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Israel

May 18, 2026

Tel Aviv 8:43 pm

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Somaliland’s first ambassador to a foreign country formally, Mohamed Hagi, presented his diplomatic credentials in Jerusalem to Israeli President Isaac Herzog, on May 18, 2026.

Israel accredits Somaliland's first ambassador: What to know

Israel was the first country to recognize the breakaway region on the Horn of Africa last year.

talks

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.

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

An employee tends to medical cannabis plants at Pharmocann, an Israeli medical cannabis company in northern Israel January 24, 2019. Picture taken January 24, 2019. REUTERS/Amir Cohen - RC116A4F32D0

Israel gives final go-ahead for cannabis exports

Israeli Economy Minister Eli Cohen gives his final approval for the export of medical cannabis.

(FILES) A picture taken on August 30, 2010 shows a contractor speaking to an employee as they look at the plan of a newly built theater in the West Bank Israeli settlement of Ariel. The controversial cultural centre will formally open on November 8, 2010 in the Ariel Jewish settlement as Israeli artists and academics urge a boycott in a row which has split Israel. AFP PHOTO / JACK GUEZ (Photo credit should read JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel’s top court cancels bonus plan for artists performing in settlements

The High Court rules in favor of a petition that sought to end a policy of giving government bonuses to artists who performed in West bank settlements.

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - MAY 15: (ISRAEL OUT) Ultra-Orthodox Jews celebrate the festival of Lag b'Omer, the 33rd day of the Omer, May 15, 2006 in their religious neighborhood of Mea Shearim in Jerusalem, Israel. Lag b'Omer, the one day of celebration that breaks a 50-day semi-mourning period of the Omer between the festivals of Pesach (Passover) and Shavuot, is marked by singing and dancing around joyous bonfires. (Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)

300 Israelis arrested for defying coronavirus ban on Jewish holiday

Hundreds of people in Israel's ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods ignored a ban on large gatherings to celebrate a minor Jewish holiday known as Lag B’Omer.

HEBRON, WEST BANK - MAY 13: Palestinians carry the coffin of 15 years old Palestinian Zaid Fadl Qaisia, who was shot in the head by an Israeli soldier in a raid to Al-Fawar refugee camp, during his funeral ceremony in Hebron, West Bank on May 13, 2020. (Photo by Mamoun Wazwaz/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Israeli soldier kills Palestinian teen in West Bank clash

Teenager Zaid Qaysia was killed during clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinian residents of the Al-Fawar refugee camp Wednesday morning.

---ISRAEL OUT---
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with United States secretary of state, Mike Pompeo in Jerusalem. Wednesday, May 13, 2020.
Photo by Kobi Gideon / GPO

Netanyahu leaves annexation on back burner in talks with Pompeo

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made no mention of annexation in his press conference with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, focusing instead on the pandemic, the US peace plan and Iran.

Palestinians look out a window of a building damaged by an Israeli air strikes in the past during a rally marking the 46th anniversary of the founding of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), in Gaza City December 7, 2013. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST ANNIVERSARY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - GM1E9C71LLS01

How a jailhouse letter to Abbas could fast forward Palestinian unity talks

It remains unclear whether tentative steps will lead to a genuine unification of the fractured Palestinian national movement.

Former US Vice President and Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden speaks about COVID-19, known as the Coronavirus, during a press event in Wilmington, Delaware on March 12, 2020. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

Intel: Progressive coalition pushes Biden on Middle East policy

More than 50 progressive advocacy groups on Monday sent a letter to former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, urging him to make concessions to the left on Middle East policy.

FILE PHOTO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) sits next to Israeli Public security Minister Gilad Erdan during the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem April 10, 2016. REUTERS/Gali Tibbon/Pool/File photo - RC17175E03C0

Netanyahu appoints senior Likud member as his right-hand man in US

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, appointed to be Israel’s new envoy to both the United States and the UN, is a true Likud ideologist and ardent supporter of annexation.

A Palestinian runs away from tear gas fired by Israeli forces during a raid after an Israeli soldier was killed by a rock, in Yabad near Jenin in the Israeli-occupied West Bank May 12, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman - RC2YMG9FT10W

Israeli soldier killed by rock in West Bank raid

An Israeli soldier was killed during a pre-dawn raid near Jenin when a large rock was dropped on his head, the first IDF death during military operations this year.

Israel's Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit announces his decision regarding indictment of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over alleged corruption, in Jerusalem November 21, 2019. REUTERS/Ammar Awad - RC2TFD9RXH3Y

As trial nears, Netanyahu’s associates go after attorney general

Loyalists of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have ramped up their attacks on the legal system and mudslinging against Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit.

Will EU sanction Israel over annexation plans?

European Union foreign ministers might consider threatening Israel with sanctions, in an effort to thwart Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to annex parts of the West Bank.

UN calls on Israel to release Palestinian children from jails amid coronavirus

Three UN officials urge Israeli authorities to free detained Palestinian children to protect them from COVID-19.