Herzog says Eisenkot got 67 nods as PM, but he will only hand over mandate on Sunday

Trump says Iran can’t do anything on its nuclear program ‘without our approval’

US President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, DC, on November 5, 2026. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP)

US President Donald Trump claims Iran cannot do anything pertaining to its nuclear program without “approval” from the US.

He is asked by reporters in the Oval Office about reports that Iranian negotiators are reviewing a new proposal for an agreement to curb its nuclear program.

“They’re not doing anything without our approval… It doesn’t make a difference what they’re looking at. They’re not going to have a nuclear weapon,” Trump claims.

“Now we will make a decision [on Iran]. Do we want to go further… and certify it… so that it will never happen again. I would rather not destroy the rest of the country if possible, but maybe I will have to. You will know soon enough,” Trump repeats.

KLM flight to Tel Aviv among those hit with likely hoax bomb threats

Ilustrative: KLM airplanes sit in Schiphol Airport near Amsterdam, Netherlands, on Jan. 18, 2018. (AP/Peter Dejong)

The Romanian intelligence agency says that two additional planes have received bomb threats, including a KLM flight to Tel Aviv with a layover in Bucharest.

The pilots requested a pyrotechnical inspection of the aircraft, it says. A bomb threat was made earlier on a Wizz Air flight from Milan to Bucharest, as hoax threats disrupted at least 27 passenger flights across Europe on Thursday.

1 arrested as Haredi protesters clash with cops, block light rail in Jerusalem

Haredi men block a road and clash with police during a protest in Jerusalem, November 5, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Dozens of Haredi men and boys are clashing with police on Jerusalem’s Bar Ilan Road in a protest that partially blocked the light rail on nearby Bar Lev Boulevard, footage published by police shows.

Police say they have declared the protest illegal and are working to disperse the protesters. One protester was arrested on suspicion of hurling stones at officers, police say.

Haredi media says the demonstrators are protesting against the planned expansion of the light rail to Bar Ilan, which intersects Bar Lev and runs through predominantly ultra-Orthodox areas.

Haredi officials have expressed opposition to the expansion out of concern it could harm the ultra-Orthodox nature of the area.

עדכון | המשטרה מפזרת | המשטרה פועלת לפיזור מפגינים נגד הקמת הרכבת הקלה ברחוב בר-אילן בירושלים. הרכבת בשדרות בר לב חסומה ופועלת חלקית, מופעלים קווי אוטובוס חלופיים.@IL_police pic.twitter.com/gYCImBu9DF

— חדשות הסקופים. (@Haskupim) November 5, 2026

2 men killed in shootings in north; woman found dead in south after brother killed in crash

Two young men were killed in separate shootings in the northern Arab towns of Tamra and Baqa al-Gharbiya this evening, according to first responders.

The victim of the first fatal shooting this evening, in Tamra, was identified as 22-year-old Yousef Hamad. Another man was moderately wounded in the shooting, according to Magen David Adom.

The later shooting, in Baqa al-Gharbiya, killed a roughly 25-year-old man, seriously wounded three men aged 22, 25 and about 30, and moderately wounded a fourth man aged 27, the ambulance service says.

Separately this evening, a 45-year-old man was seriously wounded in a shooting in Nazareth and a 25-year-old man was seriously wounded in a stabbing in Hadera, according to police and medics.

Police say they are investigating the incidents, all of which they describe as either “criminal” or “apparently criminal” in nature, rather than terror-related.

Police also say they are investigating after a woman in her 20s was found dead, with signs of injury, in her home in a Bedouin hamlet in the south. She was taken to the Abu Kabir forensic medicine institute to determine the cause of death, police add.

Another man, described by Magen David Adom as about 30 years old, was killed this afternoon when the car he was driving collided with a bus at the southern Hatrurim Junction. He is identified in media reports as the brother of the woman who was found dead. It’s unclear if the siblings’ deaths are related.

Huckabee says he’s ‘not sure’ if US aid to Israel will end immediately or at end of 2028

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee speaks during a meeting between the ambassadors of Israel and Lebanon in the Oval Office at the White House, April 23, 2026, in Washington. (AP/Mark Schiefelbein)

US Ambassador Mike Huckabee says he is not sure if US military aid to Israel will end immediately or at the end of the current MOU, following US President Donald Trump’s pronouncement this week.

“I’m not sure. I don’t know that we know the answer to that just yet,” Huckabee says when asked during an interview with Channel 12 news. “We’re asking for some clarity on that. I’m sure the Israelis are as well.”

Huckabee defends US aid to Israel, noting that “what Americans didn’t understand, still don’t, is that $3.8 billion, which is a tiny, really small figure in the great scheme of the American budget, but all of that money is used, spent back in the United States for Israel to be buying the things that helped them make the Iron Dome, the David Sling, the Arrow Three missile system, purchasing F-35s, F-15s, F-16s, Apache helicopters, many of the things that Israel uses to defend its freedom and to defend its democracy.”

Asked if he therefore thinks Trump’s announcement was a mistake, Huckabee says no, “we’re wanting to move to a different relationship where it does not look like a package of aid, but rather a relationship of trade.”

He notes that the current MOU “still has a couple of years left on it.”

Huckabee is also asked about the likelihood of renewed strikes on Iran now that both Israel and the US elections are over.

“I don’t think we know,” he says. “There’s probably two people in the whole world who know whether or not we’re going to go back into a military operation with Iran: President Trump and the Prime Minister. And I don’t think the decision has been made.”

