniversary of the inauguration of the Suez Canal, in the northeastern city of Ismailia on November 17, 2019. - One hundred and fifty years after the Suez Canal opened, the international waterway is hugely significant to the economy of modern-day Egypt, which nationalised it in 1956. The canal, dug in the 19th century using "rudimentary tools" and which links the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, was opened to navigation i

Egypt concerned UAE-Israeli pipeline project will affect Suez Canal

Egyptian officials have been expressing concern over the anticipated competition from the Eilat-Ashkelon pipeline project that would transport Emirati oil to Ashkelon in Israel and from there to European markets.

United Arab Emirates

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a speech at the 5th Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism conference at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem, on May 12, 2015. AFP PHOTO / MENAHEM KAHANA (Photo credit should read MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images)

Netanyahu accuses ICC of anti-Semitism

Israel's prime minister lashed out at the International Criminal Court after it ruled that its jurisdiction includes the West Bank and Gaza Strip, pointing out that the court was created in part to protect the Jewish people.

Israeli Arab women take part in a protest after a student was killed in a reported police shootout this week, in the northern Arab-Israeli town of Umm-Al Fahem on February 5, 2021. - Hundreds of Arab Israelis demonstrated protesters defied coronavirus restrictions on gatherings to demonstrate in front of the police station in the Arab-Israeli city of Umm al-Fahm. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images)

Netanyahu recycles promises to combat soaring crime in Arab towns

Ahead of the March elections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is repeating promises he made nine years ago to control crime rates in Arab towns and villages.