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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 (2nd L) meets Aryeh Deri (L), Eli Yishai and Ariel Attias (R), leaders of the religious Shas party, at his residence in Jerusalem January 31, 2013. Peres began talks with political parties on Wednesday over who should form a new government and appears certain to ask incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to assemble it. REUTERS/Sebastian Scheiner/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR3D6U4

Israel's Shas Party at Crossroads

The Shas Party has an opportunity to rekindle its traditional moderate vision of Judaism, writes Mazal Mualem.

U.S. President Barack Obama arrives via Marine One at Leesburg Executive Airport to delivers remarks nearby at the House Democratic Issues Conference, in Leesburg, Virginia, February 7, 2013. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3DGQT

Why Is Obama Rushing to Israel?

It is hard to believe that the announcement of the US presidential visit to Israel isn't timed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's negotiations on a new government, writes Akiva Eldar.

U.S. President Barack Obama arrives with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (R) to make a statement on Middle East Peace talks in the East Room of the White House in Washington September 1, 2010. REUTERS/Jason Reed (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR2HTEC

Obama Visit to Israel an Opportunity

US President Barack Obama's upcoming visit to Israel is an opportunity for a new start in US policy in the region, writes Clovis Maksoud.

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

New Israeli Knesset Prepares for Political Battle

Plenty of hugs and kisses were exchanged on the first day of the newly sworn-in Knesset, yet the gaiety will be short lived as the battles will soon commence, writes Mazal Mualem.

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men walk behind Israeli soldiers at the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City February 22, 2012. The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) has always been a 'Jewish' army. Its rations are kosher, its chaplains are rabbis, and it operates - with the exception of wartime - around the festival calendar. It has never drafted soldiers from Israel's 20-percent Arab minority. But its Jewish identity has always been more cultural than religious. IDF personnel data suggests

Can the IDF Absorb The Ultra-Orthodox?

Alon Ben David examines the politics of equally sharing the burden of military service, a winning slogan in the recent election.

U.S. President Barack Obama welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, March 5, 2012. REUTERS/Jason Reed (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2YVL0

Obama’s Visit to Israel a Chance To Reset US-Israel Ties

Ben Caspit writes that President Barack Obama's visit to Israel will remind Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that diplomacy between Israel and the Palestinians is still at the top of the US agenda.

Lebanese soldiers man a checkpoint after their deployment in Aarsal town in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa February 5, 2013. Four Lebanese soldiers and two gunmen were killed in clashes in the country's Bekaa Valley on Friday after militants attacked a Lebanese army unit, security sources said. REUTERS/ Ahmad Shalha (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3DDSC

Hezbollah: Israeli Strike On Syria Was Also a Strike at Iran

Tensions in Lebanon and the region are high amid fears that the Syrian crisis will spread, writes Nasser Chararah.

An Israeli border police officer uses pepper spray to disperse Palestinian activists after the group set up tents and makeshift structures in protest against a nearby Jewish settlement in the West Bank village of Burin, south of Nablus February 2, 2013. Palestinians who set up a makeshift encampment in the occupied West Bank on Saturday clashed with Israeli soldiers and settlers and some light injuries were sustained.
REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES OF T

Israel Boycotts UN Report On Settlements

Akiva Eldar asks whether Israel’s continuous boycott of international investigation commissions really serves its best interests.

An Israeli air force F15-E fighter jet takes off for a mission over the Gaza Strip, from the Tel Nof air base in central Israel November 19, 2012. Israel bombed dozens of targets in Gaza on Monday and said that while it was prepared to step up its offensive by sending in troops, it preferred a diplomatic solution that would end Palestinian rocket fire from the enclave. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (ISRAEL - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR3AMGC

Each Side of Syrian Conflict Claims Israeli Strike in Its Favor

Following the Israeli aerial attacks on Syria, each side of the Syrian crisis questions the intentions behind the seemingly spontaneous offensive by their southern neighbor, writes Jean Aziz.

Palestinian first-graders sit with their schoolbooks during class in the West Bank city of Ramallah February 4, 2013. Israelis and Palestinians depict each other in schoolbooks as an enemy and largely deny their adversary's history and existence, according to a U.S. government-funded study published on Monday. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman (WEST BANK - Tags: EDUCATION POLITICS) - RTR3DCHK

Textbook Study Debunks Myth of Palestinian Incitement

A major study of Israeli and Palestinian schoolbooks found that Palestinian children are not incited to hate, contrary to popular belief, reports Dalia Hatuqa.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu attends a foreign ministers meeting ahead of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit in Cairo February 4, 2013. The OIC summit will be held from February 6-7. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3DCET

Dear Minister Davutoglu, Please Don't Stir Up War

Shlomi Eldar writes a personal letter to Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, who recently wondered publicly why Assad didn’t respond to the attack on Syria attributed to Israel.

Israel's President Shimon Peres (C) shakes hands with Yair Lapid, leader of the Yesh Atid (There's a Future) party, in Jerusalem January 30, 2013, after receiving the official results of the general elections held on January 22. Peres on Wednesday began consultations with political parties over the formation of a new coalition and appears certain to pick incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to assemble it. Lapid's new centrist party stormed to second place in last week's election by winning 19 seats.

Netanyahu's Choice: Lapid or Ultra-Orthodox

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must decide to build a new coalition from either the center or the right, with political consequences for either, writes Nadav Perry.