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Israel

August 4, 2026

Tel Aviv 6:58 pm

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What to know about Lebanon-Israel 7th round of talks held in Rome

The US, Israel and Lebanon have sent expanded delegations to the talks, set to continue for three days and expected to focus on security arrangements, border issues and reconstruction.

US President Donald Trump (C) is welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Ben Gurion International Airport on Oct. 13, 2025 in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Analysis

Lacking leverage over Trump, Israel stays quiet on US-Iran talks

Realizing it has little to no influence over President Donald Trump’s decision-making, the Israeli government has remained silent on the possibility of the United States and Iran resuming negotiations.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

An Egyptian man looks at the Qatari Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) carrier "Duhail" as its passes through the Suez Canal near the Egyptian port city of Ismailia on April 1, 2008. The vessel has a capacity of 210,100 cu.m making it one of the largest LNG carriers constructed to date. AFP PHOTO/STR (Photo credit should read -/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

How strike on Damietta port exposes Egypt's energy infrastructure risks

The unclaimed attack on the port of Damietta could draw Egypt further into the US-Iran conflict as experts point to growing threats to critical infrastructure in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

US President Donald Trump walks to board Marine One on the Ellipse near the White House in Washington, DC, on July 31, 2026. President Trump is traveling to Camp David in Maryland to hold a cabinet meeting and later to Bedminster, New Jersey to spend the weekend at his golf club. (Photo by Oliver Contreras / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

No Iran commitment, no Trump endorsement: Netanyahu leaves US empty-handed

The Israeli prime minister described Tuesday's meeting with US President Donald Trump was the "best ever," but diplomatic sources say he left the Washington with little tangibles.

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

Latest News

Analysis

Katz riles Iran, US as Netanyahu-Trump meeting raises questions

Win McNamee/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

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem July 12, 2015. REUTERS/Abir Sultan/Pool - RTX1K1VR

Israel increasingly isolated as Iran opens up to region

Following its nuclear deal with world powers, Iran seems to be opening up to the world, including to its regional nemesis, Saudi Arabia, while Israel stands alone in the world in its opposition to the agreement.

When does the concept of reality set in for Israeli children?

Israeli puppeteers are divided over when children understand the difference between reality and make-believe.

Old Israeli tanks lie in an armoured vehicle "graveyard" at an Israeli army base near the southern town of Kiryat Gat May 8, 2011. The field contains some 700 decommissioned armour the Israeli military uses in training exercises and for parts and scrap. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL - Tags: SOCIETY MILITARY) - RTR2M5HL

Israel to spend over $14 billion on defense in 2015, but where's it going? One Israeli MK vows to keep pressing for answers

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Knesset member Karin Elharrar, chair of the Knesset’s State Control Committee, says she's not intimidated by the country’s leading generals and vows to continue inspecting the defense budget and demanding more transparency and efficiency.

Israelis remember the past by singing along today

Israeli society has changed radically since the days of the country's establishment, but people of all ages cling to the sing-along tradition, which offers a sense of nostalgia and belonging.

A view of the rubble of destroyed buildings and homes in the Shejaiya residential district of Gaza City on July 26, 2014. The bodies of at least 35 Palestinians were recovered from rubble across Gaza in the three hours since a humanitarian truce came into effect, raising to over 900 the overall death toll of Israel's onslaught on the territory since July 8, medics said. Thirteen bodies were recovered in Shejaiya in eastern Gaza City, 13 more in Deir al-Balah and Nusseirat in central Gaza, and nine in north

Who won Gaza's Shajaiya battle? Depends on whom you ask

Hamas activists keep proclaiming victory by presenting the Shajaiya battle as a deterrent against a future Israeli ground invasion, ignoring the Israeli decision not to take over Gaza and the tremendous destruction suffered by Gaza residents following that battle.

