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May 25, 2026

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Analysis

As Pakistan military chief holds Iran talks, Israel's Netanyahu fears being left out

US President Donald Trump's comment that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would do "whatever I want” is troubling the premier's inner circle ahead of the elections in October.

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

Burak Kara/Getty Images

Ireland joins EU push to ban trade with Israeli settlements amid flotilla backlash

European frustration with Israel intensified this week after a far-right Israeli minister posted a video of the mistreatment of international activists detained in the country.

Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP via Getty Images

Israel targets Turkey charity amid Gaza flotilla tensions

The request, published in Israeli media, marks a further escalation in tensions with Turkey amid disputes over Gaza aid operations.

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Interview

Ahmad Tibi says Arab parties in Israel can block Netanyahu without joining next government

Arab-Israeli Knesset member Ahmed Tibi takes part in a demonstration against rising crime rates against Arab-Israelis in Tel Aviv, Israel, Jan. 31, 2026.

Ahmad Tibi

Ahmad Tibi

Israeli Arab lawmaker

Syria's Sharaa renews ban on Israeli imports in customs law: What to know

NICOSIA, CYPRUS - APRIL 24: Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrives for an informal meeting of European Union leaders on April 24, 2026 in Nicosia, Cyprus. The EU heads of state and government are meeting over two days to discuss the conflict in Iran and the Middle East, including freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, the effects of high fuel prices, and how Europe may contribute to de-escalation and a peace agreement. (Photo by Byron Smith/Getty Images)

Somaliland's first ambassador to Israel announces embassy in Jerusalem: What to know

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.

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 (C) and his wife Sara react to his supporters during an event by his Likud Party in Tel Aviv, Israel August 9, 2017. REUTERS/Amir Cohen - RTS1B3HZ

Israel’s deafening silence over Charlottesville

Israel considers itself the homeland of the Jewish nation, but failed to defend Americans Jews after the recent white supremacist and anti-Semitic rally in Virginia

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas extends his hand to shake hands with U.S. President Donald Trump during a joint news conference at the presidential headquarters in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, May 23, 2017. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman - RTX375A1

Palestinians to give Trump team ultimatum on peace plan

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will reportedly present US envoys Jason Greenblatt and Jared Kushner with an ultimatum when they arrive this week: If no real progress is made on their peace plan within 45 days, he will go to the UN instead.

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - JANUARY 22: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prays with his sons Yair and Avner at the Western Wall, Judaism holiest site on January 22, 2013 in Jerusalem, Israel. Israel's general election voting has begun today as polls show Netanyahu is expected to return to office with a narrow majority. (Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)

Is Netanyahu’s son pulling him to the far-right?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s son Yair expresses openly the far-right and Arab-hating positions expressed a bit more discreetly by his father and his official entourage.

Avi Gabbai, the new leader of Israel's centre-left Labour party, gestures as he delivers his victory speech after winning the Labour party primary runoff, at an event in Tel Aviv, Israel July 10, 2017. REUTERS/Amir Cohen TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTX3AWT5

New Israeli Labor chief plans party takeover

Avi Gabbay is not the first chairman of the Labor Party who wanted to change the party's constitution in order to gain control, but he is the most ambitious one.

A picture taken from the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah shows a member of the Egyptian forces standing guard near the border between Gaza and Egypt on August 17, 2017.

A suicide bomber killed a Hamas guard in southern Gaza, officials said, in what was seen as a rare Islamist attack against the Palestinian group that has run the impoverished enclave for a decade. / AFP PHOTO / SAID KHATIB (Photo credit should read SAID KHATIB/AFP/Getty Images)

Israel, Hamas, Egypt indirectly cooperating against IS

While Egypt and Hamas coordinate efforts against the Islamic State in the Sinai Peninsula, Israel is providing intelligence to Egypt to boost these efforts.

Hamas Chief Ismail Haniyeh gestures during a news conference in Gaza City May 11, 2017. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem - RTS166IF

Saudi gamble on Hamas could pay off, or enrich rival Iran

The Saudis are increasing pressure on Hamas, which might win them points with US President Donald Trump and Israel, but drive the Palestinian movement and its allies toward Iran.

A general view shows the Prophet Eliyahu Hanavi synagogue also known as the Temple of the Eliyahu Hanabi of Alexandria in Nabi Daniel Street in the northern Egyptian coastal city of Alexandria on November 14, 2016.

Once a flourishing community, only a handful of Egyptian Jews, mostly elderly women, is all that remains in the Arab world's most populous country, aiming at least to preserve their heritage. Egypt still has about a dozen synagogues, but like many of the country's monuments they need restoration

Egypt acts to preserve Jewish heritage

The Ministry of Antiquities has begun preservation and renovation of Eliyahu Hanavi in Alexandria, one of the biggest synagogues in the Middle East.

U.S. President Donald Trump (R) escorts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into the White House in Washington, U.S., February 15, 2017.REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque - RTSYUJN

Trump’s Mideast envoys moving to next phase

With President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu entangled in domestic scandals, a dramatic launching of a peace process might serve them well in terms of media coverage.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) attends the Likud party meeting in the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, in this March 28, 2016 file picture. REUTERS/Nir Elias/Files - RTX29L3P

Outsiders target Israeli Likud Party’s agenda

The organizers of the "New Likud" estimate that some 12,000 people have joined the Likud Party because of them, with the goal of creating a bloc powerful enough to influence the party's direction from the inside.

Leader of the northern Islamic Movement Sheikh Raed Salah gestures after leaving the district court in Jerusalem October 27, 2015. The Arab Israeli Muslim leader, seen by Israel as a powerful voice stoking Palestinian anger over a Jerusalem holy site, was ordered jailed for 11 months on Tuesday for comments he made in 2007. Sheik Raed Salah, leader of the Islamic Movement's northern section was convicted for incitement to violence in 2013, the Justice Ministry said, charges he denied. His attorney said he w

How Israel's arrest of Islamic Movement leader could backfire

The Israeli right has made the leader of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement, Raed Salah, the focus of its fight against terrorism, but the move misses crucial parts of fighting against incitement to violence.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) sits next to Education Minister Naftali Bennett during the weekly cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem, 30 August 2016. REUTERS/Abir Sultan/Pool - RTX2NKHK

The Israeli right's hypocrisy on discrimination

Israeli right-wing politicians, though quick to criticize others for what they deem anti-Semitism, support discrimination against Arabs.

RAMALLAH, WEST BANK - AUGUST 7: In this handout image supplied by the office of the Palestinian president, King Abdullah II of Jordan is greeted by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during his visit on August 7, 2017 in Ramallah, West Bank. (Photo by PPO via Getty Images)

Palestinians may be on verge of charting new political path

It appears that President Mahmoud Abbas wants to convene the Palestinian National Council, after a hiatus of more than 20 years, which would allow the Palestinian movement to move toward a change in leadership.