Nov. 5: Biden administration caught off-guard by firing of Gallant on US Election Day

Video shows MK being shoved by cop in Tel Aviv, bonfires still burning on highway

Israelis block the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv as they protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to fire Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, November 5, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

A video online shows a police officer in Tel Aviv shoving MK Gilad Kariv during a heated exchange.

The short video shows the officer pushing Kariv, a rabbi and Knesset lawmaker for The Democrats (formerly Labor), first with his body and then shoving him violently with both arms as the two yell at each other in the middle of a large crowd.

קצין משטרה דוחף את ח״כ גלעד קריב באיילון צפון pic.twitter.com/5db7VAFKPH

— Bar Peleg (@bar_peleg) November 5, 2024

The incident takes place on the Ayalon highway in central Tel Aviv, which police are attempting to clear.

Dozens remain on the highway, out of the hundreds who previously blocked it, and at least two bonfires are continuing to blaze on the asphalt.

Five arrested in Jerusalem, Haifa protests

Five people protesting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to fire Defense Minister Yoav Gallant have been arrested in Jerusalem and Haifa, police say, re-opening the Route 1 highway in the capital.

Three demonstrators in Jerusalem are detained for “attacking police and breaking through barriers” near Azza Street in Jerusalem, where protesters have gathered outside Netanyahu’s residence, police say in a statement.

Traffic on Route 1 into the capital, which protesters had blocked with stones, is also flowing again, authorities say.

In Haifa, police say they arrested two people, including one demonstrator suspected of lighting a bonfire on a road. No reason is given for the second arrest.

“Some of the protesters fought with police there and at a certain point began to march toward the highway to disrupt traffic,” police there say in a statement.

Herzog urges leaders to act with responsibility amid war: ‘Israel’s security must be above all considerations’

President Isaac Herzog speaks during a swearing in ceremony for new chief rabbis at the President Residence in Jerusalem, November 4, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Without mentioning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, President Isaac Herzog says that “the last thing Israel needs right now is an upheaval and a rupture in the middle of the war. Israel’s security must be above all considerations.”

“One hundred and one hostages are still in enemy captivity this evening,” writes Herzog on X. “Thousands of bereaved girls and family members mourn their shattered world. Many reservists bear the burden of protecting the people and the homeland and cry out together with their families for a broad Israeli partnership. Thousands of our brothers are evacuated from their homes for over a year.”

“We must not go back towards the abyss!” Herzog cautions. “Israel’s enemies are only waiting for a sign of weakness, disintegration or division within us.”

He calls on Israel’s leadership to “act with great responsibility.”

Official close to Netanyahu claims Gallant fired for professional reasons

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a video statement announcing the firing of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on November 5, 2024. (GPO screenshot)

An official close to the Prime Minister tells The Time of Israel that Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was fired for professional reasons, and not because of coalition politics.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, says that Gallant “functioned as a rubber stamp for the IDF and did not challenge it even once.”

The defense minister, claims the official, advocated a diplomatic solution in Lebanon six months ago that would not have diminished Hezbollah’s capabilities, and opposed the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah until the IDF backed the move.

On Gaza, claims the official, Gallant resisted the IDF going into Rafah because of American pressure, and fought against Netanyahu’s and most of the cabinet’s position on the need to remain on the Philadelphi corridor.

The official adds that Gallant “opposes taking any responsibility for the distribution of humanitarian aid, which perpetuates the Hamas government in Gaza.”

The achievements Gallant “boasted about tonight in his speech,” says the official, “are actually decisions that he opposed in real time, and that the prime minister pushed and promoted.”

Business leaders slam ‘dangerous’ firing of Gallant

Israelis block the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv as they protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to fire Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, November 5, 2024. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

The Israel Business Forum, which represents most workers in the private sector in the country, says firing Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and appointing a minister without any security experience in the middle of a war is a “dangerous move.”

“This is a huge blow to the serving public and a reward to our enemies,” the forum warns. “A prime minister who prefers political survival and personal interests over the security of the country does not deserve to remain in office.”

The forum of 200 leading businesses includes mall chain Big Shopping Centers, the Azrieli Group and banking institutions.

Hebrew media reports that business leaders and the Histadrut Labor Union are discussing calling for a strike to protest the move.

Netanyahu says he spoke with IDF, Shin Bet chiefs, reassured them after firing Gallant

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sits on one side of a desk, as his chief of staff Tazchi Braverman takes notes at the head of the desk, in a meeting with to[ security officials: (L-R) Maj. Gen. Ronen Gofman, the premier's military aide; IDF Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi; Defense Minister Yoav Gallant; Mossad chief David Barnea; and Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, at the IDF's Kirya headquarters in Tel Aviv, October 2, 2024. (Maayan Toaf/GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and Mossad Director David Barnea, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.

He tells them that he “looks forward to joint work along with the new defense minister.”

The statement comes amid reports he plans to replace Halevi and Bar after firing Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Lapid: Gallant’s salute will be engraved in the memory of Israelis

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant salutes as a sign of respect to Israel's security forces at the end of a press conference and after he was fired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv, November 5, 2024. (Shira Keinan/Defense Ministry)

Opposition Chief Yair Lapid says the salute given by fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant will be engraved in the collective memory of Israelis as an act of defiance.

“Gallant’s salute at the end of his speech will be engraved in the memory of every Israeli,” says Lapid.

“This is how an officer and fighter who was fired only because he refused to prefer Netanyahu’s wretched politics over the good of the fighters and the lives of the hostages,” Lapid says.

Police scuffle with protesters in Jerusalem, detain at least one

Police standover a detained protester in Jerusalem, November 5, 2024. (Iddo Schejter/Times of Israel)

Several clashes break out between police and demonstrators in Jerusalem with police dragging demonstrators aside to detain them.

Police detain one protester who is a minor after he tried to break through a barricade.

The police dragged the protester to a back alley followed by dozens of demonstrators calling for his release, which the police eventually allow.

After being fired, Gallant says ‘moral darkness’ surrounds us, calls to return hostages, draft ultra-Orthodox, establish Oct. 7 inquiry

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant salutes as a sign of respect to Israel's security forces at the end of a press conference and after he was fired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv, November 5, 2024. (Reuters/Nir Elias)

After being fired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an emotional Defense Minister Yoav Gallant says he was dismissed over three issues — the sharing of the defense burden; the imperative to bring back the hostages; and the need to learn lessons through a state commission of inquiry into October 7 and the war that followed.

On the IDF draft, he says that “the issue isn’t only a social one, but is a topic central to our existence — the security of Israel and the nation that sits in Zion.”

Israel will be facing complex challenges in the coming years, he says. “In these circumstances, there is no choice. Everyone must serve in the IDF, and participate in the mission of defending Israel.”

He warns that the “discriminatory, corrupt law” on Haredi enlistment that the coalition is pushing must not be allowed to pass.

On the hostages in Gaza, he hints strongly that Israel should take a deal to get the hostages out even if it leaves Hamas in Gaza. “Whoever dies among the hostages can never be returned. There isn’t and will never be atonement for abandoning the hostages. It will become a mark of Cain on the forehead of Israeli society, and on those who are leading this mistaken path.”

He calls for a government investigation into October 7, citing the need to get at the truth and extract military, political and security lessons. Gallant says that this is the only way to prepare Israeli forces for future challenges.

Choking up, he says that Israel’s security is his life’s mission.

Gallant praises Israel’s war effort: “We struck in Gaza and Lebanon, the terror in Judea and Samaria. We eliminated terror leaders in the world and across the Middle East. We operated for the first time in a precise, lethal and swift strike in Iran.”

“Since October 7, I’ve focused on one mission — victory in the war,” he says.

Gallant warns of “a moral darkness” that “surrounds us.”

He does not mention Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The retired naval commando and general ends his remarks with a salute to the war-fallen, the hostages and their families.

IDF downs two drones launched from Iraq

Two drones launched from Iraq at Israel were shot down by the Israeli Air Force a short while ago, the military says.

One of the drones entered Israeli airspace in the Arava Desert, close to Ramon Airport, setting off sirens in the southern community of Elipaz.

The second drone was shot down before entering Israeli airspace, the military says.

The Iran-backed Islamic Resistance in Iraq takes responsibility for launching the drones.

Pentagon says Gallant was a ‘trusted partner,’ will work closely with successor

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, left, greets Defense Minister Yoav Gallant as he arrives during an honor cordon at the Pentagon on June 25, 2024 in Arlington, Virginia. (Andrew Harnik/ Getty Images via AFP)

The Pentagon says that Yoav Gallant, whom Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired as defense minister on Tuesday, has been a “trusted partner,” and says it will continue to work closely with Israel’s next defense minister.

“America’s commitment to Israel’s security remains ironclad and the US Department of Defense will continue to work closely with Israel’s next Minister of Defense,” Pentagon spokesman Major General Patrick Ryder says in a statement.

Thousands blocking Tel Aviv highway to protest ‘traitor’ Netanyahu

Israelis light a bonfire during a protest after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Thousands of people block Tel Aviv’s Ayalon Highway, central Israel’s main traffic artery, in a spontaneous demonstration sparked by the ouster of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Protesters have stopped traffic in both directions, lit numerous bonfires and erected makeshift roadblocks with what appears to be uprooted road signs and abandoned construction materials.

Few police officers are on site. The spontaneous nature of the demonstrations means that police had not blocked the entrances to the thoroughfare with trucks, as they usually do for the weekly Saturday night protests.

While it’s unclear how many people are here, the number of protesters easily passes 2,000 — the upper limit for public events in Tel Aviv due to IDF Home Front restrictions amid the rocket fire from Lebanon.

