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

Israel cover image

Israel

May 16, 2026

Tel Aviv 4:29 am

19°C

talks

Breaking | Last Updated: May 15, 2026, 2:49 pm

Lebanon-Israel ceasefire extended 45 days as US opens security talks

The Pentagon will host Israeli and Lebanese military delegations for a round of separate security talks later this month.

US President Donald Trump talks to UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as he departs the Al Bateen Executive Airport on May 15, 2025, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Analysis

‘A reckless act’: Netanyahu sparks UAE fury by claiming secret visit

Just as UAE-Israeli relations were deepening through cooperation against Iran, the Israeli prime minister publicly embarrassed Abu Dhabi by revealing his March visit.

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

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."

Latest News

Analysis

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

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

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

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

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

US again sends B-52 bombers to deter Iran as tensions peak

The deployment is the third flight of nuclear-capable Stratofortresses to the region in less than two months

Was UAE behind Israeli decision to allow Palestinian farmers access to Jordan Valley?

For the first time in 46 years, Israel allowed Palestinians to enter al-Qa'oun valley in the northern Jordan Valley to cultivate their land. Despite the Palestinian Authority’s statement that this was in implementation of a judicial decision, Al-Monitor received information about Emirati-Israeli understandings that led to this action.

United Arab Emirates

<<enter caption here>> on November 20, 2015 in New York, New York.

Convicted spy Pollard welcomed to Israel by Netanyahu

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greeted ex-spy Jonathan Pollard at the tarmac at Ben Gurion Airport, hailing his arrival to Israel and granting him Israeli citizenship paperwork.

Israeli protesters gather with national flags during a protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu near his private home in the coastal town of Caesarea in northern Israel, on December 12, 2020. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel’s right, left disintegrate ahead of March elections

Israeli politics is no longer divided between right and left with a pragmatic center in between as Benjamin Netanyahu rewrites the rules of the game.

Pro-Israel group criticizes Georgia Senate candidate for past sermon

Christians United for Israel slammed Georgia Democrat Raphael Warnock over a 2018 sermon he gave on the opening of the US Embassy in Jerusalem, but others have defended the candidate for a US Senate seat.

On June 14th, 2016 Ambassador Dan Shapiro and Ms. Julie Fisher hosted the US Embassy’s annual shared society and interfaith Iftar welcoming leaders from all faiths and diverse Arab and Jewish communities in celebration of the holy month of Ramadan. With a message of partnership and tolerance, religious and community leaders, educators and youth groups, along with Egyptian and Jordanian friends, all gathered to dine for a Tuesday evening Iftar meal at Ambassador’s residence in Herzliya Pituach . Ambassador

US ambassador's residence in Tel Aviv sold for $67 million

The State Department has not acknowledged the buyer, reported to be Trump ally and casino magnate Sheldon Adelson.

Israeli Defence Minister and alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz arrives at the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) in Jerusalem on December 2, 2020. - Gantz said his party will vote for an opposition bill to dissolve parliament, a move that could force a fourth election in under two years. (Photo by Alex KOLOMIENSKY / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ALEX KOLOMIENSKY/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel's Gantz presides over collapse of Blue and White

Blue and White leader Benny Gantz, the only real alternative to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, now collapses politically, taking down with him the whole center-left camp.

A picture taken on November 22, 2016 shows an Israeli army Dolphin-class submarine sailing at Israel's Naval port in the Mediterranean city of Haifa. / AFP / JACK GUEZ (Photo credit should read JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Israeli, American submarine activity suggests show of force against Iran

Israel reportedly dispatched a submarine to the Suez Canal and the Red Sea in what has been taken as a clear warning to Iran not to escalate tensions at this sensitive time of transition.

A Palestinian woman takes a picture at the Dead Sea near the city of Jericho in the occupied West Bank on August 2, 2020 during the Eid al-Adha holiday. (Photo by HAZEM BADER / AFP) (Photo by HAZEM BADER/AFP via Getty Images)

Project to save Dead Sea going nowhere

Experts warn of an environmental crisis if a project is not advanced by Jordan and Israel to save the Dead Sea that is shrinking at catastrophic rates.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses a protest rally in Istanbul on May 18, 2018, against the recent killings of Palestinian protesters on the Gaza-Israel border and the US embassy move to Jerusalem. (Photo by OZAN KOSE / AFP) (Photo by OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel spurns Turkish bid to improve ties

In the past few weeks, Ankara has made several overtures toward rapprochement with Israel, yet Jerusalem seems to be waiting for something solid.

Lebanese men watch the head of the country's Shiite Muslim movement Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah during a televised speech, at a coffee shop in the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut, on August 30, 2020, on the tenth day of the month of Muharram which marks the peak of Ashura. - Ashura is a 10-day period of mourning in remembrance of the seventh-century martyrdom Imam Hussein, who was killed in the battle of Karbala in modern-day Iraq, in 680 AD. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP) (Photo by ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Ge

Nasrallah says Hezbollah would not be part of Iran nuclear talks

The Shiite party's leader also said Hezbollah has doubled its missile supplies.

Chief economist at Israel's Ministry of Finance Shira Greenberg (L) and Morocco's Director General Of the Customs and Indirect Tax Administration at the Ministry of Economy and Finance Nabil Lakhdar exchange a signed agreement at the Royal Palace in the Moroccan capital Rabat on December 22, 2020, on the first Israel-Morocco direct commercial flight, marking the latest US-brokered diplomatic normalisation deal between the Jewish state and an Arab country. - (Photo by FADEL SENNA / AFP) (Photo by FADEL SENN

Moroccan officials arrive in Israel to reopen liaison office

An administrative Moroccan delegation arrived in Israel to reopen the liaison office following normalization of ties between the two countries.