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

Israel cover image

Israel

May 29, 2026

Tel Aviv 5:38 pm

25°C

PALM BEACH, FLORIDA - DECEMBER 29: (EDITOR'S NOTE: Alternate crop) U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to his Mar-a-Lago club on December 29, 2025 in Palm Beach, Florida. The two leaders are scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting to discuss regional security in the Middle East as well as the U.S.-Israel partnership. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Exclusive

Trump 'hit the brakes': Netanyahu's circle faults US president for failed Iran regime change, looming deal

With regime in Iran still standing and a possible US-Iran agreement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stands to pay the ultimate political price as elections near in Israel.

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

Ibrahim AMRO / AFP via Getty Images

Israel strikes Lebanon's capital Beirut for first time in 3 weeks: What to know

According to Israeli media, Ali al-Husseini, the commander of the missile unit in the Imam Hussein Division, a brigade affiliated with Iran’s Quds Force that operates alongside Hezbollah, was the target of the attack.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, (R) shakes hands with Viktor Orban, Hungary's prime minister, during a news conference on April 3, 2025 in Budapest, Hungary.

With Hungary’s ICC U-turn, Israel loses a key European ally

Hungary’s parliament voted to remain in the International Criminal Court, reversing a planned withdrawal and marking a shift in Budapest’s approach to Israel and the EU.

Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP via Getty Images

Who was Mohammed Odeh, Hamas military commander killed by Israel in Gaza?

Odeh was killed in a Tuesday strike in the Palestinian enclave just days after he assumed his leadership position.

Latest News

Analysis

'Very bad news’: Israel alarmed as Trump pushes ahead toward Iran deal

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

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

Israel strikes near Lebanon’s Qaraoun dam as war intensifies: What to know

A partial view shows a drainage vacuum hole on the lake of Qaraoun in Lebanon's southern Beqaa Valley on April 5, 2019.

US gave Israel 'tacit agreement' to target senior Hezbollah figures

A view shows a Lebanese flag positioned among shattered concrete and twisted rebar, remnants of a destroyed building, in Sidon, Lebanon, on May 3, 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

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seen on a monitor before the evening news bulletin at Channel 10 in Jerusalem November 18, 2015. Critics say Netanyahu, known as "Bibi," is hitting the wrong note when it comes to the media, weakening press freedom and holding sway over TV broadcasters in a country that bills itself as the Middle East's only true democracy. Picture taken November 18, 2015. To match Insight ISRAEL-NETANYAHU/MEDIA REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RTX1VG4V

Netanyahu's battle against public broadcasting

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, worried that a new independent broadcasting corporation would veer left right under his nose, has postponed its launch by two years.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and his wife Sara (R) attend the the the 2016 Genesis Prize in Jerusalem, June 23, 2016. REUTERS/Amir Cohen - RTX2HV1J

Is Bibi's massive fundraising network about to collapse?

Police are looking into alleged donations of money and gifts by foreign businesspeople to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his family members.

A general view of the UNESCO headquarters before a ceremony for the "UNESCO-Equatorial Guinea International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences" in Paris July 17, 2012. Rights groups said on Monday UNESCO's decision to award a science prize sponsored by the president of Equatorial Guinea was "shameful and utterly irresponsible". Despite calls to abandon it, the governing council of Paris-based UNESCO voted by 33 to 18 with six abstentions to approve awarding what was originally called the "UNESCO-Obiang

What really delayed UNESCO vote on Jerusalem?

Although Israel claimed success in delaying the vote to be held in Istanbul on a UNESCO resolution submitted by Palestine and Jordan on Jerusalem, Palestinian and Arab officials say the postponement was due to security instability in Turkey following the coup attempt.

Hanin Zoabi, a legislator from the Joint Arab List, participates in a pro-Palestinian demonstration in the northern Israeli town of Sakhnin October 13, 2015. Israel's leading Arab politician was in the middle of a television interview on a street in its biggest Arab city when the mayor, also an Arab, pulled up in his car and started shouting at him to leave. With Palestinian knife attacks on the rise, the live TV encounter illustrated a conflict within Israel's Arab minority between sympathy for Palestinian

Is Arab Knesset member Zoabi on her way out?

The Israeli Knesset is expected to approve a bill enabling a three-fourths majority of 90 members to expel another member on the grounds of incitement against the state or relations with a terror organization.

Screen_Shot_2016-07-19_at_10.28.12_AM.png

Was Arabic ad on Israeli TV a clever publicity stunt?

An Israeli department store probably anticipated the controversy its prime-time Arabic-language commercial would kick off and is now reaping the benefits of notoriety among large swaths of Israelis.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomes Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry (L) in Jerusalem July 10, 2016 REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RTSH5PM

Some Egyptians wary of normalizing relations with Israel

Egyptian leaders say they are playing an important role in reviving the Palestinian issue by mediating with Israel, but some sources say Egyptians might actually be losing their sympathy for Palestinians and don't want to normalize relations with Israel.

An Israeli army rabbi blesses a soldier who just returned from Lebanon to north of Israel near the Israeli-Lebanon border August 11, 2006. REUTERS/Petr Josek (ISRAEL) - RTR1GAH4

The cultural war brewing inside the IDF

Statements by leading Zionist-Orthodox rabbis against gays and in support of the exclusion of women from the army reflect the growing war of culture waged in Israel, between liberals and those who aspire for a more Jewish-religious state.

'No military solution' say Israeli, Palestinian ex-fighters

The Israeli and Palestinian former fighters of Combatants for Peace are using their personal stories to advocate a nonviolent, humanitarian approach to ending the Israeli occupation in the Palestinian territories.

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL - FEBRUARY 24: Ayelet Shaked poses for a portrait on February 24, 2015 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Ayelet Shaked of the Bayit Yehudi party is the newly appointed Justice Minister. (Photo by Ilia Yefimovich/Getty Images)

Why nude portrait of an Israeli minister was censored

The president of the Israeli Design College has censored a portrait by a student that depicts Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked nude.

Israeli border policemen take position as a Palestinian woman looks out a shop during clashes in the West Bank town of Al-Ram, near Jerusalem October 22, 2015. Nine Israelis have been killed in Palestinian stabbings, shootings and vehicle attacks since the start of October. Forty-nine Palestinians, including 25 assailants, among them children, have been killed in attacks and during anti-Israeli protests. Among the causes of the turmoil is Palestinians' anger at what they see as Jewish encroachment on the al

BDS movement targets Palestinian investors in West Bank mall

Pro-Palestinian activists are working with a consumer advocacy group to urge Palestinian investors to back out of a new shopping mall in northern Jerusalem, warning that not only will the project harm the Palestinian economy, the investors themselves could face legal action.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and his Ethiopian counterpart Hailemariam Desalegn arrive for a news conference at the National Palace during his State visit to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, July 7, 2016. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri? - RTX2K50Z

What Bibi's Africa visit means for Egypt-Ethiopia dam dispute

As Israel increases its influence with African countries, Egyptians are wondering what impact that could have on them, the Renaissance Dam negotiations and the Palestinian solution.

Ultra-Orthodox Jews take part in a protest against the operation of an Intel plant on the Jewish Sabbath in Jerusalem November 14, 2009. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (JERUSALEM BUSINESS CONFLICT RELIGION) - RTXQPS3

Israel's plan to keep tech giants from fleeing

Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon has announced a plan to slash Israel's 25% corporate tax to just 6% for such internet giants as Google and Facebook in a bid to keep the companies in Israel.