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

Israel cover image

Israel

May 15, 2026

Tel Aviv 7:13 am

21°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

Amir Levy/Getty Images

Israeli construction plan to encircle Jerusalem

The Jerusalem municipality has moved forward on 540 new housing units in the controversial Har Homa neighborhood across the Green Line, a plan that will encircle Jerusalem on three sides.

Sudanese businessman Abu al-Qassem Bortoum

Sudan’s Cabinet votes to repeal 1958 Israel boycott

Once approved, the move could further open economic ties with Israel.

Netanyahu speaks on Holocaust day

Netanyahu slams Iran nuclear deal on Holocaust day

Netanyahu's warns "closest friends" that Iran nuclear deal will "not obligate us."

ABIR SULTAN/AFP via Getty Images

Israel's president openly reluctant on Netanyahu forming government

President Reuven Rivlin made sure everyone knew he would have preferred to task someone other than Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with forming Israel’s next government.

This picture taken on Aug. 25, 2019, shows a view of a battery of Israel's Iron Dome defense system, designed to intercept and destroy incoming short-range rockets and artillery shells, near the town of Bet Hillel in northern Israel.

After Iran ship blast, Gantz says Israel preparing for military threats

Defense Minister Benny Gantz declined to react to the report by The New York Times that Israel was behind the attack yesterday on the Iranian Saviz boat, stating simply that Israel is preparing for threats on all possible fronts.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C-R) attends the hearing for his corruption trial at district court in Jerusalem on April 5, 2021.

Netanyahu pledges to end Israel's election paralysis

After receiving the mandate to compose the next government and after the swearing in of the 24th Knesset, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will form a government of action.

EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP via Getty Images

As coalition talks take shape, Netanyahu preps Plan B

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to compose a majority-backed government, but he's also preparing to fight as leader of the opposition.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin (C) speaks with Mansour Abbas, leader of the Arab Joint List, during consultations on who might form the next coalition government, at the president's residence in Jerusalem, April 5, 2021.

Arab-Israeli parties recommend no one to assemble next government

Contrary to last year, neither the Arab Joint List nor Mansour Abbas' Raam party recommended to the president any candidate for the formation of the next government.

Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu greets supporters as he speaks at a Likud party gathering after a vote event, Jerusalem, March 24, 2021.

Drama in Israel: Netanyahu tasked with composing next government

New Hope leader Gideon Saar decided not to recommend a candidate for composing the next government, thus opening the way for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take the first crack at the mission.

A Palestinian artist adds the final touches to a mural painting calling on people to vote during the upcoming elections (legislative in May and presidential in July) in a street in Gaza City, on March 24, 2021.

Israel tight-lipped on Palestinian elections

Official Israel is mindful not to make public statements on the upcoming Palestinian elections, yet some reports suggest it is working behind the scenes to encourage their postponement or cancellation.

Israeli businessman Shaul Elovitz arrives to attend the hearing for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's trial for corruption

First witness testifies in Netanyahu trial

On a doubly dramatic day in Israel, the first witness testified in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trail and President Reuven Rivlin began consultations on who will be tasked to form the next government.

A picture taken from the Mount of Olives on Jan. 20, 2018, shows a Muslim tourist viewing Jerusalem's Old City and the Dome of the Rock.

Israel prepares for wave of Muslim tourists

With the signing of the Abraham Accords and the opening of Emirati, Bahraini and Moroccan diplomatic missions, Israel is now preparing for an unprecedented wave of Muslim tourists.