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

Israel cover image

Israel

May 15, 2026

Tel Aviv 9:09 am

24°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

Netanyahu

Once again, Netanyahu could win with a draw

Facing a corruption indictment and seemingly boxed in, Netanyahu is still standing.

Amos Yadlin

Iran suspected of being behind missile that hit Israeli vessel

An unnamed senior Israeli security official suggests that a missile that hit a container ship owned by an Israeli company may have fired by Iran.

Gideon Saar, head of Israel's New Hope party, works at the party's headquarters, a day ahead of the election, Tel Aviv, Israel, March 22, 2021.

Bittersweet victory for Israel’s Gideon Saar

Gideon Saar’s New Hope party garnered only six Knesset seats, but has managed to seriously destabilize the coalition of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israeli Alternate Prime Minister and Defense Minister Benny Gantz attends a Cabinet meeting of the new government at Chagall State Hall in the Knesset, Jerusalem, May 24, 2020.

2021 elections in Israel: The revival of Benny Gantz

Pre-election public opinion polls estimated that Blue and White under Defense Minister Benny Gantz would fail to pass the Knesset-entry threshold, but in reality the party has apparently garnered 8 Knesset seats.

AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images

Arab-Israeli legislator emerges as kingmaker

If the current numbers hold and the Raam Party gets four Knesset seats, its leader Mansour Abbas could hold the key to choosing the country’s next prime minister.

Golan Heights

Israel disappointed over UN Human Rights Council resolutions

As happens every year in Geneva, the United Nations Human Rights Council voted in favor of resolutions condemning Israeli actions.

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

Netanyahu beaten, not (yet) defeated

With most of the votes counted, it seems that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has no Knesset majority and almost no options for composing the next government.

A trader looks at his monitors as he works in a dealing room in Tel Aviv on October 12, 2008 in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Israel’s first digital bank now rolling

Israel’s first digital bank wants to create a revolution in the banking sectors, much like Spotify revolutionized the music industry and Tesla the vehicle market.

A Likud party supporter kisses a flag with a photo of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the exit polls on March 23, 2021 in Jerusalem, Israel.

No clear winner: Israel could be in for fifth election

The day after voting, the political deadlock in Israel persists, with neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor the bloc opposing him empowered to compose a government.

Benjamin and Sara Netanyahu vote

Exit polls give Netanyahu path to slim majority

According to exit polls, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might be able to establish a majority coalition if he gets Yamina leader Naftali Bennett to join him.

YOSSI ZELIGER/AFP via Getty Images

Israeli president calls on citizens to vote amid lowest turnout since 2009

Israeli political leaders were quick to cast their votes this morning for the fourth time in just two years and are encouraging the rest of the country to show up and do the same.

International Criminal Court's Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda addresses a press conference in Kampala, Uganda, Feb. 27, 2015.

Israel debates penalizing Palestinians for cooperation with ICC

Analysts estimate that the revocation of the VIP border pass of Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki could be a first step in Israel’s reaction to the expected ICC probe.