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Key updates, 18 October 2026:
Saudi capital residents receive ‘aerial threat’ alert
Riyadh residents receive a mobile phone alert warning of a “hostile aerial threat,” after days of attacks from Yemen’s Houthis.
“Warning. The area is under a hostile aerial threat. Please remain calm, stay indoors or in a safe place away from windows and doors,” reads the alert, which is lifted a few minutes later.
Rubio says he is ‘very disturbed’ by scenes of settler violence in West Bank, urges Israeli crackdown
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to reporters before a meeting with 2015 Venezuelan National Assembly President Dinorah Figuera in the Treaty Room at the State Department, October 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
The United States wants Israel to do more to deter attacks committed by extremist settlers in the West Bank, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says.
“We’re very disturbed by those images and what we’re seeing,” Rubio says. “We’ve asked the Israelis and continue to ask them to crack down on that stuff.”
His comments to reporters come after the widespread dissemination of video showing multiple individuals attacking Heidi Levine, an American photojournalist with the Washington Post. Levine was one of at least two people injured in the Friday incident, which took place as Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians amid clashes.
European diplomats and a French mayor were also attacked in the West Bank in a separate incident, Belgium’s foreign minister has said.
The US State Department, Rubio says, has inquired about the event that included Levine’s attack. Rubio, speaking to reporters before boarding a flight to Uzbekistan, says he expects to hear back from the US Embassy in Jerusalem by Sunday.
Israeli settler extremists in the West Bank have been involved in at least 170 attacks on Palestinians since September 27, around the start of the annual olive harvest, according to Yesh Din, a left-wing Israeli settlements monitoring group.
17-year-old stabbed to death in Ashkelon in suspected dispute between crime figures
A 17-year-old is stabbed to death in Ashkelon, in what police estimate was a dispute between crime figures.
Another person is lightly hurt in the incident.
Both males are taken to the city’s Barzilai Medical Center, with one of them pronounced dead a short while later.
Police say they have launched an investigation into the incident.
IDF received distress calls about armed settler extremists’ threats, but only reacted hours later
Screenshot from video of diplomats attacked by settler extremists in the Taybeh area of the West Bank, October 17, 2026. (Doron Kadash / Army Radio via X)
An IDF operations room received reports about threats by extremist settlers and distress calls from activists in the West Bank as early as 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, but nothing was done with this information, and troops on the ground were only informed about the attack on diplomats and others around 3 p.m., after it was over.
One activist who accompanied local Palestinians sent the army a video and an exact location, accompanied by the message: “At least seven masked settlers armed with clubs. Come quickly, very scary. They stole bags of olives from Palestinians.”
האירוע בכפר טייבה החל בשעה 13:29, אז תועדו ראשוני הפורעים היהודים מתקרבים אל רכבי הדיפלומטים.
בשעה 13:31 אחד הפעילים שמלווים את הדיפלומטים בכפר כבר שלח הודעה, עם נעיצת מיקום ותיעודים לחמ״ל של הצבא (חמ״ל הגמ״ר של חטיבת בנימין).חלפו 3 שעות – ועד לרגע זה, אף כוח צה״לי או משטרתי… https://t.co/XHL4oj6tLv pic.twitter.com/XR6dXGVLOM
— דורון קדוש | Doron Kadosh (@Doron_Kadosh) October 17, 2026
The military confirmed that a report of the attack was sent by an Israeli civilian who was accompanying the diplomats to a phone number of the military’s regional brigade, but the IDF said that the brigade’s operations room “is designated to receive reports from security personnel only, and not from civilians.”
“The operations room receives dozens of operational reports each day and responds only to authorized personnel, not civilians,” the military said, adding that “other designated channels are available for civilians to submit complaints.”
“All circumstances surrounding the incident will be examined,” the military added.
Vance blames immigration, problems of ‘assimilation’ for violence in France
US Vice President JD Vance blames immigration for violence during protests in France, while sharing a video showing the city hall in Limoges on fire.
“Western liberals imported the third world into France and other countries in the name of diversity and compassion. They ignored fundamental questions of assimilation and compatibility. They were told it would lead to this and they didn’t listen,” Vance writes on X, adding: “I pray that France, a beautiful country of amazing people, will stop this madness before more of its landmarks burn.”
