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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

Israel's Defence Minister and Labour party leader Ehud Barak stands with Minister for Welfare and Social Services Isaac Herzog (R) during a visit to party headquarters in Tel Aviv February 10, 2009. Israelis voted on Tuesday in a tight election race, with right-wing opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu bidding to oust the centrist party of Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. REUTERS/Gil Cohen Magen (ISRAEL) - RTXBGFP

PA Collapse Will Be 'Catastrophe,' Says Knesset Labor Leader

“If the Palestinian Authority collapses, we will all regret it,” says Knesset Member Isaac Herzog, the Labor Party’s number two, in an interview with Mazal Mualem.

Members of the 19th Knesset, the new Israeli parliament, stand as President Shimon Peres arrives to their swearing-in ceremony in Jerusalem February 5, 2013. REUTERS/Uriel Sinai/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3DDXN

Knesset Member Elkin: 'I Don't Believe in Real Peace'

Likud Knesset member Zeev Elkin is the reflection of the Israeli right's new elite: Russian, Orthodox and a settler, explains Lily Galili.

Jordan's King Abdullah (R) and Jordanian Chief of Staff General Mashal Mohammad Zaben attend "Eager Lion" military exercises at the Jordan-Saudi Arabia border, 260 km (162 miles) south of Amman, May 24, 2012. The U.S. Army special operations forces are leading 12,000 troops from 18 countries during "Eager Lion" exercises.REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed(JORDAN - Tags: MILITARY ROYALS) - RTR32L1G

Israel Concerned For Jordan's Stability

Israel fears that a jihadist victory in Syria could mean the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is next, writes Alon Ben David.

An Israeli soldier looks on as a United Nations jeep drives past the Quneitra border crossing between Israel and Syria, in the Golan Heights, on the Israeli side of the 1973 ceasefire line with Syria January 31, 2013. Israeli forces attacked a convoy on the Syrian-Lebanese border overnight, a Western diplomat and regional security sources said on Wednesday, as concern has grown in the Jewish state over the fate of Syrian chemical and advanced conventional weapons. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (POLITICS CIVIL UNREST)

The Strategic Bargain Of Israel-Hezbollah Deterrence

Israel’s strike against the Syrian convoy on Jan. 30 was not to escalate the conflict with Damascus, but to contain it, while maintaining deterrence between Israeli forces and Hezbollah, writes Jean-Loup Samaan.

Former Israeli Foreign Minister and head of the Yisrael Beitenu party Avigdor Lieberman attends a Likud-Yisrael Beitenu campaign rally in the southern city of Ashdod January 16, 2013. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party, allied with the nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party, continues to lead opinion polls ahead of Israel's Jan. 22 parliamentary election. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR3CJ8V

Avigdor Liberman's Moment of Truth

On the eve of his trial, former Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman will probably leave politics and return to the business world if convicted; if acquitted, he will resume his quest to become the Israeli right's leader, writes Ben Caspit.

A Palestinian labourer works at a construction site in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip January 2, 2013. Israel eased its blockade of Gaza on Sunday, allowing a shipment of gravel for private construction into the Palestinian territory for the first time since Hamas seized control in 2007. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS CONSTRUCTION) - RTR3C1PS

Israel Eases Economic Siege of Gaza

Shlomi Eldar writes that the economic stranglehold failed to take down the Hamas government, and it may yet be the economy that restores broken bridges between the two peoples.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem February 10, 2013. Iran's nuclear ambitions, the civil war in Syria and stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts will top the agenda of U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Israel, Netanyahu said on Sunday. REUTERS/Uriel Sinai/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3DKNE

Netanyahu Weighs Deal Or No Deal With Palestinians

Will Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu initiate negotiations with the Palestinians on an interim agreement, as Mazal Mualem predicts, or, as suggested by Akiva Eldar, stick to the claim that there is no partner on the other side?

A plainclothes Israeli policeman (L) detains a Palestinian protester during a demonstration against Israel's construction of a road in the Arab neighbourhood of Beit Safafa in Jerusalem February 10, 2013. Some 50 Palestinians protested against the construction of the road, which they claim is an expropriation of their land. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST BUSINESS CONSTRUCTION) - RTR3DL5P

Locals Protest Israeli Road Dividing East Jerusalem Village

Residents of the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Safafa are protesting Israeli plans to build a highway through the heart of their village, Jillian Kestler-D'Amours reports.

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men sign documents at the offices of Israel's Administration for National Civil Service in Jerusalem January 6, 2013. For the first time since the August 1 expiration of the so-called Tal Law that exempted ultra-Orthodox seminary students from military conscription, dozens of scholars signed up on Sunday for alternative civilian service which, upon completion, will entitle them to avoid the draft. Some 1,300 seminary students are slated to join the program by August 2013, or until Isra

Drafting Ultra-Orthodox Is No Solution

Underlying the heated controversy over the enlistment of ultra-Orthodox men is a far more fateful question — that of their integration into the work force, writes Idan Grinbaum.

A Palestinian stone-thrower uses a sling to throw back a tear gas canister fired by Israeli troops during clashes outside Ofer prison near the West Bank city of Ramallah February 12, 2013. Clashes broke out on Tuesday between Palestinian stone-throwers and Israeli troops following a protest calling for the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR3DOU9

Is There Any Hope Left For Israeli-Palestinian Conflict?

Akiva Eldar ponders why the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the longest in history, proposing to resolve it instead of “managing” it.

Kadima party leader Shaul Mofaz speaks during a news conference in Petah Tikva, near Tel Aviv July 17, 2012. Israel's Kadima party quit Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition on Tuesday in a dispute over drafting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the military, but the government was not expected to collapse because it still had a majority in parliament. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY RELIGION) - RTR350Q2

Kadima Leader Shaul Mofaz: 'Abu Mazen Is Our Partner'

Kadima leader Shaul Mofaz explains in an interview with Mazal Mualem that he is gearing up to re-launch his diplomatic plan for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

Hatnua party leader and former foreign minister Tzipi Livni gestures after the swearing-in ceremony of the 19th Knesset, the new Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem February 5, 2013. REUTERS/Uriel Sinai/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3DDXP

Tzipi Livni Flirts With Role In Netanyahu’s New Government

Hatenua leader Tzipi Livni is hinting that she is moving closer to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government, despite her vicious attacks on him in the campaign, writes Mazal Mualem.