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Israel

July 12, 2026

Tel Aviv 3:16 pm

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Analysis

As US-Iran fighting resumes, Israel weighs 3 options with restraint winning, for now

Despite Israel's military readiness to resume strikes on Iran, officials say looming elections make Netanyahu more likely to stay out unless Tehran forces his hand.

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

Former Israeli army chief of staff Gadi Eizenkot speaks during the launch of the Yashar party's election campaign in Hod Aharon, in central Israel, on June 30, 2026.

New Israeli election poll puts Eisenkot ahead of Netanyahu: What to know

Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party has now bypassed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud in the polls, cementing his status as Netanyahu’s main opponent.

U.S. President Donald Trump meets with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (not shown) for bilateral talks at Beştepe Presidential Compound during the NATO Summit on July 08, 2026 in Ankara, Turkey. Leaders from NATO's 32 countries, plus NATO allies like Ukraine, gathered in the Turkish capital to discuss a range of issues involving spending targets, defense industrial production, and support for Ukraine, among other topics. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Trump declares MoU with Iran 'over' as Hegseth cancels trip to Israel

Trump said diplomacy with Tehran was “a waste of time” after renewed attacks around Hormuz, as US defense chief reportedly cancels Israel visit.

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Lebanon's latest damage estimate outlines reconstruction challenge

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Analysis

Trump's F-35 push for Turkey runs into CAATSA — and Israel

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) welcomes US President Donald Trump (R) upon his arrival on Air Force One at Etimesgut Air Base near Ankara, on July 7, 2026, before attending the 36th NATO Heads of State and Government Summit. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images)

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

Israel, Greece conduct military drills ahead of NATO summit in Turkey

ABIR SULTAN / AFP via Getty Images

Samuel Wendel

Senior Market Research Analyst

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

ABIR SULTAN/AFP via Getty Images

Israel, Egypt signal closer cooperation as Sisi invites Bennett to Cairo

In a first since 2011, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett was invited by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for an official visit to Cairo.

Palestinian security forces stand on guard as a truck carrying the first arriving shipment of doses of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine for COVID-19 coronavirus disease arrives on the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom border crossing south of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Feb. 17, 2021.

Israel tags Hamas as 'real enemy' of Gazans as Qatari aid remains cut off

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett tours the border with Gaza; Israel continues to seek guarantees that Hamas will not use money Qatar has targeted for poor Gazans for military activities.

ABIR SULTAN/AFP via Getty Images

Sisi invites Israel's Bennett to visit Egypt

Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel extended the invite while visiting with Israeli officials in Jerusalem.

Israeli alternate prime minister and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid gives a news conference in the Western Moroccan city of Casablanca, on Aug. 12, 2021.

Israel's Lapid prepares for future confrontation with Netanyahu

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid is consolidating his international standing, in preparation for taking over the premiership and for future confrontation with former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

A US Chinook military helicopter flies above the US embassy in Kabul on Aug. 15, 2021.

Israel hopes Biden will take harder line on Iran after Afghan withdrawal

Israel seems determined to focus on the opportunities that could stem from the Afghan crisis, such as a wake-up call to its American allies.

Head of Israel's right-wing Yamina party Naftali Bennett (L) chats with Mansour Abbas, head of the conservative Islamic Raam party, during a special session to vote on a new government at the Knesset, Jerusalem, June 13, 2021.

Bennett launches national campaign against crime in Israeli-Arab villages

Saher Ismail, adviser of the education minister, was killed this week outside his house in the Israeli-Arab town of Rameh; he was the 74th Israeli-Arab murdered since the beginning of the year.

A firefighting plane works on extinguishing a forest fire at the Jerusalem mountains near Shoresh, on Aug. 16, 2021.

Firefighting efforts continue through night near Jerusalem

MORTEZA NIKOUBAZL/AFP via Getty Images

Israel presses case against new Iranian government

The government of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is busily conducting a public relations campaign against the cabinet of new Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.

Visitors look at the Hall of Names, a repository for the names of millions of Holocaust victims at the Yad Vashem memorial center, Jerusalem, Jan. 20, 2020.

Israel-Poland row escalates over law limiting WWII restitution

The approval by Polish President Andrzej Duda of legislation limiting the ability of Jews to recover property seized by Nazis in Poland during World War II deeply angered Jerusalem and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid.

AFP via Getty Images

Israel's coalition government holds to center

Two months in, Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid remain both partners and rivals as the new government passes a budget, grapples with COVID-19 and Iran and seeks to strengthen already warm ties with the Biden administration.

Israel's Prime Minister Naftali Bennett attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on Aug. 1, 2021.

Israel's Bennett works to boost ties with Biden administration

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett learned from the mistakes of his predecessor, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and is investing tremendous efforts into developing an intimate relationship with President Joe Biden.

An Israeli medic anministers a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against the coronavirus to a man, at a Clalit Health Services station set up inside Cinema City complex in Jerusalem, on Aug. 11, 2021.

Israel approves COVID-19 booster for ages 50+

Health care workers, prisoners and people with weak immune system are also eligible to receive a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.