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Israel

July 14, 2026

Tel Aviv 9:25 am

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Israelis turn out to cast their ballots on election day for the 20th Knesset on March 17, 2015 in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Explainer

Israel's next election: Who's leading in polls and what's at stake?

After months of negotiations and speculations, the coalition announced that general elections will take place on Oct. 27.

Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images

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.

Latest News

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

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)

Explainer

Lebanon's latest damage estimate outlines reconstruction challenge

Froun

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

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

Israeli soldiers ride aboard a naval vessel in the Mediterranean Sea May 31, 2010. Israeli marines stormed a Turkish aid ship bound for Gaza on Monday and 10 pro-Palestinian activists were killed, triggering a diplomatic crisis and plans for an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council. REUTERS/Uriel Sinai/Pool (POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR2ELNX

Turkey-Israel ties may be linked to gas pipeline

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is inching toward normalization of Turkey-Israel relations.

A member of the security forces stands guard near a national flag outside a police academy, where the trial of ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi and members of the Muslim Brotherhood is due to take place, on the outskirts of Cairo, January 28, 2014. Mursi went on trial at a Cairo police academy on Tuesday on charges in connection with a mass jail break during the 2011 uprising, state television reported. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS CRIME LAW CIVIL UNREST) - RTX17Y5A

US Working Group gives wrong advice on Egypt

A distinguished group of US experts on Egypt offers the wrong advice on Egypt.

Israeli police scuffle with a Jewish settler as they remove him from a roof on which he barricaded himself in the illegal outpost of Migron, near the West Bank city of Ramallah, after eviction orders were handed to the residents September 2, 2012. Jewish settler families were removed from the unauthorised outpost in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, police said, after they fulfilled an Israeli supreme court order to vacate their homes. REUTERS/Nir Elias (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR37ECE

Does Netanyahu have plan for settler withdrawal?

The settler movement is anxious about the possibility of the Israeli government making a deal that would force them to leave.

Isaac Herzog (R), the newly elected head of Israel's left-of-centre Labour Party, speaks during a news conference after his meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah December 1, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX15ZO7

Herzog: opposition not yet seeking alternative government

Opposition leader Isaac Herzog has no intention of joining the coalition or forming an alternative government, reminding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that peace supporters “have a majority in this Knesset for an agreement with the Palestinians.”

BAGHDAD, IRAQ - APRIL 17: Iraqi Jew Yusef Salman, 79, stands in front of the synagogue in the tiny remaining Baghdad Jewish community on Passover April 17, 2003 in Baghdad, Iraq. Salman's brothers left Iraq in 1948 and he has not seen them since. He has no remaining family in Iraq. The community members are not formally celebrating the holiday this year due to a lack of electricity, food and other problems associated with the war. The family has lived their entire life in Baghdad while the Jewish community

Who will compensate Jewish refugees from Arab lands?

Despite a willingness by US envoy Martin Indyk to consider compensation for Jewish refugees as part of an Israeli-Palestinian agreement, no Arab country or the United States has the financial means to make it happen.

HEBRON, WEST BANK, PALESTINIAN TERRITORY, SEPTEMBER 23: Israeli soldiers on patrol on September 23, 2013 in the West Bank city of Hebron. Unknown gunmen shot and killed an Israeli soldier in the city of Al-Khalil (Hebron) in the occupied West Bank on Sunday and troops are searching for the shooter, the military said. (Photo by Mamoun Wazwaz/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Shin Bet report: terror increase originating from West Bank

The 2013 Shin Bet report indicates a rise in terror activities originating in the West Bank, attributed partly to the resignation of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and the weakening of Fatah security mechanisms.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (R) shakes hands with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin after delivering joint statements in the West Bank town of Bethlehem June 26, 2012. REUTERS/Darren Whiteside (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3461J

Russia considers role in peace talks, Gaza energy

The Kremlin prefers a multilateral, not bilateral, approach to the peace process, while Gazprom considers opportunities in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli soldiers ride an army jeep during a patrol along Israel's border with Lebanon near the northern village of Avivim July 3, 2013. Israel is bolstering its forces on the once-quiet frontier with Syria where it believes Lebanese Hezbollah militants are preparing for the day when they could fight Israel. Picture taken July 3, 2013. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (ISRAEL - Tags: MILITARY POLITICS) - RTX11IMI

Al-Qaeda now frontline threat to Israel

With gains in Syria, Lebanon and Egypt, al-Qaeda and its affiliates threaten Israel more than ever.

People visit the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City, where the Dome of the Rock (L) and Al-Aqsa mosque (not seen) stand May 18, 2012. The grand mosques in Mecca and Medina, the two holiest in Islam, draw millions of pilgrims annually. Al-Aqsa, the last of the three sacred sites the Prophet Mohammad urged Muslims to visit, sees only a few thousand foreign worshippers a year. Picture taken May 18, 2012. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITIC

Muslim pilgrims visit Jerusalem

French Imam Hassan Chalghoumi, undeterred by extreme voices, launches Muslim pilgrim voyages to Israel.

An Ultra-Orthodox Jewish man begs for change as he sits on a sidewalk in Jerusalem March 26, 2006. A growing number of Israelis live beneath the poverty line, many of them ultra-Orthodox Jews, immigrants and elderly. Poverty is a prominent issue in Israel's campaign for a March 28 parliamentary election. Picture taken march 26, 2006. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RTR17NNS

Israel faces crisis of growing poverty

Israel's new national committee on poverty has been asked to propose a comprehensive solution to the alarming increase in Israeli families living below the poverty line, most of them working poor.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L) walks with U.S. Special Envoy for Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations Martin Indyk after returning from a day trip to Jordan and Saudi Arabia at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv January 5, 2014. REUTERS/Brendan Smialowski/Pool (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX173CK

Kerry may address Israeli public on peace deal

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman agree on most points of US Secretary of State John Kerry's ''terms of reference'' document.

Police officers display seized firearms and ammunition for the media after a smuggling bust in Kaohsiung September 26, 2009. A haul of 181 guns and 22,685 rounds of ammunition were displayed for the media on Saturday as six suspects were arrested in what may be the largest arms smuggling bust ever in Taiwan, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said. CIB officials said the seized weapons are standard models manufactured in Italy, Germany, Israel and the U.S. Picture taken September 26, 2009. REUTERS/St

Crime, arms possession increase in Israeli Arab society

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Knesset member Issawi Frej deplores the increase of weapons within Israeli Arab society and criticizes Israeli policy for not dealing with the phenomenon.