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August 9, 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

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - DECEMBER 12: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visits the blast site outside the Besiktas FC's Vodafone Arena Stadium on December 12, 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey. At least 44 people were killed and 160 other wounded in twin explosions outside Vodafone Arena Stadium and in nearby Macka Park a few hours after the night's soccer match on 10 December. The bombs apparently targeted police officers who were securing the match. The Kurdish nationalist group Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK), which

Trump, Erdogan discuss Syria cooperation in first presidential call

In their first call since Donald Trump became president, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pushed for an end to the US alliance with the Kurdish People's Protection Units.

TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY STUART WILLIAMS Iranian Hossein Shariatmadari, director of the hardline Kayhan (Universe) newspaper group for the past 15 years, looks on during an interview with AFP at his office in Tehran, 16 September 2007. Ridiculing the latest US threats against Tehran and advocating the need to expose traitors, Shariatmadari remains one of the most ardent champions of Iran's Islamic system. Appointed by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei himself, few in Iran can match Shariatmadari's autho

Iranian hard-liner slams Trump for not tearing up nuclear deal

A prominent hard-liner in Iran has expressed his anger over US President Donald Trump going back on his words about tearing up the nuclear deal.

The West Bank Jewish settlement of Ofra is photographed as seen from the Jewish settler outpost of Amona in the West Bank, during an event organised to show support for Amona which was built without Israeli state authorisation and which Israel's high court ruled must be evacuated and demolished by the end of the year as it is built on privately-owned Palestinian land, October 20, 2016. The Palestinian village of Silwad is seen in the background. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RTX2POW2

Does Trump signal golden age for Israeli settlements?

Some are convinced that Israel's right-wing government and the new US administration under Donald Trump offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to legalize all West Bank settlements.

A Syrian refugee mother puts her baby to stroller in Nizip refugee camp, near the Turkish-Syrian border in Gaziantep province, Turkey, November 30, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTSU1P6

Syrians in Turkey baffled by Trump’s safe zones plan

A state of confusion and uncertainty prevails among Syrians living in Turkey, after the announcement by US President Donald Trump at the end of last month of his decision to create safe zones for civilians in Syria.

Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the council on Foreign Relations Elliott Abrams (L), President of the International Republican Institute Lorne Craner (C) and Executive Director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy Robert Satloff (L) testifies before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, February 9, 2011 on the recent developments in Egypt and Lebanon. AFP PHOTO/Jim WATSON (Photo credit should read JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)

Noted 'neocon' finds surprising support from Democrats in Trump's America

Iraq war cheerleader Elliott Abrams is in the running for the No. 2 spot at the State Department. Will Democrats put their misgivings behind them in order to rein in Trump?

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 28: President Donald Trump holds up one of the executive actions that he signed in the Oval Office on January 28, 2017 in Washington, DC. The actions outline a reorganization of the National Security Council, implement a five year lobbying ban on administration officials and a lifetime ban on administration officials lobbying for a foreign country and calls on military leaders to present a report to the president in 30 days that outlines a strategy for defeating ISIS. (Photo by Pet

How Russia's Muslims view Trump's anti-Islam stance

Russia is home to 20 million Muslims, yet many officials and citizens are withholding judgment — at least publicly — on the US ban to keep out people from seven Muslim-majority countries.

Why this Iranian conservative-turned-moderate will succeed Rafsanjani

Conservative-turned-moderate Iranian parliament Speaker Ali Larijani increasingly appears the most suited figure to assume the influential role that was played by Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on leaving the office to report, film or take pictures in Tehran.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei departs after casting his ballot in the parliamentary election in Tehran March 2, 2012. Polls opened on Friday for a parliamentary election in Iran that will test the popularity of the clerical establishment at a time of a standoff with the West over the country's nuclear programme. REUTERS/Caren Firouz (IRAN - Tags

Khamenei thanks Trump for 'revealing real face of US'

Iran’s supreme leader on Feb. 7 thanked President Donald Trump for revealing “the real face of the US.” Meanwhile, the Iranian foreign minister stated that the international community will not accept a renegotiation of the nuclear deal.

U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis (L) welcomes Jordan King Abdullah at the Pentagon in Washington, U.S., January 30, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas - RTSY39K

Why king’s visit to Washington was essential for Jordan

King Abdullah’s visit to the United States, where he met with President Donald Trump, helped reassure Jordanians that US military and economic support for the kingdom will continue.

U.S. President Donald Trump salutes as he arrives at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, U.S., February 6, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria - RTX2ZVRM

Why the US might cut Palestinian aid drastically

The Palestinian Authority worries that the new US administration will withhold aid, in part to pressure Palestinians to return to the negotiating table with the Israelis.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem February 5, 2017. REUTERS/Dan Balilty/Pool - RTX2ZOA1

Netanyahu trapped between right-wing settlement law, US president

Confronted with a yet-unknown position by US President Donald Trump and continuous pressure from his coalition partners, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu keeps changing his mind about the settlement Regularization law.

A U.S. Army Special Forces personnel provides training for Iraqi fighters from Hashid Shaabi at Makhmur camp in Iraq December 11, 2016. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem - RTX2UHZB

Armed Iraqi factions threaten to target Americans in response to travel ban

While the Iraqi government cautiously follows up on the impacts of the US executive order to ban Iraqis from the United States, some Shiite militias threaten to target Americans in Iraq in response to the new US policy.