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Israel

August 5, 2026

Tel Aviv 6:03 pm

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Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Netanyahu’s Gaza double game: Back Trump, reassure Israel’s right

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to both give the impression that Israel retains total freedom of action in Gaza while allowing the Board of Peace to move ahead with President Donald Trump’s peace plan.

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

Tiziana FABI / AFP via Getty Images

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

Latest News

Analysis

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

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)

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Analysis

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

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)

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

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry addresses the Opening Meeting of the 2015 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) at United Nations headquarters in New York, April 27, 2015. REUTERS/Mike Segar - RTX1AJ58

US clarifies position on nuclear-free Middle East

The Obama administration keeps pressuring Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a future agreement with Iran as a fait accompli, while demonstrating its commitment to Israel's security on the nuclear-free Mideast front.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets children, dressed up for the upcoming Jewish holiday of Shavuot, before the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem June 1, 2014. REUTERS/Dan Balilty/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION) - RTR3ROMA

Secular Jews rediscover Jewish heritage

Tel Aviv council member Mickey Gitzin explains how secular Jews have created their own narratives and celebrations in regard to the Feast of Weeks celebration on May 23-24.

Head of the Palestinian Football Association Jibril Rajoub (2nd R) walks with anti-apartheid activist Tokyo Sexwale (R) past Israel's controversial barrier as they arrive for a news conference in the West Bank town of Al-Ram, near Jerusalem, May 7, 2015. Rajoub reinforced his call for Israel to be suspended from FIFA on Thursday, saying the Israeli Football Association was part of an "apartheid, racist government" that was damaging Palestinian soccer. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman - RTX1BZBF

Jibril Rajoub confident FIFA will vote on expelling Israel

FIFA’s general assembly will convene on May 29 and may vote on removing Israel from the world soccer association, in a step Palestinians see as a major progress in the nonviolent efforts to call out Israel for its ongoing violations against Palestinian sports.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius attends a ceremony at the Hotel Matignon in Paris, France, May 13, 2015. REUTERS/Charles Platiau - RTX1CSWQ

France works to restart talks toward Israeli-Palestinian peace

France is urging Israelis and Palestinians to resume negotiations in anticipation of an international peace proposal being presented.

Palestinian labourers with permits to work in Israel step off a minibus as they return to the West Bank at Israel's Eyal checkpoint near the West Bank town of Qalqilya May 20, 2015. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suspended on Wednesday new bus travel and checkpoint regulations for Palestinian labourers only hours after they were imposed to an outcry by critics accusing Israel of racial segregation. REUTERS/Baz Ratner - RTX1DTRU

First international blunder of Bibi's new government

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's zigzagging over the plan to separate Jews and Palestinian workers traveling to the territories demonstrates the strong hold of the settlers over his fragile coalition.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) sits next to his Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon (L) during a swearing-in ceremony at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem May 14, 2015. Netanyahu's new rightist coalition government, hobbled from the outset by its razor-thin parliamentary majority, was sworn in late on Thursday amid wrangling within his Likud party over cabinet posts. Picture taken May 14, 2015. REUETRS/Jim Hollander/Pool - RTX1D2SJ

Did Ya'alon cave in to settler pressure?

Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon revoked his decision to separate Palestinian and Israeli bus passengers traveling to the territories following an international outcry about apartheid, as well as harsh criticism in Israel.

Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah waves during a news conference in Gaza City March 25, 2015. Hamdallah, who arrived to Gaza on Wednesday, urged donor countries to fulfill their financial obligations for the reconstruction of Gaza. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

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Shifting tides in PA-EU relationship

Since the Vatican recognized the state of Palestine, Palestinians are hoping more European states will follow suit.

Arab Israeli coed marathon canceled after threats

The struggle to hold a coed marathon in Tira exposed the clash in Arab Israeli society between increasing liberalization and traditional religiosity.

RAFAH, GAZA STRIP - AUGUST 16: Ahmed Youssef, an adviser to Ismail Haniya of Hamas, the dismissed Palestinian prime minister speaks as he sits at his home August 16, 2007 in Rafah, southern of the Gaza Strip. Today, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued an executive decree convicting any one who joins the administrative forces or militia of the rival Hamas movement. (Photo by Abid Katib/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Ahmed Youssef

Former Hamas official speaks out

In this interview with Al-Monitor, Ahmed Yousef, former political adviser to deputy chairman of Hamas’ political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, weighs in on the negotiations with Israel, the future of a potential reconciliation with Fatah and international relations.

Part of a tunnel exposed by the Israeli military is seen on the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border August 14, 2014. A renewed truce between Israel and Hamas appeared to be holding on Thursday despite a shaky start, after both sides agreed to give Egyptian-brokered talks more time to try to end the Gaza war. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR42EPD

Israel silent while Hamas digs tunnels

Before getting into another round of fighting in Gaza, Israel must use its nonmilitary tools to stop the tunnel digging that Hamas has continued to pursue so vigorously.

The head of Lebanon's Hezbollah parliamentary bloc Mohamed Raad speaks during a news conference in Beirut March 4, 2011. Raad spoke out against the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), which was established in 2007 to prosecute, under Lebanese law, criminal acts relating to the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri in Lebanon. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi (LEBANON) - RTR2JFBJ

Senior Hezbollah official speaks out

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, the head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc in Lebanon discusses the war in Syria and the party’s role there, the Saudi war against Yemen and the presidential stalemate in Lebanon.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) sits next to armed forces chief Major-General Benny Gantz (L) and Gilad Erdan, minister of communications and home front protection, during a drill simulating a chemical rocket attack in Jerusalem May 29, 2013. Israel continued on Wednesday with its annual home front defence exercise, launched on Monday, preparing soldiers and civilians for missile attacks. REUTERS/Abir Sultan/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTX104PX

Erdan challenges Netanyahu, refuses Cabinet position

In a surprising move, senior Likud member and former Interior Minister Gilad Erdan rejected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s offer of a Cabinet position and is staying out of the new government.