| 1 |
With some 86 percent of the votes counted, former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing allies appear to have won enough seats to form a majority in the 120-seat Knesset, ousting Yair Lapid’s government from office.
In his victory speech at a party rally in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said a government under his leadership would serve all the people and expand both external and internal peace. Netanyahu, who in 2020 forged formal diplomatic ties with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, said a government under his leadership would act responsibly, avoid “unnecessary adventures,” and “expand the circle of peace.”
Netanyahu’s possible coalition comprises his Likud party, the far-right Religious Zionism party, and ultra-Orthodox parties Shas and United Torah Judaism.
Lapid’s Yesh Atid is expected to win 24 mandates, with some of his current partners already announcing their retirement to the opposition. In response to the results, the Prime Minister’s office announced Lapid would not be attending next week’s UN climate conference in Egypt.
Surprisingly, Israelis turned out in massive numbers for the country’s fifth election in less than four years. The morning and afternoon percentages of ballots cast were the highest since 1999, and the final turnout of 71.3% was the highest since 2015.
In related news, a disinformation watchdog warned on Tuesday that a network of fake social media accounts tried to influence the polls by calling on Israelis to boycott the election. Some 300 Twitter accounts, which FakeReporter said were likely operated by Iran, were taken down after Israeli Justice Ministry officials were made aware of the matter.
| 2 |
An IDF officer was seriously injured on Wednesday morning in a combined car-ramming and stabbing attack near the Israeli city of Modiin, the military announced. Footage of the incident, which happened at a checkpoint on Route 443, showed a van hitting the officer before the driver attempted to assault his victim with an axe.
The injured soldier responded by fatally shooting the Palestinian terrorist. The officer, a male in his 20s, was taken to the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, where medical officials said he was listed in serious but stable condition.
The military asked for the recording not to be shared publicly.
The attack came a day after Israel’s election, during which Jerusalem imposed a full closure on crossings for Palestinians between the West Bank and Israel. The measure was lifted at midnight between Tuesday and Wednesday.
Notably, Wednesday’s car-ramming was the latest in a string of attacks targeting Israeli soldiers and civilians. On Sunday, a Palestinian driver plowed his vehicle into bus stops at two locations in the Judean Desert, injuring five. That incident followed shortly after a deadly shooting near the city of Hebron.
Meanwhile, Israel’s police announced it had arrested a resident of Yafia, an Arab town near Nazareth, in connection with the attempted abduction of a Jewish woman in Tiberias on Tuesday. Initial findings pointed to a “nationalist [terrorist] motive,” a spokesperson said, while stressing that the investigation is ongoing.
| 3 |
The Biden Administration is not “wasting time” on pursuing a revised nuclear agreement with Iran “if nothing’s going to happen,” US Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley divulged this week, while stressing Washington’s commitment to diplomacy with the Islamic Republic.
Speaking at an event hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Malley said, “several times we came very close” to a deal to rejoin the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), adding: “Each time we came close, Iran came up with one new extraneous demand that derailed the talks.”
“We are not going to focus on something that is inert when other things are happening,” he continued, referring to the anti-government protests in Iran and Tehran’s decision “to get involved in a war in Europe” by transferring weapons to Russia.
At least 270 people have been killed and thousands arrested in nationwide demonstrations sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in custody after being detained by the Iranian morality police for not covering her hair in accordance with local Islamic laws.
At the same time, The New York Times revealed that some 50 members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the Crimean Peninsula are currently training Russian forces on how to deploy Iranian-made suicide drones against Ukrainian targets.
Despite the standstill in the nuclear talks, Malley defended the White House’s continued efforts to engage with Iran, stating that President Biden has “a preference for diplomacy” but will use “other tools, and in last resort, a military option if necessary, to stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.”
| 4 |
Britain’s National Union of Students (NUS) has sacked its president, Shaima Dallali, following a months-long independent investigation into antisemitic comments she made on social media. Dallali had been suspended from her role since August.
In a statement, the NUS said: “Following the independent KC-led investigation into allegations of antisemitism, specifically into the then-President Elect under the NUS Code of Conduct, an independent panel has found that significant breaches of NUS’ policies have taken place. As per this finding, we have terminated the President’s contract.”
The union, which represents over six million students, added: “We are sorry for the harm that has been caused and we hope to rebuild the NUS in an inclusive way — fighting for all students as we have done for the past 100 years.” It is believed to be the first time in the 100-year history of the organization that a leader has been suspended or fired.
Antisemitism is abhorrent and I welcome this verdict from the NUS. However, this is only the first step in addressing antisemitism allegations within the organisation and am very keen to see further action that they are taking concerns from Jewish students seriously 👇 https://t.co/ciGEwHCibz
— Robert Halfon MP ➡️Working Hard for Harlow⬅️ (@halfon4harlowMP) November 1, 2022
Dallali, who was voted in for a two-year term in July, had posted a series of antisemitic tweets, including one that stated: “Khaybar Khaybar O Jews … Muhammed’s army will return #Gaza,” which references the Muslim massacre of Jews in the town of the same name in northwestern Arabia in 628 CE.
Dallali also reportedly used the slur “dirty Zionist” in reference to Jordanian-Emirati preacher Dr. Waseem Yousef after he called Hamas terrorists during the war against Israel last May.
Responding to Tuesday’s announcement, the Union of Jewish Students commented: “UJS respects the decision of the National Union of Students to dismiss their President. Antisemitism in the student movement goes beyond the actions of any one individual and this case is a symptom of a wider problem.”
Recommended Reading
- Honor the Election Results – Regardless of the Outcome (President Isaac Herzog, Israel Hayom)
- The Topsy Turvy Beat of the Israeli Elections (Todd Berman, Times of Israel)
- A Photo in ‘the New York Times’ Reveals an Inconvenient Truth (Stephen M. Flatow, Jewish News Syndicate)
- Musk Must Consider Social Media’s Impact on Terrorism – Opinion (Emily Schrader, Jerusalem Post)
- The Israeli Nurse Who Travels the World to Disasters (Diana Bletter, ISRAEL21c)
Featured Image: Menahem Kahana/AFP via Getty Images, Tomer Neuberg/Picture Alliance via Getty Images, Tatohra via Shutterstock
