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September 20, 2026

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Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman looks on as he attends a trade agreement signature ceremony at the Elysee Palace in Paris on August 24, 2026. (Photo by LOU BENOIST / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

How Netanyahu is leveraging Houthi threat in secret Saudi normalization push

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to capitalize on Riyadh's need for intelligence assistance to make normalization headway ahead of the October elections.

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

Mario Tama/Getty Images

Former Assad official sentenced to 60 years in US for torture

Samir Ousman Alsheikh was convicted by a jury in March of three counts of torture, one count of conspiracy to commit torture, visa fraud and attempted naturalization fraud.

A US Air Force F-35 fifth-generation jet fighter takes off during the NATO's Ramsteign Flag 2025 exercise at Leeuwarden Air Base on April 8, 2025.

Trump administration approves $24B sale of F-35 jets to Saudi Arabia

Trump first announced the planned sale in November 2025, ahead of hosting Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House.

UN peacekeepers stand next to an armored vehicle during a patrol in southern Lebanon, Feb. 22, 2026.

Explainer

Why France is pushing to keep UNIFIL in Lebanon beyond 2026

Showing its support for Lebanon, Paris is backing Beirut’s request at the UN for a short-term extension of UNIFIL’s mandate, although French sources acknowledge that the chances of the request being approved are slim.

Latest News

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Lacking deterrence, Israel’s security establishment opposes attacks on Houthis

Fighters loyal to the Houthi authorities, brandish their weapons during a rally to recruit more fighters, in Sanaa on September 10, 2026. The country relapsed into war in July after years of calm, drawn into the regional conflict triggered by the US-Israeli offensive against Iran that began at the end of February. (Photo by Mohammed HUWAIS / AFP via Getty Images)

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

Meet Wesley Hunt, Trump's pick for ambassador to Saudi Arabia

US Republican Representative Wesley Hunt of Texas gestures after speaking during the first day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 15, 2024.

US hits major Russian bank VTB with Iran-linked sanctions

VTB Bank in Moscow

CENTCOM chief meets Saudi Arabia's MBS amid Houthi gains in Yemen

Win McNamee/Getty Images

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

Jared Szuba

Defense and Security Correspondent

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

Joyce Karam

Editor-in-Chief

Rosaleen Carroll

News Reporter and Supporting Editor

In Washington, DC, US, reporting on the Middle East

Paul J. Saunders

In Washington, DC, reporting on Russia in the Middle East

Rabbi Israel Meir Lau Chairman of the Yad Vashem Council speaks to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the World Holocaust Forum marking 75 years since the liberation of the Nazi extermination camp Auschwitz, at Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial centre in Jerusalem January 23, 2020. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/Pool - RC2RLE9EVQ76

Intel: Why Russia’s warming ties with Israel may lead Moscow to embrace Trump’s peace plan

Russian President Vladimir Putin pardoned a young Israeli accused of drug charges ahead of his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today. The release of Naama Issachar, who had been sentenced to 7½ years in prison, ends a bitter controversy that had plagued relations between the two countries.

U.S. President Donald Trump departs after delivering joint remarks with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a new Middle East peace plan proposal in the East Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts - RC27PE9R8PMZ

Iran slams Trump’s vision for Mideast peace

The Islamic Republic is fiercely opposed to Trump's "deal of the century," stating that Muslims will never allow it to happen.

Democratic 2020 U.S. presidential candidate and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks at a campaign town hall meeting at La Poste in Perry, Iowa, U.S., January 26, 2020. REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado - RC2UNE9MEP21

Intel: Pro-Israel super PAC attacks Sanders with $700,000 Iowa ad buy

A pro-Israel super PAC has launched a $700,000 television ad campaign targeting presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., as he rises in the polls in the crucial days before the Iowa caucuses next week.

US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu take part in an announcement of Trump's Middle East peace plan in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC on January 28, 2020. - Trump declared that Israel was taking a "big step towards peace" as he unveiled a plan aimed at solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "Today, Israel takes a big step towards peace," Trump said, standing alongside Netanyahu as he revealed details of the plan already emphatically rejected by the P

Trump’s ‘deal of the century’ fails to resonate among Egyptians

While the Egyptian government treaded cautiously in its response to the rollout of the US administration’s long-awaited peace deal, expressing Cairo’s “appreciation” of US efforts, analysts and the public widely condemned the plan.

PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat (R) shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (L), as U.S. President Bill Clinton stands between them, after the signing of the Israeli-PLO peace accord, at the White House in Washington September 13, 1993. REUTERS/Gary Hershorn (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - GM1E99D1UCD01

Trump’s Israeli-US deal is not a peace plan

Donald Trump's 'deal of the century' may have started out as a peace plan, but his administration's conflict with the Palestinian leadership turned it into a plan to give Israel the green light to annex one-third of the West Bank.

A demonstrator holds up a cane and a Palestinian flag during a protest against the U.S. president Donald Trumpís Middle East peace plan, in Jordan Valley in the Israeli-occupied West Bank January 29, 2020. REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta - RC2OPE9BEIP8

Trump’s peace plan: platform for Israeli unity government?

The peace plan presented by US President Donald Trump could serve as a platform and incentive for Blue and White leader Benny Gantz to accept the formation of a unity government with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Palestinian demonstrators gesture in front of Israeli forces during a protest against the U.S. president Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan, in Jordan Valley in the Israeli-occupied West Bank January 29, 2020. REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta - RC2PPE9PRZMB

How long can Abbas hold firm on security coordination with Israel?

Israel's security establishment is well aware of the pressure being exerted on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to halt security coordination with Israel, which is why Israel must exert intense efforts to assist him.

Jordan fears long-term threat to its national security following Trump’s peace plan

No sooner had President Donald Trump unveiled his Middle East peace plan than Jordan reacted, warning against the dangerous repercussions such deal will have on the kingdom and on the region as a whole.

U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi discusses the Trump administration Middle East peace plan proposal during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst - RC27PE9N3OF6

Democratic leaders hold fire on Trump’s Mideast peace plan

Pro-Israel Democrats are holding their fire on President Donald Trump’s Israeli-Palestinian peace proposal despite some reservations.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas delivers a speech following the announcement by the U.S. President Donald Trump of the Mideast peace plan, in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta - RC27PE95MPTR

Abbas caught between rock and hard place as Trump unveils Mideast plan

A strong Palestinian response to the Mideast peace plan requires national unity, which is currently lacking among Palestinian factions.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan attends a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Istanbul, Turkey, January 24, 2020. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RC2EME9CRYDD

Intel: Turkey downplays Erdogan’s phone call with Trump

The White House disclosed Jan. 28 details of a call between President Donald Trump and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

TOPSHOT - This picture taken on January 27, 2020 in Iran's southwestern city of Bandar-e Mahshahr shows a Caspian Airlines McDonnell Douglas MD-83 aircraft which landed on a highway after it overshot the highway during its approach. No casualties were reported according to state television. - The jet was flying from Tehran's Mehrabad Airport with 135 passengers plus the plane's crew. A state TV reporter travelling on the plane told the broadcaster that the aircraft's "back wheel had broken off, as we saw it

Iran’s air safety questioned after multiple flight incidents

Panicked Iranians are nervously debating safety onboard domestic airliners after three airplanes nearly crashed in three consecutive days.