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

Israel cover image

Israel

May 19, 2026

Tel Aviv 3:31 am

21°C

Men gather around the husk of a destroyed pickup truck that was driven by a local shepherd who was reportedly struck by Israeli forces and buried by locals at a grave nearby, in the Najaf desert in southwestern Iraq, on May 12, 2026.

What we know about secret Israeli bases in Iraq

Iraqi authorities have said there are no longer any hostile forces operating in its territory.

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

Latest News

Israel's Netanyahu suing New York Times over column on Palestinian rape

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

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

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on March 8, 2020. (Photo by Oded Balilty / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ODED BALILTY/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel’s top court to decide fate of Netanyahu’s unity government

The political fate of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the feasibility of a national unity government are now in the hands of the Israeli Supreme Court.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini brief the media at the European Council in Brussels, Belgium December 11, 2017. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir - RC122EB9C3C0

European ambassadors warn Israel over annexation plans

A group of 11 European ambassadors to Israel has made it clear that West Bank annexation plans will be met with fierce international objection.

A woman uses an automated teller machine (ATM) outside a Bank Hapoalim branch in Tel Aviv, Israel May 30, 2013. REUTERS/Nir Elias/File Photo - S1BEUKNLJRAA

Israel’s largest bank admits to helping taxpayers use offshore accounts, facilitating FIFA conspiracy

Bank Hapoalim agrees to pay the United States more than $900 million in connection with the two cases.

Arab Foreign Ministers take part in their 153rd annual session at the Arab League headquarters in the Egyptian capital Cairo, on March 4, 2020. (Photo by Mohamed el-Shahed / AFP) (Photo by MOHAMED EL-SHAHED/AFP via Getty Images)

Arab League slams West Bank annexation plans as ‘war crime’

The pan-Arab organization met to discuss Israeli plans for annexing parts of the territory the Palestinians envision for a future state.

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 - RC2UFD93OKYP

Israeli attorney general clears Netanyahu to head new government

Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit told the Supreme Court today that the indictment poses no legal obstacle to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heading the next government.

Israeli Zehava Shaul, the mother of slain Israeli soldier Oron Shaul, who was killed in Gaza during the summer of 2014's 50-day military campaign against Hamas and body's has not been recovered, speaks during a press conference on June 29, 2016 next to her husband Herzel (R) at their protest tent outside the prime minister's residence in Jerusalem.
Zur (L) and Ayelet Goldin whose brother Israeli army Lt. Hadar Goldin was also killed in Gaza and his body is believed to be held by Hamas, are also seen in the

Families of missing IDF soldiers call on government to push Hamas deal

According to recent reports, Israel briefed the families of IDF soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul on advancement in talks over a prisoner exchange deal with Hamas.

El Al Israel Airlines planes are seen on the tarmac at Ben Gurion International airport in Lod, near Tel Aviv, Israel March 10, 2020. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RC2VGF9EQ1UB

Skies to reopen over Israel, but for whom?

International carriers have announced flights will resume to Tel Aviv, though significant obstacles remain to international air travel.

A general view shows the Dome of the Rock in the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City, after Israel tightened a national stay-at-home policy following the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID19), March 20, 2020. REUTERS/Ammar Awad - RC2KNF9YVQEU

Temple Mount closed to both Jews, Muslims over coronavirus

The Waqf agreed to shut down the Temple Mount to Muslims during the coronavirus crisis, in exchange for a ruling that denies Jews access to the site.

Democratic U.S. presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a primary night speech at The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., March 10, 2020. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid - RC2FHF943RPX

Intel: Key Biden adviser slams 'sheer hypocrisy' of Trump gambit to extend Iran arms embargo

The Joe Biden campaign’s chief foreign policy adviser slammed the Donald Trump administration for relying on a mechanism in the 2015 nuclear deal to reinstate multilateral sanctions on Iran should the United Nations fail to extend an arms embargo on Tehran, which is set to expire in October.

A view shows the Jewish settlement of Modiin Illit in the background and the Israeli barrier in the foreground in the village of Bilin, where a Friday anti-Israel weekly protest is held, as the area is seen empty of Palestinian demonstrators amid concerns of the spread of the coronavirus disease, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank March 20, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman - RC2PNF9HQOZQ

Netanyahu's annexation plan can't be stopped

Annexation of the Jordan Valley is a long-standing Israeli objective, going back to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

200,000 watch Israeli-Palestinian memorial service online

This year's joint Israeli-Palestinian memorial ceremony was streamed online because of the pandemic, but the controversy it raised was nothing new.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a statement overlooking the Israeli settlement of Har Homa, located in an area of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, that Israel annexed to Jerusalem after the region's capture in the 1967 Middle East war, February 20, 2020. Debbie Hill/Pool via REUTERS - RC2E4F9ALPB6

Can anyone stop Netanyahu’s annexation plans?

A formidable array of figures is working in public and behind the scenes to block Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to annex West Bank lands.