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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 protesters throw stones at Israeli soldiers during clashes in the West Bank village of Qusra near Nablus September 23, 2011. Israeli security forces shot dead a Palestinian in the West Bank on Friday during a confrontation in his village with Jewish settlers, Palestinian officials said. Tensions have been growing between Palestinians and settlers who stake a biblical claim to the West Bank, as the Palestinian leadership prepared to seek full U.N. membership for a state partly on the Israeli-occu

Israeli Authorities Mostly Ignore Settler Attacks on Palestinian Village

The inhabitants of the Palestinian village of Qusra are regularly attacked by the Israeli settlers from nearby settlements, with the Israeli authorities doing little to help, reports Naela Khalil.

- FILE PHOTO 21NOV73 - Prime Minister Golda Meir (R) accompanied by her Defense Minister Moshe Dayan, meets with Israeli soldiers at a base on the Golan Heights after intense fighting during the 1973 Yom Kippur War.[ Israel was simultaneously attacked by Syria and Egypt on Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement when all of Israel comes to a standstill, and was only able to defeat both countries when the United States provided an emergency major resupply of equipment. Israel suffered heavy causalities and m

Israel: From Kitchenette to Octet

Akiva Eldar wonders why women in Israel are excluded from all focal points of crucial decision-making.

A pro-Palestinian activist flashes the victory sign after being detained by Jordanian police during a demonstration in front of the Israeli embassy in Amman August 30, 2012. Activists protested against Israeli and Jordanian authorities after being barred from entering the West Bank through King Hussein Bridge (Allenby Bridge), around 35 km (22 miles) southeast of the Jordanian capital Amman, to deliver aid to students. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed (JORDAN - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR37AIV

Israel Restricts Entry of Foreigners Into Palestinian Territories

Israel is increasingly preventing foreign passport holders from entering the Palestinian territories, Linah Alsaafin reports.

Members of the 19th Knesset, the new Israeli parliament, stand as President Shimon Peres arrives to their swearing-in ceremony in Jerusalem February 5, 2013. REUTERS/Uriel Sinai/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3DDXN

Next Israeli Government Will Be 'Short Term,' Says Knesset Member

Knesset member Moshe Gafni from the ultra-Orthodox Yahadut HaTorah party explains to Mazal Mualem the failings of both Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid and HaBayit HaYehudi Chairman Naftali Bennett, predicting political disaster if they are included in the next Israeli government.

Five-Star Movement leader and comedian Beppe Grillo gestures during a rally in Turin February 16, 2013. REUTERS/Giorgio Perottino (ITALY - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR3DVM1

Yair Lapid, Beppe Grillo And Social Justice

Nadav Eyal compares the aftermath of the Italian Five Star movement to the Israeli social justice protest and considers that new Israeli faces can and might deliver.

Labourers disembark a Palestinians-only bus before crossing through Israel's Eyal checkpoint as they returns to the West Bank, near Qalqilya March 4, 2013. Israel launched two Palestinians-only bus lines in the occupied West Bank on Monday, a step an Israeli rights group described as racist and which the Transport Ministry called an improvement in service. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS TRANSPORT) - RTR3EKIH

Segregation Existed BeforeNew Palestinian Bus Lines

Israel's new bus lines for Palestinian workers are not where segregation begins, Lena Odgaard reports.

An Israeli policeman fires a tear gas canister during clashes with Palestinian protesters at a demonstration against the closure of Shuhada street to Palestinians, in the West Bank city of Hebron February 24, 2012. Some 200 protesters, including foreign and Israeli activists, gathered on Friday marking the 18th anniversary of the closure of the street, which was closed by the Israeli army in 1994 following the Hebron mosque massacre by Baruch Goldstein, an Israeli settler, who went on a rampage inside Al Ib

Palestinians, Activists Protest Israeli Settlement in Hebron

Nowhere are Israeli settlement policies more evident and combustible than in the Palestinian city of Hebron, Daoud Kuttab writes.

Rabbi and peace activist Menachem Froman (R) holds a Koran as it is given to Palestinians at a mosque after Monday's attack in the West Bank village of Beit Fajjar near Bethlehem October 5, 2010. Jewish settlers on Tuesday gave Korans to Palestinians in the West Bank village whose mosque was burned in an attack blamed on militants in the settler movement. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST RELIGION) - RTXT2UB

Israeli Settler Dedicated His Life to Peace

Rabbi Menachem Froman, who died March 5, believed that only religious leaders could resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as Shlomi Eldar recalls.

A Palestinian man carries flowers for export on a flower farm in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip December 20, 2012. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: SOCIETY) - RTR3BRZM

Gaza Farmers Lament Israeli Blockade

Despite Israel allowing limited agricultural exports from the Gaza Strip, Gazan farmers continue to struggle with diminished incomes and difficult working conditions due to the blockade, reports Hazem Balousha.

An Arrow II missile interceptor is displayed in front of journalists at an Israeli air defence command in the Palmahim military base south of Tel Aviv May 12, 2011. An upgraded version of the Israeli air defence system, designed to blow up ballistic missiles in space, could be rushed into deployment before its 2014-2015 target date, a senior officer said on Thursday. REUTERS/ Nir Elias (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR2MBG1

Misunderstanding Israeli Missile Defense

Despite the Israeli consensus on missile defense, the core of Israeli strategy remains an offensive deterrent posture, writes Jean-Loup Samaan.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem March 3, 2013. More than a month after Israel's election, Netanyahu is still without a new coalition, his hopes of enlisting traditionally loyal cabinet partners - ultra-Orthodox factions - challenged by a pact between an odd political couple. REUTERS/Gali Tibbon/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3EII7

Netanyahu’s Best Bet: Coalition with Lapid and Bennett

Mazal Mualem writes that if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu can rid himself of his fears, he may discover that the government lineup being forced upon him might be best for Israel — and perhaps even best for himself.

Yair Lapid (C), speaks during a Yesh Atid party meeting, at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem March 4, 2013. A surprise alliance between Israeli political stars, far-right Naftali Bennett, and centrist Lapid, who reject privileges for ultra-orthodox Jews is frustrating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's efforts to form a new government. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3EKA3

Lapid-Bennett Alliance Shakes Up Israeli Politics

It isn't clear how long the alliance between Yesh Atid head Yair Lapid and HaBayit HaYehudi leader Naftali Bennett will last, writes Ben Caspit, but the alliance is already changing the face of Israeli politics.