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August 8, 2026

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Analysis

As pro-Palestinian candidates gain ground, will AIPAC's influence wane?

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s influence has weakened in the Democratic Party and may also be at risk among Republicans.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

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

Hussein FALEH / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

As US rethinks regional presence, Israel shifts focus to destabilizing Iran

Uncertain how to interpret the American regional redeployment, Israel is focusing on efforts to destabilize the Iranian regime and stop its nuclear program.

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

Latest News

AIPAC to oppose El-Sayed after major Michigan primary victory

Michigan Democratic Senate primary winner Abdul El-Sayed

Israel-Lebanon talks suspended amid escalation, set to resume Thursday

Israeli battle tanks deploy in the village of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah (Eastern Zawtar) in southern Lebanon as pictured from the nearby village of Zawtar al-Gharbiyah (Western Zawtar) on August 2, 2026. Under a US-sponsored agreement signed in June, Lebanon's army is to disarm Hezbollah and the Israeli military is to withdraw from "pilot zones" where Lebanese forces will subsequently deploy. The deal came more than three months after Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East with rocket fire at Israel in suppo

US lifts sanctions on Iraqi airline linked to Iran's IRGC: What to know

A memorial depicting Qassem Soleimani, the slain commander of the "Quds Force" of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), who was killed by a US airstrike in Iraq in 2020, is pictured at Valiasr Square in Tehran on April 6, 2026. Israeli strikes killed the intelligence chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, as the Islamic republic on April 6 defied threats from the US President to devastate civilian infrastructure if it does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Ima

Abdul el-Sayed becomes first Muslim-American to win Michigan Senate primary

DETROIT, MICHIGAN - AUGUST 01: Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed speaks after a radio appearance on Dr. Horace Sheffield's GOTV Community Rally on August 01, 2026 in Detroit, Michigan. El-Sayed currently holds a 15-point lead against Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) according to a recent poll. (Photo by Finn Gomez/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

MOSCOW, RUSSIA - APRIL 02: Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) shakes hands with Yemen's President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi during a meeting on April 2, 2013 in Moscow, Russia. Yemen's President is in Russia for his first state visit to the country since his election in 2012. (Photo by Sasha Mordovets/Getty Images)

Moscow's shifting strategy in Yemen

With the recent appointment of Ahmed Salem al-Wahishi as Yemen's ambassador to Russia, Moscow finds itself in a strong position to lead a political solution to the Yemen conflict.

U.S. President Donald Trump (3rd R), Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (R), Russian President Vladimir Putin (3rd L) and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (L) attend a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany July 7, 2017 Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. EDITORIAL USE ONLY. - RTX3AIRY

New congressional sanctions tie Trump’s hands on cooperation with Russia

The House passed legislation today that could impact US-Russia cooperation on Syria and curb Russian arms sales to the Middle East.

FILE PHOTO: Iranian-made Emad missile is displayed during a ceremony marking the 37th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, in Tehran February 11, 2016. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi/File Photo - RTX37KIM

Congress closes in on first new Iran sanctions since nuclear deal

Tehran has vowed to retaliate if a US bill imposing additional sanctions on Iran becomes law.

Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo arrives for a closed briefing before the House Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S. May 16, 2017. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein - RTX364MJ

Turkey needs new Syria plan as CIA ends rebel support

The US decision to pull the plug from the CIA’s training and equipment program for the Syrian opposition will affect Turkey’s plans for Idlib in northern Syria.

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Iran in no mood to renegotiate nuclear deal

Iranian officials have rejected the possibility of renegotiating the nuclear deal and appear to be making contingency plans should the United States renege on it.

Kurdish fighters from the People's Protection Units (YPG) head a convoy of U.S military vehicles in the town of Darbasiya next to the Turkish border, Syria April 28, 2017. REUTERS/Rodi Said - RTS14EFY

The motives behind Turkey's decision to reveal US military intel

Turkish anger over US weapons being used by the Kurdistan Workers Party against its soldiers may be the leading cause behind the leak by its state-run news agency.

Oman's Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi waves as he arrives to attend a meeting of Foreign Ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser - RTX33EVF

Trump administration looks to Oman for help navigating Middle East

US officials, while wary about Oman's ties with Iran, seek Oman's assistance in resolving Qatar dispute.

Kurdish fighters from the People's Protection Units (YPG) run across a street in Raqqa, Syria July 3, 2017. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTS19M60

Will Netanyahu enforce Syrian red line against Iran?

Israel opposes cease-fire plan, as Russia, Turkey and Syria inch toward possible agreement on Afrin.

Smoke rises from an air strike during fighting with Islamic State militants in the Old City of Mosul, Iraq July 6, 2017. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad - RTX3ABKI

With IS on the way out, Iraqi power struggles pose major threat

As Iraq struggles to contain pockets of Islamic State resistance following the liberation of Mosul, political differences and a power struggle between domestic groups threaten more conflict.

Israeli soldiers are silhouetted as they search for remains of rockets fired from Lebanon on Sunday, near the northern city of Nahariya December 21, 2015. Israel's military said it fired artillery rounds into southern Lebanon on Sunday in response to rockets fired earlier across the border that struck inside Israel. Three rockets fired from Lebanon had struck northern Israel, causing no damage or injuries, hours after a militant leader in the Lebanese group Hezbollah was reported killed in an air strike in

Next Israel-Hezbollah confrontation could be in Syria

While the cease-fire brokered by the United States, Russia and Jordan seems to be holding for now in southern Syria, it might not last for long given the Israeli-Iranian rivalry in the region.

Jason Greenblatt (C), U.S. President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, sits next to Tzachi Hanegbi (L), Israeli Minister of Regional Cooperation and Mazen Ghoneim, head of the Palestinian Water Authority, during a news conference in Jerusalem July 13, 2017. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RTX3B939

Palestinians, Israelis disappointed over US envoy's talks

The Palestinian leadership believes that much of the Trump administration’s efforts on the Israeli-Palestinian issue are focused on economic confidence-building measures, not advancing the two-state solution.

A Hezbollah fighter patrols a hill on the Lebanese side of the Qalamun mountains on the border with Syria on May 20, 2015. Ali Akbar Velayati, foreign affairs adviser to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on May 18 during a trip to Beirut, that Tehran was proud of its key ally Hezbollah for advances it has made against rebels in a Syrian region on the Lebanese border. AFP PHOTO / JOSEPH EID (Photo credit should read JOSEPH EID/AFP/Getty Images)

Hezbollah not concerned about cease-fire deal in Syria

The cease-fire brokered by the United States, Russia and Jordan in south Syria does not seem to worry the Lebanese Hezbollah movement, which is widely involved in the Syrian war, like it worries its archenemy Israel.