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Politics & Security

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.

DAVOS, SWITZERLAND - JANUARY 22: U.S. President Donald Trump (C) sits in between Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan (L) and Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev during a signing ceremony for the “Board of Peace” at the World Economic Forum (WEF) on January 22, 2026 in Davos, Switzerland. The US-backed “Board of Peace” is intended to administer the fragile ceasefire in the Gaza Strip after the war between Israel and Hamas. The final makeup of the board has not been confirmed. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/G

Trump taps Russia-born investor to oversee $200M+ fund backing Armenia-Azerbaijan corridor

The appointment of Chicago-based investor Konstantin Sokolov to oversee a $200 million fund marks a new phase for Washington's proposed trade and transportation route linking Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkey.

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.).

Zaid AL-OBEIDI / AFP via Getty Images

Syria seizes arms shipment on Iraq border destined for Hezbollah

The operation comes as part of the Syrian authorities' efforts to curb illicit arms smuggling through its territory, namely intended for Hezbollah.

Latest News

Turkish opposition leader Ozgur Ozel could launch new party by August

Ozgu Ozel

Russian couple faces deportation from Turkey after Bible reading at Hagia Sophia

Visitors stand inside Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque in Istanbul on April 14, 2025.

Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Adam Lucente

News and Business Correspondent

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Elizabeth Hagedorn

Diplomatic Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

Ezgi Akin

Associate Editor (Turkey)

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

Ben Caspit

Israel Columnist

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

Jared Szuba

Defense and Security Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

Eritrean asylum-seekers rally to protest an event organized by Eritrea's government in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sept. 2, 2023.

Israel’s Netanyahu calls Eritrea immigrants 'tangible threat' to state’s future

After the violent demonstration by Eritrean immigrants over the weekend, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called to banish them from Israel "voluntarily or by other means."

Greek State Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis gestures as he speaks during a press conference at the European Council in Brussels on March 4, 2020. (Photo by Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD / AFP) (Photo by KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Greece-Turkey ties on upswing as FM set to visit, Cyprus tensions subside

Turkey tries to dial down confrontations in the eastern Mediterranean before the Greek minister's visit as part of its push to improve relations with the West.

Ezgi Akin

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) shakes hands with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) during a meeting in Sochi, on August 5, 2022. (Photo by Vyacheslav Prokofyev and Vyacheslav PROKOFYEV / POOL / AFP) (Photo by VYACHESLAV PROKOFYEV/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

In Russia, Turkey's Erdogan seeks better ties with Putin, but distrust lingers

The Turkish president wants to enhance his prestige by brokering a new grain deal but faces an uphill battle, with increasing distrust from Moscow over Ankara's ties with Ukraine, and posture inside NATO.

Fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) attend a joint military exercise with forces of the US-led "Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve" coalition against the Islamic State (IS) group in the countryside of the town of al-Malikiya (Derik in Kurdish) in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province on September 7, 2022.

Syria’s Kurds struggle to contain backlash after detaining allied Arab militia leader

Kurdish-led forces guarding Syria’s Islamic State prisons have been on high alert amid spreading clashes in Deir Ezzor province.

US Vice President Joe Biden (L) listens to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talk during joint statements in the prime minister's office in Jerusalem on March 9, 2016. Biden implicitly criticised Palestinian leaders for not condemning attacks against Israelis, as an upsurge in violence marred his visit. / AFP / POOL / DEBBIE HILL (Photo credit should read DEBBIE HILL/AFP via Getty Images)

Why are Israel's ex-Shin Bet chiefs urging Biden not to host Netanyahu?

Two former directors of the Israeli Shin Bet — Ami Ayalon and Yuval Diskin — call on President Joe Biden to support the Israeli protest movement against the judicial overhaul by not inviting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House.

US President Joe Biden (L) and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (R) arrive for the family photo during the Jeddah Security and Development Summit (GCC+3) at a hotel in Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coastal city of Jeddah on July 16, 2022.

Analysis

US-Saudi diplomacy gives lifeline to Palestinian leadership, two-state solution

How big is Assad’s Suwayda problem?

Week in Review

Andrew Parasiliti

By Week in Review , Andrew Parasiliti

Iraqis drive past electoral billboards and placards of candidates for the upcoming parliamentary elections in Karrada district, Baghdad, Iraq, Sept. 19, 2021.

US welcomes conviction of Iranian, 4 Iraqis for killing American citizen

Stephen Troell, an aid worker in Baghdad, was killed in November when gunmen opened fire on his car.

A policeman watches as people cool off in the water at el-Kettani beach in the Bab el-Oued suburb, Algiers, Algeria, Aug. 15, 2020.

Two Moroccan-French tourists killed by Algerian coastguard

The tourists had strayed into Algerian waters. The incident could further inflame longstanding tensions between Morocco and Algeria.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the inauguration of the new light rail line for the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, in Petah Tikva, on August 17, 2023. (Photo by AMIR COHEN / POOL / AFP) (Photo by AMIR COHEN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Unprecedented breakdown in Israel-US channels as Netanyahu bars ministers from visiting Washington

Under strict orders from Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant did not go anywhere near Washington or the Pentagon on his US visit this week. “Such things have never happened,” a senior Israeli security source told Al-Monitor.

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

MAXIM SHEMETOV/AFP via Getty Images

Russia hosts Turkey's Fidan, presses for guarantees on grain deal

Turkey and Russia's foreign ministers haggled over a compromise for the revival of the Ukrainian grain deal ahead of the upcoming presidential summit next week.

Lebanon's parliament speaker, Nabih Berri (R), receives Amos Hochstein, the US special presidential coordinator for global infrastructure and energy security, Beirut, August 30, 2023.

UNIFIL mandate extended as US envoy visits Lebanon

US envoy Amos Hochstein met with Lebanese officials to follow up on the maritime border agreement with Israel that allowed offshore gas exploration in Lebanese waters and to likely discuss UNIFIL's extension.

An Iranian long-range Ghadr missile displaying "Down with Israel" in Hebrew at a defense exhibition in Isfahan, February 8, 2023.

Iran claims to foil Israeli plot against its missile operations

The announcement follows Iranian officials saying they had dismantled “Zionist-linked” cells across the country and amid an escalating proxy war between Iran and Israel.