Deaths reported in ‘serious incident’ that sparked fire at Canadian military base
Canada’s defense minister says that people were killed and injured in an incident at a military base in Alberta that caused a major fire.
“I’m saddened to share that there have been both fatalities and injuries as a result of an incident on the base,” Defense Minister David McGuinty says.
McGuinty does not provide casualty figures or details about what caused the incident. He says the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were involved in the investigation and describes the situation as “very, very active and delicate.”
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police says officers were called following reports of a fire in a training area at the base.
The Canadian Armed Forces and federal, provincial and local authorities were coordinating the emergency response, he says. The nearby community of Wainwright was providing hospital and firefighting support.
The Municipal District of Wainwright says the fire crossed the military base’s perimeter fence and was spreading rapidly in high winds. Firefighters from multiple jurisdictions were responding, and no evacuation order was in effect.
Canadian Forces Base Wainwright, about 180 kilometers (112 miles) southeast of Edmonton, is one of Canada’s busiest military training bases, where soldiers prepare for combat operations. It is home to the Canadian Manoeuvre Training Centre, which conducts realistic battlefield exercises, and the 3rd Canadian Division Training Centre, which provides military training.
McGuinty says authorities are still working to determine what happened and expected to provide further information.
Saudi-led coalition says 2 killed in helicopter crash, denies Houthi claim of downing aircraft
A reconnaissance AH-6i helicopter crashed in the Najran region of Saudi Arabia due to a technical malfunction, killing its two crew members, the Saudi-led coalition’s spokesman Major General Turki al-Maliki says in a statement.
The helicopter crashed in an area under the jurisdiction of the Saudi National Guard Ministry, the statement adds.
The southwestern area of Najran has been subject to attacks by Iran-backed Houthis in recent weeks as fighting between the coalition and the Yemen-based militant group escalated.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree says in a post on X that the group had shot down a Saudi Apache helicopter near Najran while it was carrying out what he described as hostile activities targeting Houthi positions along the border.
Al-Maliki comments on Saree’s post with a photo of several Apaches lined up saying: “You claim to have shot it down, but it will enter the battlefield soon.”
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
1,200 arrested, 150 cops injured amid mass violence across France
A car burns at Place de La Republique during a protest against rising living costs in Paris, October 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
France is waking to devastated streets after clashes between police and protesters, mass looting and fires erupted nationwide as marches against rising costs of living degenerated into “extreme” violence.
The widespread unrest followed weeks of student protests and comes just six months ahead of elections to replace President Emmanuel Macron.
Whole streets in Paris “have been devastated,” the city’s mayor Emmanuel Gregoire says, as groups of masked young men torched parked cars and ransacked shops.
French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu, who had condemned the “extreme intensity” of the violence, says 1,200 people have been arrested and 150 police officers hurt.
It was “a miracle the toll isn’t higher,” he says.
The violence began on the sidelines of marches in the capital and other cities over the cost of living that the interior ministry said were attended by 550,000 people.
The CGT union, which took part, said 800,000 people participated.
Police used tear gas and water cannon against protesters who threw projectiles and aimed fireworks.
A 17-year-old boy had his right hand blown off by a crowd-control grenade in the southern city of Saint-Etienne.
Son of WaPo journalist beaten by settlers: ‘We were told Bezos is shocked, will do everything to see justice served’
Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine at Beilinson Hospital, in Petah Tikva, October 17, 2026. (Channel 12 news screenshot)
The son of Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine, who was beaten by settlers in West Bank, says he was told that the newspaper’s billionaire owner, Jeff Bezos, has said he will take action to ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice.
“We had an opportunity to show governance and to see justice served, but unfortunately they take it and as usual throw it in the trash,” Michael Milner tells the Kan public broadcaster, a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cast doubt about the attack.
“The Washington Post staff support my mother, we heard that Jeff Bezos wants to speak to her today, that he is shocked by what happened and promised he would do everything to see justice served in this case,” Milner says in the Hebrew-language interview, highlighting the strong statements on the attack from the US government.
Levine underwent surgery on her finger, which was nearly detached from her hand in the brutal attack.