Protesters on the Ayalon urge those standing overhead, on Kaplan Street, to join in blocking the highway.

The Ayalon is awash in Israeli flags, as well as pictures of hostages and yellow flags signifying solidarity with the hostages. One protester hoists flags of both Israel and North Korea — apparently accusing the government of a descent to dictatorship.

Referring to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, protesters around one of the bonfires chant: “He’s a traitor!” “How much more blood will be spilled until the accused [of corruption] leaves?”

They also rehash the mantra of the 2023 mass protests against the government’s judicial overhaul: “Democracy or revolution!”

Police set up water cannons, block demonstrators from reaching Netanyahu residence in Jerusalem,

Israelis protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to fire Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, near the Prime Minister's residence in Jerusalem, November 5, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Demonstrators march in the streets of Jerusalem in the wake of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s dismissal and call for the removal of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom they call a “tyrant.”

The march also calls for the release of hostages held by Hamas.

The demonstrators circumvent several barricades and approach Netanyahu’s home before being blocked by police.

Police station water cannons at the site, but have not yet used them.

Former PM Bennett slams Netanyahu after firing of Gallant: ‘A crazy, sick leadership’

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett arrives at the scene of a terror attack in Ra'anana on January 15, 2024. (Itai Ron/Flash90)

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett slams Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for firing Defense Minister Yoav Gallant during a time of war, saying the current leadership was “crazy and sick.”

“This nation of lions has a sick and crazy leadership,” Bennett says in a statement on X.

“I call on our soldiers on all fronts: Don’t lose focus against the enemy. If you guard us, we the public will guard you. Don’t despair, change is coming.”

His comments come amid widespread reports of discontent among thousands of reserve soldiers concerned their fate is being put in the hands of politicians with no military experience.

Skirmishes between police and demonstrators outside Netanyahu’s residence

Israelis demonstrate outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence after the dismissal of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, on November 5, 2024 in Jerusalem (Photo by Menahem Kahana / AFP)

Thousands of demonstrators are spontaneously gathering near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private residence in Jerusalem after the premier fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Widespread protests across the country broke out in March of last year when Netanyahu previously fired Gallant.

Skirmishes break out between police and protesters.

White House praises Gallant, pledges to work with his successor

This handout photo shows Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (left) meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the State Department in Washington, June 24, 2024. (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)

A White House National Security Council spokesperson hails outgoing Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and says the Biden administration will continue to collaborate with his successor but avoids directly criticizing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to fire him in the first White House reaction to the move.

“Minister Gallant has been an important partner on all matters related to the defense of Israel. As close partners, we will continue to work collaboratively with Israel’s next minister of defense,” the NSC spokesperson tells The Times of Israel.

“We refer you to the Israeli government for more information on its personnel decisions,” the spokesperson adds.

Moments ago, another US official told The Times of Israel that Netanyahu’s decision to fire Gallant on the day of the US presidential election indicated that the premier sought to avoid pushback from Washington over the controversial decision to ax his defense minister in the middle of a war.

Katz welcomes his appointment as defense minister

Foreign Minister Israel Katz attends a vote at the Knesset in Jerusalem, September 30, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Israel Katz welcomes his appointment as defense minister after Yoav Gallant is fired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“I thank Prime Minister Netanyahu for the trust he placed in me in appointing me to the position of minister of defense,” Katz posts on X.

“I accept this responsibility with a sense of mission and a deep commitment to the security of the State of Israel and its citizens,” Katz says.

“We will work together to advance the defense establishment to victory against our enemies and to achieve the goals of the war: the return of all the hostages as the most important mission, the destruction of Hamas in Gaza, the defeat of Hezbollah in Lebanon, the curbing of Iranian aggression and the safe return of the residents of the north and south to their homes,” he says.

Protests against Gallant firing spread across the country

Protesters block parts of the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announces he has fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, November 5, 2024 (Aviv Atlas / Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)

Tens of thousands of people are protesting at locations across the country against the firing of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Protests are reported in Haifa, Netanya and Beersheba and at junctions across the country, in addition to major demonstrations in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Dozens are also protesting in Nahariya and other communities in northern Israel despite Home Front Command instructions to limit public gatherings amid persistent rocket fire from Lebanon.

FBI says fake bomb threats made to US polling stations, sees Russia link

People stand in line at Honolulu Hale to cast their ballot to vote in this year’s general election in Honolulu, Hawaii, on November 5, 2024. (Photo by Eugene TANNER / AFP)

The FBI says fake bomb threats have been made to polling locations in several states, many of which appear to originate from Russian email domains.

“None of the threats have been determined to be credible thus far,” it says in a statement. It did not identify the states.

Right-wing ministers praise firing of Gallant: ‘Failed to rise to the heroic spirit of our brave warriors’

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi in the Knesset plenum in Jerusalem, October 30, 2024. (Dani Shem-Tov/Knesset)

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi welcomes the firing of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, asserting that his fellow Likud minister had “failed to rise to the heroic spirit of our brave warriors who demand victory” and that his departure clears the war for victory in Gaza.

“The last one remaining to hinder and fight the government is Mrs. Miara,” he continues, referring to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara. “Send her home now.”

Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu (Otzma Yehudit) welcomes Gallant’s termination, stating that while the senior Likud politician is “a man of many virtues,” he was also a force for opposition within the coalition whose positions were not in line with the interests of the state.

“There are times when it takes courage to change direction,” Eliyahu states, adding that the end of Gallant’s tenure will lead “to a better security reality.”

US caught off-guard by firing of Gallant on Election Day, defense minister was main conduit to Biden administration

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin (R) welcomes Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to the Pentagon in Washington, June 25, 2024. (Saul Loeb/AFP)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to fire Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on the day of the US presidential election indicates that he was trying to avoid blowback from the Biden administration whose focus is currently elsewhere, a US official tells The Times of Israel.

The Biden administration was caught off guard by the decision and is still working to gather more information, the US official says.

When Netanyahu fired Gallant for the first time in March 2023 over the defense minister’s opposition to the premier’s effort to overhaul the country’s judiciary, the White House expressed its “deep concern,” adding that the political upheaval underscored the need for compromise between the various factions in the Knesset on the issue of legal reform.

Netanyahu ended up walking back his decision to fire Gallant following massive public opposition to the move.

The White House has yet to formally weigh in on the latest firing, which was announced an hour ago. While State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller would likely have been asked to comment on Gallant’s ouster during his daily press briefing, he is not holding one today.

Given that Washington’s criticism of Gallant’s first firing focused on the importance of Netanyahu maintaining a broad consensus while implementing far-reaching policies, that could well be the same line that the Biden administration uses this time around, as Netanyahu seeks to continue prosecuting the war in Gaza with a cabinet that has lost its most moderate voice in Gallant and is now dominated by much more hawkish members who have largely rejected the concessions proposed in exchange for a hostage deal.

Gallant was the cabinet member who maintained the most frequent contact with a senior Biden administration official, holding nearly 100 calls with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin since the beginning of the war.

While there were periodic disagreements, Biden officials saw Gallant as a voice of reason within the Israeli government who understood that Israel’s continued prosecution of its war against Hamas was dependent on it being able to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians.

Liberman slams firing of Gallant: ‘A banana republic’; calls to replace Netanyahu

Yisrael Beytenu party chairman Avigdor Liberman leads a faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, November 4, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Yisrael Beiteinu leader and former defense minister Avigdor Liberman slams the firing of Yoav Gallant, saying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is leading the country to a “banana republic.”

“Instead of taking care of the security of the country first and putting the welfare of the citizens and soldiers first, the prime minister decided to fire the defense minister and start a new round of political appointments amid a war, all in order to meet shameful political needs,” Liberman says.

“If a defense minister can be replaced in the middle of a war, a prime minister can also be replaced,” he says.

Report: Netanyahu planning to also fire IDF, Shin Bet chiefs

IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi (left) and Shin Bet security services Director Ronen Bar at the special operations room overseeing a mission to release hostages in the Gaza Strip, June 8, 2024. (Shin Bet security services)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is also planning to fire IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and Shin Bet head Ronen Bar, the Walla news site reports, citing sources close to the prime minister.

The report comes after Netanyahu fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

While Netanyahu has the sole authority to replace Bar, the defense minister is responsible for firing or nominating an IDF chief of staff.

Incoming defense minister Israel Katz is widely seen as being willing to do Netanyahu’s bidding.

Protesters blocking Ayalon highway, setting fires after Gallant fired

Israelis block a road in Tel Aviv on November 5, 2024, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP)

Protesters have gone onto the Ayalon highway in Tel Aviv blocking traffic and setting fires to protest the firing of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in the middle of the war.

Among those calling for protests are anti-government groups and families of the hostages who accuse Netanyahu of playing politics and endangering their loved ones.

תל אביב מתחילים בואו pic.twitter.com/iC8Q6aUh80

— לירי בורק שביט (@lirishavit) November 5, 2024

Protesters begin gathering in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv after Gallant fired

A demonstrator holds up a sign saying 'Night of Gallant 2' at a protest in Tel Aviv n November 5, 2024 ( Roni Shapiro)

Hundreds of people begin gathering in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem to protest the firing of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Channel 12 shows police setting up barricades near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem and outside IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv.

An attempt by Netanyahu to fire Gallant last year over his opposition to the judicial overhaul last year brought tens of thousands of people to the streets, ultimately forcing Netanyahu to back down.

Lapid says Netanyahu’s decision to fire Gallant mid-war is ‘act of madness’

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid leads a Yesh Atid faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, November 4, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to replace Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in the middle of a war “is an act of madness,” Opposition Leader Yair Lapid tweets, calling for Israelis to protest the high-level cabinet shakeup.