An Israeli soldier throws a gas grenade towards a Hizbollah bunker that was uncovered in southern Lebanon August 27, 2006, in this picture released by the Israeli Defense Forces August 28, 2006. Israeli special forces have been exploiting the end of fighting with Hizbollah to uncover and destroy the guerrilla group's tunnel and bunker networks in southern Lebanon, military officials said on Monday. Picture taken August 27, 2006. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY REUTERS/IDF/Handout (LEBANON) - RTR1GRL7

New IDF strategy dismisses Iran nuclear threat

The IDF's new strategy document declares Iran's nuclear program non-threatening and instead prepares to deal with attacks by Iranian proxies and other armed organizations in the region.

Israeli lawmaker Danny Danon (L), a deputy parliament speaker, stands near an Israeli police officer in front of the Dome of the Rock on the compound known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif and to Jews as Temple Mount, in Jerusalem's Old City July 20, 2010. Danon, a lawmaker of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing party, on Tuesday visited the flashpoint religious site in Jerusalem revered by Jews and Muslims, a move that has sparked violence in the past. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLIT

Getting to know Israel's next ambassador to the UN

Instead of rewarding one of his associates, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu named Minister Danny Danon as Israel's next UN ambassador, hoping that a happy Danon in New York is preferable to a strong Danon in Likud's headquarters.

A masked Palestinian villager keeps guard with other Palestinians as they tighten night guards against Jewish settler threats, at Qusra village near the West Bank city of Nablus August 10, 2015. Fears of attacks by far-right Jews have increased since a Palestinian man and his 18-month-old son were killed when their house in Duma village was set ablaze on July 31, giving Palestinian farmers-turned-volunteer watchmen patrolling their own villages a renewed sense of urgency. Picture taken August 10, 2015. REUT

'Night guards' aim to deter settler attacks in West Bank

With attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinian villages in the West Bank reaching 11,000 since 2004, the residents decided to form night guard committees to defend themselves.

Palestinian official denies Abbas resignation rumors

In an interview with Al-Monitor, senior Palestinian official Mohammad Shtayyeh said the Palestinian leadership is focused on establishing a "healthy relationship" with Iran and denied the rumors surrounding the resignation of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad (L) welcomes Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif before a meeting in Damascus January 15, 2014, in this handout released by Syria's national news agency SANA. REUTERS/SANA/Handout via Reuters (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS PICTURE WAS PROCESSED BY REUTERS TO ENHANCE QUALITY. AN UNPROCESSED VERSION W

Zarif presses diplomacy on Syria

Iran brokers humanitarian cease-fires in Syria; Yair Lapid discusses “dreadful gamble” in US-Israel relations; Turkey’s Stone Age temple may predate Stonehenge and Egyptian pyramids by thousands of years.

An Israeli naval officer walks on the pier at a naval base in the northern city of Haifa as INS Tanin, a Dolphin AIP class submarine, docks after its arrival in Israel, September 23, 2014. Tanin is the fourth submarine Israel has acquired, and is the first of three German-built Dolphin AIP class vessels ordered by Israel, an Israeli Defence Forces spokesperson said on Tuesday. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL - Tags: MILITARY) - RTR47EHT

Rethinking the Middle East's nuclear balance

Following the Iran nuke deal, the US and the regional powers must strive for a regional security agreement, either based on a mutual deterrence verification system or a nuclear-free Middle East.

Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid attends a women's committee convention in Tel Aviv March 1, 2015. The era of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is ending, with Israeli voters clearly more concerned about economic and social issues than about security or fears over Iran, a leading election candidate said on Monday. Lapid, a telegenic former news anchor and TV host, leads the centrist, secular Yesh Atid party ("There's a Future"), which emerged out of the cost-of-living protests that swept Israel in 2011. Picture

Lapid: Israel has the right to criticize Iran deal

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Yesh Atid head Yair Lapid argues that as the prime target for an Iranian bomb, Israel has more justification to speak up against the nuclear agreement than other countries.