“My mother is in a hospital bed, unable to get out of bed. She broke four vertebrae in her back. She almost had a finger amputated. She is mentally shaken by what happened,” says Milner.
The assault occurred on Friday near the village of Abu Falah, north of Ramallah, where some 80 settlers, many of them masked and some of them carrying gas canisters, began throwing rocks and beating Palestinians and accompanying activists, as well as Levine.
“My mother has been taking pictures for over 40 years, mainly war zones, including Ukraine and Russia, and Afghanistan and Syria. She covered wars between Israel and Iran,” he says. “There were incidents where stones were thrown at her, she was also hit by a rubber bullet. But there was never an attack like this. I never saw her lynched. She was never robbed. This was an extraordinary event.”
Key Update
Israeli soccer team officials arrested on suspicion of ‘systematic’ fraud, law enforcement says
Four officials in an Israeli Premier League soccer team were arrested on suspicion of “systematic” counterfeiting, money laundering, fraud, and failure to report players’ salaries to tax authorities over the course of four seasons, according to a joint statement from police, the Tax Authority and the Justice Ministry.
Law enforcement officials seized real estate and luxury cars as part of the investigation, according to the statement, which says “the scale of the crimes” in the unnamed soccer team is to the tune of tens of millions of shekels.
The arrests and seizures follow a months-long undercover investigation conducted in cooperation with the Israel Football Association, the national governing body for soccer, the statement says.
The National Unit for Combating Economic Crime, a part of police’s Lahav 433 major crimes division, will summon dozens of current and former players from the team in the coming days as part of the investigation, the statement adds.
‘Baby killers’: Anti-Israel activists vandalizing UK homes of defense firm execs – report
Pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel activists have begun vandalizing the homes of defense company executives in the UK, The Times reports.
There have been a number of attacks in recent weeks by a group calling itself “The List,” with properties and vehicles vandalized.
In one case, “baby killers” was sprayed on a garage door. Other attacks have involved red paint.
The report says that counterterrorism police are believed to be involved in the investigations, with The List claiming to have targeted at least six senior executives from defense firms in the UK, including Israel’s Elbit Systems.
The newspaper notes that the targeting of homes — rather than sites or factories belonging to defense companies — is an apparent escalation.
A new direct action group in the UK 🇬🇧 calling itself "The List" says it targeted the homes of employees of weapons manufacturers that work with Israel's 🇮🇱 Elbit Systems.
Specifically, it claims that over the weekend, it targeted the homes of the COO of Ultra I&C, the director… pic.twitter.com/SaGgKqOcbp
— Aleph א (@no_itsmyturn) October 16, 2026
Kroizer expected to be questioned by police major crimes unit over alleged assault of officer
Otzma Yehudit MK Yitzhak Kroizer attends an agriculture conference in Herzliya, September 23, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
MK Yitzhak Kroizer, of National Security Minister Itamr Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party, is expected to be questioned by police’s Lahav 433 major crimes unit today on suspicion of assaulting a police officer during an October 1 riot in the central West Bank’s Mitzpe Jericho settlement.
The riot reportedly left two officers wounded and gave cover for a suspect in violence against Palestinians to escape arrest.
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara last week signed off on the interrogation of Kroizer, who would otherwise have been shielded by parliamentary immunity.
Kroizer claims police assaulted him and intends to file a complaint at the Department of Internal Police Investigations, where he has said he tried to file a complaint last week but was turned away after four hours of waiting.
Yashar notes PM’s silence on slur against Eisenkot as Likud activist posts monkey video
Left: Right-wing media personality Yinon Magal attends a hearing at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem on May 9, 2025. Right: Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar party and a former IDF chief of staff, speaks during an election campaign rally in Nordiya, August 31, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90, Gili Yaari/Flash90)
Yashar asks why neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, nor his Likud party, have condemned leading right-wing political commentator and TV host Yinon Magal for his comment calling party leader Gadi Eisenkot a “monkey.”
The remark by one of the most prominent public figures supporting Netanyahu, is widely seen as a racist slur about the Yashar party chief’s Moroccan heritage.