“Netanyahu is selling out Israel’s security and the IDF’s fighters for [his own] disgraceful political survival. The ultra-right-wing government prefers the [draft] dodgers over the those who serve,” Lapid accuses — calling on his party’s supporters and “all Zionist patriots to take to the streets tonight in protest.”

NGO calls on AG to examine legality of move to fire Gallant, says motivations are political

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel calls on Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara to “intervene immediately and examine the legality” of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to fire Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

In a statement, the good government watchdog argues that Gallant’s termination is “a narrow political move that places personal and political interests above the good of the state and the security of its citizens.”

The group links Netanyahu’s decision to his government’s push to pass legislation intended to facilitate ultra-Orthodox Israelis’ “evasion” of military service, arguing that firing Gallant “at a time when the IDF is fighting on the various fronts, constitutes a serious injury to the security system and the principles of proper administration, and indicates a serious leadership failure.”

Gallant is an opponent of Haredi-backed legislation to exempt yeshiva students from military service. On Monday, the IDF announced it would send out another 7,000 draft orders to members of the ultra-Orthodox community next week after the first phase of a plan to draft Haredi soldiers was largely unsuccessful.

He was widely expected to vote against a bill supported by the coalition which seeks to circumvent a High Court ruling preventing state-funded daycare subsidies from going to the children of ultra-Orthodox men who did not serve in the military.

Netanyahu handed Gallant termination letter in person

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu handed Defense Minister Yoav Gallant the letter officially firing him by hand during a short meeting at 8 p.m. in the premier’s office, the Prime Minister’s Office tells The Times of Israel.

After the brief interaction, Netanyahu left the room and recorded the video announcing the firing, according to Channel 12.

The one-sentence letter said Gallant’s term will end in 48 hours.

Hostage families say firing of Gallant further attempt by Netanyahu to torpedo deal

Demonstrators hold placards and wave Israeli flags during an anti-government protest calling for action to secure the release of Israeli hostages held captive since Hamas's October 7, 2023, massacre, Tel Aviv, November 2, 2024. (Jack Guez/AFP)

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum condemns the dismissal of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, calling it a “direct continuation of the ‘efforts’ to torpedo the hostage deal.”

The group, which represents the families of those taken hostage on October 7, demands that incoming Defense Minister Israel Katz “express an explicit commitment to the end of the war and to carry out a comprehensive deal for the immediate return of all the abductees.”

“The dismissal of the Defense Minister is an unfortunate proof of the Israeli government’s poor set of priorities,” the Forum adds in a tweet stating that “the military goals in the Gaza Strip have been achieved” and that Israel must now obtain a “comprehensive deal for the release of all the abductees and the end of the war.”

“It is impossible for political, party and personal interests to continue to be the focus instead of the real national interest in the immediate return of all the hostages,” it concludes.

Report: Police raided Netanyahu’s office on Saturday night

Police raided Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Saturday night, Channel 12 reports, saying that the raid was unprecedented.

The report says it was not immediately clear if the raid was connected to a probe into leaks of war intelligence from the PMO, or a second investigation that was revealed today, apparently linked to reported efforts by Netanyahu to doctor minutes of war meetings.

US Army soldier injured while working on the Gaza pier project has died

US Army Sgt. Quandarius Davon Stanley, 23, who died from non-combat injuries sustained during work on the US-built pier in the Gaza Strip to facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid during Israel's war against the Hamas terror group. (US Army)

A US Army soldier who was injured in May while working on the American-built pier to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza has died.

Sgt. Quandarius Stanley, 23, was a motor transport operator and was critically injured when high winds and heavy seas damaged the pier, causing four Army vessels to become beached. Two other service members also were injured but later returned to duty.

US military officials have not provided details on how exactly Stanley was injured but have noted it was not in combat. He died last Thursday and had been assigned to the 7th Transportation Brigade Expeditionary at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia.

“Sgt. Quandarius Stanley was an instrumental and well-respected first-line leader in the 7th Transportation Brigade Expeditionary (TBX), especially during the mission to provide humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza. We will continue to provide support to his family during this difficult time,” said Col. John “Eddie” Gray, brigade commander. “Our entire unit mourns alongside his family.”

Ben Gvir welcomes firing of Gallant, says he was an obstacle to victory

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir attends a gathering near the border with Gaza on October 21, 2024, calling to establish new Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip. (Menahem KAHANA / AFP)

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir welcomes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to fire Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, stating that “it is not possible to achieve absolute victory” with Gallant in office.

“The prime minister did well to remove him from his position,” says Ben Gvir, who has previously called for Gallant’s ouster on multiple occasions.

Opposition slams firing of Gallant: Politics at the expense of national security

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (center) attends a situational assessment with top commanders at the Ephraim Regional Brigade in the West Bank, November 3, 2024. (Shachar Yurman/Defense Ministry)

Members of the opposition slam Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement that he has fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, replacing him with Foreign Minister Israel Katz.

“Take to the streets,” tweets The Democrats chairman Yair Golan, following Netanyahu’s announcement.

“I call on all heads of universities and all heads of colleges: suspend studies. I call on all the heads of the economy: stop work. I call on all the heads of the security forces: raise a cry, even now while you are in uniform. I call on all citizens of Israel: take to the streets. Netanyahu is destroying Israel and only we can save it,” Golan tweets.

Netanyahu’s decision constitutes “politics at the expense of national security,” weighs in National Unity chairman Benny Gantz, a former member of Netanyahu’s now-defunct war cabinet.

“There is no low to which this government will not sink,” adds National Unity lawmaker Orit Farkash Hacohen. “A Defense Minister who announces conscription orders for thousands of Haredim is fired in the middle of a war on the eve of an [expected Iranian] attack for the sake of the evasion law.”

After being fired, Gallant says security of Israel ‘my life’s mission’

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant meets with IDF officers at the 36th Division's headquarters in northern Israel, October 4, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

Following his firing by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in favor of Foreign Minister Israel Katz, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant issues a terse statement, saying that “the security of the State of Israel always was, and will always remain, my life’s mission.”

Netanyahu fires Gallant, says no trust in defense minister at time of war

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (foreground) and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant hold a press conference at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, December 16, 2023. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)

Citing a lack of mutual trust, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announces he is firing Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, a longtime rival within the Likud Party.

In a terse letter given to the defense minister and then released by the prime minister’s office, Netanyahu tells Gallant that “your tenure will end 48 hours from the receipt of this letter.”

“I would like to thank you for your service as defense minister,” he concludes.

Gallant will be replaced by Foreign Minister Israel Katz. Minister without Portfolio Gideon Sa’ar will replace Katz as foreign minister.

“Unfortunately, although in the first months of the war there was trust and there was very fruitful work, during the last months this trust cracked between me and the defense minister,” says Netanyahu in a video statement.

He says they disagreed on the management of the war, and charged that Gallant made statements and took actions that contradict cabinet decisions.

Netanyahu also accuses Gallant of indirectly aiding Israel’s enemies: “I made many attempts to bridge these gaps, but they kept getting wider,” he says.

“They also came to the knowledge of the public in an unacceptable way, and worse than that, they came to the knowledge of the enemy — our enemies enjoyed it and derived a lot of benefit from it.”

The “crisis of faith” with the defense minister “does not enable the proper continuation of the [military] campaign,” Netanyahu says.

Netanyahu says that most members of the government and cabinet agree with him “that this cannot continue. In light of this, I decided today to end the tenure of the defense minister.”

The decision comes amid stress in Netanyahu’s coalition over the draft of ultra-Orthodox men. Gallant yesterday approved the drafting of 7,000 more Haredim into the IDF.

Gallant has opposed legislation that would largely preserve the exemption of ultra-Orthodox males from military service — legislation demanded by the two ultra-Orthodox parties on whose support Netanyahu’s coalition depends.

It also comes as Americans head to the polls, and US attention is elsewhere.

Netanyahu defies ultra-Orthodox demands, takes Daycare Bill off Knesset agenda in threat to coalition

Likud's Benjamin Netanyahu, right, with UTJ MK Moshe Gafni at a vote in the assembly hall of the Knesset on December 28, 2022. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defies demands from his ultra-Orthodox coalition partner United Torah Judaism, and orders the so-called Daycare Bill taken off the Knesset agenda.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu instructed the chairman of the coalition, MK Ofir Katz, to remove the Daycare Bill from the Knesset’s agenda tomorrow,” says a terse statement from Netanyahu’s office.

According to Hebrew-language press reports, the ultra-Orthodox party informed Netanyahu that it would not support any other coalition legislation before the bill is brought to a vote, with UTJ MK Yisrael Eichler demanding that it be brought to the plenum as early as tomorrow.

Trump says would concede defeat ‘if it’s a fair election,’ but confident of victory

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and his wife Melania Trump depart after casting their votes at a polling place in the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center on Election Day, on November 05, 2024 in Palm Beach, Florida. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFP)

US Republican presidential contender Donald Trump said he would be prepared to concede defeat after today’s vote “if it’s a fair election,” while again raising concerns about the use of electronic voting machines.

“If I lose an election, if it’s a fair election, I would be the first one to acknowledge it. So far I think it’s been fair,” Trump, repeating a caveat that he has used many times on the campaign trail, tells reporters after voting in Florida.

Trump says he feels “very confident” about winning back the White House.

“I feel very confident,” Trump says at a voting facility in West Palm Beach, adding he believes he “ran a great campaign” against his Democratic rival Kamala Harris. Opinion polls show the race is a dead heat.

