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Israel

August 29, 2026

Tel Aviv 9:51 pm

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Analysis

Israel’s Lebanon dilemma: Confront Hezbollah without angering Trump, triggering Iran

Israeli sources point out that the pilot project for Israel's withdrawal and the Lebanese military taking control over the area is not working because of the government's reluctance to search for Hezbollah's weapons in private homes.

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

A boy walks carrying a table on his back past salvage workers scrapping the rubble of a building that was destroyed during Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza City on Aug. 16, 2026. — Photo by Omar Al-Qattaa / AFP via Getty Images

Israel, Hamas bide their time as Gaza peace plan stalls

As the Israel-Hamas ceasefire approaches the one-year mark in October, the Board of Peace is under pressure to deliver results in the Gaza Strip.

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.

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Israel recalibrates Syria policy, explores path to security deal

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)

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

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

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.

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.

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

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, lights a Hanukkah candle at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray in Jerusalem's old city, December 22, 2019. Sebastian Scheiner/Pool via REUTERS - RC2I0E9514H5

Netanyahu panics, slams ICC prosecutor

Faced with the International Criminal Court's decision to investigate Israel’s behavior in Palestinian territories, Israel has few tools other than hollow and abusive comments about the prosecutor.

A Palestinian woman sits in a motorised vehicle loaded with aid, outside a distribution center run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa - RC1A87FA4580

Congress forces Trump to restore Palestinian aid

Congress has a plan to restore some of the Palestinian aid that President Donald Trump eliminated.

(L to R) Ofer Cassif, Jewish member and candidate for the Hadash (Democratic Front for Peace and Equality) party that is part of the Joint List alliance, applauds with Heba Yazbak, member and candidate for the Balad (National Democratic Alliance) party as Osama Saadi, member and candidate for the Arab Movement for Change (Taal) party raises his hands together with Balad party member and candidate Mtanes Shehadeh, Hadash's chairman and candidate Ayman Odeh, Taal's leader and candidate Ahmad Tibi, Hadash's me

Arab parties stand to gain from political chaos in Israel

The Arab Joint List seeks to boost its number of seats in the Israeli Knesset in the March election by increasing turnout in the Arab community, with the ultimate goal of dealing a fatal blow to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, preventing him from forming a government.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Interior Minister Aryeh Deri are seen at the end of a news conference at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem April 2, 2018. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RC163EB70890

Will Supreme Court force Netanyahu to 'go do other things'?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claims that the criminal indictments against him shouldn't disqualify him from being eligible to form a government, but he was singing a different tune when Prime Minister Ehud Olmert merely faced the prospect of indictment.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs the weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem November 3, 2019. Oded Balilty/Pool via REUTERS - RC1FB1320DD0

Is Netanyahu planning a preemptive attack against Hezbollah?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering a preemptive attack against Iranian proxy Hezbollah, perhaps before the March elections.

Israeli Education minister Naftali Bennett attends the weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem September 12, 2018. Thomas Coex/Pool via Reuters - RC144DDC2920

Israel's defense minister tries blocking arrangement with Hamas

Defense Minister Naftali Bennett has taken a series of decisions that are meant not only to please his right-wing camp but also to block arrangement talks with Hamas.

A general view of Jerusalem's old city shows the Dome of the Rock in the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount, October 25, 2015. Palestinian officials reacted warily on Sunday to what U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry hailed as Jordan's "excellent suggestion" to calm Israeli-Palestinian violence by putting a sensitive Jerusalem holy site under constant video monitoring. REUTERS/Amir Cohen - GF20000032167

Is Jerusalem a real obstacle or a convenient excuse?

The Palestinian elections expected sometime in 2020 are still in doubt because of lack of clarity about the participation of Jerusalemites, but is this a real reason or an excuse?

Israeli-PA coordinated arrest campaign against Hamas in West Bank

The arrest campaign targeting Hamas leaders and members in the West Bank has intensified in recent weeks, suggesting an attempt by the PA to intimidate the movement from participating in the upcoming elections.

Israel justice minister, Amir Ohana attends a special cabinet meeting in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights June 16, 2019. REUTERS/Ammar Awad - RC136839B6F0

Israel's justice minister, the darling of Likud members

The more he stirs controversy, the more Likud members hail Justice Minister Amir Ohana.

RAMALLAH, WEST BANK - OCTOBER 31: (----EDITORIAL USE ONLY MANDATORY CREDIT - "PALESTINIAN PRESIDENCY / HANDOUT" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS----) Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (L) meets Omani Minister for Foreign Affairs, Yusuf bin Alawi (R) in Ramallah, West Bank on October 31, 2018. (Photo by PALESTINIAN PRESIDENCY / HANDOUT/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Palestine seeks economic relations with Oman

A Palestinian ministerial delegation is preparing to visit Oman early next year as part of efforts to sever economic ties with Israel, but some analysts wonder what benefits are to be gained by either party.

An Israeli soldier looks through the scope of his rifle during clashes with Palestinian demonstrators following a weekly protest against the expropriation of Palestinian land by Israel, in the village of Kfar Qaddum, in the occupied West Bank on December 6, 2019. (Photo by JAAFAR ASHTIYEH / AFP) (Photo by JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP via Getty Images)

IDF stands ground against reducing world's longest military service

Legislation passed in 2015 reduced Israel's military service to two and a half years for men, but like several previous efforts, the military is trying to block it.

Blue and White's nightmare scenario: Saar defeating Netanyahu

The Blue and White party needs Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a rival, or else it would loose its energy.