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

Israel cover image

Israel

May 11, 2026

Tel Aviv 10:27 am

26°C

Ronen Zvulun / AFP via Getty Images

Netanyahu fears being left out as Trump pursues Iran diplomacy

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was not surprised by President Donald Trump’s suspension of Project Freedom and move toward talks with Iran, but analysts say Washington may not be fully weighing Israel's concerns in negotiations with Tehran.

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.

Latest News

Analysis

Israel fears Trump seeking Hormuz win while sidestepping Iran nuclear issue

Amirhossein KHORGOOEI / ISNA / AFP via Getty Images

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

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

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

Opposition slams Netanyahu for allegedly approving US-Emirates F-35 deal

Opposition members keep slamming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the imminent sale by the United States to the UAE of F-35 stealth jets.

Members of the Armenian community in Israel hold banners in the coastal city of Tel Aviv on November 6, 2020, as they protest against Israel's arms sales to Azerbaijan and Turkey's support to the latter. - Israeli media say that Israel's Elbit Systems has sold Azerbaijan armed drones, which have shifted the military balance in the decades-old dispute in Nagorno-Karabakh
Armenia in October recalled its ambassador from Israel in protest at its weapons sales to Baku. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK G

Armenian-Israelis protest arms sales to Azerbaijan

Israel has kept a low profile on its military dealings with Azerbaijan, but Armenian-Israeli activists have taken the issue to the streets.

Mansour Abbas, Israeli Arab member of the United Arab List party, speaks during a campaign rally for the Joint List political alliance ahead of upcoming September parliamentary elections, in the Arab town of Kafr Yasif in northern Israel on August 23, 2019. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images)

Israeli-Arab lawmaker cooperates with Netanyahu’s Likud

Knesset member Mansour Abbas of the Arab Joint List is willing to cooperate openly with the Likud on matters that are dear to his own constituency.

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - MARCH 09: In this handout image from the Israeli Government Press Office, L - R US Vice President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu make statements to the press on March 9, 2010 in Jerusalem, Israel. The American Vice-President is in the Middel East to meet Israeli leaders including Peres and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before travelling to Jordan on Thursday. (Photo by Avi Ohayon - GPO via Getty Images)

Netanyahu takes his time on congratulating Biden

Unlike other world leaders, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not congratulate US President-elect Joe Biden immediately after the publishing of the election results, but 12 hours later.

Biden's campaign showed what his Middle East policy may be as president

The former vice president criticized President Donald Trump's sanctions on Iran and also spoke out on Turkey's role in the Azerbaijan-Armenia war leading up to the Nov. 3 vote.

As Biden takes lead, Palestinians eager to return to talks with US

While Palestinian officials don't expect a Biden administration to roll back all of Trump's policies, they are hopeful for a change in course in US-Palestinian ties.

Israeli supporters of US President Donald Trump hammer a sign into the ground during a rally in the northern Israeli city of Karmiel near Haifa on November 3, 2020, to express their support for him during the US presidential election. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Hearts in throats across Israel as US votes tallied

Many Israelis are as emotionally invested in the US elections as though the domestic political contest were their own.

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - MARCH 09: In this handout image from the Israeli Government Press Office, L - R Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyah greets US Vice President Joe Biden on March 9, 2010 in Jerusalem, Israel. The American Vice-President is in the Middel East to meet Israeli leaders including Peres and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before travelling to Jordan on Thursday. (Photo by Avi Ohayon - GPO via Getty Images)

Is Netanyahu ready for Biden?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prefers for Donald Trump to stay in the White House, but will also know how to operate vis-a-vis his old acquaintance Joe Biden.

Israeli soldiers take part in military exercises near the northern Elyakim area on October 14, 2020, during a simulation to protect the country's northern border. (Photo by Emmanuel DUNAND / AFP) (Photo by EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP via Getty Images)

Biden win means war with Iran, warns Israeli minister

Israel's settlements minister is one of the many officials who want Donald Trump to retain the US presidency, in large part because of his Iran policies.

Israel's Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan is seen as he receives Italy's interior minister at a hotel in Jerusalem on December 11, 2018. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP) (Photo credit should read AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images)

Envoy lambasts UN over seven anti-Israel resolutions

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, claims the seven resolutions adopted yesterday are full of hypocrisy and lies.

Yair Netanyahu emerges as a media powerhouse

Yair Netanyahu, the alter ego of his father, says bluntly out loud everything his father would like to say but cannot against the left, the media and Arabs.

Families of ancient Palestinian village struggle to survive settler attacks

Al-Monitor spent the day with Muhannad Salah and his family, some of the few remaining residents of the historic Shushahla village in Area C that has struggled to survive amid settlement expansion.