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June 30, 2026

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Turkey, Azerbaijan slam Israel’s Armenian genocide recognition as Yerevan mum

Ankara accused Israel of weaponizing history as Armenia avoided public comment amid delicate regional diplomacy.

AFP via Getty Images

Traffic plummets through Strait of Hormuz after Iran, US trade fire

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz had recovered somewhat before renewed fighting between Iran and the United States saw traffic drop sharply over the weekend.

A car drives past an United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) outpost in the village of Khan Arnabah, Quneitra, southern Syria, April 29, 2026.

Syria slams Israeli 'violations' in south as ground clashes intensify: What to know

In a rare incident, the Israeli military said it fired at armed men in southern Syria, without identifying the attackers.

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Explainer

Israel's Armenian genocide recognition marks new front against Turkey

Members of the Jerusalem Armenian community hold placards as they march during commemorations for the 94th anniversary of mass killings of their kin under the Ottoman Empire, Jerusalem's Old City, April 24, 2009.

US brokers deal for limited Israeli withdrawal in south Lebanon

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (C, back) looks on as (L/R, front row) Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter, State Department Chief of Staff Daniel Holler, and Lebanese Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh sign a framework agreement at the US Department of State in Washington, DC, on June 26, 2026. Lebanon, Israel and the United States on Friday signed a trilateral framework agreement aimed at paving the way for a peace deal between the two long-time Middle East adversaries. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP

Iran vows to respond to Israeli military using neighboring airspace: What to know

Jalaa MAREY / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Vance turning us into 'punching bag': Israel fumes over alleged IRGC-CENTCOM channel in Doha

Vance

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

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 army chief Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi (front) sits before testifying at a state-appointed inquiry into the Israeli naval raid on a Gaza aid flotilla, in Jerusalem, August 11, 2010. Ashkenazi acknowledged on Wednesday that his troops were not ready for the violent resistance encountered when they boarded the Gaza-bound aid ship and ended up killing nine pro-Palestinian activists. REUTERS/Gali Tibbon/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST MILITARY) - RTR2H8JL

Leviathan gas deal may be catalyst for Israel-Turkey reset

Is the Turkish court’s decision to indict former Israeli army chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi for the Mavi Marmara flotilla raid part of the reconciliatory diplomatic ballet by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, eyeing the “Leviathan” gas field?

Kadima party leader Shaul Mofaz (C) leaves after convening a news conference in Petah Tikva, near Tel Aviv July 17, 2012. Israel's Kadima party quit Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition on Tuesday in a dispute over drafting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the military, but the government was not expected to collapse because it still had a majority in parliament. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY RELIGION) - RTR350PV

Mofaz: 'Strategic situation worse' on Iran

In an interview with Al-Monitor, former Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz argues that US over-involvement in Israeli-Palestinian talks only alienated both sides, and the only feasible solution is a two-stage agreement with the Palestinians, even while talking with Hamas.

Israel's Defence Minister Ehud Barak (L) sits across from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (R) and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni during the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem February 15, 2009. REUTERS/Emil Salman/JINI/Pool (JERUSALEM) - RTXBNIE

Tzipi Livni in Ehud Barak’s footsteps

Five years ago, Tzipi Livni criticized Ehud Barak for being part of a diplomatically stagnating right-wing government but she, too, will soon have to choose: negotiations with a Palestinian unity government, or diplomatic stagnation that will lead to a binational state.

An Egyptian soldier stands near the Egyptian national flag and the Israeli flag at the Taba crossing between Egypt and Israel, about 430 km (256 miles) northeast of Cairo, October 26, 2011. Israel and Egypt said on Monday they have struck a deal to swap 25 Egyptians in Israeli custody for a U.S.-Israeli dual national accused by Cairo of espionage, in a step seen as easing strains between the strategic neighbors. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El-Ghany (EGYPT - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS) - RTR2T7XN

Israel-Egypt anti-terrorism cooperation at zenith

Israel adapts to a new alliance structure based on common security interests, and in anticipation of a nuclear Middle East.

Winners of the 2012 Wolf Prize listen to Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin's speech during an award ceremony in the Knesset (Israeli parliament) in Jerusalem on May 13, 2012. Winners (L-R); US Paul Alivisatos in Chemistry, from University of California at Berkeley, US Charles Lieber in Chemistry from Harvard University, US Michael Aschbacher in Mathematics, from California institute of technology, US Luis Caffarelli in Mathematics, from University of Texas at Austin, Israeli Jacob D. Bekenstein in Physics, from

Netanyahu tries again to derail Rivlin presidency bid

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rushed into battle against presidential hopeful and Knesset member Reuven Rivlin, all the while offending other potential presidential hopefuls.

