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July 8, 2026

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Explainer

Lebanon's latest damage estimate outlines reconstruction challenge

More than 1 million Lebanese residents fled their homes after Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon intensified in March, when Hezbollah entered the conflict.

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)

Analysis

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

Israel fears that Washington may be shifting its strategic options toward Turkey as the two rivals push for regional hegemony.

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

ABIR SULTAN / AFP via Getty Images

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

Photos published by the Greek military showed fighter jets from both countries flying side by side over the Aegean Sea.

Latest News

Interview

Ayman Odeh says Arab parties could back Bennett or Eisenkot to block Netanyahu

Joint List Party leader Ayman Odeh attends a meeting on April 5, 2021 in Jerusalem, Israel.

Ayman Odeh

Head of the Knesset's Hadash-Ta'al faction

Analysis

As US-Iran talks falter, Israel views war outcome as 'total strategic failure’

Motorists drive past a billboard bearing a picture of Iran's slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei, ahead of his funeral in Tehran on July 3, 2026. Iranian leaders began paying their respects on July 3 before the coffin of the country's late supreme leader Ali Khamenei, killed in the US-Israeli strikes that triggered the Middle East war, as Tehran prepared for a vast funeral. Khamenei's body arrived at Tehran's Grand Mosalla on July 3 ahead of ceremonies which are expected to draw millions. (Photo by AFP via Ge

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

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

Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal waves upon arrival at Rafah crossing in the southern Gaza Strip December 7, 2012. Meshaal arrived in the Gaza Strip on Friday, ending 45 years of exile from Palestinian land with a visit that underscored the Islamist group's growing confidence following a recent conflict with Israel. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3BB5G

Hamas leaders prefer Turkish exile to Gaza hardships

Following Qatar's ousting of Hamas' political bureau from the emirate, the group is in search of a new home.

A placard with a press cartoon by cartoonist Plantu is placed amongst a frieze on the Republic statue at the Place de la Republique in Paris January 8, 2015 the day after a shooting at the Paris offices of weekly satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo. French police extended a manhunt on Thursday for two brothers suspected of killing 12 people at a satirical magazine in Paris in a presumed Islamist militant strike that national leaders and allied states described as an assault on democracy. France began a day of

Israelis wonder how Europe will change after Paris attack

Many Israelis think that the terror attack in Paris could be a watershed moment, when the Europeans have to change their human rights approach in the face of fighting radical Islamic terrorism.

Aryeh Deri (C), leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, attends an annual pilgrimage to the gravesite of Rabbi Yisrael Abuhatzeira, a Moroccan-born sage and kabbalist also known as the Baba Sali, in the southern town of Netivot January 14, 2013. Powerful political players for years, Israel's ultra-Orthodox parties must now reckon with a new force ushered in by voters bent on stripping them of perks they have relied on for decades. Picture taken January 14, 2013. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS

Sephardic party turns to Ashkenazi leaders for help

In his bitter fight with former Sephardic Shas Party head Eli Yishai, current leader Aryeh Deri doesn't shy away from asking the help of leading Ashkenazi rabbis, whose hegemony Shas rejected when founded 20 years ago.

Egyptian town welcomes ban on Jewish festival

Egyptians are pleased with a court decision to ban the festival celebrating the birth of Rabbi Abu Hasira because, they say, security for it turned their village into a "military barracks."

New High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini (C) gives a speech during a visit at the memorial site where late Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated, in November 1995, in the Israeli Mediterranean coastal city of Tel Aviv on November 7, 2014. Mogherini is on an official visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories during which she has held talks with officials from both sides. AFP PHOTO / JACK GUEZ (Photo credit shou

Why US, EU should intervene in Israeli elections

The United States and European Union should explain to Israeli voters what is at stake at the international level in the March elections.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius (R) and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speak during joint statement at the Quai d'Orsay Foreign Affairs ministry in Paris November 20, 2014. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is in Paris for talks with the French and Saudi foreign ministers as part of a last-minute push to secure a nuclear deal with Iran. Kerry will travel to Vienna later on Thursday to participate in a conference with world powers and Iran on Tehran's nuclear programme, a spokeswoman said. REUTE

What's holding up Iran nuclear deal?

The US Congress must give diplomacy a real chance and not hinder nuclear negotiations with Iran.

Former Soviet Union immigrants attend a pre-election campaign rally in the central Israeli town of Holon March 15, 2006. Israel's most influential electoral bloc is saying "Nyet" to interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert just days before his Kadima party is expected to win a general election. Picture taken March 15, 2006. To match feature ISRAEL-ELECTION-RUSSIANS REUTERS/Eliana Aponte - RTR17HTF

High cost of living hits Israeli-Russians hard

In an interview with Al-Monitor, researcher Michael Philippov says that young Israeli-Russians are often forced to emigrate due to the high cost of living.

A Palestinian protester argues with Israeli soldiers during a weekly protest against Israeli settlements in the village of Maasara, near the West Bank city of Bethlehem, January 2, 2015.
REUTERS/ Mussa Qawasma (WEST BANK - Tags: CIVIL UNREST MILITARY POLITICS) - RTR4JW3V

Why Israel's PA tax freeze will backfire

Israeli politicians cling to the assumption that punitive measures against the Palestinian Authority will create deterrence and prevent its leadership from diplomatic moves, not realizing that such an approach causes Israel strategic damage.

Israeli Arabs protest against the recent attack on a mosque in the northern Israeli town of Umm al-Fahm April 21, 2014. On April 18, the door of a mosque in the city was set on fire, and graffiti reading: "Arabs out" was sprayed outside. The protest was held against attacks on holy places of Muslims and Christians in Israel and the West Bank, calling on the Israeli police to take action. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3M488

Why Israeli Arabs aren't voting in the next elections

Residents of the Israeli Arab city Umm al-Fahm cited ongoing discrimination in employment and development resources as why they would not vote in upcoming elections.

Naftali Bennett, leader of the Bayit Yehudi party, gestures after casting his vote for the parliamentary election at a polling station in Raanana, near Tel Aviv January 22, 2013. Israelis voted on Tuesday in an election widely expected to win Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a third term in office, pushing the Jewish State further to the right, away from peace with Palestinians and towards a showdown with Iran. REUTERS/Nir Elias (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR3CS5X

Israeli left's attack on Bennett boomerangs

The recent attack by left-leaning Israeli media outlets against Naftali Bennett's military past only benefits him.

Palestinian walks past a poster depicting Ahmed Saadat, the jailed leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), during a rally marking the 46th anniversary of the movement founding in Gaza City December 7, 2013. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST ANNIVERSARY) - RTX1680T

PLO factions irked by Abbas’ unilateral decisions

Although the decision to join the International Criminal Court has been welcomed by all in the PLO, several factions are irritated that President Mahmoud Abbas was not consulting the PLO on such major decisions.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu waves after his speech during the launch of his Likud party election campaign in Tel Aviv January 5, 2015. Netanyahu was re-elected head of the right-wing Likud party last week, overcoming his first hurdle toward winning a fourth term in office in a March general election. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR4K5IS

Netanyahu's campaign focuses on IS threat

The strong suit of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is his image on security issues, which is why he has chosen to focus the Likud's election campaign on the Islamic State threat and not on the economic crisis.