Harris, meanwhile, urges Americans to “get out and vote” on Election Day, particularly in battleground states.

“We’ve got to get it done. Today is voting day, and people need to get out and be active,” she said on Atlanta station WVEE-FM.

UTJ demands PM advance Daycare Bill despite lacking majority, threatening coalition

MK Yisrael Eichler attends a United Torah Judaism faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on October 28, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Coalition partner United Torah Judaism is demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu advance the so-called Daycare Bill for a preliminary vote in the Knesset plenum tomorrow despite the fact that it does not enjoy majority support.

According to Hebrew-language press reports, the ultra-Orthodox party informed Netanyahu that it would not support any other coalition legislation before the bill is brought to a vote, with UTJ MK Yisrael Eichler demanding that it be brought to the plenum as early as tomorrow.

The legislation, which was submitted last week, aims to guarantee that the children of ultra-Orthodox men who are obligated to perform military service, but have not done so, will continue to be eligible for state-paid daycare subsidies. It aims to circumvent a High Court of Justice ruling that such financial support is illegal in cases where the father should be serving in the Israel Defense Forces but is not.

Netanyahu’s coalition has lost the votes required to pass the legislation, with nine lawmakers indicating that they will oppose it. The coalition holds an eight-seat majority, and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is also widely expected to vote against the law.

Economy Minister Nir Barkat is also considering skipping the vote, Ynet reports.

Speaking during a visit to the elite Egoz commando unit his afternoon, Gallant stated that the IDF needs a “large-scale” draft of ultra-Orthodox youths to help meet urgent manpower needs. His comments came only a day after the IDF announced that it will soon send out another 7,000 draft orders to members of the ultra-Orthodox community.

Among those who oppose the Daycare Law is Gideon Sa’ar, the chairman of the coalition’s New Hope party, who has said that his party’s four MKs will vote against the measure.

According to Channel 12, Netanyahu’s Likud is now working to finalize a coalition deal with the New Hope party, which rejoined the government in September, in an attempt to bring it around on the issue. This could potentially mean an upgrade from Sa’ar’s current position as a minister-without-portfolio, the network reports.

Jerusalem municipality demolishes 7 illegally built homes in East Jerusalem

An Israeli excavator demolishes an illegaly built house belonging to the Palestinian Ruwaidi family in Silwan in East Jerusalem on November 5, 2024. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)

Municipal workers demolished seven homes in East Jerusalem’s Silwan neighborhood the municipality says, after an Israeli court ruled their construction illegal.

“This morning the Jerusalem Municipality, with a security escort from the Israel police, began its enforcement against illegal buildings in the Al-Bustan neighborhood in Silwan,” the Jerusalem municipality says.

Activist Fakhri Abu Diab, one of those affected by the demolition, confirms that “at least seven homes have been demolished, and the operation is ongoing.”

He said that both houses and apartments were affected.

“They demolished my home, which I had renovated after it was previously demolished earlier this year, as well as my son’s house, Haitham Ayed’s family home, and four homes belonging to the Al-Ruwaidi family,” Abu Diab tells AFP.

Netanyahu decries new police probe as ‘hunting expedition against the Prime Minister’s Office’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (center), Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (left) and Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs at a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, November 1, 2024. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)

As police announce a second investigation with reported ties to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his office calls it “an unprecedented hunting expedition against the Prime Minister’s Office in the midst of a war.”

“After a year with a deluge of criminal leaks from cabinet and hostage discussions — which provided valuable intelligence to our enemies — the only two investigations that were opened were directed against the Prime Minister’s Office and not against the serial leakers, none of whom were investigated, and who caused tremendous damage to the abductees and Israel’s security,” his office continues.

Earlier today, a judge allowed the release of the fact that the police’s Lahav 433 investigation unit “is conducting a criminal probe related to incidents from the start of the war, including several open investigations.” Lahav 433 investigates serious crimes including public corruption.

The Ynet news site says the news is related to reports earlier in the year that Netanyahu had been attempting to keep his conversations regarding the management of the war in Gaza untraceable.

“As with the other attempts to inflate accusations against the prime minister and his entourage, in this matter too the mountain will turn out to be not even a molehill,” Netanyahu’s office says, “but will certainly lead to difficult questions about unprecedented and unfounded selective enforcement of the law.”

Bernie Marcus, The Home Depot co-founder and billionaire Jewish philanthropist, dies at 95

Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus appears on "Cavuto: Coast to Coast," with anchor Neil Cavuto, on the Fox Business Network, in New York, June 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

Bernard “Bernie” Marcus, the co-founder of The Home Depot, the world’s largest home improvement chain, a billionaire philanthropist with a focus on Jewish causes, and a big Republican donor, has died. He was 95.

Marcus died Monday in Boca Raton, Florida, surrounded by family, according to a Home Depot spokesperson.

Marcus was Home Depot’s CEO as it grew rapidly during its first two decades, and was chairman of the board until his retirement in 2002. In recent years, he became an outspoken supporter of former president Donald Trump.

“We owe an immeasurable debt of gratitude to Bernie,” the company said in a statement. “He was a master merchant and a retail visionary. But even more importantly, he valued our associates, customers and communities above all. He’s left us with an invaluable legacy and the backbone of our company: our values and culture. ”

The son of Russian Jewish immigrants, Marcus was born in 1929 and grew up in a tenement in Newark, New Jersey, according to a biography on the company’s website.

Marcus has financially supported various charities as well as Jewish and medical organizations through donations. He also built the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, one of the largest in the world. The company said that his philanthropic work will continue through The Marcus Foundation, with a focus on Jewish causes, children, medical research, free enterprise and the community.

IDF says most civilians in Jabalia have evacuated despite Hamas intimidation efforts

An IDF soldier is seen on the outskirts of Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, November 5, 2024. (Emanuel Fabian/Times of Israel)

BEIT LAHIYA, Gaza Strip — The vast majority of the Palestinian civilian population that had been residing in northern Gaza’s Jabalia has evacuated, as the IDF presses on with an offensive against Hamas in the area and other towns north of Gaza City.

The IDF says it has managed to move more than 55,000 civilians out of Jabalia after Hamas was allegedly forcing them to stay there to act as a human shield for their activities. Some 60,000 Palestinians were estimated to have been in Jabalia before the latest operation was launched last month.

The population has largely moved to Gaza City, with only a few dozen crossing the IDF’s Netzarim Corridor and heading to the Israeli-designated humanitarian zone in the Strip’s south.

According to the IDF, it has evidence and testimonies that Hamas shot, beat, and in some cases, executed civilians trying to flee the Jabalia area.

The IDF says it seeks to clear the town of civilians to enable a cleaner operation against terror operatives, without risking the lives of innocents, while Hamas attempts to hide behind the population.

IDF troops operate in northern Gaza’s Jabalia, in a handout photo published November 5, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

Senior officers deny that the army is carrying out the so-called generals’ plan to lay siege to northern Gaza, promoted by a group of senior IDF retirees. Under the plan, north Gaza would become a military zone where everyone is a target, and no supplies would enter the territory.

On the ground, dozens of aid trucks are entering northern Gaza each day, via the two Erez crossings, and the civilian population is being safely evacuated and not intentionally targeted, according to the IDF.

The military says it has captured 700 members of Hamas and other terror groups who surrendered to forces during the evacuation of civilians in Jabalia. Among those captured are dozens who participated in the October 7 onslaught, including the raid on the Erez Crossing, the IDF says.

Humanitarian aid trucks pass by an IDF APC in the northern Gaza Strip, November 5, 2024. (Emanuel Fabian/Times of Israel)

The detained terror operatives are providing the IDF with useful intelligence, the military says.

As of this morning, more than 1,000 terror operatives have also been killed amid the latest fighting in Jabalia, according to the IDF.

The IDF’s latest estimate puts the total number of people still in Jabalia at several hundred. Several thousand Palestinians also remain in Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun, and other northern Gaza towns, where the military plans to operate against Hamas as part of the ongoing offensive.

North Gaza’s towns, including Jabalia, are now disconnected from Gaza City amid the ongoing operation, which the IDF says is to prevent Hamas operatives from escaping or alternatively, from bringing in reinforcements from Gaza City, where thousands of terror operatives are thought to be.

The ongoing operation is being carried out by the 162nd Division, with the 401st Armored Brigade, and the Givati and Kfir infantry brigades.

Amid the operation, the IDF says it has discovered over 200 homes that were booby-trapped with explosives. In two cases, the bombs were not discovered before troops entered the buildings, leading to casualties.

The operation marks the fourth push into Jabalia by the IDF since the start of the war a year ago. The military assesses that this operation will finally break Hamas’s forces in Jabalia, and it will no longer represent the terror group’s “most significant center of gravity” in northern Gaza.

Nineteen IDF soldiers and officers have been killed during the Jabalia operation so far, including the commander of the 401st Armored Brigade.

‘Not proud to vote for him, but he gets the job done’: Orthodox Jews aim to help Trump flip Michigan

Nadav Frieder holds his son after voting at a polling station in Oak Park, Michigan on November 5, 2024. (Jacob Magid/Times of Israel)

OAK PARK, Michigan — A win in the swing state of Michigan will be critical for either candidate in today’s presidential election, and members of the traditional, Orthodox community in the Detroit suburb of Oak Park are doing their part to put former president Donald Trump back in the White House.

All ten of the Orthodox community members who spoke with The Times of Israel outside their polling station this morning say they cast their ballots for Trump.

Trump will need their support if he wants to flip Michigan, which US President Joe Biden won in 2020 by three percentage points. The Jewish community makes up roughly one percent of the population in the state, with the Orthodox community amounting to less than a fifth of Michigan’s Jews.

