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August 15, 2026

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An Israeli rescue team arrives in Venezuela after the earthquake in June 2026. Israeli Foreign Ministry

Analysis

Why Venezuela is moving closer to Israel but stopping short of full ties

Israel and Venezuela have practical and strategic reasons for advancing their relations after years of hostility, but establishing full ties faces challenges.

Rina Bassist

Adam Lucente

By Rina Bassist , Adam Lucente

Israeli army vehicles move to a position in southern Lebanon, March 27, 2026.

Analysis

Israel defies Trump on Lebanon as Netanyahu, Katz prioritize elections

Both Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump face fateful elections this fall, but one needs progress in Lebanon while the other wants more of the same.

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

Latest News

Syria lodges UN complaint against Colombia’s recognition of Israeli sovereignty over Golan

Colombia's new president, Abelardo de la Espriella, delivers a speech at the Pichincha Battalion after being sworn in, in Cali, Colombia, on Aug. 7, 2026.

Analysis

Netanyahu rejects Trump’s Gaza plan while quietly implementing it

lia YEFIMOVICH / AFP via Getty Images

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

Interview

Israel's deputy FM, Sharren Haskel, bets on a new right after breaking with Netanyahu

Sharren Haskel speaks at an event marking 60 years of diplomatic ties between Germany and Israel hosted by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Berlin, Oct. 16, 2025.

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

Palestinian Islamic Jihad leaders Kaled Al-Batsh (L) and Khader Habib attend a news conference in Gaza February 8, 2006. Islamic Jihad ruled out on Wednesday joining a new Palestinian government following Hamas's election victory or forging any long-term truce with Israel. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem - RTR15ZBZ

Islamic Jihad to Run In Palestinian Elections

Islamic Jihad's leader in Gaza, Khader Habib, confirms to Abeer Ayyoub that his faction intends to run for the first time in Palestinian National Council elections.

Israel's Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu listens to Gideon Sa'ar, a member of the Knesset, during a party meeting at the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem February 11, 2009. Israel headed for political gridlock on Wednesday with both Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's centrist Kadima party and Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party declaring victory in an election that left the prospect of Israel and the Palestinians making peace as distant as ever. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (JERUSALEM) - RTXBIAC

Bilingual School Teaches Lesson in Coexistence

A bilingual school for Jewish and Arab children is showing promising results for tolerance even as random aggression toward Arabs has increased in Israel in the last three months without reaction from the government, writes Akiva Eldar.

Members of the 19th Knesset, the new Israeli parliament, stand as President Shimon Peres arrives to their swearing-in ceremony at the parliament in Jerusalem February 5, 2013. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3DDTH

Knesset Members Spend Big On 'Contact With the Electorate'

Knesset Members spend unnecessarily large sums of money in the context of ''sustaining contact with the electorate," writes Idan Grinbaum.

A Palestinian man walks near placards designed by an activist depicting U.S. President Barack Obama, ahead of his visit to the region, in the West Bank city of Ramallah March 12, 2013. The White House has yet to officially announce the dates for the trip, but Israeli news media have reported that Obama will arrive in the region on March 20. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3EVUU

US Locked Into the Middle East

While events will not allow the United States to pivot from the Middle East to Asia, the US still needs a coherent strategy for the region, writes Jean-Loup Samaan.

Israeli soldiers lead arrested Palestinian youths brought into Israel from the Gaza strip, next to Kibbutz Kfar Azza early March 3, 2008. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (ISRAEL) - RTR1XTHP

Israel Arresting Children To Prevent Third Intifada

Israel is arresting and mistreating Palestinian children to prevent a third intifada, Jillian Kestler-D'amours reports.

Moshe Yaalon the Chief of Staff of the Israeli army stands in front of the Warsaw Ghetto monument, May 18, 2005. Yaalon is in Warsaw for one day working visit. The memorial is a 1948 tribute to the heroic struggle of Warsaw's doomed Jews and the resistance fighters who helped the 450,000 persons packed into the Warsaw Ghetto by the Nazis during World War Two. REUTERS/Katarina Stoltz KS/AA - RTRBLDC

Moshe Ya'alon Will Bring Balance To Israeli Defense Ministry

Ben Caspit retraces the career of Moshe “Bogie” Ya’alon, the expected choice for defense minister in the new Israeli government.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) sits next to Vice Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon during a memorial service for the late Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem November 2, 2011. Zeevi was assassinated 10 years ago by Palestinian militants. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS ANNIVERSARY) - RTR2TIPX

New Israeli Defense Minister No Threat to Netanyahu's Policies

Israel's next defense minister, Moshe Ya’alon, is not expected to challenge Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the Iranian threat or the Palestinians issue, writes Mazal Mualem.

A Palestinian boy arranges traditional cookies in a box to be sold in the West Bank city of Nablus, ahead of Eid al-Adha, October 24, 2012. Muslims across the world are preparing to celebrate Eid al-Adha to mark the end of the haj by slaughtering sheep, goats, cows and camels to commemorate Prophet Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Ismail on God's command. REUTERS/Abed Omar Qusin (WEST BANK - Tags: RELIGION FOOD) - RTR39IVB

Visiting Nablus Since Last Intifada Shows Renewed City

After 10 years, Shlomi Eldar returns to Nablus and discovers it different from the city he remembers from the second intifada.

Israeli border guards detain a Palestinian protestors outside Israel's Ofer prison near Ramallah on February 28, 2013 following protests in support of hunger-striking Palestinians in Israeli prisons. Israel's health ministry said the cause of a Palestinian prisoner's death remains unclear following tests on samples from his body, after Palestinian charges he was tortured in detention. AFP PHOTO/ABBAS MOMANI (Photo credit should read ABBAS MOMANI/AFP/Getty Images)

Palestinians Find Little Justice In Israeli Military Courts

Palestinians in the West Bank are subject to Israeli military courts, which offer them little chance for justice, writes Jillian Kestler-D'Amours.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem March 10, 2013. Netanyahu on Sunday convened his outgoing cabinet for probably the last time, he said, increasing speculation that he will complete forming a new administration within days. REUTERS/Sebastian Scheiner/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3ESZR

Netanyahu Sets Scene For Obama Visit

Israel's prime minister has stepped up demands for US support while minimizing the visibility of the settlement issue in preparation for the US president's upcoming visit, writes Clovis Maksoud.

Hamas politburo deputy chief Moussa Abu Marzouk speaks during an interview with Reuters in Damascus January 5, 2009. REUTERS /Khaled al-Hariri (SYRIA) - RTR2325K

Is Hamas Considering Recognition Of Israel?

As a step toward international recognition, Hamas is seeking to be removed from the US terrorist organizations list, and for that purpose even considers acknowledging Israel in its 1967 borders, reveals Shlomi Eldar.

Pro-Palestinian activists attend a rally to mark the second anniversary of the Mavi Marmara Gaza flotilla incident in central Istanbul May 31, 2012. Nine activists, eight Turkish and one Turkish-American, died on May 31, 2010, when Israeli commandos raided the Mavi Marmara ship, which was part of a flotilla seeking to break the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR32WF0

Israel Should Seek to Re-Establish Good Relations With Turkey

Present-day Turkey is completely different from the country Israel knew in the not-too-distant past, writes Arad Nir, and it is precisely because of this that Israel should restore its relations with Ankara.