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Israel

June 29, 2025

Tel Aviv 1:00 pm

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President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan received Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Turkish House.

Analysis

With Iran in decline, can Israel and Turkey align on Syria deconfliction?

Much has yet to be resolved in the deconfliction talks between Turkey and Israel over Syria, but analysts and former officials say Ankara holds more cards, especially amid US President Donald Trump’s push to engage with Syria’s new leadership.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Comeback kid: Will Netanyahu ride Iran war boost to new elections?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is well positioned to leverage the military operation against Iran and its US support to win back many Israeli voters.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

Former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin arrives to attend a church service for former French President Jacques Chirac at the Saint-Sulpice church in Paris on September 30, 2019. - Former French President Jacques Chirac died on September 26, 2019 at the age of 86.

Interview

Former French PM says Trump has ‘immense opportunity’ in Mideast

Dominique de Villepin, who recently announced a new political party, says in an exclusive written interview with Al-Monitor that France has a vital role to play in promoting regional cooperation.

Dominique de Villepin

Dominique de Villepin

Former French prime minister

Latest News

Analysis

How Trump’s call to end Netanyahu’s trial is linked to broader Gaza deal

US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, DC, Feb. 4, 2025.

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

At least 4 Palestinians killed in West Bank as Israeli settler violence rises: What to know

Palestinian Fawzya Ishreiteh clears burnt belongings in the living and kitchen area of her family house after a reported attack overnight by Israelis from a nearby settlement, in Susya south of Hebron city in the occupied West Bank on June 25, 2025. Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, and violence there has soared since the start of the Gaza war in 2023. The West Bank is home to about three million Palestinians, but also some 500,000 Israelis living in settlements that are illegal under internatio

US envoy in Saudi Arabia to coordinate Syria support amid Abraham Accords push

A billboard by the Coalition for Regional Security, with the Hebrew slogan which reads "A time for war, a time for settlement; now is the time for the 'Abrahamic Covenant,'" is displayed in Tel Aviv on June 26, 2025.

Pope Leo decries 'special interests' and MidEast wars, calls Gaza 'inhumane'

Pope Leo XIV exchanges skullcap (zucchetto) during an audience to the participants in the Meeting of Priests promoted by the Dicastery for the Clergy at the auditorium Conciliazione in Rome on June 26, 2025. (Photo by Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP) (Photo by ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images)

Samuel Wendel

Senior Market Research Analyst

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Francesco Schiavi

In Bologna, reporting on security, defense, economy, governance

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

Rina Bassist

Associate Editor (Israel)

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) shakes hands with French President Emmanuel Macron (L) after a joint press conference in Jerusalem, Oct. 24, 2023.

Analysis

Israeli minister's support for Le Pen causing tensions in France-Israel ties

Reports that French President Emmanuel Macron confronted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about statements championing the far-right's Marine Le Pen signal the dangers of the Israeli government siding with European populists.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Khan Younis

Hamas leader Mohammed Deif targeted in Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis

It is not clear yet if Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif was injured or killed in the Israeli airstrike Saturday morning on Khan Yunis in the south of the Gaza Strip.

Israeli anti-government protesters prepare to release yellow balloons during a demonstration demanding action to release the hostages taken captive by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip in the Oct. 7 attacks, central Tel Aviv, July 6, 2024.

Analysis

Why is Israel's anti-government protest movement struggling to gain steam?

Hundreds of thousands of people come out to support the families of the hostages in their call for a deal to release them, but fewer join rallies calling for the Netanyahu government to resign over the failures of Oct. 7.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

An Israeli F-35 fighter jet sits in a hangar during the Blue Flag multinational aerial exercise at the Ovda air force base, north of the Israeli city of Eilat, Nov. 11, 2019.

Dutch court rejects NGOs' demand for further ban on F-35 exports used in Israeli jets

The case follows a February district court ruling ordering the Netherlands to withhold sending Israel F-35 components over concerns the aircraft might be used to break international humanitarian law in Gaza.

Amir Levy/Getty Images

Analysis

Israeli Oct. 7 probe of Kibbutz Be'eri shows massive operational failures

Israel is only now discovering the magnitude of the military, operational and intelligence failures that enabled the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Kibbutz Be’eri and 20 other villages and cities in the south of Israel.

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

US President Joe Biden speaks during a press conference at the close of the 75th NATO Summit at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC on July 11, 2024.

Biden touts Gaza cease-fire progress as reelection concerns mount

The president acknowledged that Israel has been “less than cooperative” during the Gaza war with its top ally the United States.

tanks

Israeli delegation back to Egypt as Sullivan warns 'miles to go' on deal

Shin Bet director Ronen Bar headed to Cairo for security talks after the Mossad chief returned from talks on a hostage-release and cease-fire in Doha.

A picture shows a view of the Israeli settler unauthorised outpost of Meitarim Farm near Hebron city in the occupied West Bank on Feb. 14, 2024.

Breaking | Last Updated: July 12, 2024, 7:41 am

Extremist West Bank settlers, outposts hit with US sanctions

The State Department imposed sanctions on Lehava, a right-wing Jewish supremacist group accused of repeated acts of violence against Palestinians.

EYAD BABA/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Egypt enraged by Netanyahu's demands as talks stall, Israel-Cairo ties tumble

The list of non-negotiable demands Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued ahead of talks for a hostage release deal are likely to not only sabotage negotiations, but also harm Israel’s relations with Egypt.

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

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 30: CIA Director William Burns and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines depart from the U.S. Capitol Building on January 30, 2024 in Washington, DC. Burns and Haines attended a briefing on Ukraine, Israel and the Middle East for the House Intelligence Committee and House Leadership. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

US officials Burns, McGurk in Cairo to close gaps in Gaza cease-fire talks

A White House spokesperson said there are differences that remain between the two sides, even after Hamas softened its demands in its latest counterproposal.

Mossad intelligence agency chief David Barnea (R) and Ronen Bar (2nd L), chief of Israel's domestic Shin Bet security agency, attend a ceremony marking Memorial Day for fallen soldiers of Israel's wars and victims of attacks at Jerusalem's Mount Herzl military cemetery on May 13, 2024. Israel marks Memorial Day to commemorate fallen soldiers and victims of attacks recorded since 1860 by the defence ministry, just before the celebrations of the 75th anniversary of its creation according to the Jewish calenda

Shin Bet chief in Egypt as Gaza fighting rages, Netanyahu adds Israeli demands

Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar traveled to Cairo to advance a deal that would see a cease-fire in Gaza and the release of the hostages held there.

Destroyed buildings are pictured in area near the border with the Gaza Strip and southern Israel on July 2, 2024 amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas.

Analysis

Lacking strategy, Israel heads for war of attrition in Gaza

A new military doctrine was supposed to keep Israeli troops out of messy urban insurgencies. But political dysfunction and disinterest in winning over local populations helped lead the IDF straight into a quagmire in Gaza, military analysts say.

Jared Szuba

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military