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

Israel cover image

Israel

May 17, 2026

Tel Aviv 7:54 am

19°C

talks

Lebanon-Israel ceasefire extended 45 days as US opens security talks

The Pentagon will host Israeli and Lebanese military delegations for a round of separate security talks later this month.

US President Donald Trump talks to UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as he departs the Al Bateen Executive Airport on May 15, 2025, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Analysis

‘A reckless act’: Netanyahu sparks UAE fury by claiming secret visit

Just as UAE-Israeli relations were deepening through cooperation against Iran, the Israeli prime minister publicly embarrassed Abu Dhabi by revealing his March visit.

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

Israel's Netanyahu suing New York Times over column on Palestinian rape

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Saar rejected New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof's accusations of systematic sexual abuse and rape of Palestinian prisoners, calling the claims a "blood libel."

Latest News

Analysis

Israel’s drone dilemma: Hezbollah’s low-cost threat reshapes Lebanon front

Artillery units are positioned near the Lebanese border in northern Israel, May 4, 2026.

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

EU ministers agree to sanction violent West Bank settlers: What to know

Two men stand next to the burned remains of a Palestinian vehicle in the Wadi al-Rakhim area of Susya village in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on May 1, 2026.

Netanyahu fears being left out as Trump pursues Iran diplomacy

Ronen Zvulun / AFP via Getty Images

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 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the Monastirioton synagogue in Thessaloniki, Greece June 15, 2017. REUTERS/Alexandros Avramidis - RTS179BA

The holy alliance between Netanyahu and the ultra-Orthodox

With Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ceding to all their demands, Israel's ultra-Orthodox parties are in no hurry to dismantle his government.

U.N. peacekeepers of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) patrol on their armored vehicles near Adaisseh village near the Lebanese-Israeli border, southern Lebanon, January 4, 2016. Hezbollah said it set off a bomb targeting Israeli forces at the Lebanese border on Monday in an apparent response to the killing in Syria last month of a prominent commander, triggering Israeli shelling of southern Lebanon. REUTERS/Aziz Taher - RTX2101D

Tensions flare between IDF, UN peacekeepers in Lebanon

With Hezbollah turning into a real army, with strong attack capabilities, Israel starts building a defense wall on its northern border.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas meets with White House senior advisor Jared Kushner in the West Bank City of Ramallah June 21, 2017. Thaer Ghanaim/PPO/Handout via REUTERS - RTS183ES

Kushner's first foray into Mideast peace reveals challenges ahead

Palestinians accuse the US negotiating team that met with President Mahmoud Abbas June 22 of taking Israel's side, by not discussing the two-state solution or Israeli settlement activities.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende (C) is welcomed by Palestinians as he visits houses, which witnesses said were destroyed or damaged during the seven-week Israeli offensive, in the east of Gaza City September 8, 2014 . REUTERS/Ahmed Zakot (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR45D38

Israel wields influence to block foreign funding to Palestinian NGOs

Apparently at Israel's request, some Palestinian nongovernmental organizations are losing their financial support from abroad over allegations of their links to terrorism.

Heavy machinery work on a field as they begin construction work of Amichai, a new settlement which will house some 300 Jewish settlers evicted in February from the illegal West Bank settlement of Amona, in the West Bank June 20, 2017. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RTS17UHK

Palestinians despair as Israel breaks ground on new settlement

Despite UN Security Council Resolution 2334 and US President Donald Trump's efforts to resume the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, Israel has approved plans to develop its first new settlement area in 25 years.

A protester holds a Palestinian flag during clashes with Israeli troops at a protest against reducing power supply to Gaza, near the border with Israel in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip June 20, 2017. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa - RTS17WD5

Palestinians wary of talk Gaza may be declared 'rebel district'

The poor living conditions and security situation of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip could further deteriorate if Palesinian President Mahmoud Abbas declares Gaza a "rebel district."

Israel Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman speaks at the 53rd Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, February 19, 2017. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle - RTSZCHS

Israeli defense minister accuses Abbas of pushing Israel-Hamas war

To destroy Hamas rule, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas pushes it into a confrontation with Israel.

Jason Greenblatt (L), U.S. President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy meets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Prime Ministerís Office in Jerusalem March 13, 2017. Picture taken March 13, 2017. Courtesy Matty Stern/U.S. Embassy Tel Aviv/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. EDITORIAL USE ONLY - RTX319TT

Netanyahu ready to meet Abbas, but not to negotiate

While the Palestinians hope that President Donald Trump will deliver a realistic negotiations process on a two-state solution, the Israeli side is determined to jeopardize such a process.

A picture taken on May 24, 2017 shows the Chief of the Israeli police, Commissioner Roni Alsheikh (C) during the Jerusalem Day march in Jerusalem.
Alsheikh is the former deputy chief of the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet). / AFP PHOTO / THOMAS COEX (Photo credit should read THOMAS COEX/AFP/Getty Images)

Israel's police chief sidelining democratic values

The Israel Police under the leadership of Chief Roni Alsheich seems to be losing its guiding principles, instead protecting police officers from citizens rather than protecting the citizens and the values of democracy.

A Palestinian boy holds a crossed-out poster depicting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during a protest against the blockade on Gaza, in the central Gaza Strip May 2, 2017. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa - RTS14RPX

Gaza residents abandoned by Hamas, Abbas and Israel

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu share the shameful responsibility of leaving innocent Gaza residents practically without electricity.

Iraq's Kurdistan region's President Massoud Barzani gestures during a joint news conference with German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel (not pictured) in Erbil, Iraq April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari - RTS1348S

The reason Tehran is against referendum on Iraqi Kurdistan

Iranian leaders and media have expressed strong opposition to the September referendum on the independence of Iraqi Kurdistan.

A demonstrator holds a picture of Eastern Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar during a protest against the Italian government, which according to the protest organizers, supports the Bonyan Marsous forces that are mainly fighters from the city of Misrata, in Benghazi, Libya, February 12, 2017. REUTERS/Esam Omran Al-Fetori - RTSYBAT

Gazans denounce claims Hamas is training extremists in Libya

Accusations by the spokesman of the forces of retired Maj. Gen. Khalifa Hifter that Hamas has provided technical support to some armed groups in Libya are rebutted and mocked by Palestinians amid a lack of evidence of Hamas’ involvement in the North African country.