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

Israel cover image

Israel

May 15, 2026

Tel Aviv 1:59 pm

23°C

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."

Artillery units are positioned near the Lebanese border in northern Israel, May 4, 2026.

Analysis

Israel’s drone dilemma: Hezbollah’s low-cost threat reshapes Lebanon front

While Israeli and Lebanese delegations are set to meet in Washington for the third time, the Israeli military faces a growing threat from Hezbollah’s cheap yet highly lethal drones.

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

Latest News

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.

Netanyahu fears being left out as Trump pursues Iran diplomacy

Ronen Zvulun / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

CIA report on Iran missiles undercuts Netanyahu as war euphoria dissipates

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.

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

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

Erdogan, Sultan of Jerusalem?

Israel's Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz is elaborating a campaign to reduce what he considers growing Turkish influence in East Jerusalem.

A Picture taken from the Israeli side of the border fence in Naharayim also known as Baqura, shows a Jordanian national flag being raised on a military outpost in the Jordan Valley in Northern Israel, on October 22, 2018. - Jordan's King Abdullah II announced on October 21, 2018 that Jordan has notified Israel it wants to reclaim two small plots of territory leased under their 1994 peace deal, but Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he wanted to open negotiations to keep the current arrangement

Will Jordan extend Israeli lease of farmlands?

Israeli farmers will soon be forced to abandon their agricultural lands at Naharayim, in Jordanian territory, at the end of their 25-year leases this month according to a provision of the peace treaty between Jordan and Israel.

Israel releases Hamas senior, could mean deal en route

The release of Hamas official Muhammad Abu Tir and the ensuing calm could signal that Israel and Hamas are creeping toward an arrangement.

Netanyahu, not Israel, needs unity government to survive

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is misleading the people when he claims that only a unity government would be apt to tackle the Iran threat.

Avigdor Lieberman, leader of Yisrael Beitenu party, delivers a statement following his party faction meeting, near Neve Ilan, Israel September 22, 2019. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RC1B5B9174A0

What sort of game is Avigdor Liberman playing?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is very worried that Yisrael Beitenu leader Avigdor Liberman will agree to cooperate with the Joint List in an effort to bring him down, thereby allowing Benny Gantz to form a minority government.

An Israeli soldier stands near the Quneitra crossing in the Golan Heights on the border line between Israel and Syria, October 15, 2018. REUTERS/Amir Cohen - RC1FD4BF4A00

US policy changes leave Israel alone against Iran

Israel is suddenly facing a new reality in which the Iranians are free to attack Saudi infrastructure and the Turks attack Kurds in Syria.

Abbas backs down on decision to refuse clearing funds

Crippled by a severe financial crisis, the Palestinian Authority has recently accepted the clearing funds from Israel that it had been refusing for eight months.

05 September 2019, Israel, Tel Aviv: Member if the Israeli Likud party ,Gideon Saar, speaks at the Channel 12 News Conference in Tel Aviv. Photo: Ilia Yefimovich/dpa (Photo by Ilia Yefimovich/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Netanyahu’s Day of Atonement

Gideon Saar was the first Likud member to make known his intention to challenge Benjamin Netanyahu for leadership of the party, but he is not alone in wanting to assume the crown.

Israeli Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon speaks during a ceremony whereby Amir Yaron is sworn in as Bank of Israel governor by President Reuven Rivlin, in the presence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in Jerusalem December 24, 2018. REUTERS/Amir Cohen - RC1473F276D0

Israel-Palestinian tax deal has implications beyond economy

The compromise over Israel's withheld tax revenues from the Palestinian Authority could present a step toward recognition of Palestinian sovereignty.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., September 27, 2018. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri - RC1FCD450420

Netanyahu’s strategic failures on Iran, Trump

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had gambled on US President Donald Trump to spearhead the struggle against the "Iranian threat," in what now emerges to be a colossal strategic failure.

What is behind rising violence in Israeli Arab society?

A spike in violence in Arab villages in Israel has many claiming that police indifference is at the root of the matter, but they are not the only to blame.

A demonstrator stands on tires in front of Israeli forces during a protest to show solidarity with Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, near the Jewish settlement of Beit El in the Israeli-occupied West Bank October 1, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman - RC1E64FD2C50

Israel hampering Palestinian economy at its own risk

Under the policies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump, the Palestinian economy, which was supposed to grow and bolster peace and security in the process, has become a source of utter despair for Palestinians.