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October 2, 2026

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Rights, faith groups urge Congress to block $2.8B bomb sale to Israel

If the Trump administration moves forward with the transfer, dozens of groups are urging lawmakers to seek a joint resolution of disapproval.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

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

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West Bank settlers attack Israeli activists as Netanyahu claims 'hoax'

On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attention surrounding settler violence was a “tremendous hoax.”

Jack GUEZ / AFP via Getty Images

Israel-UAE flights disrupted as airlines plan rescue flights: What to know

Israeli carriers are preparing repatriation flights from Dubai starting on Friday, subject to security approval.

United Arab Emirates

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FlyDubai incident recalls decades of Middle East airline hijackings: What to know

In 1968, the PFLP hijacked an El Al flight from Rome to Tel Aviv, marking the first political hijacking of an aircraft tied to the Middle East.

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FlyDubai incident spotlights key global link for Israeli travelers

Israelis pick up their luggage upon arrival from Tel Aviv to the Dubai airport in the United Arab Emirates, on Nov. 26, 2020, on the first scheduled commercial flight operated by budget airline flydubai.

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FlyDubai flight lands in Tel Aviv after distress alert, Saudi diversion

Flydubai

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Inside Netanyahu’s relentless push for meeting with UAE’s MBZ

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after speaking during the 81st United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2026.

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

Ex-Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar to sue Netanyahu over Oct. 7 accusations: What to know

Ronen Bar, former chief of Israel's domestic Shin Bet security agency

Samuel Wendel

Senior Analyst, Middle East Business & Tech

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

Palestinians leave the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount, after Friday prayers in Jerusalem's Old City April 4, 2014. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday Washington was evaluating whether to continue its role in Middle East peace talks, signalling his patience with the Israelis and Palestinians was running out. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (JERUSALEM - Tags: SOCIETY RELIGION) - RTR3JXYO

Kerry has no excuse for failure in peace talks

The US secretary of state should now offer an accelerated timetable for the acceptance of Palestine as a member of the United Nations.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power speaks during a Security Council meeting on the crisis in Ukraine, at the U.N. headquarters in New York March 3, 2014.
REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3G02N

Palestinians are right to go UN route

US aid to the Palestinians represents an ongoing effort to deny them access to the United Nations and thus statehood.

American-Israeli Ilan Grapel (C) poses for a photograph with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (3rd R), Israeli negotiator Yitzhak Molcho (2nd R), U.S ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro (R), Israeli Knesset member Yisrael Hasson (3rd L), U.S. Congressman Gary Ackerman (L) and Grapel's mother (2nd L) in Jerusalem in this handout picture released October 27, 2011 by the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO). Egypt released the American-Israeli it held as an alleged spy and Israel freed 25 Egyptians

Knesset member warns of Arab Spring in West Bank

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Kadima Knesset member and former Shin Bet official Israel Hasson warns of Israel's humiliating approach to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and predicts that if negotiations blow up: "The Arab Spring will get to the West Bank.''

A Palestinian Hamas supporter celebrates after Erdogan declared victory in local polls during a rally organised by Hamas movement in the northern Gaza Strip March 31, 2014. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan declared victory in local polls that had become a referendum on his rule and said he would "enter the lair" of enemies who have accused him of corruption and leaked state secrets. The Arabic words read "Turkey Justice and development forward". REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNRES

Hamas celebrates AKP win in Turkish elections

Hamas considers Turkey a vital ally and held rallies in celebration of the ruling Justice and Development Party's election victory.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L) talks to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from a room overlooking the snow covered city of Jerusalem, during a meeting December 13, 2013. REUTERS/Brian Snyder (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX16GGI

Kerry's artificial negotiations

Secretary of State John Kerry's frustrations on the Middle East should not come as a surprise.

Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Jose Angel Gurria (R) speaks during a news conference with Israel's Finance Minister Yair Lapid in Tel Aviv December 8, 2013. Gurria was in Israel on Sunday to present the organisation's 2013 report on Israel's economy. The Bank of Israel should prepare for interest rate increases once the global economy returns to normal, the OECD said. REUTERS/ Nir Elias (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS) - RTX169RU

Lapid goes after nepotism in government companies

Seven years after a state comptroller's report on nepotism, Finance Minister Yair Lapid imposes new regulations designed to reduce corruption in Israel's major public companies.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (C) welcomes Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli prisons in the West Bank city of Ramallah early December 31, 2013. Israel set free 26 Palestinian prisoners on Tuesday as part of U.S.-brokered peace efforts, after pledging to press ahead with plans to build more homes in Jewish settlements. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX16XON

Abbas falls into prisoner release trap

The release of Palestinian prisoners has been diverted from a trust-building measure to a decisive issue for the negotiations' advancement and for the credibility of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas vis-a-vis his people.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and Finance Minister Yair Lapid (back to camera) congratulate Israeli far-right leader Avigdor Lieberman after he was sworn in as Israel's Foreign Minister at the parliament in Jerusalem November 11, 2013. Lieberman was sworn in as foreign minister on Monday after his acquittal on corruption charges, a development that could further complicate peace talks with the Palestinians. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX159MP

Israeli politicians easy targets on April Fools' Day

Facebook has become the platform for April Fools' Day hoaxes in Israel, where politicians are mocked on the background of social and security tensions.

Palestinian women hold pictures of jailed relatives during a protest marking "Palestinian Prisoners Day" in the West Bank town of Ramallah April 17, 2007. The women were calling for the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said on Monday that Marwan Barghouthi, a Palestinian uprising leader, is on a list of prisoners the Hamas movement demands Israel release in exchange for a captive soldier. REUTERS/Oleg Popov (WEST BANK) - RTR1OPVW

Both Pollard, Barghouti should be released

Jonathan Pollard should be released on humanitarian grounds, but the release of prominent Fatah member Marwan Barghouti could resuscitate negotiations with the Palestinians.

The illusion of Ehud Olmert

Ehud Olmert's conviction is a blow to Israel's center-left and an illustration of the moral relativism of Israeli politics

Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (L) speaks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during their meeting in Jerusalem January 8, 2008, in this picture released by the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO). Olmert and Abbas met on Tuesday, the eve of a visit by President George W. Bush, to try to get peace talks moving. REUTERS/Moshe Milner/GPO/Handout (JERUSALEM) ISRAEL OUT. EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. - RTX5C98

The tragedy of Ehud Olmert

The chance for a peace agreement with the Palestinians disappeared with the former Israeli prime minister, who has been sentenced to prison for bribery.

Israeli soldiers and border policemen stand in front of a section of Israel's controversial barrier at Aida refugee camp in the West Bank town of Bethlehem March 24, 2014, where witnesses say Israeli forces confronted stone-throwing Palestinian protesters on Monday. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR3IE2E

Netanyahu weighs collapse of peace talks

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must manage a right-wing coalition that has no interest in a release of Palestinian prisoners to keep the peace talks going.