“More than 12 hours have passed since Yinon Magal’s racist statement and no condemnation has yet been published on behalf of Netanyahu and Likud,” the party says.
Meanwhile, prominent Likud activist Rami Ben-Yehuda posts a video of Eisenkot in which the Yashar leader has been replaced by a monkey.
Haredi anti-enlistment protesters block traffic on Route 4
Dozens of Haredi men are blocking traffic on Route 4 near the Yavne Interchange in the center of the country in a protest against the military draft, footage shows.
Police urge drivers to travel via other routes and say officers are working to clear rioters off the road.
בהפתעה מוחלטת ובעקבות מעצר 2 עריקים בסופ"ש: אנשי הפלג הירושלמי חוסמים את כביש 4 באזור מחלף יבנה pic.twitter.com/XMnwCH3WKE
— אמברגו (@embargo1news) October 18, 2026
The protest follows the arrest in Rishon Lezion over the weekend of two students from Jerusalem’s Ohr HaChaim yeshiva, who have been sentenced to 20 days in military prison for failing to enlist in the IDF, according to Haredi media.
Government to approve NIS 2.6 billion cuts for defense; Lapid: Coalition funds untouched as welfare, education take the hit
The government is expected to approve across-the-board cuts of 4.9 percent to government ministry budgets today, totaling NIS 2.6 billion ($840 million), to be redirected toward urgent defense procurement, while leaving coalition funds untouched, nine days before the October 27 election.
The cuts will affect a wide range of ministries, including education, health, welfare and transportation, with professional officials and legal advisers warning of significant consequences for public services.
The move comes just days after the government approved NIS 1 billion ($323 million) for the purchase of Apache helicopters, largely funded through cuts to a five-year economic development plan for Arab society, bringing the total allocated to defense procurement under the two decisions to more than NIS 3.6 billion ($1.1 billion).
The proposal states that the funding is needed for “classified procurement to equip the Defense Ministry,” and that details of the procurement and its urgency will be presented to the Ministerial Committee on Procurement.
According to the proposal, defense officials warn that “delaying approval of the budget until after the formation of a new government could undermine the necessary security response.”
Legal opinions accompanying the proposal warn that the cuts could significantly disrupt government services and stress the need for the government’s “restraint and moderation in the use of its powers” during an election period, although they find no legal impediment to the move.
Finance Ministry legal advisor Dudi Koppel notes that discussions with professional officials identified “alternative funding sources” that would have “less severe consequences” for public services, including funds allocated under government decisions that have not yet been implemented or are not essential to ministries’ operations.
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid says the defense procurement is necessary, but argues it could be funded without cutting welfare and education budgets.
“Billions of shekels are sitting in coalition funds. Instead of that money going to corrupt officials, draft dodgers and deserters, it could be used to buy Apache helicopters,” he says.
“The cuts to welfare and education budgets are yet another crime by this government against the productive, serving public,” Lapid adds.
UK literary agent: No mainstream British publisher agreed to take former hostage Eli Sharabi’s memoir
Eli Sharabi's memoir recounts his 491 days as a Hamas hostage in Gaza. (Harper Influence via JTA)
One of Britain’s top literary agents says that none of the large publishing houses in the UK agreed to publish the memoir of former hostage Eli Sharabi.
Neil Blair, who represents JK Rowling, makes the comments at the founding of High Line Publishing Studio, which he says will provide a space for Jewish and Israeli authors who have faced boycotts since October 7.
Blair tells The Times he was “flabbergasted” that none of the large publishers picked up the memoir.
“I’m assuming none of [the publishers] even bothered to read the proposal, as it’s one of the most remarkable books. I think it’s akin to some of the great standout books from the Holocaust, in terms of lessons on how to live one’s life in the face of adversity,” Blair says.
Sharabi’s book was released in the US by Harper Influence, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, but in the UK was published by the independent Swift publisher.
7-year-old girl killed by Israeli fire in central Gaza, Hamas media outlets say; no comment from IDF
Palestinian media outlets affiliated with Hamas report that Masak al-Dalu, a 7-year-old girl, was shot dead by IDF troops near the al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza this morning.
There is no comment from the IDF.
