Israeli elections

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

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

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.

By Ben Caspit

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

A view of Beita town with smoke from the teargas cannister fired by Israeli soldiers during an intervention in the clashes between Palestinians and Israeli settlers who stormed the top of Mount Al-Arma in Beita town, south of Nablus on Friday, May 03, 2024. The tensions have been rising in the areas of West Bank between the Palestinians and Israelis since October 07, and often the Israeli police intervene by firing teargas, and sending armed forces to disperse the Palestinians gathered to confront the Israe

Quick Take

US slams Israel's 5,300 new settlement units, Biden 'likely' to meet Netanyahu

President Joe Biden is reportedly likely to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when the latter travels to Washington late July to address Congress.

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Regional View

What Israel's Supreme Court ruling to draft ultra-Orthodox means for Netanyahu

Israeli police disperse Ultra-Orthodox Jews blocking a highway during a protest against possible changes regarding the laws on the military draft from which the Ultra-Orthodox community has traditionally been exempt, in the central Israeli city of Bnei Brak, on June 20, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas militant group. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Netanyahu on collision course with Israeli military over next steps in Gaza

SOUTHERN ISRAEL, ISRAEL - JUNE 17: An Israeli tank moves along the border with the Gaza Strip as seen from a position on the Israeli side of the border on June 17, 2024 in Southern Israel, Israel. Israeli Army have agreed to a daily tactical pause in South Gaza to allow the passage of Humanitarian aid across the border. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)

By Ben Caspit

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

Regional View

Israel’s Netanyahu dissolves war cabinet as Rafah fighting subsides

BASHAR TALEB/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

As Hamas, Netanyahu 'accept' US plan, Sinwar 'riding high,' far from surrender

Cars drive past a billboard bearing an inscription in Hebrew which reads 'think well of who benefits from our division - unity now', with a portrait of the head of the political wing of the Palestinian Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip Yahya Sinwar, in Tel Aviv on April 26, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Palestinian territory. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

By Ben Caspit

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

Analysis

Why Gantz's possible exit from Israeli government is not end for Netanyahu

Amir Levy/Getty Images

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

TOPSHOT - US President Joe Biden shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as they meet on the sidelines of the 78th United Nations General Assembly in New York City on September 20, 2023. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Netanyahu in bind: Save his far-right coalition or save Israel from isolation

In an attempt to persuade them not to oppose the hostage deal now on the table, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is telling the extremist ministers in his cabinet not to take Biden’s plan at face value.

By Ben Caspit

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

GIL COHEN-MAGEN/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Will Israel's far right topple government over Biden's Gaza proposal?

Far-right Israeli ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir said they will not stay in a government that would accept a deal in which Hamas is not crushed.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a ceremony marking Holocaust Remembrance Day for the six million Jews killed during World War II, at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem on May 5, 2024. (Photo by Menahem Kahana / AFP) (Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

With popularity on rise, can Israel's Netanyahu ditch Gantz, wait for Trump?

Netanyahu no longer needs the opposition's Benny Gantz to stay in the war cabinet, but a ruling on ultra-Orthodox military service could spell danger even as he hopes for a Trump victory in November.

By Ben Caspit

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

ICJ

Analysis

Israel unlikely to heed ICJ on Rafah halt, prepares for diplomatic fallout

Israel is unlikely to withdraw its forces from Rafah despite concerns within the political and military establishment over the country's growing international isolation.

By Ben Caspit

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

Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant speaks to reporters ahead of the weekly cabinet meeting, Jerusalem, September 10, 2023.

Analysis

Can Israel’s Gallant torpedo Netanyahu as Gaza 'day after' gap widens?

The Israeli prime minister believes the Biden administration is coordinating an axis in his war cabinet to influence planning on postwar Gaza.

By Ben Caspit

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

Smoke rises over Gaza as an Israeli tank takes position along the border with the Gaza Strip, southern Israel, May 13, 2024.

Analysis

Netanyahu buys time in Rafah, balances Israel's far right and Biden's 'red lines'

As the Israeli military steps up its eastern Rafah operation, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will soon have to decide whether to cross the American red line: a full-scale invasion of the Gazan city.

By Ben Caspit

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

AFP via Getty Images

Regional View

Israel ramps up attacks on northern Gaza as 60,000 flee Rafah

As the Israeli military expanded its operation in Rafah, the government faced strident criticism over its failures on and since Oct. 7 at Memorial Day observances around the country.

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 9: U.S. President Joe Biden points to WNBA Champion Las Vegas Aces players and other invited guests as he walks towards Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on May 9, 2024 in Washington, DC, for a short trip to Andrews Air Force Base, Md. Biden is traveling to San Francisco, California for campaign fundraisers. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Analysis

As Netanyahu fans flames, will Biden lose Israeli center over arms cut?

Israeli leaders, including from the political center, were surprised and disappointed by President Joe Biden's threat to withhold the delivery of offensive arms to Israel in the event of a large-scale Rafah operation.

By Ben Caspit

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

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a traditional government group photo shoot at the president's house, Jerusalem, December 29, 2022.

Analysis

The 'eternal survivor': Netanyahu’s rising poll numbers in Israel explained

Almost seven months after Hamas' attack, electoral support for the Israeli prime minister is slowly building against all odds.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

Israeli police cordon off the site of a car accident, where Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was lightly hurt after his car was involved in an accident, in Ramla south of Tel Aviv, on April 26, 2024.

Quick Take

Israel’s Ben-Gvir injured in car accident near suspected attack scene

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was hospitalized after the car he was sitting in was involved in an accident.

US President Joe Biden.

Analysis

As Biden-Netanyahu rift grows, so does pressure to condition aid to Israel

The growing rift between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Joe Biden, and rising discontent at the White House with the situation in Gaza, could lead the US president to respond more forcefully.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

An Israeli soldier checks a mobile atop a tank in a army camp near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip on April 8, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the militant group Hamas. (Photo by Menahem Kahana / AFP) (Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

What Netanyahu's abrupt Gaza withdrawal means for Israel, Rafah op

While negotiations continue for a hostage release and cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is busy currying favor with his far-right ministers, promising them a military operation in Rafah.

By Ben Caspit

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