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Israel

July 10, 2026

Tel Aviv 10:03 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

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) speaks with Defence Minister Moshe Ya'alon after an air force pilots' graduation ceremony at Hatzerim air base in southern Israel June 26, 2014. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL - Tags: MILITARY POLITICS) - RTR3VXQB

Netanyahu shows restraint in response to murders

The moderate reaction of Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, espousing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cautious move, might signal Israel’s reluctance to embark on a large-scale military operation in Gaza, following the discovery of the bodies of the three kidnapped youths.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (2nd L) attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Tel Aviv June 15, 2014. Netanyahu on Sunday blamed Palestinian militants from the Hamas Islamist group for the abduction of three Israeli teenagers in the occupied West Bank, Army Radio reported. REUTERS/Abir Sultan/Pool (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3TUX1

Netanyahu considers challenges on left and right

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might decide to advance Likud Party primaries, to assure his position when facing a possible disintegration of the coalition whose partners challenge him from left and right.

A Jewish settler herds sheep in the unauthorized outpost of Havat Gilad, south of the West Bank city of Nablus September 13, 2011. A diplomatic showdown looms at the United Nations this month when Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to seek an upgrade of the Palestinians' U.N. status. The Palestinians hope to establish a state in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank , where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to freeze Jewish settlement-building despite the Obama a

EU warnings to Israel remain unheard

Israel’s ties to the European Union still are complicated by settlement policies.

Mourners surround the bodies of Palestinian members of Hamas' armed wing during their funeral at a mosque in Gaza City June 21, 2014. Hamas' armed wing in Gaza said at least six members of its group were killed in the collapse of a tunnel the group had dug close to the border with Israel to infiltrate the Jewish state. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3UZ0H

Hamas leaders in Gaza scramble to avoid Israeli attack

Hamas leaders are reaching out to regional allies to try restrain Israel from taking military action in response to the kidnappings.

The son of Amer Abu Aysha holds his father's picture as he poses with his grandfather (C), grandmother (R) and his mother for media in their house in the West Bank city of Hebron June 27, 2014. Israel on Thursday named Abu Aysha as one of two leading suspects from a group of Hamas Islamists it suspects are behind the June 12 kidnappings of three Israeli teenagers, in the most concrete report yet of results after weeks of searches in the occupied West Bank. Israel's Shin Bet Security Agency said in a stateme

Accused kidnappers are rogue Hamas branch

The Hebron-based Qawasmeh family may not be under the direct control of Hamas, but its actions have placed Hamas in Israel's sights with regard to the kidnapping of three Israeli students.

Palestinians sit outside their house as Israeli soldiers patrol near the West Bank City of Hebron June 15, 2014. Israel said on Sunday Hamas militants had abducted three Israeli teenagers in the occupied West Bank, warning of "serious consequences" as it pressed on with a search and detained dozens of Palestinians. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST MILITARY) - RTR3TVDN

Would Israel cut a deal with Hamas for kidnapped students?

Contrary to the Gilad Shalit kidnapping, when 1,027 Palestinian prisoners were released, the right-wing community of the current kidnapped might not be ready to cut such a deal or give up land to bring the children home.

Iris and Uri Yifrah (foreground), Bat-Galim Shaer (back L), and Avi Fraenkel (back R), the respective parents of missing Israeli teens Eyal, Gil-Ad and Naftali, walk outside the Shaer family home in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Talmon June 23, 2014. Israel's army said it detained another 37 Palestinians overnight as it searched for the three missing teenagers and extended a crackdown on the Hamas Islamist group it accuses of kidnapping them. REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly (WEST BANK - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POL

Mothers of kidnapped Israelis get cold shoulder at UN

After speaking at the UN Human Rights Council, the mother of one of the kidnapped Israeli students lamented, "The world is indifferent; it does not heed our cries."

Ultra Orthodox students attend a religious studies class at Kehilot Yaacov Torah School for boys in Ramot, Jerusalem June 24, 2010. Israel's ultra-Orthodox minority has long been at odds with the Jewish state's highest judicial authority over edicts which some devout Jews say interfere with their religious lifestyle. Ultra-Orthodox Jews protested in Israel last week against a court order to desegregate a religious school and force Jewish girls of European and Middle Eastern descent to study together. REUTER

Gender segregation in Israeli schools a social 'disaster'

In an interview with Al-Monitor, former education minister, professor Amnon Rubinstein, criticizes both government and opposition for neglecting the issue of higher education accessibility as a tool to narrow social gaps.

A woman prays on one side of a partition at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City February 11, 2013. Israeli police detained 10 women at one of Judaism's most sacred sites on Monday for wearing prayer shawls, which Orthodox tradition sees as solely for men, a spokesman said.The incident at the Western Wall highlighted the divisions between the more liberal streams of Judaism and politically powerful Orthodox groups that traditionally limit the role of women in prayer. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (JERUSALEM - Tags

Ultra-Orthodox women fight for their right to higher education

The religious ruling of Rabbi Shalom Cohen against higher education for women shook the Sephardic ultra-Orthodox party Shas, at a moment when its political leaders are trying to regain traditional constituents and secular support.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas gestures as he speaks during a conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah June 19, 2014. Israeli forces traded gunfire with Palestinians on Thursday, the military said, in the fiercest street battles in the occupied West Bank since a search began for three Israeli teenagers missing for a week. Abbas roundly condemned the kidnappers on Wednesday and promised to hold to account those responsible. His words in turn were denounced by Hamas and other factions, who accused hi

Hamas gains in backlash to Abbas speech

President Mahmoud Abbas’ speech in which he emphasized security coordination with Israel has seen a fierce backlash from the Palestinian street, givng Hamas a likely poll boost.

Masked Palestinians supporting Hamas gestures "three" as a reference to Israeli teenagers who went missing during a rally in support of Palestinians in the West Bank and against an arrest campaign by Israeli troops, in the central Gaza Strip June 20, 2014. Israeli troops killed a Palestinian teenager in the occupied West Bank on Friday and arrested 25 people, pursuing a weeklong crackdown against Islamist militants and house-to-house searches for three Israeli teenagers who went missing eight days ago. REUT

Israel deputy minister: Abbas heads a terrorist government

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Deputy Minister Ofir Akunis blames Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for the unsolved abductions of the three Israeli students.

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal (R) and Mohammad Nazzal, a member of the Hamas leadership, speak to media after their meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah at the Royal Palace in Amman January 28, 2013. REUTERS/Majed Jaber (JORDAN - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3D30A

Israel blames Hamas political leaders for abductions

Israel is no longer buying the distinction between Hamas' political and military divisions.