Iran parliament approves new defense minister after predecessor killed in war’s opening strikes
Iranian lawmakers approve Mehrdad Akhlaghi as the country’s new defense minister, replacing his predecessor who was killed in strikes in February on the first day of the war.
“Members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly today gave vote of confidence to Mehrdad Akhlaghi, the nominee for minister of defense and armed forces logistics,” state television reported, nearly eight months after the initial US-Israeli strikes that sparked the conflict.
Route 4 near reopens after Haredi riot against enlistment — police
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men and teens clash with police officers and drivers as they block a road during a protest against the jailing of yeshiva students who failed to comply with an army recruitment order, at the Yavne Interchange on Route 4, October 18, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Police say they have cleared rioters off Route 4 near Yavne Interchange, after a roughly 90-minute Haredi protest there against military service.
Footage from the scene showed drivers scuffling with Haredi teens who blocked vehicles and sat down on the key route.
The road has now reopened, police say, adding that they will not tolerate “any kind of riot, harm to freedom of movement or conduct that could endanger the public.”
מפגינים מהפלג הירושלמי חוסמים את מחלף יבנה בכביש 4 במחאה על מעצר עריקים חרדים; תיעוד: עימותים בין נהגים לבין מפגינים@tuvyayagelnik @MHlpryn pic.twitter.com/yOfOTrPKAU
— גלצ (@GLZRadio) October 18, 2026
Landmark Riyadh skyscraper orders tenants to work from home amid Houthi attacks
This picture taken on August 1, 2023 shows a view of the Kingdom Centre (L) skyscraper in Riyadh. (Fayez Nureldine/AFP)
Riyadh’s Kingdom Centre skyscraper, one of the city’s major landmarks, orders its office tenants to work remotely “until further notice,” after repeated Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia.
“Kindly refrain from attending the offices during this period,” the office management says in an email to tenants.
The mall at the foot of the 99-story building remains open.
Netanyahu: Pundit’s slur against Eisenkot is ‘very inappropriate,’ but Yashar chief must condemn all anti-Likud remarks
Left: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a state ceremony on Mount Herzl, in Jerusalem, August 5, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/FLASH90); (right) Head of the Yashar party Gadi Eisenkot attends a conference at the Peres Center in Tel Aviv. July 12, 2026. (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemns remarks by pro-government Channel 14 political commentator Yinon Magal, who called Yashar party chairman Gadi Eisenkot a “monkey” and claimed he was controlled by “Ashkenazi elitists,” while accusing Eisenkot of failing to denounce similar rhetoric directed at Likud voters.
“That is a highly inappropriate remark, and I condemn it,” Netanyahu tells Radio North 104.5FM.
However, Netanyahu also criticizes remarks by businesswoman Galia Albin, who recently sparked controversy after mocking Sephardic Likud voters during a podcast appearance, clapping her hands and enthusiastically chanting “Bibi, Bibi, Bibi,” using Netanyahu’s nickname, before questioning their ability to think independently.
“I would have liked Gadi Eisenkot to condemn all the remarks by Galia Albin and others calling Likud supporters chimpanzees and baboons,” Netanyahu says. “That is inappropriate, and this is inappropriate.”
Albin appears not to have made such comments, and it is unclear whether there is any connection between her and Eisenkot.
The premier claims that insults directed at his supporters are a daily occurrence, saying, “Although Yinon said something yesterday that he should not have said, every day I hear the arrogance, condescension and contempt directed at Likud voters.”
“I wish this were a one-time occurrence. It happens every day, and almost all of it is directed at Likud voters,” he says.
Netanyahu also accuses Eisenkot of failing to condemn those who call him a “traitor.”
“Not only does Gadi Eisenkot fail to condemn it, he personally uses it against me,” he adds.
Netanyahu’s remarks come after Yashar publicly criticized the premier and Likud for failing to condemn the remarks by Magal, one of the premier’s most prominent supporters, which is widely seen as a racist slur against Eisenkot’s Moroccan heritage.
Government approves NIS 2.6 billion in budget cuts for defense, leaving coalition funds untouched
The government approves NIS 2.6 billion ($840 million) in across-the-board cuts to government ministry budgets to fund urgent defense procurement, while leaving coalition funds untouched, just nine days before the October 27 election.