“I don’t think that someone who is truly Orthodox can vote for the Democratic Party,” says Nadav Frieder.

The 40-year-old was voting in just his second US presidential election after moving to Michigan from Ramat Yishai in northern Israel.

He argues that the Republican Party is more suited for religious people like himself, even while acknowledging that he is “not proud” to vote for Trump, given his character.

“When Trump is talking, I joke to my wife that the kids should go upstairs,” he says while holding his toddler son in his arms.

A polling station in Oak Park, Michigan on November 5, 2024. (Jacob Magid/Times of Israel)

“He has a dirty mouth, but listen, he gets the job done. When he was president, nothing bad happened,” Frieder says, echoing the Republican presidential nominee, who regularly claims that Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel wouldn’t have happened if he were in office.

“It was quiet [when he was president]. It’s possible that [Hamas] was planning [its attack], but they were scared [to carry it out],” he adds.

“The problem is the non-religious Jews,” Frieder continues, referring to the larger segment of the Jewish community that votes for the Democratic Party in overwhelming numbers.

“I think that if Trump didn’t speak the way he did, it’s possible that they would vote for him because they do care about Israel. They’re just afraid of him and don’t know what he’ll do if he wins,” he claims.

Pressed on the Biden-Harris administration’s record on Israel, Frieder is dismissive.

“He said ‘don’t,'” Frieder said, referencing US President Joe Biden’s warning to Iran against striking Israel after Hamas’s October 7 attack.

Iran backs proxies that have attacked Israel and have even struck the Jewish state directly two times in the past year. The US helped Israel shoot down dozens of missiles and drones in both attacks, but Frieder indicated that Biden didn’t keep his word.

“What ‘don’t’ was he talking about?” he says dismissively.

He surmises that today’s election is “between lovers of Israel and haters of Israel.”

Officials: US Election Day voting is going mostly smoothly, minor obstacles overcome

Voters line up to cast their ballots at The Church at Brook Hills on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Birmingham, Ala. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)

US Election Day voting is unfolding largely smoothly across the nation but with scattered reports of extreme weather, ballot printing errors and technical problems causing delays.

Most of the hiccups occurring by mid-day were “largely expected routine and planned-for events,” says Cait Conley, senior adviser to the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, in a press briefing. She says the agency was not currently tracking any national, significant incidents impacting election security.

In swing-state Pennsylvania, early reports that Republican poll watchers were not allowed into some polling sites were soon resolved. A software malfunction was affecting ballot-scanning machines in the state’s Cambria County, but no one was being turned away from the polls and all ballots would be counted, county and state officials say.

A technical malfunction in Champaign County, Illinois, and challenges with e-pollbooks in Louisville, Kentucky, also delayed voting, but those issues were soon fixed and voting was back up and running.

In Missouri, flooding made one St. Louis area polling site hard to reach and knocked out power to another, requiring poll workers to turn to a generator to continue election operations. Still, in various states affected by rain, voters were enthusiastically huddling under umbrellas as they lined up to cast their ballots.

“We’ll be like post office workers: in rain or snow or sleet,” voter Mary Roszkowski says after she cast her ballot in windy Racine, Wisconsin, wiping raindrops off her face.

In Georgia, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger says there were some reported bomb threats to polling places, but all were deemed non-credible and authorities were investigating.

Lebanon official says Israeli commandos jammed UNIFIL radar in abduction operation

Lebanese soldiers inspect the beach at a reported landing site for Israeli naval commandos who captured a Hezbollah official in a raid in the northern coastal town of Batroun on November 2, 2024. (Ibrahim Chalhoub / AFP)

A preliminary probe finds that Israeli commandos used a speedboat equipped with radar-jamming devices during the abduction of a Lebanese man accused of being a Hezbollah operative, a Lebanese judicial official tells AFP Tuesday.

The initial findings suggest that “the Israeli army used a high-speed vessel equipped with advanced devices capable of jamming radars” belonging to the United Nations peacekeeping force (UNIFIL) that monitors the Lebanese coast, the official says, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

The probe into the abduction operation on Saturday is jointly conducted by the Lebanese police and judiciary.

The UN peacekeeping Maritime Task Force has helped Lebanon’s army monitor territorial waters and prevent the entry of arms or related material by sea since 2006, according to the mission’s website.

Germany has headed UNIFIL’s maritime task force since January 2021.

On Saturday, Israeli naval commandos seized a man that a military official described as a “senior operative” of Hezbollah in a raid in northern Lebanon and brought him to Israel for questioning.

He was identified as Imad Amhaz.

Gallant says IDF needs ‘large-scale’ draft of ultra-Orthodox to ensure security

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant meets soldiers from the Egoz commando unit in northern Israel on November 5, 2024 (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant says the IDF needs a “large-scale” draft of ultra-Orthodox youths to help meet urgent manpower needs.

Speaking during a visit to the elite Egoz commando unit, Gallant says in the near term there is a need for “more soldiers across the IDF.”

Gallant says measures will include extending mandatory service for men to three years as it was in the past and “we will have to draft other populations, primarily the ultra-Orthodox on a large scale.”

Gallant says he hopes in the future to see ultra-Orthodox youth not just serving, but also being a part of elite commando units like Egoz.

“We need to equally share the burden of service,” Gallant says, adding that it is not just in the name of social solidarity, but “most importantly, because we need security.”

“We know how to manufacture ammunition, to import arms, to buy resources and to do everything, but soldiers are from the people of Israel, there is no one else.”

IDF confirms airstrike on Hezbollah arms depots in western Syria

The IDF confirms carrying out airstrikes in Syria a short while ago, targeting Hezbollah weapon depots.

The weapon depots used by Hezbollah were struck by fighter jets in the al-Qusayr area in western Syria, close to the border with Lebanon.

The IDF says Hezbollah’s armament unit is responsible for storing weapons in Lebanon, and it recently expanded its activities to Syria, storing weapons in al-Qusayr.

Ireland approves Palestinian ambassador for first time

Ireland accepts the appointment of a full Palestinian ambassador for the first time, after Dublin formally recognized a Palestinian state earlier this year.

Senior ministers confirmed that Jilan Wahba Abdalmajid would step up from her current position as Palestinian head of mission to Ireland.

In May, Dublin said it was recognizing Palestine as “a sovereign and independent state” comprising the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and agreed to establish full diplomatic relations.

Spain and Norway recognized a Palestinian state the same day as Ireland, with Slovenia following a week later, drawing retaliatory moves from Israel.

Palestinians say death toll in West Bank IDF operations rises to seven

An Israeli army vehicle blocks a road during a raid in Qabatiya, south of Jenin city in the West Bank on November 5, 2024. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)

At least seven people were killed during an Israeli military raid and airstrikes in the West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry says.

Five of the seven people were killed in two separate Israeli attacks in and near the city of Qabatiya, while the two others were killed in the Tammun area, the ministry says.

The Israeli military said its aircraft had targeted a group of gunmen and that its forces had arrested 60 terrorists.

The Islamic Jihad’s armed wing, Al-Quds Brigades, says its members had clashed with Israeli forces in both Qabatiya and the Tammun areas.

Harris campaign stresses patience as votes are tallied

Kristin Scruggs votes at the 146-year-old Buck Creek school Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in rural Perry, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

The seven battleground states have varying rules on when votes are counted, so it is expected to take some time before all votes are tallied in the key states that are expected to decide the razor-tight race.

“We’re going to be patient,” Harris campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon says during an appearance on MSNBC. “We’re going to be very focused on what’s happening in the early part of the night. But we know some of our bigger battleground states are not going to be fully tallied until later in the night or early in the morning.”

O’Malley Dillon is hopeful that early turnout in Georgia and North Carolina was a positive sign for the Harris campaign.

By the time early voting in North Carolina had ended on Saturday, over 4.4 million voters — or nearly 57% of all registered voters in the state — had cast their ballots. It was particularly robust in the 25 western counties affected by Hurricane Helene .

Georgia, meanwhile, saw more than 4 million voters cast early ballots, a record-breaking number for the state.

Police probing ‘criminal incidents’ related to start of war

A handout photo released by his office on October 26, 2024, shows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meeting with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and IDF commanders in the bunker below the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv. (Avi Ohayun/GPO)

A court has allowed the publication of the fact that the police are probing “criminal incidents” related to the start of the war.

“The police’s Lahav 433 investigation unit is conducting a criminal probe related to incidents from the start of the war, including several open investigations,” the statement says, adding that further details are under a gag order.

Lahav 433 investigates serious crimes including public corruption.

The Ynet news site says the news is related to reports earlier in the year that Prime Minister Netanyahu had been attempting to keep his conversations regarding the management of the war in Gaza untraceable.

Ynet reported at the time that senior figures in the security establishment feared that efforts were being made to edit the minutes of wartime discussions held with Netanyahu after discovering discrepancies between transcripts of the meetings and what the figures had heard in real time.

Swedish court sentences far-right politician for insulting Muslims

Rasmus Paludan, leader of Danish right wing party Stram Kurs, arrives to cast his vote during the parliamentary elections in Copenhagen, Denmark, June 5, 2019. (Henning Bagger/Ritzau via AP, File)

A Swedish court sentences a far-right politician to four months in jail for two counts of “incitement against an ethnic group” after making hateful comments at political rallies two years ago.

The Danish-Swedish 42-year-old man, who was not named but has been identified by Swedish media as Rasmus Paludan, founder and head of the Danish nationalist anti-immigration party Stram Kurs, had been previously convicted and sentenced by a Danish court on a similar charge, the Malmo District Court says.

