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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

Israel's President Shimon Peres (C, seated) sits between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L, seated) and Labour party lawmaker Binyamin Ben-Eliezer (R, seated) as party leaders of the 19th Knesset, the new Israeli parliament, pose for a group photo at a reception following their swearing-in ceremony in Jerusalem February 5, 2013. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3DE0A

Israel Looks Inward

The results of the Israeli election were all about nation building, and not peacemaking, writes Einat Wilf.

Members of the Hamas security forces and United Nations international experts prepare to destroy the remains of ordnance from an eight-day conflict between Israel and the Palestinians in 2012, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip February 25, 2013. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTR3E9UU

Hamas and Israel Seek To Maintain Gaza Peace

Months after the Egypt-brokered cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, both sides seek to maintain peace in Gaza for political and other motives, writes Hazem Balousha.

Israel's First Arab Soccer Superstar Tells His Story

Rifaat Turk, Israel’s first Arab soccer superstar, who paved the way for dozens of Arab players, tells Shlomi Eldar about the racism and challenges he has faced.

Children wearing costumes for the Jewish holiday of Purim wait to get out of a car in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighbourhood February 25, 2013. Purim is a celebration of the Jews' salvation from genocide in ancient Persia, as recounted in the Book of Esther. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM - Tags: RELIGION) - RTR3E9X6

Israel Cannot Afford to Cut Benefits for Children

Cutting already-low child benefits in Israel under the pretext of equal sharing of the economic burden is liable to cause irreparable damage, warns Idan Grinbaum.

Members of the Hamas security forces and United Nations international experts destroy the remains of ordnance from an eight-day conflict between Israel and the Palestinians in 2012, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip February 25, 2013. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTR3E9V3

US, Abu Mazen Sidelined on Gaza Talks

Israel and Hamas, under Egyptian sponsorship, continue to talk about Gaza, leaving Fatah and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on the margins, writes Geoffrey Aronson.

The headstone of the grave of Ben Zygier, the Australian whom local media have identified as the man who died in an Israeli prison in 2010 and who may have been recruited by Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, is pictured at a Jewish cemetery in Melbourne February 14, 2013. Israel broke its official silence on Wednesday over the reported suicide in jail of an Australian immigrant recruited to its spy service Mossad, giving limited details on a closely guarded case. After appeals by local media chafing at Is

Prisoner X, the Mossad andThe Futility of Censorship

Yossi Melman reviews the recent history of Israeli censorship in the name of security and recommends that Israel end the practice.

Palestinian women take part in a protest against the death of a Palestinian detainee in an Israeli jail, in Gaza City February 24, 2013. Palestinian officials on Saturday demanded an international investigation into the death of a Palestinian detainee who died in an Israeli jail hours earlier. A spokeswoman for Israel's Prison Authority said that the detainee, 30-year-old Arafat Jaradat, had apparently died of cardiac arrest. An emergency service team had tried to resuscitate him but failed, she said. REUTE

Israel Wants PA to Crack Down On Protests Over Prisoners

Israeli media have reported that Israel is ready to release $100 million it collects on behalf of the Palestinian government in return for the Ramallah leadership cracking down on the protests, reports Daoud Kuttab.

Labourers reinforce the fence near Israel's border with Syria in the Golan Heights February 14, 2013. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed the territory in 1981, a move not recognised internationally. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (POLITICS) - RTR3DSEM

Bad Timing: Israel Allows Oil Exploration in Golan

Akiva Eldar writes that the decision to allow a US energy company to explore for oil in the Golan is not meant to antagonize President Obama in advance of his visit to Israel, but a sign that Israel considers the Golan an integral part of the state.

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad (R) meets International peace envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi in Damascus December 24, 2012 in this handout photograph released by Syria's national news agency SANA. Brahimi met with Assad in Damascus on Monday to discuss a solution to the country's 21-month-old conflict. Brahimi told journalists after the meeting that he discussed the situation in Syria overall and gave his views on how to solve the crisis. He said conditions in the country were still poor. REUTERS/Sana (S

No Conditions on Syrian Dialogue

Al-Monitor’s coverage and analysis of the demonstrations in the West Bank, the role of Hezbollah in Syria, and the urgency of starting negotiations between the Syrian government and the opposition without conditions.

A Palestinian woman raises her hand written with the Arabic words "our prisoners are our dignity" as she takes part in a protest against the death of a Palestinian detainee in an Israeli jail, in Gaza City February 24, 2013. Palestinian officials on Saturday demanded an international investigation into the death of a Palestinian detainee who died in an Israeli jail hours earlier. A spokeswoman for Israel's Prison Authority said that the detainee, 30-year-old Arafat Jaradat, had apparently died of cardiac ar

PA Seeks to Exploit West Bank Protests

Warnings of a Third Intifada fail to address the core issues behind the West Bank protests, namely Israel's occupation, Dalia Hatuqa writes.

A child waves a Hezbollah flag as she holds pictures of martyrs as Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah addresses his supporters during a rally to commemorate Martyrs' Day in Beirut, February 16, 2013. REUTERS/Sharif Karim (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3DVC2

The Israel-Hezbollah Shadow War

Israel and Hezbollah prefer a shadow war of terror and assassination rather than disturbing the uneasy truce on the Israel-Lebanon border, writes Ali Hashem.

A woman walks past campaign posters for the Arab-led Hadash party in the Israeli-Arab city of Umm al-Fahm December 26, 2012. Disillusioned, disappointed and divided, Israeli Arab voters will traipse to the polls next week in ever dwindling numbers, aware that none of their community will have any say in how the country is run. Picture taken December 26, 2012. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR3CHRM

Barakeh: Arab-Israelis A Faceless Entity

Knesset member Mohammad Barakeh, leader of the bi-national party Hadash, explains to Mazal Mualem why the most social justice-oriented party in Israel did not benefit from the fruits of Israel’s social-protest movement, and points an accusing finger at the government and the media for ignoring Israel's Arab citizens.