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Israel

July 13, 2026

Tel Aviv 8:39 am

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Analysis

As US-Iran fighting resumes, Israel weighs 3 options with restraint winning, for now

Despite Israel's military readiness to resume strikes on Iran, officials say looming elections make Netanyahu more likely to stay out unless Tehran forces his hand.

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

Former Israeli army chief of staff Gadi Eizenkot speaks during the launch of the Yashar party's election campaign in Hod Aharon, in central Israel, on June 30, 2026.

New Israeli election poll puts Eisenkot ahead of Netanyahu: What to know

Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party has now bypassed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud in the polls, cementing his status as Netanyahu’s main opponent.

U.S. President Donald Trump meets with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (not shown) for bilateral talks at Beştepe Presidential Compound during the NATO Summit on July 08, 2026 in Ankara, Turkey. Leaders from NATO's 32 countries, plus NATO allies like Ukraine, gathered in the Turkish capital to discuss a range of issues involving spending targets, defense industrial production, and support for Ukraine, among other topics. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Trump declares MoU with Iran 'over' as Hegseth cancels trip to Israel

Trump said diplomacy with Tehran was “a waste of time” after renewed attacks around Hormuz, as US defense chief reportedly cancels Israel visit.

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Lebanon's latest damage estimate outlines reconstruction challenge

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Analysis

Trump's F-35 push for Turkey runs into CAATSA — and Israel

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) welcomes US President Donald Trump (R) upon his arrival on Air Force One at Etimesgut Air Base near Ankara, on July 7, 2026, before attending the 36th NATO Heads of State and Government Summit. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images)

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

Israel, Greece conduct military drills ahead of NATO summit in Turkey

ABIR SULTAN / AFP via Getty Images

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

Members of Turkey's Jewish community gather at Etz Ahayim Synagogue to commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day in Istanbul January 27, 2013. The International Day of Commemoration, which was designated by the United Nations General Assembly to honour Holocaust victims, occurs annually on January 27. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION ANNIVERSARY) - RTR3D1V0

Turkey's Jewish community in decline

More and more Jewish families are leaving Turkey.

Playing Umm Kulthoum for Israelis

Sami Khsheibun, creator of the “Queen of the Nile” — a tribute concert to Egyptian singer Umm Kulthoum — is building musical bridges between the worlds of oriental classical music and Western classical.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at a conference in Tel Aviv University October 29, 2013. A planned release of 26 Palestinian prisoners has provoked feuding within Israel's governing coalition, already under strain from U.S.-brokered peace talks. Jewish Home, led by Naftali Bennett, then tried to get a proposal to freeze further prisoner releases past a ministerial committee, where members Netanyahu's Likud party voted it down on Sunday. REUTERS/ Nir Elias (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX

Prisoner-settlement exchange means no free lunch

Negotiations are slated to last nine months, but if by the end of the year no progress is made, the Obama administration will present an American final status agreement draft.

Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat gestures during his interview with Reuters in the West Bank city of Ramallah August 11, 2013. Erekat said on Sunday Israel's plans for new homes in Jewish settlements on occupied land were aimed to scupper peace talks that resume on Wednesday. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX12H3R

How Netanyahu pushed Erekat into a corner

The resignation of Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat reflects the disappointment within Palestinian public opinion following Israel's decision to continue settlement construction.

Former Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman is seen in Jerusalem's magistrate court at the continuation of his trial, April 25, 2013. Lieberman was indicted on charges relating to the promotion of an Israeli diplomat who had illegally given him information about a police investigation against him. The allegations led Lieberman, a key ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to resign from cabinet last December. REUTERS/Uriel Sinai/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS CRIME LAW) - RTXYZEJ

Netanyahu's coalition stable — with or without Liberman

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu feels confident about the stability of his coalition, whatever the outcome in Avigdor Liberman's trial or Labor Party primaries.