In 2022, Paludan made his offensive remarks directed at Muslims, Arabs and Africans during protests that he led in the southern city of Malmo in 2022, the court said. He also burned a copy of the Quran, Islam’s holy book, on at least one occasion. In response, a violent wave of riots swept the country.

Gaza water desalinization plant connected to Israeli energy grid

Displaced Palestinians line up to collect water, in Deir al Balah, central Gaza Strip, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A water desalination plant in Gaza is connected to Israel’s electricity grid to increase the supply of clean water in the war-torn coastal enclave.

The plant, located in the southern city of Khan Younis, is run by UNICEF and can provide 20,000 cubic meters of water daily to the nearby humanitarian zone where the vast majority of Gaza’s population is currently taking refuge from the conflict.

Israel’s security cabinet approved a decision in July to connect the desalination facility to the Israeli grid in July, but it has taken several months to complete the necessary work. The plant was finally connected on Sunday.

MK Yulia Malinovsky of the opposition Yisrael Beytenu party condemns the development, writing on X “101 hostages returning to their homes – no. The government of Israel takes care of its enemy and not its citizens.”

Israel supplied close to 50 percent of Gaza’s electricity before the current war, but cut off its electricity supply to Gaza on October 12 last year following the Hamas invasion and atrocities on October 7.

The UN and other agencies have deplored the humanitarian situation in Gaza in recent weeks, in particular in northern Gaza where a group of UN and independent organizations said last week the situation was “apocalyptic.”

Israeli airstrike reported in western Syria

Syria’s state-run SANA news agency reports an Israeli airstrike targeting an industrial zone in the western Syrian city of al-Qusayr, not far from the border with Lebanon.

No further details are given by SANA, and there is no comment from the IDF.

قصف يستهدف مواقع قرب المنطقة الصناعية في القصير بريف حمص pic.twitter.com/pRTYwyYZMZ

— Lebanon Debate (@lebanondebate) November 5, 2024

Police bust large Tel Aviv human trafficking and prostitution ring

Police have arrested dozens of people believed to be involved in a widescale operation to traffic women from Eastern Europe for prostitution, Channel 13 reports.

According to the report, Tel Aviv police detained the suspects, some from the same family, in raids this morning and froze 17 bank accounts linked to the ring.

The report quotes police as saying it was one of the biggest operations conducted by Tel Aviv police in recent years.

Detention extended for main suspect in PM’s office leak case; lawyer says they still haven’t met

Eli Feldstein, a spokesman in the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is the main suspect in an investigation launched in late October 2024 of alleged illegal access and leaking of classified intelligence material. (Kan screenshot, used in accordance with clause 27a of the copyright law)

The detention of the primary suspect in the Prime Minister’s Office security documents scandal is extended for another six days by the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court.

Eli Feldstein, a spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, will remain in custody until at least Sunday.

Hearings on extending the detention of two other suspects in the scandal, including an IDF officer arrested on Monday, are also being held today.

Ephraim Dimri, an attorney representing the IDF officer, tells The Times of Israel he is yet to meet with this client, although the Lod District Court will rule today whether to allow the meeting.

Hebrew media reports that all the other suspects are now allowed to meet with their lawyers.

Official confirms PM offering ‘millions of dollars,’ safe passage to Gaza captors if hostages released

Demonstrators hold placards and wave Israeli flags during an anti-government protest calling for action to secure the release of Israeli hostages held captive since Hamas's October 7, 2023, massacre, Tel Aviv, November 2, 2024. (Jack Guez/AFP)

An Israeli official confirms a Channel 12 report that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is prepared to offer captors of hostages in Gaza “several million dollars” for the release of each hostage.

The prime minister is also prepared to guarantee “safe passage” out of Gaza for captors and their families who release hostages, says the official.

The idea was discussed in Sunday’s meeting on the hostages with government pointman Gal Hirsch.

The official also confirms the US State Department’s statement on Monday that Hamas had rejected a proposal for a short-term ceasefire and hostage release deal.

“Nothing is happening on the ground until we know the results of the US elections,” says the official.

Israeli envoy presents credentials to Putin, who tells diplomats Russia committed to mutually beneficial cooperation

Israel’s ambassador Simona Halperin officially presents her letter of credence to President Vladimir Putin, in Moscow on November 5, 2024 (Screenshot/MFA Russia)

Israel’s ambassador Simona Halperin, a career diplomat who has been in office for almost a year, officially presents her letter of credence to President Vladimir Putin.

President Vladimir Putin tells Western ambassadors at the ceremony that Russia remains committed to mutually beneficial cooperation, but wants a fair world order.

Putin, who met newly appointed ambassadors from across the world, including Japan and Canada, says Russia is against “illegal” sanctions and restrictions.

Polls open in US in knife-edge election

This combination of file photos shows Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, left, speaking at a campaign rally on Oct. 14, 2024, and Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaking a campaign rally on Sept.18, 2024. (AP Photo)

US Election Day voting begins in earnest after an extraordinary — and for many unnerving — presidential race that will either make Kamala Harris the first woman president in the country’s history or hand Donald Trump a comeback that sends shock waves around the world.

As the first polling stations opened, Democratic vice president Harris, 60, and Republican former president Trump, 78, were dead-even in the tightest and most volatile White House contest of modern times.

Harris has promised to work across the aisle to tackle economic worries and other issues without radically departing from the course set by President Joe Biden. Trump, the Republican former president, has vowed to replace thousands of federal workers with loyalists, impose sweeping tariffs on allies and foes alike, and stage the largest deportation operation in US history.

The bitter rivals spent their final day of the campaign frenetically working to get their supporters out to the polls and trying to win over any last undecided voters in the swing states expected to decide the outcome.

But despite a series of head-spinning twists in the campaign — from Harris’s dramatic entrance when President Joe Biden dropped out in July, to Trump riding out two assassination attempts and a criminal conviction — nothing has broken the deadlock in the opinion polls.

Far-right MKs backtrack over bill on daycare subsidies for Haredi draft evaders

Ultra-Orthodox Jews protest against the draft outside the IDF Recruitment Center in Jerusalem, September 29, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Two members of the far-right Religious Zionism party appear to backtrack after reportedly saying they would not vote for the controversial so-called Daycare Law being pushed by the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party to preserve subsidies for Haredi draft evaders.

Two lawmakers from the far-right Religious Zionism party — Moshe Solomon and Ohad Tal — were said to have declared earlier this morning that they would not vote for the legislation, meaning that the government would not have a majority for the vote.

However, in a statement they say there have been “negotiations throughout the morning between [United Torah Judaism] MK Yisrael Eichler and Religious Zionism.” Eichler initiated the legislation.

“Until the vote, we say, and will continue to say, our position is one of partnership and making decisions together,” they say.

“We believe that these days, we must act to increase the participation of all sectors of the population for Israel’s security needs and we hope that we will be able to reach agreements on the matter with all sections of the coalition,” they say.

The coalition holds an eight-seat majority.

Last night, Likud MK Yuli Edelstein, the chairman of the powerful Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, declared he will not back the bill.

Minister Gideon Sa’ar, the chairman of the coalition’s New Hope party, said his party, holding four seats, will vote against the legislation when it comes up for a Knesset vote, and Likud MKs Moshe Saada and Dan Illouz have also said they will not vote for the legislation.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is also widely expected to vote against the law, while Religious Zionism Immigration Minister Ofir Sofer has said he will not vote for the bill until there is progress on issue of Haredi draft exemptions.

The cabinet advanced the proposed law on Sunday in the Ministerial Committee for Legislation. The bill will now head to the Knesset for a vote in a preliminary reading, likely tomorrow.

The legislation, which was submitted last week, aims to guarantee that the children of ultra-Orthodox men who are obligated to perform military service, but have not done so, will continue to be eligible for state-funded daycare subsidies.

It aims to circumvent a High Court of Justice ruling that such financial support is illegal in cases where the father should be serving in the Israel Defense Forces but is not.

The bill is highly controversial, with critics asserting that it would continue to encourage ultra-Orthodox men not to perform military service even as the IDF faces severe manpower shortages after a yearlong multifront war against the Hamas and Hezbollah terror groups.

Iran sentences 3 to death over 2020 killing of nuclear scientist blamed on Israel

Military personnel stand near the flag-draped coffin of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, an assassinated top nuclear scientist, during his funeral ceremony in Tehran, Iran, November 30, 2020. (Iranian Defense Ministry via AP)

Iran has sentenced three people to death over the 2020 assassination of one of the country’s top nuclear scientists, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the judiciary says.

“The judicial processes of these three people were carried out in the Revolutionary Court of Urmia, and they were sentenced to death in the initial stage, and the case is currently in the appeal stage,” judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir tells a Tehran press conference.

Fakhrizadeh was killed when his car was ambushed on a highway outside the capital in November 2020, in an attack Iran blamed on Israel.

“After some investigations, three people out of eight arrested in West Azerbaijan province, were accused of committing espionage for the occupying regime of Israel,” Jahangir says.

He adds that the three are also “accused of transporting equipment into Iran for the assassination of martyr Fakhrizadeh under the guise of smuggling alcoholic beverages.”

In December 2022, then judiciary spokesman Massoud Setayeshi said nine people had been charged with the capital offense of “corruption on earth” for their suspected collusion with Israel in the assassination.

Fakhrizadeh had been under US sanctions for his role in Iran’s nuclear program when he was killed.

Iranian authorities said the attackers used a bomb and a remote-controlled machine gun.

Israel has never commented on the killing.

