Lazar Berman

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Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter

The remains of a missile fired from Iran into, seen in the forests of Safed, October 6, 2024. (David Cohen/Flash90)

October 11, 2024, 3:25 pm

Israeli official: No decision on Iran attack; Israel, US in tune on strategic challenges

Cabinet takes no definitive ‘big decisions’ on avenging missile barrage; Gallant’s US trip still on hold; Tehran said to threaten West’s Arab allies if they assist Israeli strike

By Lazar Berman, Jacob Magid and ToI Staff

Armored vehicles of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) are pictured during a patrol around Marjayoun in south Lebanon on October 8, 2024. ( AFP)

October 11, 2024, 4:39 am

Israel denounced for fire on UNIFIL posts as UN says some peacekeepers relocating

IDF says it told interim force to enter protected spaces before tank fire that injured two Blue Helmets at Naqoura headquarters in southern Lebanon, sparking wide condemnation

By Lazar Berman and Agencies

91st Division commander Brig. Gen. Shai Klepper (R) in southern Lebanon in a Hezbollah weapons cache his troops uncovered, October 10, 2024. (Lazar Berman/Times of Israel)

October 10, 2024, 7:00 pm

Finally on the offensive, IDF’s 91st Division slices through Hezbollah’s front lines

Reservists sustain casualties during second week of ground offensive, but assert control over Lebanon border area and Radwan weapons caches

By Lazar Berman

October 9, 2024, 9:20 pm

Israeli arrested in Beirut, after entering Lebanon as journalist on foreign passport

Joshua Tartakovsky, 42, is a graduate of Brown University, LSE; Israeli official tells TOI government is responding to case, urges citizens not to enter enemy countries

By ToI Staff and Lazar Berman

Senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine (C) attends the funeral ceremony of slain top commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut's southern suburbs on August 1, 2024. (Khaled Desouki/AFP)

October 8, 2024, 10:06 pm

Netanyahu: Israel killed ‘Nasrallah’s replacement, and his replacement’s replacement’

PM presumably referring to Hashem Safieddine, targeted in raid last week, though neither Hezbollah nor IDF have said he’s dead; urges Lebanese to ‘free your country from Hezbollah’

By Lazar Berman and Emanuel Fabian

US President Joe Biden (right) meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, July 25, 2024. (AP/Susan Walsh)

October 8, 2024, 7:28 pm

Biden said to call Netanyahu ‘a f**king liar’ after Israeli troops entered Rafah

According to new book from journalist Bob Woodward, the US president yelled at Israeli PM for having ‘no strategy’ for operation, said Israel was perceived as a ‘rogue state’

By Lazar Berman

France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot holds a press conference in Jerusalem on October 7, 2024, after his meeting with his Israeli counterpart. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP)

October 8, 2024, 9:06 am

French FM backs Macron’s calls for arms ban, argues it’s for Israel’s security

‘When we call for a ceasefire, we cannot at the same time provide offensive weapons to the belligerents,’ Jean-Noel Barrot says as he meets various Israeli officials

By Lazar Berman

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a cabinet meeting on October 7, 2024 (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)

October 7, 2024, 6:15 pm

Netanyahu suggests changing name of Gaza war to ‘War of Revival’

Unsatisfied with existing moniker ‘Swords of Iron,’ PM tells cabinet official name of conflict should reflect nature of battle; Lapid pans proposal

By ToI Staff, Lazar Berman and Sam Sokol

Israelis visit the site of the October 7 Supernova music festival massacre, on October 6, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

October 6, 2024, 11:57 pm

‘We are all still in pain’: Oct. 7 anniversary arrives as new footage of attack emerges

IDF chief: Commemoration is day of ‘deep soul-searching’ as Israel continues fight ‘for our right to be a free people in our land’; Herzog: We aim for ‘space for national mourning’

By Emanuel Fabian, Lazar Berman and ToI Staff

IDF troops are seen operating in southern Lebanon, in a handout photo published October 6, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

October 6, 2024, 11:49 pm

IDF strikes 150 Hezbollah targets in 24 hours; rocket attack wounds man in north

Troops find weapons in almost every home in some villages, officers say; military imposes third closed zone on border; UN refugee chief warns of migration crisis from airstrikes

By Emanuel Fabian, Lazar Berman and Agencies

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) shakes hands with French President Emmanuel Macron (L), as they hold a joint press conference in Jerusalem on October 24, 2023. (Christophe Ena/Pool/AFP)

October 6, 2024, 10:25 pm

Macron speaks with Netanyahu, but doesn’t retract his call for arms embargo

PM says he expects friends to stand behind Israel as France pushes for ceasefire in Lebanon and Gaza, a day after calling the French leader’s actions a ‘disgrace’

By Lazar Berman

President Isaac Herzog at a memorial ceremony for former president Shimon Peres, at the Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem, on September 4, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

October 6, 2024, 10:09 pm

Herzog exhorts Iranians, Lebanese to ‘rise up’ against Tehran-led anti-Israel axis

In interview on Saudi TV, president calls current moment ‘a golden opportunity’ for moderate states to reshape Middle East, suggests ‘NATO-like structure’ to block radicalism

By Lazar Berman and ToI Staff

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks in a video message released on October 5, 2024. (Telegram screenshot used in accordance of clause 27a of the copyright law)

October 5, 2024, 11:56 pm

Netanyahu: Israel has duty and right to hit back at Iran for missile attack, will do so

Prime minister says no country would accept rocket barrages on its citizens, and neither will Israel, touts successes in north against Iran’s proxy Hezbollah

By Lazar Berman and ToI Staff

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) greets French President Emmanuel Macron before a meeting in Jerusalem on October 24, 2023. (Christophe Ena / POOL / AFP)

October 5, 2024, 6:03 pm

‘A disgrace’: Netanyahu slams Macron call to stop Israel of arms for use in Gaza

French leader says continuing conflict bad for Israeli security, spreads ‘hatred’; PM retorts: ‘Their shame will continue long after the war is won’; Élysée calls words ‘excessive’

By Lazar Berman, AFP and ToI Staff

A handout picture provided by the the office of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei shows him (L) and Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian during a meeting with the president and his cabinet in Tehran on August 27, 2024. (KHAMENEI.IR/AFP)

October 2, 2024, 5:28 pm

A nervous Iran wanted to restore old regional order, but Israel is on the offensive

Hardliners seem to have won the day in Tehran, but instead of deterring Netanyahu, they have likely sparked a painful, direct strike on Iranian territory – possibly the first of many

By Lazar Berman