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Israel

August 9, 2026

Tel Aviv 7:38 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

Palestinians sit outside their house as Israeli soldiers patrol near the West Bank City of Hebron June 15, 2014. Israel said on Sunday Hamas militants had abducted three Israeli teenagers in the occupied West Bank, warning of "serious consequences" as it pressed on with a search and detained dozens of Palestinians. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST MILITARY) - RTR3TVBR

Hamas denies role in kidnapping

The group's leaders, however, anticipate a severe confrontation with Israel.

Netanyahu's kidnapping nightmare leads to refocus on Hamas

For Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers may vindicate his tough stance on Hamas.

PM Netanyahu meets with Christian spiritual leader Father Gabriel Nadaf

Christian Arabs wrestle with Israeli identity

Israel's Christian citizens have found a safe haven in Israel, compared with other states in the region.

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks about the situation in Iraq from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington June 13, 2014. Obama said on Friday he will take several days to review options for how the United States can help Iraq deal with a militant insurgency, saying any action would need significant involvement by Iraq itself. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (UNTIED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3TNFS

Israelis ask whether Obama has given up on Iraq

The crisis in Iraq has only sharpened the perception by Israelis that Barack Obama is now willing to act with resolve in the Middle East.

Israeli minister estimates new opposition grouping in fall

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Israeli Environmental Protection Minister Amir Peretz foresees possible changes in the makeup of the government in October or November, and emphasizes the important role of Hatnua Chairwoman Tzipi Livni in preventing a premature collapse of the diplomatic negotiations.

Wine-grower Gershon Ferency harvests Chardonnay grapes in his vineyard near the West Bank Jewish settlement of Bat Ayin, south of Bethlehem August 20, 2012. Established in 1993, Ferency's winery produces some 6,500 bottles of kosher wine a year using organically grown grapes. REUTERS/Nir Elias (WEST BANK - Tags: FOOD AGRICULTURE) - RTR36ZI0

Israel's settlement tourism

Following a vast campaign designed to rebrand the West Bank settlements as tourist attractions with guided tours to biblical sites, and to open it up to the Israeli mainstream, the region has become popular with tourists from Israel and overseas.

Ultra-orthodox Jewish bride Esther Rokeach waits for the start of the "mitzva tantz", the custom in which relatives dance in front of the bride after her wedding ceremony, in Jerusalem early June 11, 2014. Thousands gathered on Tuesday to celebrate the wedding of Rokeach, the granddaughter of the spiritual leader of the Belz Hasidim, which is one of the largest Hasidic movements in the world. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (JERUSALEM - Tags: RELIGION SOCIETY) - RTR3T7BC

Israel's big fat ultra-Orthodox wedding

While the Knesset was electing a president, tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews were gathered nearby to celebrate the wedding of the Belzer rebbe’s granddaughter, two events so close physically, yet socially and ideologically miles apart.

(From L to R) Palestinian legislator Mustafa Barghouti, Palestinian Fatah delegation chief Azzam al-Ahmed, Hamas prime minister in the Gaza Strip Ismail Haniya, Hamas deputy leader Musa Abu Marzuk, and secretary-general of the Palestinian Arab Front (PAF) Jameel Shehadeh, pose for a picture in Gaza on April 23, 2014. Rival Palestinian leaders from the West Bank and Gaza Strip agreed to form a unity government within five weeks as peace talks with Israel face collapse. AFP PHOTO / SAID KHATIB (Photo c

Barghouti says Israel must end 'profitable occupation'

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, veteran Palestinian politician Mustafa Barghouti, who played a key role in negotiating the latest reconciliation deal, provides new details on the unity negotiations and what comes next.

Palestinians hold pictures of prisoners during a demonstration in support of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli jails, in the West Bank city of Ramallah June 7, 2014. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced concerns on Friday about the worsening health of Palestinian hunger strikers in Israeli detention and demanded that they either be formally charged or released immediately. Some 120 Palestinians jailed without trial in Israel have been on an open-ended hunger strike, eating only salt and

Palestinian activists reject Israel force-feeding prisoners

In an interview with Al-Monitor, former Palestinian hunger striker Samer Issawi condemns the Israeli bill allowing force-feeding of prisoners on hunger strikes, stressing that such strikes, as the one taking place now, are the prisoners' only option to protest illegal detention.

Reuven Rivlin (L), a former speaker of parliament and the newly elected Israeli president, hugs fellow presidential candidate, former Finance Minister Meir Sheetrit, at the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem June 10, 2014. Rivlin, a right-wing legislator opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state, was elected Israel's president on Tuesday and will replace the dovish Shimon Peres in the largely ceremonial post. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY PROFI

Livni-Herzog alliance a threat to Netanyahu

The presidential elections exposed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's political vulnerabilities.

Israel's Financial Minister Yair Lapid adresses the conference of "Jewish life and anti-semitism in contemporary Europe" in the Upper House of the parliament building on October 1, 2013 in Budapest, Hungary. The two-day conference was organized by the Tom Lantos Institute (TLI) and supported by the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and addresses relevant issues and concerns of European Jewish communities today. AFP PHOTO / ATTILA KISBENEDEK

Lapid's strategy of empty threats benefits Netanyahu

The declaration by Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid that annexation of any area of the West Bank would result in the dismantling of the government raises the bar in a way that actually ensures the survival of the Netanyahu coalition.

An Israeli police officer stands inside a burnt mosque in the Bedouin village of Tuba-Zangariya in northern Israel October 3, 2011, before the arrival of Israel's President Shimon Peres. They strike in the dead of night, setting fire to mosques and daubing their walls with "Price Tag" graffiti, the defiant slogan of Israeli settlers waging a vigilante campaign branded as "un-Jewish" by President Shimon Peres. The "price-taggers" have vowed to avenge any move by Israeli authorities to uproot settlement out

Why doesn't Netanyahu label price tag attacks as terrorism?

Participants of the 14th Herzliya Conference criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for persisting in refusing to define settlers who commit "price tag" attacks as members of a terror organization.