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July 25, 2026

Tel Aviv 11:46 pm

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Analysis

Why US carriers unlikely to rush back to Beirut as Trump lifts Lebanon flight ban

The White House is set to allow US airlines to fly to Beirut for the first time in decades, but experts say the move is more about politics than planes as Washington creates new openings for Lebanon's battered economy.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

GIL COHEN-MAGEN / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Ahead of Trump meeting, Netanyahu lays groundwork for Israel to rejoin Iran war

Reports of an Iranian espionage ring and nuclear centrifuges movement could help Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu make the case to the Israeli public and Donald Trump to rejoin the war, ahead of a critical election in October.

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

David's Sling.

Explainer

As Turkey rivalry heats up, Greece to acquire $4B Israeli air defense system

The Greek defense minister said that the air defense system will be operational within 35 months.

Latest News

Trump says Saudi nuclear deal 'totally subject' to Israel normalization

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Israel fears US deal would allow Saudi Arabia to enrich uranium

US President Donald Trump (R) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands as they arrive to speak to journalists during a joint press conference at Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, on Dec. 29, 2025.

Analysis

Why Mamdani concluded he can’t arrest Israel’s PM Netanyahu

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks during a primary-night watch party for NYC Congressional candidate Claire Valdez at 99 Scott Studio on June 23, 2026 in the East Williamsburg neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough in New York City.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

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

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

A F-35 fighter jet is seen after landing in the Israeli Nevatim Air force base in the Negev desert, near the southern city of Beersheva, on December 12, 2016.
The first two US F-35 stealth fighters bought by Israel landed at an air base in the Jewish state this evening, an AFP journalist at the site said. Their arrival, hailed as a gamechanger by Israeli leaders, came some six hours late after aviation officials in Italy delayed the takeoff for the last stage of their journey because of poor visibility

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F-35 deal with UAE could benefit Israeli defense industries

Israel’s leadership is against the United States selling the Emirates F-35 jets, but if the deal comes through, Israeli defense industries could also benefit.

United Arab Emirates

TOPSHOT - Medics work with COVID-19 patients at the isolation ward of Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan near the coastal city of Tel Aviv, on July 29, 2020. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

IDF to set up field clinics as Israel's hospitals overflow

As the number of infections continues to rise, Defense Minister Benny Gantz has ordered the Israeli army to prepare to run field hospitals to treat coronavirus patients.

Judges of Bulgaria's specialized criminal court arrive for the final decision for the 2012 bomb attack on Israeli tourists at Bulgaria's Burgas airport that killed five people on September 21, 2020 in Sofia. - A Bulgarian court on September 21, 2020, sentenced two men to life in prison over a deadly 2012 bus bomb attack on Israeli tourists at the country's Burgas airport. (Photo by NIKOLAY DOYCHINOV / AFP) (Photo by NIKOLAY DOYCHINOV/AFP via Getty Images)

Bulgarian court sentences two men in bus bombing that killed Israelis

Bulgaria said that two dual citizens of Lebanon were responsible for the Black Sea attack that targeted Israeli tourists in 2012; Hezbollah has denied involvement.

Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez (L) speaks during an inauguration ceremony in Jerusalem of the Diplomatic Trade Office of Honduras on September 1, 2019, in the presence of his wife First Lady Ana Garcia Carias (R), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (2nd-R) and his wife Sara Netanyahu (2nd-L). - (Photo by DEBBIE HILL / POOL / AFP) (Photo credit should read DEBBIE HILL/AFP via Getty Images)

Honduras to move Israel embassy to Jerusalem by year's end

The announcement follows a phone call between Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Demonstrators, mask-clad due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, attend a protest against the United Arab Emirates' and Bahrain's decisions to normalise relations with Israel, in Gaza City on September 15, 2020. - Palestinian leaders had earlier called for demonstrations against the "shameful" deals the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain are set to sign with Israel. Officials from both Gulf states are due to attend a ceremony at the White House on September 15 to formalise ties with Israel, prompting Palest

Jordan clings to two-state solution in wake of normalization deals

With normalization deals being signed and regional dynamics in flux, Jordan is trying to adapt to what it fears is faltering Arab support for the Palestinian issue and a two-state solution.

Trump administration leveraged terror designation to push Sudan to recognize Israel

Last minute White House gambit risked efforts to obtain compensation for families of victims of the 1998 embassy bombings, sources tell Al-Monitor.

TOPSHOT - (L-R)US President Donald Trump speaks as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and Bahrain Foreign Minister Abdullatif al-Zayani listen before they participate in the signing of the Abraham Accords where the countries of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates recognize Israel, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, September 15, 2020. - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the foreign ministers of Bahrain and the United

Israel’s Gulf diplomacy and its discontents

As Israel and its new regional partners begin trade talks, Palestinians, Israeli Arabs and the Israeli left are on the sidelines.

United Arab Emirates

A boy walks past the closed Gogo Girls strip club in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv on March 5, 2020. - The demise of Tel Aviv's strip clubs was accelerated in 2018, when Israel's parliament, the Knesset, passed a law banning brothels. But the final straw came in April last year when the public prosecutor issued a directive to clamp down on lap dances, arguing they could in some cases be viewed as prostitution. (Photo by Emmanuel DUNAND / AFP) (Photo by EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP via Getty Images)

Tel Aviv battles against strip clubs

New regulations adopted by the Tel Aviv municipality would enable it to ban new striptease clubs in the city and render such openings a criminal offense.

Israel’s president apologizes for failure to cope with coronavirus

President Reuven Rivlin apologized for the failure of the country's leadership to better cope with the coronavirus and appealed to citizens to follow new lockdown restrictions that are going into effect.

A security guard, wearing protective masks to combat the spread coronavirus, stands guard outside a store in the Mall of Dubai on April 28, 2020, after the mall was reopened. (Photo by Karim SAHIB / AFP) (Photo by KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images)

Is Israel-Gulf business ready to take off?

Agribusiness, retail, housing, and hospitality look like good bets for Israel-Gulf trade.

United Arab Emirates

WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 15: (L-R) Foreign Affairs Minister of Bahrain Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, U.S. President Donald Trump, and Foreign Affairs Minister of the United Arab Emirates Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan participate in the signing ceremony of the Abraham Accords on the South Lawn of the White House on September 15, 2020 in Washington, DC. Witnessed by President Trump, Prime Minister Netanyahu signed a peace deal with the UAE and a decl

Normalization deals rattle Israeli left

The Israeli left and center is not sure how to react to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's diplomatic achievements in the Gulf.

A man holds a phone while reading a story published on Tasnim News Agency's website about the recent news of a US-brokered deal between Israel and the UAE to normalise relations, in Iran's capital Tehran on August 14, 2020. - Iran strongly condemned the agreement, blasting it as an act of "strategic stupidity" that would only strengthen the Tehran-backed "axis of resistance". The Israel-UAE deal marks only the third such accord the Jewish state has struck with an Arab nation, an historic shift making the Gu

Arab deals with Israel predictably rile Iran

The normalization of ties between Israel and two Arab states has left the Islamic Republic uneasy in a region where it is surrounded by more adversaries than allies.