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Israel

May 18, 2026

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Somaliland’s first ambassador to a foreign country formally, Mohamed Hagi, presented his diplomatic credentials in Jerusalem to Israeli President Isaac Herzog, on May 18, 2026.

Israel accredits Somaliland's first ambassador: What to know

Israel was the first country to recognize the breakaway region on the Horn of Africa last year.

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.

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

FILE PHOTO: German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives for a welcoming ceremony during the Group of 20 (G20) leaders summit in the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya, Turkey, November 15, 2015. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File Photo - RTX30909

What is Merkel's Mideast role in Trump-Putin era?

Against the backdrop of US President Donald Trump’s nationalistic policies, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is being viewed by many as the new leader of the free world and a future key player in the Middle East.

Attorney David Friedman arrives at a private fundraiser for then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in the Manhattan borough of New York City, June 21, 2016. Friedman is U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's designated Ambassador to Israel. Picture taken June 21, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Segar - RTX2XAMD

Israeli left regroups to survive Trump era

Israeli progressives fear that the spirit of the new US administration not only will encourage settlement construction, but threaten liberal values and tolerance within Israeli society.

Pictures of Palestinian Hamas militants held in Israeli jails are seen through a fence during a rally marking Palestinian Prisoner Day, in Gaza City April 17, 2016. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem - RTX2AAQR

What's behind coordinated attacks by Hamas inmates in Israeli jails?

Faced with a huge crisis, Hamas is trying to divert local pressure in the Gaza Strip away from its leadership by increasing unrest among Hamas prisoners in Israel.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stands alone on the doorstep of 10 Downing Street as he arrives to visit Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May in London, February 6, 2017. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls - RTX2ZTWJ

Is Netanyahu counting on Israel's High Court to save him?

Turkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, continuing to avoid his and his party's responsibility for the Regularization law, is hoping the High Court will strike it down.

Dancers from the Ahli Club for Circassian Dance perform at the Southern theatre during the Jerash Festival of Culture and Arts in the ancient city of Jerash, north of Amman, Jordan, July 26, 2016. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed - RTSJSOA

How Circassians maintain identity in changing Golan

Many Circassians who lost their homes in Quneitra, Syria, opened their doors to Al-Monitor at nearby Madinat al-Baath, where they recounted their stories.

Palestinian members of al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, display home-made rockets during an anti-Israel military parade, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip August 21, 2016. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa - RTX2MFG5

Who profits from Gaza unrest?

Israel is concerned that Hamas is planning a major strategic attack on the Israeli homefront, which would force the IDF to invade Gaza.

The West Bank Jewish settlement of Ofra is photographed as seen from the Jewish settler outpost of Amona in the West Bank, during an event organised to show support for Amona which was built without Israeli state authorisation and which Israel's high court ruled must be evacuated and demolished by the end of the year as it is built on privately-owned Palestinian land, October 20, 2016. The Palestinian village of Silwad is seen in the background. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RTX2POW2

Does Trump signal golden age for Israeli settlements?

Some are convinced that Israel's right-wing government and the new US administration under Donald Trump offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to legalize all West Bank settlements.

Senior Hamas leader Khaled Mashal (C), Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed el-Tayeb, Egyptian Imam of al-Azhar Mosque (L) and Mousa Abu Marzouk (R), the deputy-head of Hamas's talk during a Hamas delegation visit to the Imam of al-Azhar mosque in Cairo January 24, 2012. REUTERS/Mohamed Al Hams/Handout (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS) FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIEN

Hamas leader: Gaza won't harbor individuals who 'aim to harm Egypt'

Deputy head of Hamas’ political bureau Mousa Abu Marzouk told Al-Monitor that Hamas does "not interfere in Egypt's security affairs" and said some countries had contacted the movement to discuss a prisoner swap deal with Israel.

Jordan's King Abdullah (L) speaks with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, U.S., February 2, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria - RTX2ZCD3

What Jordan's king told Trump

The Palestinian leadership has failed thus far to establish direct channels of communication with the White House, but Jordan’s King Abdullah II may have succeeded in transmitting at least one of its messages to President Donald Trump.

Israeli policemen remove a pro-settlement activist during an operation by Israeli forces to evict settlers from the illegal outpost of Amona in the occupied West Bank February 1, 2017. REUTERS/Baz Ratner TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTX2Z6FD

Israeli peace camp should use language Trump understands: Private property

With President Donald Trump in the White House, the Israeli peace camp should focus its strategy on highlighting the theft of Palestinian lands for settlement construction.

U.S. President Donald Trump salutes as he arrives at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, U.S., February 6, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria - RTX2ZVRM

Why the US might cut Palestinian aid drastically

The Palestinian Authority worries that the new US administration will withhold aid, in part to pressure Palestinians to return to the negotiating table with the Israelis.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) attends the weekly cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem January 29, 2017. REUTERS/Abir Sultan/Pool - RTSXV3R

Israeli right prepares for post-Netanyahu era

Rivals from within the Likud Party and leaders of other coalition partners are already preparing for the moment Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will have to step down.