Palestinians wait for the release of prisoners from Israeli jails, near Erez crossing between Israel and northern Gaza Strip October 30, 2013. Israel freed 26 Palestinian prisoners on Wednesday, the second stage of a limited amnesty designed to help U.S.-sponsored peace talks that have been dogged by divisions on both sides. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX14T9I

Israel traps Palestinians in negotiations with prisoner card

Israel is using the release of Palestinian prisoners as a means to keep the Palestinians in peace talks that are going nowhere.

A Palestinian relative of Hamas militant Rabee Baraka mourns as he takes a farewell look at Baraka's body, at a hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip November 1, 2013. On Thursday, Baraka was killed and five Israeli soldiers wounded in a clash that broke out after Israeli forces detonated part of a different Gaza tunnel. Hamas said it had dug the tunnel, which Israel said ran into its territory and was intended for carrying out attacks on its soldiers and civilians. Separately, an Israeli air s

Gaza-Israel Clashes Unlikely to Escalate

Israel and Hamas are both preoccupied with other more pressing regional concerns, and have no interest in flaring a crisis of their own.

A general view of Dubai's cityscape September 25, 2013. A stampede by competing apartment buyers in Dubai this week may have obscured signs that Dubai's latest real estate boom is more restrained than the last one, which pushed the government close to default. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah (UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - Tags: REAL ESTATE BUSINESS CITYSCAPE) - RTX145A9

The Al-Monitor Debate on Gulf Cities

The Wall Street Journal reports on the Al-Monitor debate on Gulf cities; former Israeli, Palestinian negotiators differ on whether Palestinians should recognize Israel as a Jewish state; hope for Syrian bishops' release; a new Al-Monitor design.

Israeli soldiers (R) and a Jewish settler (L) stand at the entrance to the West Bank Jewish settlement of Bat Ayin, near Hebron April 2, 2009, after an attack. A Palestinian with an axe and a knife killed a 13-year-old Israeli boy and wounded a seven-year-old boy in Bat Ayin on Thursday, two days after a right-wing government took power.
REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (WEST BANK POLITICS CONFLICT IMAGE OF THE DAY TOP PICTURE) - RTXDJ9O

Israeli Army Avoids Confronting Settler Violence

West Bank settlers have once again attacked Palestinian residents and soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces, and once again the army and police showed no attempt to apprehend the lawbreakers.

Aryeh Deri (C), leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, attends an annual pilgrimage to the gravesite of Rabbi Yisrael Abuhatzeira, a Moroccan-born sage and kabbalist also known as the Baba Sali, in the southern town of Netivot January 14, 2013. Powerful political players for years, Israel's ultra-Orthodox parties must now reckon with a new force ushered in by voters bent on stripping them of perks they have relied on for decades. Picture taken January 14, 2013. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS

Shas Leader Deri Fails In Municipal Elections

Since his political comeback after 13 years of exile, Shas Party Chairman Aryeh Deri is committing every imaginable mistake, jeopardizing his stand within the party.

An Ultra-Orthodox protester protects himself as Israeli police (not pictured) fire a water cannon to disperse protesters during clashes in the town of Beit Shemesh, near Jerusalem August 14, 2013. Ultra-Orthodox protesters clashed on Wednesday with police and other security forces in the town of Beit Shemesh after a group of them broke into a construction site to prevent work from taking place at the site they believe contains ancient graves. REUTERS/ Baz Ratner (ISRAEL - Tags: RELIGION CIVIL UNREST POLITIC

Israeli Municipal Elections Amplify Ultra-Orthodox, Secular Conflict

Municipal elections in Jerusalem and in the declining town of Beit Shemesh testify to the intensity of the cultural war within Israeli society, where ultra-Orthodox and secular clash over Israel's image.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at a conference in Tel Aviv University October 29, 2013. A planned release of 26 Palestinian prisoners has provoked feuding within Israel's governing coalition, already under strain from U.S.-brokered peace talks. Jewish Home, led by Naftali Bennett, then tried to get a proposal to freeze further prisoner releases past a ministerial committee, where members Netanyahu's Likud party voted it down on Sunday. REUTERS/ Nir Elias (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX

Israel Weighs Its Options

This week's regional conflicts include sluggish negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians, another mysterious strike in Syria and Ayatollah Khamenei's "disappearance."