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Israel

May 9, 2026

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Traffic passes a billboard depicting Iranian ballistic missiles in service, with text in Arabic reading "the honest [person's] promise" and in Persian "Israel is weaker than a spider's web," Valiasr Square, Tehran, April 15, 2024. ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images.

Analysis

CIA report on Iran missiles undercuts Netanyahu as war euphoria dissipates

The findings cast doubt on Israel’s wartime gains and put pressure on Netanyahu’s campaign strategy ahead of elections.

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

People gather at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted Beirut's southern suburbs neighborhood of Haret Hreik on May 6, 2026.

Israel strikes Beirut in breach of Lebanon ceasefire

Israel has continued to carry out strikes in southern Lebanon but had not targeted Beirut since the ceasefire took effect.

Amirhossein KHORGOOEI / ISNA / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Israel fears Trump seeking Hormuz win while sidestepping Iran nuclear issue

While President Donald Trump keeps pressuring Iran on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, Israel fears the American leader will decide to cut his losses and sideline the nuclear threat.

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

Latest News

Culture

Lebanon's churches, mosques and archaeological sites damaged in Israeli strikes

A man sits watching as Lebanese first responders search for human remains among the rubble the day after a house was targeted in an Israeli airstrike in the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh, on May 1, 2026.

Analysis

Can Bennett, Lapid unite Israel’s opposition to unseat Netanyahu?

Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Yair Lapid (L) speaks to outgoing Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, during a meeting at the Knesset (parliament), in Jerusalem on June 30, 2022. - Final approval of the parliament dissolution bill was initially expected by midnight but was postponed to June 30 as coalition and opposition lawmakers sparred over last-minute legislative details, several sources familiar with the parliamentary said. (Photo by Menahem KAHANA / AFP) (Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images)

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Analysis

Iron Dome in Gulf: How Iran war turned UAE-Israel defense ties operational

AFP via Getty Images

Francesco Schiavi

By Francesco Schiavi

In Bologna, reporting on security, defense, economy, governance

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

Palestinian demonstrators burn an effigy depicting U.S. President Donald Trump during a protest against U.S aid cuts, outside the United Nations' offices in the southern Gaza Strip February 11, 2018. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RC1D5F27F630

Scorn for US peace plan brings Hamas, Hezbollah closer

Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah is calling for a Palestinian-Lebanese dialogue to counter the US peace plan, an approach welcomed by Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

KIRYAT SHMONA, ISRAEL - JULY 20: U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter, lower right, talks with Israel Defense Forces (IDF) 91st Division Commander Moni Katz, center as Deputy Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Yair Golan stands left, as they view the Hula Valley from the Hussein Lookout in northern Israel along the boarder with Lebanon July 20, 2015 near Kiryat Shmona, Israel. Carter said he has no expectation of persuading Israeli leaders to drop their opposition to the Iran nuclear deal, but will instead emphasize th

Could retired Maj. Gen. Golan save Israel’s Labor Party?

Former Deputy Chief of Staff Yair Golan is a breath of fresh air in Israeli politics, bringing a clear worldview and showing no interest in ingratiating himself with the soft right in order to win a few more votes.

Benny Gantz, head of Blue and White party, prepares to huddle with his party candidates Yair Lapid, Moshe Yaalon and Gaby Ashkenazi, following the announcement of exit polls in Israel's parliamentary election at the party headquarters in Tel Aviv, Israel April 10, 2019. REUTERS/Amir Cohen - RC1129C2DDD0

Does Israel’s Blue and White party need to change leaders?

Ahead of the new Sept. 17 elections, the Blue and White party must decide which leadership configuration is most likely to bring victory.

Second grade school children practise their Arabic at the Hand in Hand Arab Jewish bilingual school in Jerusalem December 3, 2014. The Hand in Hand school in Jerusalem presents an almost too-perfect scene in a tense and divided city, where Jews and Arabs do daily business but rarely befriend one other. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST EDUCATION) - GM1EAC31TX701

What Israel would look like if more students learned Arabic

Israel is situated in the heart of the Arab world, yet it fails to encourage the study of Arabic, except in a military context.

Interview

Sen. Van Hollen challenges Trump's bypass of Congress on Saudi Arabia, Iran

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Maryland Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen describes efforts to curtail the Trump administration’s Gulf policies.

Chris Van Hollen

Chris Van Hollen

US Senator from Maryland

An Israeli man walks past an electoral billboard bearing portraits of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flanked by extreme right politicians Itamar Ben Gvir, Bezalel Smotrich and Michael Ben Ari, with a caption in Hebrew reading "Kahana Lives" in a reference to a banned ultranationalist party in the 1994, in Jerusalem, on March 29, 2019. - Israeli general elections will be held on April 9, 2019. (Photo by THOMAS COEX / AFP) (Photo credit should read THOMAS COEX/AFP/Getty Images)

Israel's religious right thrives on political unrest

Knesset member Betzalel Smotrich of the United Right party is campaigning for Israel to be run according to religious law, and there are no guarantees he won’t make it happen.

Palestinian Hamas militants take part in the funeral of their comrade Mahmoud Al-Nabaheen in the central Gaza Strip January 23, 2019. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa - RC1E6E9AAB00

Iran seems to have never stopped funding Hamas families

Iran has reportedly resumed its funding to the Palestinian Hamas movement through funds to families of Palestinians killed in resistance activities in the Gaza Strip.

Will Israel enforce the truce agreements prior to election?

The fact that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a government and awaits the new election’s outcome has raised questions on whether he will implement the truce understandings with the Palestinian factions.

An Israeli-Arab woman walks out from behind a voting booth as Israelis vote in a parliamentary election, at a polling station in Umm al-Fahm, Israel April 9, 2019. REUTERS/Ammar Awad - RC1F60560A00

Will Israeli Arabs come out to vote in September?

The numbers make clear that a change of regime and victory for the Blue and White in September elections can only be achieved by boosting voter turnout among Arabs, who represent double the vote potential than the ultra-Orthodox parties, which garnered 16 Knesset seats in the April vote.

Palestinian self-made weaponry on the rise

Despite Israel's siege on the Gaza Strip, the armed wings of the Palestinian factions have managed to expand their military capabilities.

Blue and White gets rare second chance in politics

New elections present a credible opportunity for the Blue and White to form the next government if it changes its attitude toward working with Israel's Arab minority.

Israel's Knesset in limbo

The decision to hold new elections in September has thrown the Israeli parliament and government into political limbo.