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August 26, 2026

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Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani (C) watches as US special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack prepares to sign an agreement in Damascus on September 16, 2025. Shaibani announced on September 16 a plan backed by Jordan and the United States to restore calm to Druze-majority Sweida province, which witnessed deadly violence in July. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP) (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images)

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Israel recalibrates Syria policy, explores path to security deal

Israel is rethinking its hard-line Syria policy and seeking to repair ties with US envoy and Donald Trump's confidant Tom Barrack amid a push for a security agreement with Damascus.

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

Palestinian militant group Hamas police officers stand guard as people attend the opening of the Fatah party's eighth general conference at Al-Azhar University in Gaza City on May 14, 2026.

Ex-defense minister: Israel in ‘worst possible’ Gaza situation as Hamas gains strength

Former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant criticized the Israeli government for allowing Hamas to retain control over half of the Gaza Strip.

A merchant ship "Jabotinsky" (former "Altalena"), chartered by Jewish military group Irgun Zvaei Leumi to carry weapons for Israeli fighters, burns near Tel Aviv beach, after being shelled by the Haganah, Israel, June 27, 1948.

Wreck of ship sunk by Israeli military in Irgun clash found after 78 years

The wreck of the Irgun underground's Altalena ship, bombed by the Israeli military in 1948 and deliberately sunk in 1949, was located off Israel's coast at a depth of 1,650 feet.

Latest News

Israel tightens election safeguards as public distrust surges: What to know

ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Why Turkey sees Israeli strikes in Syria as warning over its military role, Mecca Pact

A Turkish soldier from the 1st Border Regiment Command looks out over the border wall to Syria during alert drills at a military outpost on the Turkey/Syria border on March 2, 2017 in Kilis, Turkey.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Analysis

Turkey bets on US deconfliction as Israel widens Syria red lines

Turkey/Syria border

Ezgi Akin

Rina Bassist

By Ezgi Akin , Rina Bassist

Analysis

Israel fears Turkey’s Syria ambitions and doubts Trump will stop them

ANKARA, TURKEY - JULY 7: U.S. President Donald Trump (L)shakes hands with with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) during a formal arrival at the Bestepe Presidential Palace during the NATO summit on July 7, 2026 in Ankara, Turkey. Leaders from NATO's 32 countries, plus NATO allies like Ukraine, gathered in the Turkish capital to discuss a range of issues involving spending targets, defense industrial production, and support for Ukraine, among other topics. (Photo by Emrah Gurel - Pool/Getty Images)

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

Samuel Wendel

Senior Analyst, Middle East Business & Tech

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 bans flights amid virus surge

Israel is also experiencing violent clashes over virus restrictions as well as relative success in administering coronavirus vaccines.

Israel extradites Australian woman accused of child abuse

Australian authorities sought the extradition of former teacher Malka Leifer for several years.

David Schenker, US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, (L) meets with Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita during a meeting in Dakhla in Morocco-administered Western Sahara, on January 10, 2021. - Schenker is visiting the contested Western Sahara after Washington recognised Morocco's sovereignty there in exchange for Rabat normalising ties with Israel. Western Sahara is a disputed and divided former Spanish colony, mostly under Morocco's control, where tensions with the pro-independen

Israel’s Cabinet approves diplomatic relations with Morocco

The agreement calls for "diplomatic, peaceful and friendly relations" between the two governments.

Israel opens embassy in Abu Dhabi

Ambassador Eytan Na’eh arrived yesterday to Abu Dhabi, officially opening Israel’s first embassy to the United Arab Emirates.

Israeli security forces arrest an Ultra-Orthodox Jewish man during a protest against the enforcement of coronavirus emergency regulations, in the Ultra Orthodox jewish neighborhood of Mea Shearim, in Jerusalem, on October 5, 2020. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images)

Ultra-Orthodox riot across Israel over lockdown

Resistance to pandemic restrictions has grown violent in ultra-Orthodox towns, where a bus driver was attacked during anti-government riots.

This picture taken on February 13, 2020 shows a view of a petrol station belonging to the Israeli Paz Oil Company, which controls 30 percent of the Israeli fuel market, in the Israeli settlement of Mishor Adumim in the occupied West Bank on the outskirts of Jerusalem. - Israel on February 13 rejected as "shameful" the UN's publication of a list of 112 companies that do business in its settlements, while the Palestinians cheered its long-delayed release as a "victory for international law". The list publishe

Israel's subsea gas, oil fields heat up

International consortiums are showing increasing interest in developing Israel’s offshore oil and gas fields.

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - MARCH 20: (ISRAEL OUT) Israeli Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, center, speaks to his media advisor Assi Shariv, left, before he gives an interview to Army Radio personality Razi Barkai at the Ministry of Trade and Industry March 20, 2006 in Jerusalem. One week before Israel's March 28 general elections, Olmert's centrist Kadima party leads its nearest rivals by a nargin of about 2:1 according to opinion polls. (Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)

Israel’s defense minister wants to close Army Radio

Like other defense ministers before him, Benny Gantz wants to rid the ministry of the IDF radio station.

Israeli airstrikes hit central Syria

Iranian forces have repositioned themselves in eastern Syria due to recent suspected Israeli strikes.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and Health Minister Yuli Edelstein (C) attend a ceremony for the arrival of a plane carrying a shipment of Pfizer-BioNTech anti-coronavirus vaccine, at Ben Gurion airport near the Israeli city of Tel Aviv on January 10, 2021. - Netanyahu announced earlier this week that he had signed a deal for enough doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for all Israelis over 16 to be innoculated. Israel, with a population of nine million, has recorded over 3,600 deaths from th

Netanyahu bets everything on vaccination drive

As the March 23 elections approach, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has wagered everything on stopping the pandemic.

An Israeli health worker administers a dose of the Pfizer-BioNtech Covid-19 vaccine, at the Clalit Health Services installed at the Pais Arena Sport Hall in Jerusalem, on January 21, 2021. (Photo by Emmanuel DUNAND / AFP) (Photo by EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP via Getty Images)

Privacy concerns mar Israeli deal with Pfizer

Some Israelis are worried that the agreement with Pfizer prioritizing Israel in its vaccine distribution involves the provision of personal information to the company.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) sits next to Israeli Public security Minister Gilad Erdan during the weekly cabinet meeting at his Jerusalem's office on April 10, 2016. / AFP / POOL / GALI TIBBON (Photo credit should read GALI TIBBON/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel’s UN envoy takes second role as ambassador to US

Israel’s ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan will start serving today also as the country’s ambassador to the US.

The city hall of the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv is lit up in the colours of the US flag as a sign of solidarity and support for democratic governance, on January 7, 2021. - The storming of the US Congress left America's image as a beacon of democracy severely tarnished, with allies unable to hide their shock and authoritarian regimes gleefully exploiting the unrest. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Biden offers Israeli left chance to regain relevance

With a new and friendlier US administration, Israeli progressives have an opportunity to promote their ideals, including the two-state solution.