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Israel

June 22, 2026

Tel Aviv 9:46 am

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Former Israeli Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot gives a press conference in Tel Aviv, on December 4, 2018.

Can political novice Eisenkot defeat Netanyahu in upcoming elections?

The former military chief of staff is emerging as the prime minister's strongest rival in upcoming elections, overtaking former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in recent polls.

US President Donald Trump holds a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Palm Beach, Florida, Dec. 29, 2025.

Analysis

How Netanyahu used Lebanon strikes to push back on Trump’s Iran deal

The latest ceasefire in Lebanon leaves Netanyahu squeezed between Washington and domestic pressure.

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

Latest News

'Let Syria take care of Hezbollah': Trump criticizes Israel, leans on Sharaa to help in Lebanon

EVIAN-LES-BAINS, FRANCE - JUNE 16: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a bilateral meeting with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on the sidelines of the G7 summit, on June 16, 2026 in Evian-les-Bains, France. Leaders from the Group of 7 (G7) countries convened in Evian, France, near the Swiss border, for their annual summit to discuss challenges to peace and security for Ukraine and Europe, the situation in the Middle East, and other geopolitical issues. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Get

Explainer

Ben-Gvir's move to run separately in Israel elections revives debate over party alliances

Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir takes part in the Jerusalem Day celebrations on May 14, 2026, in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Analysis

'He knew it was over': Inside Netanyahu’s response to Trump’s Iran deal as Israel recalibrates

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

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

Analysis

Erdogan-Netanyahu war of words signals deeper rivalry for regional influence

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Turkish House in New York on Sept. 19, 2023.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

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

A Palestinian boy places a Hamas flag atop the rubble of a house which police said was destroyed in an Israeli air strike in the northern Gaza Strip July 9, 2014. At least 23 people were killed across Gaza, Palestinian officials said on Wednesday, by a bombardment Israel said may be just the start of a lengthy offensive against Islamist militants whose rockets struck deeper than ever before into Israel. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3XQSM

Hamas readies for Israeli ground offensive with tunnels, traps

Hamas has developed a sophisticated network of tunnels in the Gaza Strip in the event of an Israeli ground invasion.

An ultra-Orthodox Jew speaking on a mobile phone gestures in front of a fire that broke out after a rocket landed near the southern town of Sderot July 9, 2014. Israeli air strikes shook Gaza every few minutes on Wednesday, and militants kept up rocket fire at Israel's heartland in intensifying warfare that Palestinian officials said has killed at least 37 people in the Hamas-dominated enclave. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY CIVIL UNREST RELIGION) - RTR3XTBG

Hamas surprises Israel

Western analysts misjudged the actions of a desperate Hamas, which considers honor and face-saving above all, launching an attack against Israel when it has nothing to lose.

Women, children killed in Gaza as death toll rises

Israeli strikes on Gaza have targeted residential homes, killing numerous women and children.

Medics treat a man, whom they said was wounded in an Israeli air strike, at a hospital in Gaza City on July 8, 2014. BY Wissam Nassar.

Gaza hospitals ill-equipped for Israeli onslaught

Gaza’s hospitals are lacking essential medicines to deal with the anticipated spike in casualties from Israel’s airstrikes on Gaza.

Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman (C) leaves after holding a news conference at parliament in Jerusalem July 7, 2014. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3XFO1

Liberman positions himself as Mr. Security

By denouncing Prime Minister Netanyahu for not retaliating against the rockets fired from the Gaza Strip, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman positioned himself as a responsible political leader who is assertive about security.

Ibraheem Hamed, a Palestinian television cameraman from Watan TV, stands in the station's studio in the West Bank city of Ramallah February 29, 2012. Israeli soldiers raided two Palestinian television stations, including Watan TV, in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, seizing transmitters the military said were interfering with air traffic communications. The Israeli military said Watan TV and Alquds educational television, which is also based in Ramallah, had been asked repeatedly by Israel to stop using

Palestinian press losing media war in current crisis

Palestinian media has failed to articulate an alternative narrative to the crisis with Israel, often relying on Israeli sources to write reports, following the killing of three Israeli youths and a Palestinian teen.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) arrives for the weekly cabinet meeting in his office in Jerusalem July 6, 2014. REUTERS/Gali Tibbon/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3XBCD

Netanyahu under pressure for a large military operation

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces demands by his coalition partners for a strong reaction to the Gaza rocket fire, while the international community will surely refrain from backing him on a large-scale military operation.

Iron rods ready for shipment are piled at Israel Shipyards Port in Haifa February 5, 2014. Three years after Syria plunged into violence, Israel is reaping an unlikely economic benefit. Exports from Turkey have begun to flow through Israel and across the Sheikh Hussein Bridge to Jordan and a few Arab neighbours. The trade is growing enough to encourage long-held Israeli hopes that the Jewish state can become a commercial gateway to the Arab world. Picture taken February 5, 2014. To match Insight ISRAEL-TRAD

Trade, security concerns bring Turkey, Israel closer

Turkish-Israeli relations are still far from normalized, but developments in the region are converging the two countries' security and economic interests.

Protesters argue with Palestinian riot police during a protest against security coordination between Palestinian authority and Israel, in the West Bank city of Ramallah June 23, 2014. Israeli troops killed two Palestinians on Sunday, Palestinian medics and a militant group said, as Israel pressed on with its crackdown on Hamas, the Islamist group it accuses of abducting three Israeli teenagers. Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has condemned the abduction of the three Israelis, and his security forces hav

Palestinians doubt Israeli narrative of murdered teens

Some Palestinians believe Israel orchestrated the kidnapping and murder of the three settlers to facilitate an assault on the Palestinians.

Israeli policemen stand guard at Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City March 15, 2013. Israeli police declared an age limit on Friday for Palestinians wanting to enter the Old City, only allowing males above the age of 50 and all females to enter. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (JERUSALEM - Tags: SOCIETY) - RTR3F156

Israel's police face another scandal

With the backdrop of recent scandals, the Israeli public no longer trusts the police, while its senior officers, including the chief of police, Yohanan Danino, continue to ignore criticism.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) meets with U.S. President Barack Obama in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington March 3, 2014. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3FZYX

Friendship, Obama-style

On the occasion of the 2014 Israel Conference on Peace, US President Barack Obama calls on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to compromise, but does the United States not bear any responsibility for the negotiation crisis?

Palestinian militants of al-Nasser Brigades hold weapons during a news conference on cross-border escalation between Palestinians and Israel, in Gaza City July 5, 2014. With Israel having mobilised ground forces outside Gaza on Thursday in a threat to invade, Egypt tried to mediate a truce. Israel and the Islamist Palestinian Hamas movement each said the other had to back down first. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3X7MR

Gaza’s armed factions coordinate response to Israeli attacks

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine has launched rockets into Israel over the past few days while Hamas turns a blind eye.