News Digest — 6/26/26
Israel-Lebanon Talks Extended to Fourth Day As Deal On IDF Withdrawal remains Elusive
Israel and Lebanon on Thursday (25th) wrapped up a third day of US-mediated negotiations in Washington without an agreement on a partial Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon, although the sides agreed to extend talks for an extra day, an Israeli embassy spokesperson told The Times of Israel, with negotiators to reconvene Friday (26th) at the State Department.
The fifth round was supposed to wrap up Thursday (25th) at the State Department, with the US hoping it would culminate with the signing of a framework agreement that would include Israel partially withdrawing from small areas of its large buffer zone in southern Lebanon. Israeli troops would then be replaced by members of the Lebanese Armed Forces.
The areas where this changing of the guard is planned for, have been dubbed “pilot zones.” An Israeli source argued that it could barely be called a withdrawal because the IDF would still be maintaining its six-mile-deep buffer zone in southern Lebanon and only pulling back from areas that it has already cleared of Hezbollah infrastructure.
Despite the lack of an agreement between Israel and Lebanon, a source familiar with the talks told the news media that the sides made progress Thursday (26th) after a rocky first two days.
Jerusalem and Beirut argued that the memorandum of understanding undercut a key element of their direct talks, which the US specifically established to try and prevent Iran from having a say on affairs in Lebanon.
The US conduct led Israel to initially harden its position in talks with Lebanon this week, significantly limiting the areas from southern Lebanon from which it said it was prepared to withdraw, the source said.
Lebanon, meanwhile, felt that it had to take a harder line in negotiations with Israel to counter the notion that Iran wields greater influence over affairs in Lebanese territory than it does, the sources said.
Thursday’s (25th) talks saw gaps between the sides on the potential Israeli withdrawal-shrink, though still not enough for a deal to be reached, the source said.
However, due to significant US pressure on the parties to end this week’s negotiations with some sort of deal,they have agreed to return to the State Department on Friday (26th) to see if a consensus can be reached, the source explained.
Quds Force Chief Warns Israel: Evacuate Lebanon Or Face Humiliating Defeat
A stern ultimatum was issued by Iran on Thursday (25th) as a top military official warned the Israeli military to evacuate Lebanese territory entirely or face a catastrophic, forced retreat.
The declaration came from Brigadier General Esmail Qaani, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps elite Quds Force, during a broadcast shared by Iranian state media outlets.
“You must leave all of Lebanon,” Qaani said, adding, “This land is a field of steadfastness and resistance, not a playground for occupiers.”
He further cautioned that a voluntary exit is Israel’s only alternative to a disastrous military rout, stating, “If you do not withdraw of your own accord today, tomorrow you will be forced to flee in humiliation and defeat.”
The Quds Force plays a foundational role in managing Tehran’s network of regional non-state allies, chief among them being Hezbollah. Iran provides extensive financial backing, advanced drone and missile tech, and strategic oversight to the Lebanese terrorist group, viewing it as a cornerstone of its forward deterrence strategy against Israel.
The public military threat coincides with intense diplomatic maneuvering behind the scenes, where Iran has aggressively demanded that Lebanon be integrated into the core parameters of its ongoing war-ending negotiations with the United States.
Following the recent drafting of an interim memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Washington and Tehran, Iranian diplomats have adamantly insisted that the agreement’s mandate for a comprehensive ceasefire directly hinges on an absolute Israeli military withdrawal from Lebanese soil, a stipulation that Israeli leadership has fiercely resisted as it attempts to maintain a southern security buffer.
Qaani was appointed head of the Quds Force in 2020 succeeding Qassem Soleimani, who was eliminated in a US drone strike near Baghdad International Airport.
However, several weeks later, a video posted by Iran’s Tasnim news agency showed Qaani among the crowd at an event in the Iranian capital celebrating what Iran views as its “victory” over Israel.
Former British Army Commander Richard Kemp: ‘Israel Is Not A Proxy Of The US’
Former British Army Commander Col. Richard Kemp said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will continue to put Israel’s security interests first despite close ties with the United States, while also warning that rising antisemitism has left many British Jews questioning their future in the country.
Speaking Thursday (25th) in an interview with Israel National News at the JNS International Policy Summit, Kemp rejected suggestions that Israel has become subordinate to Washington following the agreement with Iran.
“I think Israel is far from a proxy or a vassal of the US,” Kemp said.
While describing Prime Minister Netanyahu’s relationship with President Trump as “extraordinary,” Kemp said the Israel leader remains guided by Israel’s national interests above all else.
“Under Prime Minister Netanyahu, who has, by the way, an extraordinary relationship with President Trump, even through thick and thin, they don’t always see eye to eye. But as I understand, they understand each other,” he said.
Kemp added that Netanyahu’s “number one priority is not America. It is not even with America. It’s Israel’s national interest,” and said he expects the prime minister to define Israel’s security red lines and maintain them, “particularly “ regarding Lebanon.
Addressing criticism of President Trump’s handling of the Iran agreement, Kemp said some Israelis may believe the president “made the wrong decision” or “betrayed Israel” but argued that the US president is pursuing broader American strategic interests.
He also said President Trump would not remain committed to the memorandum of understanding if it failed to achieve its objectives.
“I don’t think it’s the end of the war. And I don’t think it’s necessarily a failure either. It’s probably a bump in the road,” Kemp said of the agreement.
The former British Commander also expressed concern about the state of Britain’s Jewish community , saying antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment have driven many Jews to consider leaving the country.
