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Israel

August 28, 2026

Tel Aviv 3:08 pm

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a press conference with US President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club on Dec. 29, 2025, in Palm Beach, Florida. — Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Netanyahu trails Eisenkot in new poll as Israel's right-wing bloc weakens

Israelis prefer former defense minister over the current prime minister to lead country, while the religious-nationalist People of Israel party is projected to win six Knesset seats.

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)

Exclusive

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.

Latest News

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

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.

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

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

Militants blow up Israel-Egypt gas pipeline

The Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack against a pipeline in North Sinai that carries gas from Israel to Egypt.

A man holds prayer beads while casting his ballot as Israelis began voting in a parliamentary election, at a polling station in the Bedouin city of Rahat in Israel's southern Negev Desert April 9, 2019. REUTERS/Amir Cohen - RC1EA7EA6CE0

Intel: Voter data leak threatens to draw Netanyahu into new investigation

Israel’s Privacy Protection Authority announced the launch of an investigation into a massive data leak by a website for a mobile phone app used by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party.

U.S. President Donald Trump makes remarks during the White House Business Session with the nation's governors in the State Dining Room of the White House, Washington, DC, U.S., February 10, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Theiler - RC2TXE9F4HJ0

Trump budget holds Palestinian aid hostage to progress on peace plan

The Donald Trump administration is doubling down on its bid to cut Palestinian aid by tying it to congressional funding for the president’s Middle East peace plan.

Israel’s president warns: Security decisions are politically motivated

The latest decisions made by Defense Minister Naftali Bennett against Palestinian trade have not been meant to stop rocket fire from the Gaza Strip or calm the situation in the West Bank, but to impress his voters.

Members of the Israeli Ethiopian community pray during a ceremony marking the Ethiopian Jewish holiday of Sigd in Jerusalem November 27, 2019. REUTERS/Corinna Kern - RC2OJD9JTTLI

Why not all Israelis are happy over Ethiopian immigrants

The reason that Netanyahu’s government authorized the immigration to Israel of 400 Ethiopians might have been political, but there are no guarantees it will encourage Israeli Ethiopians to vote for the Likud in the March elections.

Members of the media work as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu walks after holding a weekly cabinet meeting in the Jordan Valley, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank September 15, 2019. REUTERS/Amir Cohen - RC1DC97D0610

Will settlers' anger push Netanyahu into Blue and White's arms?

Yamina and settlers leaders are demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unilaterally annex West Bank territory despite the objection of the White House, but their campaign runs the risk of backfiring politically.

A poster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is seen on the main road to the airport in Damascus, Syria April 14, 2018. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki - RC138B3674B0

Intel: What's behind Russian Defense Ministry anger at Israeli strikes in Syria?

The Russian Defense Ministry slammed Israel on Feb. 7 for what the ministry considered a provocation in the skies over Syria.

Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem January 27, 2019. Abir Sultan/Pool via REUTERS - RC15620896E0

Now Israel's defense minister, Bennett tones down Gaza rhetoric

Defense Minister Naftali Bennett has made many belligerent statements over the years about stronger military action in Gaza, but as defense minister he seems to have adopted a policy of restraint.

Leader of Israeli Blue and White party Benny Gantz speaks at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) conference in Tel Aviv, Israel January 29, 2020. REUTERS/Corinna Kern - RC2UPE9HAC8E

Will Gantz defend the rule of law against the Israeli right?

Blue and White leader Benny Gantz may be forced to choose between defending democracy and rule of law in Israel and improving his chances of forming a right-wing government after the March 2 elections.

Gaza-Israel feud escalates, but cautiously

Palestinians in Gaza have been trying to sleep through the roar of Israeli jets and bombs, as Israeli settlers wake up to the explosions of grenades in a pseudo-war that might change the rules of engagement.

What's in store for Palestinian-Jordanian ties as US rolls out peace plan?

While Jordan and Palestine are supporting each other in their rejection of US President Donald Trump’s peace plan, it remains to be seen what the future holds if Washington ups the pressure on Amman.

Palestinian demonstrators burn a representation of an Israeli flag during a protest against the U.S. President Donald Trump's Middle East peace plan, in the southern Gaza Strip January 31, 2020. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa - RC2ZQE9RWL7X

Is West Bank, Gaza unrest a prelude of things to come?

Attacks on Israeli security forces in the West Bank and Jerusalem after the release of President Donald Trump's peace plan have led security officials to view a recent escalation on the Gaza border in a new light.