Turkey says soldier died in cross-border fire along border with Iran

A Turkish soldier was killed over the weekend during a cross-border fire incident along the border with Iran, the defense ministry says, indicating both countries are investigating the incident.

“On October 31, while intervening in an illegal crossing in the area of the Engin Mayin border post on the Turkey-Iran border,” a soldier was killed “as a result of fire assessed to have come from Iran,” the ministry says in a post on X.

The soldier “was wounded during the intervention” but, despite efforts to treat him, he “could not be saved,” it says.

The Turkish authorities immediately began an investigation and met up with Iranian officials to discuss the matter “on November 3,” it says.

Iran has also opened an investigation “to clarify the incident in question,” it says, indicating efforts “to fully elucidate the incident are being meticulously continued in coordination with Iranian authorities.”

Engin Mayin is a military border post along the 500-kilometer (300-mile) frontier between Turkey and Iran.

Yashar urges Herzog to tap Eisenkot to form next government after he got majority of nods

Yoram Cohen and other members of the Yashar party speak to the media following their meeting with President Isaac Herzog at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, November 5, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The Yashar party urges President Isaac Herzog to hand the mandate to form the next government to party chairman Gadi Eisenkot, after he earned 67 recommendations compared with 46 for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Following his series of consultations, Herzog said he will hold further talks with party leaders to determine who can form a government, and intends to assign the mandate on Sunday.

Yashar notes that the total for Eisenkot is the largest number of recommendations given to a candidate for forming a government since 2015.

It says the results show that Israelis “have chosen change” and express “complete lack of confidence” in Netanyahu and his government.

“Benjamin Netanyahu is a caretaker prime minister leading a minority of just 46 seats,” the party says. “He has no mandate, no majority and no public trust.”

Yashar says Herzog should give Eisenkot the mandate “as soon as possible” so he can form a national emergency government “that will begin working for all Israeli citizens.”

Yashar urges all leaders who want what is best for Israel to “rise to the occasion” and “set aside every narrow political and personal consideration” to form a government quickly, warning that missing the opportunity could exact “a heavy price” and lead to another election “against the will of Israel’s citizens.”

Iran sent nuclear proposal to the US via Qatar, says senior Iranian official

Iran has sent the US a nuclear proposal via Qatar which is to be discussed only after Washington meets its seven demands, a senior Iranian official tells Reuters.

Washington is reviewing Tehran’s nuclear proposal, the official adds.

Herzog says Eisenkot got 67 nods as PM, but he will only hand over mandate on Sunday

President Isaac Herzog delivers a statement to the press at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem following consultations with representatives of political parties, November 5, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

President Isaac Herzog says he will hold further talks with party leaders to determine who is able to form a government, despite Yashar chairman Gadi Eisenkot receiving the majority of recommendations for premiership.

At the conclusion of consultations with all the Knesset factions, Herzog says representatives of factions totaling 67 lawmakers recommended that Eisenkot be tasked with forming the government, while factions totaling 46 lawmakers recommended Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“The results of the consultations appear clear,” Herzog says. “But the authority granted to me by law is to determine who has the ability to form a government, and that is not entirely clear in light of the mutual vetoes between the blocs and within the blocs themselves.”

Herzog says he will try to clarify the situation “directly and quickly” in personal conversations with some party leaders, and intends to assign the mandate to form a government on Sunday.

“In these conversations, I intend to leave no stone unturned in an effort to encourage the parties to reach out to one another and build a stable and good government for the people of Israel,” he says.

Likud presses opposition to end Netanyahu boycott, as Herzog challenges party’s rhetoric

Members of the Likud party meet with President Isaac Herzog at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem during consultations with political parties, November 5, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Likud lawmakers urge opposition parties to join a broad unity government during their consultation with President Isaac Herzog, arguing that the bloc’s boycott of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is blocking national unity.

MK Yoav Kisch calls for a “broad national government” of Jewish-led Zionist parties, saying Israel could not meet its challenges under a government reliant on Arab parties that “support terror.” He accuses opposition leaders of boycotting Likud and says the boycott has “done enormous damage” to Israel.

Herzog asks Kisch what Likud is prepared to sacrifice to secure a unity government. Kisch says he does not know, but insists the opposition needs to end its boycott and “come and talk with us.”

MK Miri Regev says Likud is extending a hand to the opposition, but argues that Yashar chairman Gadi Eisenkot and his “disaster bloc” are instead willing to sit with the Joint List.

Herzog pushes back: “He didn’t say he would sit with them.” He also challenges Regev’s rhetoric, telling her, “If you want to extend a hand, you can’t call it a ‘disaster bloc.'”

Regev says Likud only rejects parties that support terror, accusing Arab lawmakers of refusing to call Hamas a terrorist organization. Herzog notes that Ra’am leader Mansour Abbas had said during his party’s consultation that he supported disarming Hamas.

Likud representatives also accuse Yashar No. 2 Yoram Cohen of omitting, during his consultation with Herzog earlier in the evening, the party’s condition that coalition partners recognize Hamas as a terrorist organization. Herzog replies that he “didn’t notice.” Cohen said during their consultation that parties in their bloc must commit to dismantling Hamas.

Incoming MK Talik Gvili, who joined Likud after her son Ran Gvili was killed and abducted to Gaza during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught, urges politicians to restore the unity she said had prevailed at the start of the war. “You have the power to unify us,” she tells Herzog.

Asked what the government would do differently from its past four years of rule to reduce polarization among the Israeli public, Regev deflects blame to the opposition, saying that Netanyahu’s government had not led the national protests against it over the past four years.