In 2018, the Israeli government accused Fakhrizadeh of leading Iran’s efforts to develop an atomic bomb, a claim Iran has always vehemently denied.

The sentencing of the three comes the day after a Jewish Iranian man, Arvin Nathaniel Ghahremani, was executed in Iran after a two-year battle by his family and the local Jewish community to save his life. He was executed over a fatal stabbing he claimed was in self-defense.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Levin yet to call meeting of Judicial Selection Committee to appoint new Supreme Court president

Justice Minister Yariv Levin at a farewell ceremony for retiring acting Supreme Court President Uzi Vogelman, at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, October 1, 2024. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Pool/Flash90)

Justice Minister Yariv Levin has yet to call a meeting of the Judicial Selection Committee to appoint a new Supreme Court president, despite the evaluation period for candidates ending tomorrow.

The court ruled in September that after refusing to call a vote for a new president for almost a year, the justice minister was obliged to do so and could no longer assert a de facto veto over the process.

In an act of defiance, Levin nominated all 12 sitting justices for the role on September 22, starting a 45-day evaluation period, only after which can a vote be called.

The court ruled that Levin must convene the Judicial Selection Committee to make the appointment “shortly after” the end of the 45-day period, meaning the justice minister could drag his feet further on calling the vote.

“Every extra day that the legal system goes without a permanent [Supreme Court] president its stability is harmed and so too its proper functioning,” Yesh Atid MK and committee member Karine Elharrar writes to Levin, calling on him to convene the committee as quickly as possible.

Former Supreme Court justice Uzi Vogelman served as acting president in the year since former president Esther Hayut retired in October 2023, but himself retired at the end of this October and was succeeded by Justice Isaac Amit as acting president. Amit, whom Levin opposes, is likely to be appointed permanent president when a vote is called.

Troops destroy tunnels equipped for long-term stays in south Lebanon

Troops operating in south Lebanon in an undated photo released by the military for publication on November 5, 2024 (Israel Defense Forces)

The military says troops have discovered and destroyed an underground network some 70 meters (around 230 feet) in length in southern Lebanon.

In a statement, the IDF says the tunnel had a number of branches, including a room equipped for a long-term stay, and weaponry.

In a separate raid, a second underground infrastructure was discovered, which also had rooms for living in and a number of weapons.

The military says that tunnel and weapons were also destroyed.

Rocket sirens in Kiryat Shmona, surrounding communities

Rocket sirens sound in Kiryat Shmona and nearby communities close to the northern border with Lebanon, warning of incoming fire.

German police arrest 8 suspected members of far-right paramilitary group

BERLIN — Police in Germany have arrested eight suspected members of a far-right militant organization, Germany’s public prosecutor says.

The suspects, some of them minors and adolescents, were allegedly part of a group of around 15-20 individuals called Sächsische Separatisten, or Saxonian Separatists, that is characterized by racist, antisemitic and partially apocalyptic ideas, the prosecutor’s office says in a statement.

“Its members are united in a profound rejection of the liberal democratic order and believe that Germany is nearing ‘collapse,’” the statement says.

It says the group plotted to seize power in Saxony and potentially other eastern German states “to establish governmental and societal structures inspired by National Socialism.”

“Even ethnic cleansing was part of their inhuman plans,” Justice Minister Marco Buschmann says in a statement.

He says that the arrests were a reminder that the German constitutional state and the free and democratic order “are under threat from many sides.”

“We must do everything we can to defend our liberal democracy against its enemies,” he says.

The eight men were arrested in different location across Saxony and their alleged ringleader was apprehended in Poland. More than 450 police officers and special forces searched 20 premises in connection with the arrests.

The prosecutor’s office said that since its founding in 2020, the militant group made continuous preparations for the perceived inevitable and violent change of government.

It said its members, including the arrested suspects, repeatedly completed paramilitary training in combat gear, practiced specifically urban warfare, firearms handling and other skills. The group also procured military hardware, such as camouflage fatigues, combat helmets, gas masks and bulletproof vests, the statement said.

Seven other suspects were also investigated in the raids but not detained.

Germany has repeatedly busted far-right groups wanting to overthrow the government.

In 2022, a group of so-called Reichsbuerger planned to storm into the parliament building in Berlin and arrest lawmakers, according to prosecutors. It allegedly intended to negotiate a post-coup order primarily with Russia, as one of the allied victors of World War II.

German government and security officials have warned for years of the growing threat by far-right extremists to Germany’s democratic order.

Over 100 patients to be evacuated from Gaza via Israel today, WHO says

More than 100 patients including children suffering from trauma injuries and chronic diseases will be evacuated from Gaza today in a rare transfer out of the war-ravaged enclave, a World Health Organization official says.

“These are ad hoc measures. What we have requested repeatedly is a sustained medevac [medical evacuation] outside of Gaza,” says Rik Peeperkorn, adding that 12,000 people were awaiting transfer.

The patients will travel in a large convoy via the Kerem Shalom Crossing with Israel before flying to the United Arab Emirates, he adds, and then a portion will travel to Romania.

Report: Relatives of Gaza captives were told PM ‘doesn’t meet with hostage families’; his office denies

Families of Gaza hostages and their supporters dress in white as they attend a silent protest calling for their release, outside the Knesset in Jerusalem, November 4, 2024 (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Families of Israelis being held captive in Gaza who asked to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were told that the premier “doesn’t meet with hostage families,” Channel 12 reports.

The Prime Minister’s Office puts out a statement denying the report, stressing that Netanyahu “has been meeting the hostage families continuously since the outbreak of the war and considers this to be of great importance.”

The PMO stresses that all the families have met the prime minister, some more than once. One such meeting took place yesterday, says Netanyahu’s office.

On Sunday, according to the PMO, hostage families participated in a confidential briefing with government hostage pointman Gal Hirsch, where they received an update on where talks stand.

At least 4 killed in IDF raids and airstrikes in West Bank, PA health ministry says

Israeli army vehicles drive down a road during a raid in Qabatiya, south of Jenin city in the West Bank on November 5, 2024. (Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP)

At least four people were killed during an Israeli military raid and airstrikes in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Authority health ministry.

The ministry says two people were killed in the city of Qabatiya and two others in the Tammun area.

Earlier this morning, the IDF said it carried out an airstrike on armed terror operatives in Qabatiya.

Over 60 PFLP operatives arrested in West Bank and Lebanon, IDF and Shin Bet say

Over 60 operatives from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine organization have been arrested in counterterror operations in the West Bank and Lebanon, the IDF and Shin Bet announce in a joint statement.

Among those arrested in the West Bank was the head of the Women’s Committees Association of the PFLP, Abla Sa’adat, the wife of PFLP head Ahmad Sa’adat who has been jailed in Israel since 2006. In addition, Tahrir Badran Gaber, an activist from Ramallah was also detained, officials say.

The Women’s Committees Association of the PFLP has been declared to be a terror organization by Israel.

The IDF and Shin Bet say key figures who served as the heads of the PFLP in the West Bank were also arrested, in addition to terrorists who operated in the field for the organization.

The statement says that students at West Bank universities who were active members of PFLP cells at the educational institutions were also detained.

Offices and businesses were raided and closed down by troops, including a printing press that produced inflammatory materials for the PFLP.

The statement also says that the military has been acting against the terror group in Lebanon since the killing of the PFLP commander in Lebanon at the end of September. According to the military and Shin Bet, Nidal Abd al-Aal was involved in planning and advancing terror attacks in the West Bank.

Security cabinet to meet Thursday

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convenes a security cabinet meeting on July 28, 2024. (Haim Zach/GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will convene his national security cabinet on Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Kirya IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv, one of the ministers’ offices tells The Times of Israel.

The meeting comes during a diplomatic push to find a negotiated end to the fighting in Lebanon, and will be the first after the US elections tonight.

French FM to visit Israel in call for Gaza ceasefire, ‘respect for international humanitarian law’

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)

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot will travel to Israel and the West Bank tomorrow to call for a ceasefire in Gaza and “respect for international humanitarian law,” he tells France 2 TV.

“France’s role is to deliver messages and that is why I will go to Israel and the Palestinian territories tomorrow evening to meet with the authorities and humanitarian officials, to carry the voice of France within this region where the war has already lasted far too long,” Barrot says.

He will also call for “violations of international humanitarian law” to stop, according to AFP.

The visit comes after the Knesset passed a law curtailing the activities of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.

Relations between France and Israel have been strained in recent weeks. French President Emmanuel Macron banned Israeli firms from exhibiting at a major naval arms show, a decision — later overturned in court — that Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called “a disgrace.”

Last month, Macron and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traded barbs over the circumstances of Israel’s founding. Macron and Barrot are also calling for an arms embargo to Israel.

Knesset passes law allowing Education Ministry to fire teachers who publicly identify with acts of terror

A law authorizing the Education Ministry to dismiss teachers who publicly identify with an act of terrorism passes its final reading in the Knesset 55-45.

According to its explanatory notes, the bill, which also allows the ministry to cut funding for schools that have shown support for or identification with a terrorist act or a terrorist organization, is primarily aimed at Arab schools in East Jerusalem where there is “incitement of minors against the State of Israel alongside the glorification of terrorists” whose “destructive and long-term effect, among other things, may be expressed in the large number of minors living in East Jerusalem who carry out or attempt to carry out terrorist attacks.”

“Education is a central and significant factor that motivates many terrorist attacks against the State of Israel,” says far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.

Teachers are among the most significant influences on children and the bill was “designed to make sure that a teacher does not use his influence for terrorist activity by his students and that the school does not allow this to happen,” says bill co-sponsor MK Zvika Fogel (Otzma Yehudit).

