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

Israel cover image

Israel

May 9, 2026

Tel Aviv 1:58 pm

27°C

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

SAID KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images

1,000 rockets from Gaza fired at Israel overnight

Hundreds of thousands of Israelis ran to shelters over the night as sirens blared warnings of rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.

A torched observation post is seen outside a religious Jewish school in the central city of Lod, near Tel Aviv, following nighttime clashes between Arab Israelis and Israeli Jews, Israel, May 11, 2021.

Protests, violence break out in mixed Jewish-Arab cities of Israel

An Arab-Israeli man was shot dead and Jewish Israeli businesses were attacked in the city of Lod last night.

JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

Israel's security crisis has new political team sweating

Israel's evolving security crisis has put a damper on the formation of a new government.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs a Cabinet meeting, as an escalation of violence raged for a second day in the Gaza Strip, Jerusalem, Nov. 13, 2019.

Will escalation with Hamas benefit Netanyahu?

Escalation with Hamas arrives exactly at the moment when the anti-Netanyahu bloc is trying to cobble up a "government for change."

Israeli police officers clash with Palestinians during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan on April 24, 2021 in Jerusalem.

US expresses 'serious concerns' to Israel over Jerusalem violence

National security adviser Jake Sullivan said the United States had "serious concerns" over the Jerusalem clashes and the potential evictions of Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.

Palestinians run for cover from tear gas fired by Israeli security forces at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound on May 10, 2021, ahead of a planned march to commemorate Israel's takeover of Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War.

Temple Mount violence bares fragility of Turkey’s attempts to fix relations with Israel

Turkey's president and other officials have condemned Israel's crackdown on Palestinians in unrest at Al-Aqsa mosque, posing a serious threat to Ankara's efforts to mend ties with Israel.

Israeli security forces fire tear gas at Palestinian protesters along the Israel-Gaza border, east of Khan Yunis town in the southern Gaza Strip on May 8, 2021. Israel braced for more protests after clashes at Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound wounded more than 200 people and as the international community urged calm after days of escalating violence. The clashes came as tensions have soared over Israeli restrictions on access to parts of the Old City during Ramadan and the threat of eviction h

Jerusalem hit by Hamas rockets

After demanding Israeli police withdraw from the Temple Mount compound, Hamas fired this evening several rockets at Jerusalem and at Israeli communities in the south.

EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP via Getty Images

New loan fund could save small Arab-Israeli businesses

Already fragile small Arab-Israeli businesses were hit especially hard by the pandemic and the ensuing economic crisis.

MOHAMMED ABED/AFP via Getty Images

Israel closes Gaza Strip crossing over continuing rocket fire

The Israeli authorities have closed a border crossing with Gaza as rockets rain down and dozens of incendiary balloons float from the Strip toward Israel's southern communities.

Palestinians run for cover from tear gas fired by Israeli security forces in the Old City, ahead of a planned march to commemorate Israel's takeover of Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War, Jerusalem, May 10, 2021.

After violent weekend in Jerusalem, clashes erupt on Temple Mount

Violent clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters at Temple Mount, or Haram-esh-Sherif, as clashes spread.

Leader of the Israeli right-wing Yamina party Naftali Bennett addresses supporters at his party's campaign headquarters, after the end of voting in the fourth national election in two years, Tel Aviv, Israel, March 24, 2021.

Naftali Bennett could be Israel’s next prime minister

Pro-settler Yamina leader Naftali Bennett could soon become Israel’s first religious prime minister.

Sheikh Jarrah protest

Israeli court to reconvene next week on eviction of Palestinian families

The High Court decides to again discuss the petition by Palestinian residents of the Jerusalem Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood against eviction orders issued at the request of Jewish settlers.