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Israel

May 9, 2026

Tel Aviv 5:33 am

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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

Kyiv

Ukraine pressures Israel to supply weapons, cites Iranian threat

With reports of Iran supplying Russia with attack drones, Israel is finding it increasingly difficult to reject Ukraine’s pleas for defensive weaponry.

The AgrIsrael Sea the Future Conference, Eilat, Oct. 19, 2022.

Israel pushes aquaculture cooperation in answer to global food security

Israel’s Agriculture Minister Oded Forer talks with Al-Monitor about the first-ever international summit on food grown in the sea and the desert, held this week in Eilat.

Iron Dome

Israel won’t supply Ukraine with missile-defense systems

Defense Minister Benny Gantz continues to refuse requests by Kyiv to supply Ukraine with the Israel-US-developed Iron Dome or other anti-missile systems.

Israel Barbivai

Israel, Turkey promote increasing bilateral trade

On an official visit to Turkey, Minister of Economy and Industry Orna Barbivai met with her counterparts, advancing the re-convening of the joint economic conference.

NFT art, Israel.

NFT art, industry boom in Israel

Israel might have gotten a late start on NFT art, but it's catching up quickly with active artists and groups on all social networks.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israeli far-right lawmaker and leader of the Otzma Yehudit (Jewish power) party, attends a campaign event in the northern Israel Kibbutz of Ayelet Hashahar on Oct. 6, 2022.

Israeli Knesset member waves gun in east Jerusalem

Ultranationalist Itamar Ben Gvir is exploiting an incident in which he brandished a gun in the east Jerusalem Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood ahead of the Nov. 1 elections.

An engineer from the Israeli company Commun.it uses his expertise in social media commercial analysis to identify networks of fake users at the group's office, Bnei Brak, Israel, Jan. 23, 2019.

Israel braces for election interference from Russia, elsewhere

With diplomatic ties deteriorating, Israel fears that Russian or other hackers could try tampering with the Nov. 1 election results.

EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP via Getty Images

Ultra-Orthodox campaigning goes digital as Israeli election nears

In a dramatic shift from past elections, ultra-Orthodox parties have gone digital to keep up with their own constituencies.

Israeli security forces check the documents of Palestinian laborers who work in Israel, before allowing them to cross through a hole in a security fence in the village of Muqeibila near Jenin, West Bank, Sept. 6, 2021.

Israel revokes work permits of 164 Palestinian militants' relatives

In addition to pressuring the Nablus-based Lion’s Den group, Defense Minister Benny Gantz revoked the permits of group members' relatives to work in Israel.

CIS summit

Middle Eastern leaders converge on Kazakhstan

The Central Asian nation hosted the annual Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia and the Commonwealth of Independent States summits this week.

ROSH HANIKRA, ISRAEL - OCTOBER 11: Wind surfers surf by an Israeli navy boat in the mediterranean sea at the Israeli side of the border with Lebanon on October 11, 2022 in Rosh Hanikra, Israel. The agreement should resolve a territorial dispute in the eastern Mediterranean sea, where Lebanon wants to explore for natural gas. Israel is already extracting natural gas at nearby fields. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)

Israel-Lebanon maritime agreement to prompt working relations

Gerald Kepes

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional energy trends

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked (L).

Israel's interior minister calls to expel family of Palestinian assailant

On the backdrop of growing tensions in the West Bank, and riding on Israelis’ fears over personal security, Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked is campaigning for the family of Palestinian assailant Fadi Kunbar to be expelled from Jerusalem.