The 4.9 percent cuts will affect education, health, welfare, transportation and other ministries, while leaving coalition funds untouched, despite warnings from legal advisers about the impact on public services.
Yisrael Beytenu faction chairman MK Oded Forer accuses the government of putting political interests ahead of the public interest.
“Instead of cutting the coalition funds allocated to Aryeh Deri, Shas, United Torah Judaism and [Religious Zionism MK] Orit Strock, they prefer to slash NIS 2.6 billion from government ministries across the board,” he says.
“They are cutting funding for the rehabilitation of northern Israel, healthcare and welfare services in the periphery. But there is always money for draft dodgers and yeshivas. Netanyahu and Smotrich won’t touch those funds,” Forer charges.
Democrats MK Gilad Kariv offers a more succinct response, calling the coalition “a government of thieves.”
Key Update
France calls on Israel to end ‘acts of terrorism’ by settlers in West Bank
Screenshot from video of diplomats attacked by settler extremists in the Taybeh area of the West Bank, October 17, 2026. (Doron Kadash / Army Radio via X)
France strongly condemns yesterday’s attack by extremist settlers on diplomatic officials in the Palestinian Christian village of Taybeh, including French Mayor Bernard Baudoux.
In a statement from its Foreign Ministry spokesman, France “calls on the Israeli authorities to arrest those responsible for this serious attack and bring them to justice,” and to “take all necessary measures to put an end to these acts of terrorism and ensure the security of the civilian population and diplomatic missions, as they are required to do under international law.”
Paris synagogue apparently vandalized in riots
Damage at a synagogue on Rue Burnouf in the 19th arrondissement that was apparently attacked by rioters during widespread violence in Paris on October 17, 2026 (Screen grab/social media)
A synagogue in Paris was attacked by rioters yesterday, videos on social media appear to show.
The synagogue, located on Rue Burnouf in the 19th arrondissement, was apparently vandalized as demonstrations spiraled out of control in some of the worst violence France has witnessed for years.
The video shows books and holy items strewn across the synagogue floor.
Rioters targeted public buildings, looted luxury boutiques and supermarkets, and attacked police vehicles and officers.
There are no injuries reported and it is unclear whether anyone was at the synagogue at the time of the attack.
🚨 BREAKING: 🇫🇷 Paris, France | Oct. 18: A synagogue in Paris’ 19th arrondissement was vandalized amid nationwide riots.
Synagogues targeted, public buildings set ablaze, police stations attacked, shops looted.
They came for the Jews first.
Now they’re coming for France. pic.twitter.com/y1rRky7sZd— Combat Antisemitism Movement (@CombatASemitism) October 18, 2026
Key Update
Reports: Settlers attempt to set fire to trailer, construction equipment in West Bank; no injuries
Palestinian media outlets report that settlers attempted to set fire to a trailer and construction equipment in Wadi Rahim in the South Hebron Hills this morning.
Footage shows smoke billowing from the entrance of the trailer, while a man rushes to an excavator and attempts to dump sand, apparently to extinguish the fire.
The extent of the damage to the trailer is unclear.
No injuries have been reported.
🟨شاهد | مستوطنون يقدمون على إحراق (كرفان) و جرافة في واد الرخيم جنوب يطا جنوب الخليل pic.twitter.com/ZinzfsEck6
— شبكة يافا الإخبارية (@yaffa_ps) October 18, 2026
Iran’s new defense minister threatens ‘enormous damage’ in region if US attacks
Newly appointed Iranian defense minister Mehrdad Akhlaghi threatens to inflict “enormous damage” on the United States and its allies in the Middle East if Washington resumes its military campaign against the country.
“People can rest assured that they will most likely not dare to attack us,” Akhlaghi tells reporters shortly after securing parliament’s vote of confidence. “If [the US] do, they themselves and the region will suffer enormous damage.”
Iranian lawmakers had earlier approved Akhlaghi’s appointment as the country’s new defense minister. He replaces Aziz Nasirzadeh, who was killed in a US-Israeli attack on a leadership compound on February 28, alongside former supreme leader ayatollah Ali Khamenei and senior military commanders.