“I think the situation is quite bad,” he said, adding that many British Jews “either have left Britain, are thinking about leaving or are in the process of leaving.”
Kemp also commented on British politics following the resignation of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, saying the news would likely be welcomed by many voters because Starmer had been deeply unpopular. However, he cautioned that a change in leadership was unlikely to improve Britain’s relationship with Israel, arguing that opposition to Israel remains widespread among the governing party’s supporters.
Sa’ar To Submit Resolution Recognizing Armenian Genocide, Amid tensions With Turkey
A day after US President Donald Trump praised Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and as Washington weighs a sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, Israel is moving toward a step Erdogan is unlikely to welcome.
At the next government meeting, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar will propose a resolution for the official recognition by the Goovernment of Israel of the Armenian Genocide.
The proposed resolution states that, based on a moral and historical obligation, Israel will recognize the genocide committed against the Armenian people during the final years of the Ottoman Empire. It further states that any denial, minimization, or distortion of the historical truth of these events must be condemned.
The resolution will subsequently be brought before the Knesset for approval as well.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly recognized the Armenian Genocide for the first time in August 2025.
“The Armenian Genocide began in April 1915, with the arrest, deportation, and killing of hundreds of Armenian intellectuals, leaders, and members of the educated elite in Constantimople. Following the elimination of the community’s leadership, the Ottoman authorities turned to the systematic elimination of the Armenian population. Men were conscripted into forced labor and murdered. Women, children and the elderly were expelled from their homes and sent on long death marches toward the Syrian desert, during which they were subjected to mass murder, rape, deliberate starvation, and dehydration. These atrocities led to the deaths of approximately 1.5 million people and the destruction of a cultural and historical heritage spanning thousands of years across Anatolia.
Despite extensive and unequivocal historical documentation, the Armenian Genocide remains the subject of an organized campaign of denial and minimization, including the manipulative rewriting of history books, primarily by Turkey.
“To date, 32 countries have recognized the Armenian Genocide in various ways, through parliamentary resolutions, legislation, or official declarations.
“In light of this moral and historical obligation, it is proposed that the Government of Israel recognize the genocide committed against the Armenian people during the final years of the Ottoman Empire. In addition, given ongoing attempts to blur, minimize, or deny the atrocities of the Armenian Genocide, the proposal calls for condemning the efforts to distort the historical truth of these events”
For Israel The Memorandum Of Understanding With Iran Is An Existential Question Of Survival – Amichai Chikli
Israelis were told that the war with Iran was over last week, yet the shooting continued into the weekend and at least five Israeli soldiers were killed by the Islamic Republic’s Hezbollah proxy in Lebanon. For us, Washington and Tehran’s “Memorandum of Understanding” isn’t a policy debate, it’s an existential question of survival, deterrence, and the balance of power in the Middle East.
Israelis know that our interests are aligned with but not identical to those of our friends in America. We also know that the current disagreement doesn’t diminish Donald Trump’s historic support for the Jewish state. We’ve never had a stronger ally in the White House.
The Islamic Republic isn’t a normal state. It is a revolutionary, imperialist dictatorship bent on exerting its will around the globe. For 47 years, the Iranian regime has systematically lied to the international community, armed terrorist proxies, called for Israel’s destruction, and brutally oppressed its own people.
An alarming development is the Islamic coalition, led by Turkey, that helped bring about this moment. Turkey under Recep Tayyip Erdogan has become one of the most destabilizing powers in the region, fueled by a poisonous blend of Islamic ideology and neo-Ottoman imperialism.
Israel learned on October 7, 2023, what happens when you refuse to take your enemies at their word. We now listen carefully to the jihadist slogans of al-Sharaa’s forces in Syria, the imperial and antisemitic declarations of Turkey’s leadership, and the Iranian regime’s contempt to the US.
Stability can’t be gained by empowering those who reject the foundations of the Free World. Peace can’t be bought by rewarding regimes and movements that treat diplomacy as a tactical break between rounds of aggression. And the goal of Israel’s destruction can’t be treated as a legitimate grievance.
The Middle East punishes wishful thinking without mercy. It will do so again if the West continues to mistake Islamism for pragmatism, appeasement for diplomacy, and silence for stability.
The writer is the Israeli Minister of Diaspora Affairs.
A Parliamentary Debate Over “Pro-Israel Influence” Sends A Dreadful Message – Dame Louise Ellman
This week our parliament will stage a debate on “pro-Israel influence on politics and democracy in Britain.” Jews have been stabbed in the streets, murdered at their synagogues, and harassed and intimidated in schools, hospitals, campuses, and somehow, the real problem Britain faces is the alleged outsize influence of the “pro-Israel lobby.” It is the result of a petition pushed by a plethora of extremist groups – like 5Pillars, an Islamist news site – clearing the 100,000 signatures requiring a parliamentary debate.
This debate is nothing short of an opportunity for centuries-old antisemitic tropes about Jews, money and power to be peddled and propagated in the mother of parliaments. It is a dark and disturbing day for Britain. As the late Lord Sacks, the former Chief Rabbi suggested in 2017: “In the Middle Ages Jews were hated because of their religion. In the 19th and early 20th century they were hated because of their race. Today they are hated because of their nation state, the state of Israel.”
The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Definition of antisemitism is explicit: “Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective – such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions,” is antisemitic.
I know first-hand how disturbing and distressing anti-Zionist antisemitism can be. I was subjected to unrelenting hate because I spoke out against antisemitism and I was forced to leave the Labour party – my political home for 55 years.
The writer is a former member of Parliament.
