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Israel

September 16, 2026

Tel Aviv 12:08 am

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Jewish settlement of Kedumim, in the West Bank

Analysis

Europe’s West Bank trade ban fires warning shot at Israel’s economy

Weeks before key Israeli elections, a dozen nations announced new trade restrictions targeting settlements in the West Bank, delivering a sharp rebuke to Israel's government that could presage additional international pressure.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Erik Marmor

Analysis

Once Netanyahu’s top challenger, Bennett loses ground to Eisenkot: What to know

Facing the popular Gadi Eisenkot, the Together party of former premiers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid is sinking in Israeli opinion polls.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

A photograph taken from the southern Lebanese area of Nabatieh shows smoke as it rises from the site of Israeli strikes that targeted the hilltops of the mountainous area of the strategic Ali al-Taher Ridge on Aug. 14, 2026.

Israel says it destroyed Hezbollah tunnels in Ali al-Taher ridge: What to know

The ridge has become a flashpoint in the Israel-Hezbollah conflict in Lebanon due to its extensive tunnel network Israel says is utilized by the Iran-backed group.

Chaim Goldberg / AFP via Getty Images

Netanyahu threatens to sue Haaretz for reporting UAE warned Israel of Oct. 7 attack

The Emirati president reportedly warned that a planned attack could cause bloodshed, destabilize the region and threaten the Abraham Accords.

Latest News

Analysis

Israel braces for Iran attack as Trump’s economic squeeze on Tehran intensifies

TOPSHOT - Explosions from projectile interceptions by Israel's Iron Dome missile defence system are pictured over Tel Aviv on February 28, 2026. The United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran on February 28, with Israel's public broadcaster reporting that the Iranian supreme leader had been targeted, as the Islamic republic retaliated with barrages of missiles at Gulf states and Israel. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP via Getty Images)

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

12 countries including France, UK, Canada end trade with West Bank settlements

West Bank settlements

Katz warns PA against 'Oct. 7-style' attack as West Bank violence rises

Israeli soldiers take positions during a military operation in the town of Qalqiya, in the occupied West Bank, Dec. 4, 2025.

Lebanon says at least 12 killed in Israeli strikes as tensions rise in south

An excavator digs as rescuers search for survivors amid the rubble following an overnight Israeli airstrike on the village of Kfar Roummane, southern Lebanon, Sept. 7, 2026.

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

A worker checks the valve gears in a natural gas control centre of Turkey's Petroleum and Pipeline Corporation, 35 km (22 miles) west of Ankara, February 14, 2012. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: BUSINESS ENERGY) - RTR2XU2U

In natural gas, all pipelines go through Turkey

Natural gas from Iraq is to reach Turkey in 2017, Azeri gas is to arrive in 2018 and Iran, Russia and Israel also want to sell their natural gas via Turkey.

Israeli Arab Knesset (parliament) member Hanin Zuabi arrives to the Supreme Court in Jerusalem on December 27, 2012, for a hearing regarding the Election Committee's decision to disqualify her from contending in the upcoming elections. AFP PHOTO/GALI TIBBON (Photo credit should read GALI TIBBON/AFP/Getty Images)

Arab parties push for unity ahead of Israeli elections

As the Knesset prepares to debate proposed laws that would significantly damage political activity by the Palestinian parties, Arab members weigh their options while debating ways to increase their collective power in parliament.

A Palestinian prepares to throw a tear gas canister fired by Israeli troops back to the soldiers during clashes following a gun battle where the troops shot dead two Palestinians, Marwan Kawasme and Amar Abu Aysha, in the West Bank city of Hebron September 23, 2014. Israeli troops shot dead the two Palestinians in the West Bank city of Hebron on Tuesday and the military said they were members of Hamas responsible for the killing of three Israeli youths in June, an attack that led to the Gaza war. Kawasme an

Israel, PA seek to prevent Hamas from igniting West Bank

Joint security efforts in the West Bank between the Palestinian Authority and Israel aim to prevent Hamas cells from instigating strife.

Naftali Bennett (C), smiles during a Jewish Home party meeting, at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem March 4, 2013. A surprise alliance between Israeli political stars, far-right Bennett, and centrist Yair Lapid, who reject privileges for ultra-orthodox Jews is frustrating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's efforts to form a new government. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3EKA2

Bennett a divider, not a uniter

Economy and Trade Minister Naftali Bennett’s speech at the Saban Forum indicates that in the upcoming elections, a vote for the right means perpetuating the rule of an ethnocentric camp determined to enclose Israel in a mental ghetto.

Senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh gestures as leaves his office as a former Hamas government Prime Minister, in Gaza City June 2, 2014. President Mahmoud Abbas swore in a Palestinian unity government on Monday under a reconciliation deal with Hamas Islamists that led Israel to freeze U.S.-brokered peace talks with the Western-backed leader. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3RTWM

Fatah official: Israel, Hamas in direct talks

A Fatah official has confirmed claims by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas about Israel and Hamas holding direct talks, claiming that the two sides are engaged in security cooperation.

Palestinians stand behind the bars of a symbolic cage as they take part in a rally calling on Egyptian authorities to open the Rafah border crossing, at the crossing in the southern Gaza Strip November 23, 2014. Egypt's decision to shut its border with the Gaza Strip has stranded thousands of Palestinians on the Egyptian side of the border while around a thousand people in Gaza are desperate to get out for medical treatment in Egypt, officials in Gaza say. Egypt closed Rafah, the only crossing point betwee

Trapped Palestinian students demand Gaza crossings reopen

Approximately 1,500 Palestinian students enrolled in foreign universities are stuck in Gaza, and are protesting for the reopening of the Rafah or Erez crossings.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sits before a vote to dissolve the Israeli parliament, also known as the Knesset, in Jerusalem
December 8, 2014. Israel's parliament voted on Monday to dissolve itself in preparation for an early general election on March 17, after a crisis set in motion by Netanyahu's dismissal of two ministers.
REUTERS/Baz Ratner (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR4H6JJ

Is this Netanyahu's last political fight?

The Likud election campaign will reveal a party much different than that of former elections, having turned from a liberal-right party anchored in development towns, into a hub of the settlers.

Israeli soldiers and trucks are seen from the southern Lebanese village Marwaheen, as a Hezbollah flag flutters during a protest in solidarity with Palestinian people in Gaza near the Lebanese-Israeli border July 25, 2014. The protest was organised by Hezbollah with the participation of Shi'ite and Sunni Muslim Sheikhs, against Israel's military action in Gaza and marking the annual al-Quds Day. REUTERS/Ali Hashisho (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST RELIGION MILITARY) - RTR403PX

Israel-Hezbollah deterrence game continues

The reported airstrike against a convoy on its way from Lebanon to Syria has not yet sparked a strong reaction by Hezbollah against Israel, probably because its patron Iran is still negotiating a nuclear deal.

An Israeli air force F-15 fighter jet lands at the Hatzerim air base, southern Israel March 30, 2009. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL POLITICS MILITARY) - RTXDEVC

Israeli strikes on Syria hit Iranian weapons destined for Hezbollah

Syrian military sources tell Al-Monitor that Israeli warplanes struck storage depots with Iranian weapons that were to be sent to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) and Hamas' Gaza leader Ismail Haniyeh greet members of parliament from Erdogan's ruling AK Party (AKP) during a meeting at the Turkish parliament in Ankara January 3, 2012. REUTERS/Stringer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2VUBV

Hamas in Turkey on alert after Israeli complaint

Hamas officials in Turkey are taking precautions after Israel’s complaint to NATO against Ankara for hosting the Palestinian Islamist group, fearing that Israel might resume assassinating its leaders abroad.

U.S. President Barack Obama (R) meets with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in Washington October 1, 2014. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR48IZ7

US must encourage Israeli voters to seek end to conflict

While Israeli voters prepare for elections, US President Barack Obama should not echo former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's unconditional support for Israel: He should instead show voters the price of their leaders' refusal to negotiate with the Palestinians.

Israel's dismissed Finance Minister Yair Lapid and Justice Minister Tzipi Livni talk after a vote to dissolve parliament of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem December 3, 2014. Israeli legislators agreed in a preliminary vote on Wednesday to dissolve parliament, and they set March 17 as the date for a new parliamentary election after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired two centrist cabinet members and declared an early national ballot. According to opinion polls, Netanyahu, whose current

Israel's midsized parties create unstable coalition

Ever since the late Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's decision to create the Kadima Party, Israeli politics has been suffering from an ongoing trend of big parties splitting into small and medium-sized parties, leading to dysfunctional coalitions.