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Israel

August 8, 2026

Tel Aviv 2:57 pm

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Analysis

As pro-Palestinian candidates gain ground, will AIPAC's influence wane?

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s influence has weakened in the Democratic Party and may also be at risk among Republicans.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Hussein FALEH / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

As US rethinks regional presence, Israel shifts focus to destabilizing Iran

Uncertain how to interpret the American regional redeployment, Israel is focusing on efforts to destabilize the Iranian regime and stop its nuclear program.

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

Israeli battle tanks deploy in the village of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah (Eastern Zawtar) in southern Lebanon as pictured from the nearby village of Zawtar al-Gharbiyah (Western Zawtar) on August 2, 2026. Under a US-sponsored agreement signed in June, Lebanon's army is to disarm Hezbollah and the Israeli military is to withdraw from "pilot zones" where Lebanese forces will subsequently deploy. The deal came more than three months after Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East with rocket fire at Israel in suppo

Israel-Lebanon talks suspended amid escalation, set to resume Thursday

The Israeli delegation asked the American representatives to suspend the direct talks with Lebanon for a few hours over alleged leaks by Beirut.

Latest News

Analysis

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

Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP via Getty Images

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

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

Tiziana FABI / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

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

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.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

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 Defence Minister Ehud Barak gestures during the 49th Conference on Security Policy in Munich February 3, 2013. Senior politicians along with the leader of the Syrian opposition are in Munich providing a rare opportunity for talks to revive efforts to end the civil war in Syria. REUTERS/Michael Dalder(GERMANY - Tags: MILITARY POLITICS) - RTR3DAJJ

Will Ehud Barak return to politics?

Labor party activists, who met recently with former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, believe that he is the only person able to defeat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

RAMALLAH, -: Palestinian Information Minister Mustafa al-Barghuti speaks during a press conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah, 14 April 2007. The Palestinian government approved today a new security plan in the Palestinian territories that will create a centralized security service, al-Barghuti told in a press conference. AFP PHOTO/JAMAL ARURI (Photo credit should read JAMAL ARURI/AFP/Getty Images)

Mustafa Barghouti: US-Palestinian ties strong

In an interview with Al-Monitor, former Palestinian Minister Mustafa Barghouti says that the US commitment to the Palestinian Authority's survival will withstand the Palestinian initiative of seeking UN recognition.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledges applause as he arrives to address the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), in Washington, March 4, 2014. Netanyahu urged world powers on Tuesday not to allow Iran to retain the ability to enrich uranium, saying it must be stripped of all nuclear technologies with bomb-making potential. REUTERS/Mike Theiler (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR3G15H

Netanyahu hangs hopes on US midterm elections

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mistakenly believes that a Republican US Congress would pressure President Barack Obama to change his policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Sweden's Foreign Minister Carl Bildt attend a meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah February 28, 2011. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2J926

Mideast conflict needs Scandinavian drive

Scandinavian experience at peacemaking and human rights could again prove useful at jump-starting the deadlocked Israel-Palestine negotiations.

Rabin's son says Israelis ready for regional agreement

In an interview with Al-Monitor shortly before the commemoration of Yitzhak Rabin's assassination, his son Yuval Rabin called for a regional agreement.

Trucks loaded with bags of cement enter the Gaza Strip from Israel through the Kerem Shalom crossing on October 14, 2014, in Rafah in southern Gaza. International donors pledged about $5.4 billion in aid to the devastated Gaza Strip on October 13, 2014 and urged Israel and the Palestinians to renew peace efforts. AFP PHOTO / SAID KHATIB (Photo credit should read SAID KHATIB/AFP/Getty Images)

Israel eases restrictions on Gaza

Israel has started to provide facilities to the Gaza Strip, but many Palestinians see these efforts as a facade that changes little.

A Palestinian flag and a Hamas flag (R) flutter atop the wreckage of a house, which witnesses said was destroyed during the seven-week Israeli offensive, in the east of Gaza City September 3, 2014. Fifty days of war in one of the most densely populated parts of the world have left swathes of Gaza in ruins. With the economy reeling under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade, the enclave now faces an almost impossible task of rebuilding. Picture taken September 3, 2014. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem (GAZA - Tags: CIVIL UNRES

Donor pledges not enough to rehabilitate Gaza

The Palestinian Authority needs at least $15 billion to properly restore Gaza’s economy, while donors have only pledged $5.4 billion for interim reconstruction.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks during a joint news conference with Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri in Cairo October 12, 2014. Kerry said on Sunday the United States was deeply concerned about what he called the "tragedy" in the Syrian town of Kobani, where Islamic State fighters have been tightening their grip. REUTERS/Carolyn Kaster/Pool (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR49W49

Kerry's three Israel-Palestinian options

The Obama administration objects to the Palestinian plan of turning to the UN for recognizing Palestine, thus hesitating between two options: a new outline based on former negotiations or a series of gestures and negotiations without a deadline.

Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah (C) waves as he visits houses that witnesses said were destroyed during the recent seven-week Israeli offensive, in the Shejaia neighbourhood, east of Gaza City October 9, 2014. Technocrat Hamdallah arrived in the Hamas-dominated Gaza Strip on Thursday to convene the first meeting of a unity government there since a brief civil war in 2007 between Hamas and forces loyal to the Fatah party. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES O

Has Israel accepted the Palestinian unity government?

Israel has allowed trucks with goods to enter Gaza, thus cooperating with the same Fatah-Hamas government it refused to recognize four months ago.

Tubs of cottage cheese 'Tnuva' are seen at a shop in Jerusalem July 27, 2011. A two-week-long cottage cheese boycott caused Israelis to question the power of the country's tycoons. A scathing parliamentary report from June last year found that 10 large business groups control 30 percent of the market value of public companies, while 16 control half the money in the entire country. Picture taken July 27, 2011. To match Special Report ISRAEL-CONCENTRATION/ REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (ISRAEL - Tags: BUSINES

Israeli social justice protests still alive, just not in streets

In an interview with Al-Monitor, social activist Itzik Alrov argues that even though people don't take to the streets to protest, as they did in the summer of 2011, they keep watch on the distortions of price centralization and expect the government to intervene.

What it's like to fight for Hamas

Abu Abdel Rahman, a fighter with Hamas’ Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, still dreams of fighting against Israeli forces in the last Gaza war.

A man walks near the village of al-Sira, one of dozens of ramshackle Bedouin Arab communities in the Negev desert which are not recognised by the Israeli state, in southern Israel August 20, 2013. For decades Arab Bedouins have eked out a meagre existence in the Negev desert, largely under the Israeli government's radar, but now many will have to make way for new developments. Israel has already invested around $5.6 billion to build military bases in the Negev desert and plans to build 10 new communities th

Social revolution and the new Negev pioneers

The third anniversary of the social justice movement was marked in Sheizaf with great satisfaction: A young, flourishing community has been established in the Negev Desert and several education and development plans are in store.