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April 30, 2026

Tel Aviv 7:41 am

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President Donald Trump gives a speech during the State Arrival Ceremony on the South Lawn on April 28, 2026, in Washington.

Trump speaks with Netanyahu, Putin as Iran pressure campaign escalates

President Donald Trump spoke by phone separately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin, discussing the situation in Iran and the possibility of extending the ceasefire.

DENIS LOVROVIC/AFP via Getty Images

Israel rejects Ukraine's claim that Russian shadow fleet vessel docked in Haifa

Ukraine alleges the vessel unloaded wheat taken from occupied territories in Haifa, while Israel says ship had not entered the port.

ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Despite Trump pressure to limit Israel's Lebanon attacks, Aoun-Netanyahu meeting still unlikely

As President Donald Trump pressures Israel to limit its strikes in Lebanon, Hezbollah is taking advantage of the situation.

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

Turkey's submarines and fast-attack craft ships participate in the live-fire phase of the Blue Homeland-2026 (Mavi Vatan) tactical military exercises in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, in Antalya on April 9, 2026.

Turkey’s military spending jumps to $30B, leads Mideast growth in 2025

Newly released data shows Ankara’s military spending hit $30 billion, while Saudi Arabia remained the region’s top spender and Israel’s outlays declined in 2025.

Latest News

Why US, Israel are freezing France out of Lebanon talks

French President Emmanuel Macron speaks to journalists as he arrives for an informal meeting of the European Council in Nicosia, Cyprus, April 24, 2026.

Analysis

Why Saudi Arabia, Egypt are wary of Turkey’s proposed 4-way defense pact with Pakistan

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan hosted the third meeting of the foreign ministers of Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia on the margins of the 5th Antalya Diplomacy Forum, on April 17, 2026.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Analysis

Israel fears Trump angling for Lebanon deal to offset Iran missteps

US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa (R) holds a signed "Make America Great Again" hat while (L-R) US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Lebanon Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh Moawad listen to US President Donald Trump speak during a meeting with Lebanon Ambassador to the US and Israel Ambassador to the US, at the White House in Washington, DC on April 23, 2026. US President Donald Trump met Lebanese and Israeli envoys at a new round of peace talks Thursday, with Beirut seeking a one-month extension of a

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

Israel's Netanyahu says he was treated for prostate cancer: What we know

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds the hand of his wife Sara as they attend a ceremony commemorating Israel's Remembrance Day for fallen soldiers, or Yom HaZikaron, at the Military Cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem on April 21, 2026. (Photo by Ilia YEFIMOVICH / POOL / 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

A US Chinook military helicopter flies above the US embassy in Kabul on Aug. 15, 2021.

Israel hopes Biden will take harder line on Iran after Afghan withdrawal

Israel seems determined to focus on the opportunities that could stem from the Afghan crisis, such as a wake-up call to its American allies.

Head of Israel's right-wing Yamina party Naftali Bennett (L) chats with Mansour Abbas, head of the conservative Islamic Raam party, during a special session to vote on a new government at the Knesset, Jerusalem, June 13, 2021.

Bennett launches national campaign against crime in Israeli-Arab villages

Saher Ismail, adviser of the education minister, was killed this week outside his house in the Israeli-Arab town of Rameh; he was the 74th Israeli-Arab murdered since the beginning of the year.

A firefighting plane works on extinguishing a forest fire at the Jerusalem mountains near Shoresh, on Aug. 16, 2021.

Firefighting efforts continue through night near Jerusalem

MORTEZA NIKOUBAZL/AFP via Getty Images

Israel presses case against new Iranian government

The government of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is busily conducting a public relations campaign against the cabinet of new Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.

Visitors look at the Hall of Names, a repository for the names of millions of Holocaust victims at the Yad Vashem memorial center, Jerusalem, Jan. 20, 2020.

Israel-Poland row escalates over law limiting WWII restitution

The approval by Polish President Andrzej Duda of legislation limiting the ability of Jews to recover property seized by Nazis in Poland during World War II deeply angered Jerusalem and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid.

AFP via Getty Images

Israel's coalition government holds to center

Two months in, Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid remain both partners and rivals as the new government passes a budget, grapples with COVID-19 and Iran and seeks to strengthen already warm ties with the Biden administration.

Israel's Prime Minister Naftali Bennett attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on Aug. 1, 2021.

Israel's Bennett works to boost ties with Biden administration

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett learned from the mistakes of his predecessor, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and is investing tremendous efforts into developing an intimate relationship with President Joe Biden.

An Israeli medic anministers a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against the coronavirus to a man, at a Clalit Health Services station set up inside Cinema City complex in Jerusalem, on Aug. 11, 2021.

Israel approves COVID-19 booster for ages 50+

Health care workers, prisoners and people with weak immune system are also eligible to receive a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

Yair Lapid in Casablanca

Israel’s Lapid reopens liaison office in Morocco, is moved by synagogue visit

After reopening a liaison office in Rabat, Morocco, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid is sung to at the refurbished Beth El synagogue in Casablanca.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett (R) speaks to Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, at the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on Aug. 8, 2021.

Israel’s Bennett and Lapid partners, but still rivals

Behind the seemingly idyllic partnership between Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Alternate Prime Minister Yair Lapid, tensions are seething and competition is already on its way.

FERENC ISZA/AFP via Getty Images

UN panel calls for cybersurveillance sale freeze amid Pegasus scandal

The independent panel said it was concerned by reports that highly sophisticated surveillance tools are being used to monitor journalists, activists and political opponents.

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid (L) and Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita (R) sign three framework cooperation agreements, Rabat, Morocco, Aug. 11, 2021.

Israel’s Lapid in Morocco to cement diplomatic, economic ties

The two-day visit in Rabat of Foreign Minister Yair Lapid is not only historic diplomatically, it also cements growing trade relations between the two countries.