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June 15, 2026

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hosted by President Donald Trump at the White House, Washington, DC, July 7, 2025.

Analysis

Squeezed by Trump and Iran war, how vulnerable is Netanyahu in polls?

The Israeli prime minister faces growing problems over Oct. 7, his alliance with the ultra-Orthodox parties, and Donald Trump questioning his political future.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

Punit PARANJPE / AFP via Getty Images

US strikes on Indian-crewed tankers spark tensions with New Delhi

India summoned the US deputy chief of mission in Delhi on Friday to protest American strikes on commercial vessels off the coast of Oman.

US President Donald Trump talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Knesset, Jerusalem, Oct. 13, 2025.

Analysis

'A complete disaster': Israel scrambles for clarity as Trump touts emerging Iran deal

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu relayed Israel’s red lines to Trump, but given the current rift between the two leaders, the demands may be little more than a wish list.

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

TOPSHOT - People cross the street past a large billboard showing portraits of Iran's late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (L) and slain supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (R) in central Tehran on June 8, 2026. Iran said on June 8 that the resumption of hostilities in the Middle East war will have consequences for ongoing talks with the United States to reach peace in the region. "It is perfectly natural that the diplomatic process initiated to put an end to this imposed war would be affected,

Iran-US draft deal would release $24B in funds, ensure Lebanon ceasefire: Iranian media

The draft circulating in Iranian state media, which Trump denied on Friday, would grant Tehran sanctions relief and access to billions in frozen funds while limiting final talks to nuclear issues and excluding its missile program and proxies.

Latest News

Trump names US attorney Jay Clayton new intelligence chief: What to know

Chairman of Securities and Exchange Commission Jay Clayton speaks during a Financial Stability Oversight Council meeting October 16, 2018, at the Treasury Department in Washington, DC.

Analysis

As Trump admin drops Halkbank case, S-400 last big hurdle in US-Turkey ties

Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile launching system is displayed at the exposition field in Kubinka Patriot Park outside Moscow on Aug. 22, 2017 during the first day of the International Military-Technical Forum Army-2017.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Bessent says Iran's frozen assets will pay for Gulf damage, Hormuz tolls

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Adam Lucente

News and Business Correspondent

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Elizabeth Hagedorn

Diplomatic Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

Jared Szuba

Defense and Security Correspondent

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

Joyce Karam

Editor-in-Chief

Rosaleen Carroll

News Reporter and Supporting Editor

In Washington, DC, US, reporting on the Middle East

Paul J. Saunders

In Washington, DC, reporting on Russia in the Middle East

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks to the media at the State Department in Washington, DC, U.S., May 20, 2020. Nicholas Kamm/Pool via REUTERS - RC2FSG9O20JT

Intel: Trump administration defended Iran nuclear waivers as 'restrictions,' then ended them

The Donald Trump administration ended sanctions waivers on Iranian nuclear facilities today — a mere two months after characterizing them as “restrictions” on Iran’s nuclear program.

A view shows the Jewish settlement of Modiin Illit in the background and the Israeli barrier in the foreground in the village of Bilin, where a Friday anti-Israel weekly protest is held, as the area is seen empty of Palestinian demonstrators amid concerns of the spread of the coronavirus disease, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank March 20, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman - RC2PNF9HQOZQ

Settlers argue over Netanyahu’s annexation plan

Much to everyone’s surprise, there is growing opposition to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's annexation plan among the settlers’ leadership.

A Russian Sukhoi Su-35 fighter takes off at the Russian military base of Hmeimim, located south-east of the city of Latakia in Hmeimim, Latakia Governorate, Syria, on September 26, 2019. - With military backing from Russia, President Bashar al-Assad's forces have retaken large parts of Syria from rebels and jihadists since 2015, and now control around 60 percent of the country. Russia often refers to troops it deployed in Syria as military advisers even though its forces and warplanes are also directly invo

Intel: Russian jets intercept US Navy plane over eastern Mediterranean

Two Russian fighter aircraft intercepted a US Navy patrol plane over the eastern Mediterranean.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo holds a news conference with Italian Foreign Minister Luigi di Maio in Rome, Italy, October 2, 2019. REUTERS/Alberto Lingria - RC1FD9F23680

Intel: US, Italy to co-host virtual meeting of anti-IS coalition

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his Italian counterpart, Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, will co-host a virtual meeting for members of the US-led coalition against the Islamic State on June 4, the State Department announced today.

The Committee to Protect Journalists and other press freedom activists hold a candlelight vigil in front of the Saudi Embassy to mark the anniversary of the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul, Wednesday evening in Washington, U.S., October 2, 2019. REUTERS/Sarah Silbiger - RC1156AFC4B0

Democrats prepare legislation forcing Trump to declassify report on Khashoggi murder

Democrats are drafting new legislation that would force the Donald Trump administration to declassify a report on Khashoggi’s murder, potentially implicating the crown prince.

TOPSHOT - Relatives of farmer Hamad al-Ibrahim clean his damaged land in the eastern Syrian village of Baghouz on March 13, 2020, a year after the fall of the Islamic State's (IS) caliphate. - A year after the last black flag of the Islamic State group was lowered in the Syrian village of Baghouz, traces of the jihadist group are still all around this small and remote village near the Iraqi border, where Kurdish fighters and the US-led coalition declared the IS proto-state defeated in March 2019 after a bli

Coalition airstrike kills Islamic State leader in eastern Syria, Iraq says

Mu'taz Numan 'Abd Nayif Najm al-Jaburi was killed in a coalition-led airstrike, Iraq's intelligence services said.

U.S. Representative Michael McCaul (R-TX) arrives at Trump Tower to meet with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in New York, U.S., November 29, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Segar - RC17792FFC10

Intel: Congress advances trans-Sahara security bill as Pentagon mulls Africa troop drawdown

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week unanimously advanced long-stalled legislation to formally institutionalize a counterterrorism partnership with numerous North African and Sahel states.

SOREK, ISRAEL - May 20: Hertzel, a security guard at the IDE Technologies Sorek Project Desalination Plant, looks out over the water treatment facilities on May 20, 2015 in Sorek, Israel. The plant, commissioned in 2013, uses reverse osmosis technology to process sea water, providing 20% of Israel's domestic water consumption. Photo by Ann Hermes/The Christian Science Monitor

China loses bid to build $1.5 billion desalination plant in Israel

Under pressure from the US administration, Israel has chosen a local company over a Chinese one to construct and operate its massive new sewage water desalination plant.

What are Jordan’s options if Israel annexes West Bank?

Jordan is considering suspending parts of the 1994 peace treaty with Israel, sources told Al-Monitor, if Israel goes ahead with its plan to annex parts of the West Bank and the Jordan Valley.

US may try to raise the stakes for Russia in Syria

The politics of humanitarian corridors; Hayat Tahrir al-Sham tries a shakedown in Idlib; Ben Caspit to interview former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Al-Monitor podcast.

Two Islamic State leaders killed in joint coalition-SDF raid in Syria

The raid comes amid a string of SDF operations against suspected IS members over the past week.

Intel: Pompeo warns against Libya weapons flows in PM call

As Libya's United Nations-backed government reclaimed parts of the capital today, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed an end to the fighting with the embattled prime minister.