Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

October 28, 2026 8:49 AM

Israeli exit polls show deadlock, point to setback for Netanyahu

Israel's wartime election appeared deadlocked on Tuesday, exit polls showed, with Gadi Eisenkot's opposition bloc running neck and neck with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's camp, leaving neither side with a clear path to power. The projections pointed to a setback for Netanyahu's coalition and potentially weeks of political wrangling to form a government, though the deadlock could allow Israel's longest-serving prime minister to remain in power as caretaker during coalition negotiations. "...

October 27, 2026 4:25 PM

Fastest turnout in 45 years as Israelis pass wartime judgment on Netanyahu

Israelis surged to the polls at the fastest rate in 45 years on Tuesday, passing wartime judgment on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in what voters described as the most consequential election in their history. In the first election since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks, voters are passionately engaged over the trauma of the country's deadliest day, and the ensuing wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran. Policies of Netanyahu's right-wing coalition have been divisive at home and have deepened...

September 28, 2026 12:24 PM

Israel revokes diplomatic status of Dutch diplomats in Ramallah

Israel said on Sunday it was revoking the diplomatic status of Dutch diplomats who represent the Netherlands at the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority, in response to Dutch sanctions targeting Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Israel earlier this month ordered the closure of the British Consulate in East Jerusalem, which is Britain's representative with the Palestinian Authority, after London announced similar sanctions banning the import of goods from settlements. Dutch Foreign...

July 27, 2026 12:06 PM

Israel to allow international force into Gaza, Israeli official says

Israel will allow a multinational security force to enter Gaza as proposed under U.S. President Donald Trump's ceasefire plan for the enclave, an Israeli official said on Sunday, a day before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heads to Washington. Netanyahu's security cabinet on Sunday approved the legal framework that would allow the force's entry to Gaza, the official said. Netanyahu is scheduled to depart for Washington on Monday and is expected to meet Trump on Tuesday. The official said th...

May 29, 2026 9:46 AM

Netanyahu directs Israeli forces to expand Gaza control to 70 percent

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday he had directed Israel's military to take more of Gaza, initially by seizing 70% of the Palestinian territory, where the population is already penned into a tiny strip of land along the coast. Israel effectively controls an estimated 64% of the tiny coastal Strip, bombarded to ruins by Israel's two-year military assault that followed the 2023 Hamas attack on southern Israel. Under an October U.S.-brokered truce that has failed to halt Israeli ...

May 21, 2026 10:35 AM

Israel’s parliament has voted to dissolve itself. What’s next?

Israel's parliament approved a bill on Wednesday to dissolve itself, potentially bringing forward by a few weeks the next national election, which surveys predict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will lose. WHEN IS THE BALLOT? An election date is yet to be set. Israel is supposed to hold a national vote every four years but early elections have happened often. The last national election was in November 2022 and the next ballot is due at the latest on October 27. After voting to dissolve parl...

March 9, 2026 9:13 AM

Iran names Khamenei’s hardline son Mojtaba as new supreme leader

Iran on Monday named Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his father Ali Khamenei as supreme leader, signaling that hardliners remain firmly in charge, as the week-old U.S.-Israeli war with Iran pushed oil above $100 a barrel. Mojtaba, a cleric with influence inside Iran's security forces and vast business networks under his father, had been viewed as a frontrunner in the lead-up to Sunday's vote by the Assembly of Experts, a body of 88 clerics tasked with choosing Ali Khamenei's successor. "By a decis...

March 3, 2026 10:19 PM

Tehran and Beirut judder from US-Israeli attacks as oil soars, shares slide

Explosions tore through Tehran and Beirut on Tuesday and stock markets around the world tumbled while oil prices soared at the prospect of a prolonged disruption to global energy supplies from the U.S.-Israeli air war against Iran. Iranian drones struck the U.S. embassy in Saudi Arabia after previously hitting the mission in Kuwait. Washington responded by shutting both embassies and ordering non-emergency government personnel and their families to leave countries across the Middle East. A day...

March 3, 2026 8:07 PM

Iran war enters fourth day in ‘smoke and blood’ as markets slide

Explosions tore through Tehran and Beirut on Tuesday and financial markets around the world tumbled at the prospect of a prolonged disruption to global energy supplies from the U.S.-Israeli air war against Iran. Iranian drones slammed into the U.S. embassy in Saudi Arabia, causing minor damage and starting a fire, after previously hitting the mission in Kuwait. Washington responded by shutting those missions and ordering non-emergency government personnel and their families to leave countries a...

February 25, 2026 10:51 PM

“It’s a real thing”: PM Netanyahu hails ‘Modi hug’ as symbol of “wondrous” India-Israel friendship

Celebrating the exceptional personal chemistry and diplomatic synergy between the two nations, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed his Indian counterpart at the Israeli Parliament Knesset, describing the relationship as a "wondrous friendship, both personally between the two of us and between our two countries and our peoples." The leader shared a heartfelt reflection on the reception earlier in the day at the airport. "Earlier today, my wife Sara and I greeted you at the airport. And j...