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Israel

July 17, 2026

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Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a session of the Israeli Parliament in Jerusalem on July 16, 2026, before the start of the election recess ahead of the Oct. 27 general election.

Analysis

Trump's ‘180-degree reversal’ on Lebanon, Syria leaves Netanyahu with few options before elections

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hopes an Israeli withdrawal from two pilot zones in southern Lebanon will help ease tensions with President Donald Trump.

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

US Vice President JD Vance speaks at the Wisconsin Air National Guard facility at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport on July 8, 2026, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Vance says Israeli intelligence had ties to Epstein: What to know

Vice President JD Vance has grown more critical of Israel, possibly in an effort to capitalize on changing views among voters with an eye on the 2028 presidential election.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a cornerstone laying ceremony for the Atarot Heritage Center at an abandon airport in East Jerusalem near the separation wall with the Israeli occupied West Bank city of Ramallah on July 5, 2026.

Israeli PM Netanyahu 'will not travel' to US next week, his office says

On Wednesday, an Israeli official had told Al-Monitor that Netanyahu was planning to travel on Saturday and meet with President Donald Trump next week and attend the memorial service for Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).

Latest News

Ahmadinejad denies alleged Mossad plot to install him as Iran leader: What to know

BEIRUT, LEBANON - OCTOBER 13: Lebanese people wave flags and hold portraits of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (not pictured) as he arrives in southern suberb of Beirut on October 13, 2010 in Lebanon. The controversial visit is seen as a boost for key ally Hezbollah. According to reports Mr Ahmadinejad may visit the border with Israel - the site of recent deadly clashes between Israeli and Lebanese forces. (Photo by Salah Malkawi/Getty Images)

Analysis

As Trump prioritizes Hormuz, Israel fears Iran rebuilding nuclear program while preserving ballistic missile threat

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

Explainer

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

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

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 Officials Consider 'Point of No Return' With Iran

Nadav Eyal looks at the decisions facing both the United States and Israel should the forthcoming round of nuclear negotiations with Iran fail.

John Kerry, the new U.S. Secretary of State, holds the diplomatic passport he was issued at eleven years old, while greeting employees of the State Department in Washington February 4, 2013. Kerry's father, Richard, was a U.S. Foreign Service officer in Berlin after World War II. REUTERS/Gary Cameron (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR3DCG4

Kerry Puts Middle East First

Geoffrey Aronson writes that, in the absence of a strategy for dealing with the Middle East, seeking advice from leaders in the region can be compared to listening to the inmates in an insane asylum, where useful advice is in short supply.

Palestinians hold placards depicting prisoner Samer al-Issawi, who has been on hunger strike for 209 days, during a protest in the West Bank city of Ramallah, calling for the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, February 17, 2013. The European Union on Saturday called on Israel to improve conditions for Palestinians in its jails, and a Palestinian minister said there would be rallies this week to support hunger striking prisoners. Nearly 5,000 Palestinians are held in Israeli jails, many cha

Hunger Striker Samer Issawi Invisible to Israeli Society

Shlomi Eldar wonders about the political impact of Palestinian prisoner Samer Issawi's hunger strike, going on for more than 200 days.

Debris from a bus that was damaged in a bomb blast on Wednesday is seen outside Burgas Airport, about 400km (248miles) east of Sofia July 19, 2012. A suicide bomber carried out an attack that killed seven people in a bus transporting Israeli tourists in Bulgaria, the country's interior minister said on Thursday, and Israel said Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants were to blame. Video surveillance footage showed the bomber was similar in appearance to tourists arriving at the airport, Interior Minister Tsveta

Burgas Is the Latest Chapter In US-Hezbollah 'Spy Wars'

Hezbollah has recently been implicated in last summer’s Burgas bombing, a step that Jean Aziz describes as another installment in the "spy wars" between the Lebanese Shiite group and Washington.

The Jewish settlement of Halamish is seen in the background as a stone-throwing Palestinian protester stands on a garbage bin during clashes with Israeli security officers at a weekly protest against the settlements, in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, near Ramallah February 1, 2013. U.N. human rights investigators called on Israel on Thursday to halt settlement expansion and withdraw all half a million Jewish settlers from the occupied West Bank, saying that its practices could be subject to prosecutio

Palestinian Attacks on Settlers Signal a Shift in Tactics

Attacks by Palestinians against Israeli settlers have increased in recent years, requiring a shift in Israeli strategies to protect settlers in the West Bank, reports Adnan Abu Amer.

Tel Aviv Calling, Mr. Obama

US President Barack Obama should skip the dismal visits to tombs and monuments in Jerusalem in his forthcoming visit to Israel and drop by Tel Aviv instead, writes Ben Caspit.

U.S. President Barack Obama delivers remarks on the economy after touring Linamar Corporation that manufactures parts for the truck industry in Arden, North Carolina, February 13, 2013. Obama visited the facility on Wednesday to promote economic policies outlined in his State of the Union speech. REUTERS/Jason Reed (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS TRANSPORT BUSINESS) - RTR3DQPD

Palestinians Not Optimistic About Obama Visit

As US President Barack Obama prepares to meet Israeli and Palestinian leaders in their respective capitals, Palestinians do not expect any progress on the peace process, reports Hazem Balousha.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Jordan's King Abdullah II and Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak (L-R) listen to U.S. President Barack Obama make a statement on Middle East peace in the East Room of the White House in Washington September 1, 2010. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2HTFY

'Jordanian Option' Not an Option, Says Shimon Shamir

Shimon Shamir, former Israeli ambassador to Jordan, tells Akiva Eldar why raising the possibility of Jordan annexing the West Bank is a slap in the face to Amman and runs counter to Israel's interests.

U.S. President Barack Obama (R) speaks to Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor at a plenary session during the Nuclear Security Summit at the Convention and Exhibition Center (COEX) in Seoul March 27, 2012. The man at centre at an unidentified member of the U.S. delegation. REUTERS/Larry Downing (SOUTH KOREA - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR2ZXN6

Dan Meridor: Struggle With Iran Will 'Shape the Middle East'

Departing Likud Minister Dan Meridor tells Mazal Mualem about the squandered diplomatic opportunities with the Palestinians, and how the struggle with Iran will shape the Middle East.

Palestinians, together with Israeli and foreign activists, stand near newly-erected tents in an area known as E1, near Jerusalem January 12, 2013. Palestinians from villages in the occupied West Bank near Jerusalem pitched tents on Friday on the land Israel has earmarked for a new urban settlement, looking to preserve the area for an independent Palestinian state. REUTER/Baz Ratner (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST BUSINESS CONSTRUCTION) - RTR3CD0D

Israeli Military Cracks Down On Palestinian Tent Villages

Palestinian activists continue to set up tent villages to protest Israel's land grab, and are often met with force by the Israeli army, Linah Alsaafin reports.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (R) and chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat (C) speak with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Amman November 6, 2012. REUTERS/Majed Jaber (JORDAN - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3A22U

Erekat: No Settlement Freeze Means No Negotiations

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat explains that a freeze on Israeli settlement activity is a condition for resuming negotiations with Israel in an interview with Shlomi Eldar.

A Palestinian protester throws a stone towards Israeli security forces during clashes at a protest in solidarity with prisoners on hunger strike, outside Ofer prison near the West Bank city of Ramallah October 22, 2012. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR39FGM

'Prisoner X' Draws Attention To Palestinians in Israeli Jails

The case of Israel’s Prisoner X is drawing attention to other cases of Palestinians in Israeli jails, Daoud Kuttab writes.