Teachers who identify with terrorism can teach “in Tehran, Gaza or Ramallah today, but not in our schools,” declares co-sponsor Likud MK Amit Halevi.

“As we know, a bomb is not created and does not explode by itself. Its basic components are the brain and the heart, the consciousness of destruction, and the emotional fervor to carry it out, and these are created first of all in the educational system,” he adds. “One teacher may raise dozens of ticking bombs every year. One idea can be more destructive than a thousand tanks.”

Rocket sirens sound in northern border towns, Galilee region

Sirens sound in communities close to the northern border and in the Galilee region, warning of incoming rocket fire.

Government loses majority for vote on daycare subsidies for Haredi draft evaders

An ultra-Orthodox man who attended a protest against the drafting of Haredi men at an IDF Recruitment Center in Jerusalem sits in a nearby park, October 31, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

The coalition has lost the votes it needs to pass the controversial so-called Daycare Law being pushed by the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party to preserve subsidies for Haredi draft-evaders, Hebrew-language media reports.

Two lawmakers from the far-right Religious Zionism party — Moshe Solomon and Ohad Tal —  reportedly declare that they will not vote for the legislation.

Last night, Likud MK Yuli Edelstein, the chairman of the powerful Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, declared he will not back the bill.

The Walla news site says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, fearing a break with his ally the United Torah Judaism party on the matter, is working to pressure lawmakers from both the coalition and opposition to vote for the legislation.

Minister Gideon Sa’ar, the chairman of the coalition’s New Hope party, said his party, holding four seats, will vote against the legislation when it comes up for a Knesset vote, and Religious Zionism MK Ofir Sofer and Likud MKs Moshe Saada and Dan Illouz have also said they will not vote for the legislation.

That would mean 10 lawmakers would be expected to vote against the bill. The coalition holds an eight-seat majority, and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is also widely expected to vote against the law.

The cabinet advanced the proposed law on Sunday in the Ministerial Committee for Legislation. The bill will now head to the Knesset for a vote in a preliminary reading, likely tomorrow.

The legislation, which was submitted last week, aims to guarantee that the children of ultra-Orthodox men who are obligated to perform military service, but have not done so, will continue to be eligible for state-funded daycare subsidies.

It aims to circumvent a High Court of Justice ruling that such financial support is illegal in cases where the father should be serving in the Israel Defense Forces but is not.

The bill is highly controversial, with critics asserting that it would continue to encourage ultra-Orthodox men not to perform military service even as the IDF faces severe manpower shortages after a yearlong multifront war against the Hamas and Hezbollah terror groups.

Rocket sirens sound in northern border towns

Sirens sound in a number of communities close to the northern border as the area apparently comes under rocket fire from Lebanon.

Iran-backed Islamic Resistance in Iraq says it launched drones at Israel overnight

The Iran-backed Islamic Resistance in Iraq takes responsibility for launching drones at Israel overnight.

The group claims to have launched three drones at Haifa between 2 and 4 a.m.

The IDF reported shooting down one drone that entered Israeli airspace from the direction of Syria overnight.

Tiny hamlet Dixville Notch splits presidential vote 3-3 in first US Election Day vote

Voters cast their ballots on Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024, in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

In a presidential election that couldn’t be closer, it seems fitting that the first votes cast on Election Day were evenly split, with three for Donald Trump and three for Kamala Harris.

The tiny New Hampshire resort town Dixville Notch has a tradition that dates back to 1960 for being the first in the nation to complete in-person voting.

After a rousing accordion version of the national anthem, the town’s six voters began casting their ballots at the stroke of midnight and the vote count was complete 15 minutes later.

Drones launched at Israel from Iraq and Lebanon shot down, military says

Two drones launched at Israel from Iraq and Lebanon were shot down by the Israeli Air Force, the military says.

Sirens sounded in Masada a short while ago after a drone entered Israeli airspace. The IDF says the drone was launched from “the east,” a term used to describe attacks from Iraq.

Another drone, launched from Lebanon, set off sirens in Metula and Kfar Giladi.

Sirens warn of suspected drone attack on northern border towns

Sirens warn of a suspected drone infiltration in a number of communities close to the northern border with Lebanon.

IDF says armed terror cell hit in West Bank airstrike

The Israel Defense Forces says an armed terror cell was hit a short time ago in an airstrike in the Qabatiya area of the West Bank.

No further details are given.

Relatives of hostages held in Gaza block Tel Aviv highway

Protesters calling for a hostage deal block the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv, November 5, 2024 (Adar Eyal/pro-democracy protest groups)

Relatives of hostages held by terrorists in Gaza block the Ayalon highway in Tel Aviv in an attempt to raise awareness of their plight.

The major thoroughfare is blocked near the La Guardia interchange in the south of the city.

The protesters hold large placards bearing the faces of some of those who have been held captive in the Strip for over a year.

פעילות מחאת הנשים ובני משפחות חטופים חוסמים כעת את איילון דרום סמוך ליצחק שדה

צילום: @tomerappelbaum pic.twitter.com/jiWQHL5aIz

— Bar Peleg (@bar_peleg) November 5, 2024

Sirens at Masada warn of suspected drone attack in Dead Sea area

Sirens at Masada warn of a suspected drone infiltration in the Dead Sea area.

IDF: 2 rockets fired at Haifa from Lebanon intercepted; drone from Syria shot down

The Israel Defense Forces says two rockets fired from Lebanon were intercepted a short time ago.

The projectiles had triggered sirens in Haifa and surrounding communities.

Additionally, the military says air defenses intercepted a drone that approached from Syria overnight.

אזעקות בחיפה ודרומית לה, נצפו יירוטים מעל מפרץ חיפה@rubih67 (צילום: תומר נגלי) pic.twitter.com/IUI3rrq45O

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) November 5, 2024

Rocket sirens sound in Haifa, communities across northern Israel

Incoming rocket sirens are activated in Haifa and dozens of other communities in northern Israel.

IDF says soldier seriously injured in southern Lebanon fighting

A soldier with the Nahal Brigade’s 932nd Battalion was seriously wounded during fighting in southern Lebanon on Monday, the IDF says.

He was taken to a hospital in Israel for treatment.

US officials say new Russian disinformation is targeting swing states on eve of election

An Early Voting sign and a "No Campaigning within 150 feet of Polling Place" sign seen the polling station, October 31, 2024, in Stockbridge, Georgia. (AP Photo/Jason Allen)

Russia-linked disinformation operations have falsely claimed officials in battleground states plan to fraudulently sway the outcome of the extraordinarily close US presidential election, authorities warn hours before Election Day.

Success in the seven swing states is key to winning the White House for rivals Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, and those states have previously been the focus of unsupported accusations of election fraud.

“Russia is the most active threat,” the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency says.

“These efforts risk inciting violence, including against election officials,” they add, noting the efforts are expected to intensify through Election Day and in the following weeks.

It is the latest in a series of warnings from the ODNI about foreign actors — notably Russia and Iran — allegedly spreading disinformation or hacking the campaigns during this election.

Tehran and Moscow have both denied such allegations in the past.

The latest ODNI statement cites the example of a recent video that falsely depicted an interview with a person claiming election fraud in Arizona, which involved creating fake overseas ballots and changing voter rolls to favor Harris.

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes called the video and its claims “completely false, fake and fraudulent.”

Authorities also say they expected Iranian-linked operations to try to stoke violence by spreading false content.

Trump claims Harris will ‘invade the Middle East’ in final appeal to Arab voters

Former US president Donald Trump claims Vice President Kamala Harris will “invade the Middle East,” as he makes a final appeal to Arab and Muslim voters as he seeks their support to win in the swing state of Michigan on the eve of the election.

“We are building the biggest and broadest coalition in American political history. This includes record-breaking numbers of Arab and Muslim Voters in Michigan who want PEACE,” Trump writes on X.

“They know Kamala and her warmonger Cabinet will invade the Middle East, get millions of Muslims killed and start World War III,” he adds, pledging to “BRING BACK PEACE!”

US Army says soldier who suffered non-combat injury during Gaza pier operation has died

The image provided by US Central Command shows American and Israeli forces placing the Trident Pier on the coast of Gaza Strip on May 16, 2024. (US Central Command via AP)

A US Army soldier who was in critical condition after suffering non-combat injuries while supporting the military’s pier off the coast of Gaza earlier this year has died, the US military says.

Sergeant Quandarius Davon Stanley, who recently retired from the military, suffered critical injuries in May while supporting operations at sea of the US-built pier designed to increase flows of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip amid Israel’s war with the Hamas terror group.

In a statement, the US Army confirms that Stanley had died, though it does not specify when. He was receiving treatment in a long-term care medical center.

“Stanley was an instrumental and well respected first line leader in the 7th Transportation Brigade Expeditionary (TBX), especially during the mission to provide humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza,” Colonel John “Eddie” Gray, commander of the unit, says.

Three US troops sustained non-combat injuries during the pier operation, but the other two suffered minor injuries and have returned to duty.

Israel’s UN envoy accuses Turkey of ‘malice’ over call for arms embargo on Israel

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations accuses Turkey of “malice,” after Ankara submitted a letter signed by 52 countries calling for a halt in arms deliveries to Israel over the war in Gaza, where it is battling the Hamas terror group.

“What else can be expected from a country whose actions are driven by malice in an attempt to create conflicts with the support of the ‘Axis of Evil’ countries,” says Ambassador Danny Danon, using a term that commonly refers to Iran and its allies.

Turkey’s foreign ministry said Sunday it had submitted the letter to the United Nations, with the signatories including the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

Times of Israel Staff contributed to this report.