Visitors sit in front of paintings by Israeli artist Joseph Zaritsky in a section of a new wing of the Tel Aviv Museum November 2, 2011, during its official opening. The additional wing named after it's American donors Herta and Paul Amir was designed by Architect Preston Scott Cohen who heads the Harvard University Graduate School of Architecture. REUTERS/ Nir Elias (ISRAEL - Tags: SOCIETY) - RTR2TJ1H

The decline of humanities in Israel

The faculties of humanities in Israel have failed to adapt to the new digital era, and convince the students why humanities are still relevant in a profit-oriented society.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) listens to Defence Minister Moshe Ya'alon (2nd R) as Chief of the General Staff Lieutenant General Benny Gantz (R) sits beside them during an air force pilots' graduation ceremony at Hatzerim air base in southern Israel December 26, 2013. REUTERS/Nir Elias (ISRAEL - Tags: MILITARY POLITICS) - RTX16UH7

Israel's defense budget means costs elsewhere

Unlike late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will likely once again give in to the terrifying annual intimidation campaign of the defense establishment eager to secure its budget.

Palestinian girls walk up stairs near the Dome of the Rock (L) on a compound revered by Jews as the Temple Mount and by Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, in Jerusalem's Old City June 23, 2013. Far-right Israelis have stepped up efforts to hold Jewish prayers at the Jerusalem holy compound once dominated by Biblical temples and now home to al-Aqsa mosque, one of Islam's most revered sites. Picture taken June 23, 2013. REUTERS/Darren Whiteside (JERUSALEM - Tags: RELIGION CIVIL UNREST) - RTX10ZBH

Knesset member withdraws Temple Mount bill amid warnings

Labor Party Knesset member Hilik Bar, champion of the two-state solution, retracted his bill designed to organize prayer time slots for both Jews and Muslims on Temple Mount, after harsh reactions from both the Jordanian monarchy and the Shin Bet.

Patriarch of Lebanese Christian Maronites Bishara Boutros al-Rai (C) prays along with other clerics for peace in Syria, in Harisa, Jounieh September 7, 2013. REUTERS/Hasan Shaaban (LEBANON - Tags: RELIGION POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX13BZL

Most Palestinian Christians back Maronite patriarch's visit

Many Palestinian Christians support the visit to the Holy Land by Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rai, although the PFLP, the Boycott movement and others have criticized it

Palestinian labourers wait to cross into Israel at dawn at Hashmonaim checkpoint near the West Bank village of Nilin, west of Ramallah March 14, 2013. Israel's system of checkpoints and restrictions in the occupied West Bank inflicts long-term damage on Palestinians' ability to compete in the global market, the World Bank said on Tuesday. REUTERS/Darren Whiteside (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT) - RTR3EYTV

Israel pushes West Bank toward economic disaster

Turning the West Bank into the economic twin of the Gaza Strip will provoke new threats to Israel's security, which is why the US administration leans toward cooperating with the new Palestinian unity government.

An aerial view shows a large demonstration in Ha'medina Square calling for lower living costs and social justice in Tel Aviv September 3, 2011. Hundreds of thousands marched on Saturday for lower living costs in the largest such rally in Israel's history, bolstering a social change movement and mounting pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take on economic reform. REUTERS/Stringer

(ISRAEL - Tags: CIVIL UNREST BUSINESS POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) ISRAEL OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES

Is Israel's 'startup nation' a mirage?

In an interview with Al-Monitor, economist Dan Ben-David warns that despite Israel's world-leading high-tech, its productivity remains among the lowest in the developed world, threatening rate of growth and quality of life.

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man studies at a Yeshiva, or Jewish seminary, in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighbourhood May 24, 2012. The ultra-Orthodox Jews have gone from being a tiny minority in Israel's mostly secular society to its fastest-growing sector, now about 10 percent of the 7.8 million population. They are exempt from military duty in Israel but draft deferments and state subsidies for the ultra-Orthodox have become a divisive political issue in Israel, where the government must decide a new law by Au

Turning to Talmud, young Israelis find a 'Game of Thrones'

The secular yeshiva offers young Israelis the opportunity to search and interpret Judaism and tradition, while defining a Jewish secular identity.