Courts and the law

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds the hand of his wife Sara as they attend a ceremony commemorating Israel's Remembrance Day for fallen soldiers, or Yom HaZikaron, at the Military Cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem on April 21, 2026. (Photo by Ilia YEFIMOVICH / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

Israel's Netanyahu says he was treated for prostate cancer: What we know

The prime minister said he postponed the report’s publication to prevent it from being released at the height of the war with Iran.

Women read instructions to voters ahead of the upcoming municipal elections in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on April 21, 2026.

Analysis

On eve of Palestinian local elections, competition in short supply

With many races unopposed and rivals excluded, the vote underscores a calibrated effort to contain dissent and prioritize stability.

Daoud Kuttab

By Daoud Kuttab

In Amman, reporting on Palestinian politics

Commuters make their way past a giant billboard of slain Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at Valiasr Square in Tehran on April 19, 2026.

Two Iranians face US court in sanctions, arms trafficking cases: What to know

The cases come as the United States pairs tighter sanctions with stepped-up enforcement targeting Iran’s global networks amid the war.

Vehicles move on a road in Bahrain's capital, Manama, on March 11, 2026.

Bahrain orders citizenship review as Iran war-linked crackdown escalates: What to know

The move comes as Bahrain steps up arrests and tightens security measures amid the war, with authorities targeting alleged Iran-linked dissenters and considering additional citizenship revocations.

Latest News

Kuwait detains American journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin: What to know

Ahmed Shihab‑Eldin attend "Palestine 36" red carpet during the Doha Film Festival 2025 on November 24, 2025 in Doha, Qatar.

With Orban’s defeat in Hungary, Israel loses European shield

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban (L) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu review a military honor guard on April 3, 2025 in Budapest, Hungary. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Hungary in defiance of the International Criminal Court (ICC)'s arrest warrant against him over alleged war crimes in Gaza. Hungary has long-standing ties with Israel, and they been further bolstered up since the start of the war in Gaza, sparked by the Palestinian militant group Hamas's attack on Oct

Four Israeli soldiers arrested on suspicion of spying for Iran: What to know

Israeli soldiers patrol a street in Hebron's Old City in the occupied West Bank on January 23, 2026, deployed as settlers entered the area under army protection. (Photo by Mosab Shawer / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images)

'Apartheid': Arab countries including UAE, Jordan decry new Israeli law

MOJAHID NAW/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

High-tech company workers block a road and hold signs as they strike for an hour to protest the Israeli government's controversial plans to overhaul the judicial system, Tel Aviv, Israel, Jan. 24, 2023.

Israeli tech sector has big problem with Netanyahu’s judicial reform

It is not only political activists who are demonstrating against the judicial overhaul pushed by the Netanyahu government — high-tech companies and people have also joined the protest movement.

JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Protests across Israel against judicial reform rattle Netanyahu

Facing American warnings and mass demonstrations across Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may find it impossible to continue with his judicial overhaul.

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

Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu speaks with Knesset member Aryeh Deri of the Shas party during a session to elect the new speaker of the assembly at its Plenum Hall, Jerusalem, Dec. 13, 2022.

Top Israeli court ruling forces Netanyahu to sack ally

The Supreme Court left Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu little choice but to fire his longtime ally Interior Minister Aryeh Deri.

Deri

Breaking | Last Updated: January 18, 2023, 3:33 pm

Protests in Israel as Supreme Court tells Netanyahu to fire minister

Hundreds of supportive Shas party members are gathered outside the home of Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, calling to overturn the Supreme Court ruling that his prior convictions bar his appointment.

Lebanon's Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh gives an interview with AFP at his office in the capital Beirut on December 20, 2021. (Photo by JOSEPH EID/AFP via Getty Images)

European investigative team in Lebanon starts probe into Riad Salameh

French Judge Aude Buresi is leading the European delegation, and was scheduled to interview at least 15 bankers and business figures in the country tied to Salameh.

A man holds a sign with writing in Hebrew reading "we won't let you go back to the old days of the British Mandate" during a demonstration by lawyers against the Israeli government's controversial plans to overhaul the judicial system, outside the Tel Aviv District Court of Justice on January 12, 2023. (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel faces internal threat in Netanyahu’s judicial reforms

After warning from Israel’s top opposition leaders, President of the Supreme Court Esther Hayut warns that the Netanyahu government judicial reform could crush Israel’s democracy.

JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

Netanyahu’s judicial reform push bolsters opposition

Dormant since the Nov. 1 electoral defeat, Israel’s opposition is now rallying against the new government's judicial reform plans.

Former and designated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the Knesset, Jerusalem, Dec. 29, 2022.

Netanyahu’s judicial reform threatens Israeli democracy

With Justice Minister Yariv levin promoting a reform to erode the courts’ responsibility, and with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promoting a law for convicted Aryeh Deri to serve as minister, Israel’s democracy is facing an existential danger.

Israeli right-wing Knesset member Itamar Ben-Gvir (R) chats with incoming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) during the swearing in ceremony of the new Israeli government at the Knesset, Jerusalem, Nov. 15, 2022.

Crisis imminent as Netanyahu’s far-right partners set to govern West Bank

By handing over responsibilities for administrating lives in the West Bank to his far-right partners, Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu is playing with fire on the international arena.

MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

US says Saudi Arabia's MBS has immunity in Khashoggi lawsuit

The Biden administration says Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman should be immune from a US lawsuit holding him responsible for Jamal Khashoggi's murder.

This picture taken on March 7, 2021, shows a view of Egypt's new parliament headquarters, some 45 kilometers east of Cairo.

More prisoners released in Egypt ahead of national dialogue

A number of political detainees have been released in preparation for the start of a comprehensive dialogue between the government and the opposition.

An exhibition calling for an end to executions in Iran on Trafalgar Square on October 10, 2020, in London, England.

Iran revokes death penalties handed to three protesters

The executions were reduced to jail terms in a controversial case that had drawn a furious public backlash.