According to the government website, Akhlaghi “was elected to the post with 237 votes in favor,” out of a total of 277 votes cast.
Pope Leo pledges gradual return to duties in 1st public appearance since cancer surgery
Pope Leo XIV appears at the window of his study in the Apostolic Palace overlooking St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican for the traditional noon blessing after praying the Angelus, October 18, 2026, a day after he returned from the hospital, where he had lung cancer removed . (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Pope Leo pledges to slowly resume his usual activities as the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics as he greets crowds in St. Peter’s Square during his first public event since undergoing surgery for lung cancer five days ago.
The 71-year-old pontiff had an operation on Tuesday to remove the lower lobe of his right lung, fueling speculation about how his illness might change his 17-month papacy.
Smiling from a window of the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace as he spoke to pilgrims below in a firm, clear voice, the first US pope thanks people across the world for their prayers and says he will now begin to resume his normal schedule.
“Having overcome this delicate phase… I will now gradually resume my activities, always with the help of God and your prayers,” Leo says.
The pope, who was discharged from Rome’s Gemelli hospital yesterday, came to the window in the palace unaided and held his weekly midday appointment as usual.
He also urges pilgrims waiting below under cloudy skies to set aside any selfish ambitions and serve God “without compromise.”
Golan visits injured journalist Heidi Levine: ‘The heart breaks. And the blood boils’
Democrats party chair Yair Golan (right) and MK Gilad Kariv (left) visit photojournalist Heidi Levine, who was attacked in the West Bank on October 16, in the hospital on October 18, 2026.
The Democrats leader Yair Golan visits Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine, who is recovering in the hospital after she was beaten by settlers in the West Bank on Friday.
“I sat across from her, together with MK Gilad Kariv, and heard about the moments of terror. About the awful fear that she wouldn’t come out of there alive. About the blows, the blood, about how they abandoned her wounded in the field,” writes Golan on X. “A 65-year-old woman. Facing a gang of hate-filled Jewish rioters. The heart breaks. And the blood boils.”
Golan says that “this Jewish terror endangers us all,” and vows that the situation will change after the election next week.
“We will fight Palestinian terror and Jewish terror with determination, with an iron fist and without any concessions. We will dry up the sources of funding, clear out the hotbeds of violence, and restore full backing to the security forces to act against anyone who instills terror and harms the innocent,” writes Golan.
No other lawmakers appear to have visited Levine.
נפגשתי היום עם היידי לוין, הצלמת שהותקפה באכזריות בידי פורעים יהודים ביהודה ושומרון.
ישבתי מולה, יחד עם ח"כ גלעד קריב, ושמעתי על רגעי האימה. על הפחד הנורא שלא תצא משם בחיים. על המכות, על הדם, על איך שהם הפקירו אותה פצועה בשטח.
אישה בת 65. מול חבורה של פורעים יהודים אכולי שנאה.… pic.twitter.com/jOTotcW8LV
— Yair Golan – יאיר גולן (@YairGolan1) October 18, 2026
Still no arrests over settler attacks on US journalist, European diplomats, Palestinians
Screenshot from video of diplomats attacked by settler extremists in the Taybeh area of the West Bank, October 17, 2026. (Doron Kadash / Army Radio via X)
Police have not announces any arrests some 48 hours after dozens of settlers attacked journalists and Palestinian olive pickers near the central West Bank’s Abu Falah on Friday.
Medics reported two people wounded in the attack, including 63-year-old Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine.
Nor have police announced any arrests over the attack on European diplomats in the central West Bank’s Taybeh yesterday.
Both attacks have been followed by increased international scrutiny of the daily violence in the West Bank, as well as criticism of English-language statements by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that claimed there was a lack of “compelling evidence” and cast doubts on the specifics of the assaults.
Both attacks have drawn increased international scrutiny of the daily attacks, and English-language statements by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that attempted to cast doubt on the identity of the attackers.
A police spokesperson does not immediately respond to a request for comment. Police have said investigations into both attacks are ongoing.
EU ‘strongly condemns’ settler attack on diplomatic delegation in West Bank
Screenshots from video of diplomats attacked by settler extremists in the Taybeh area of the West Bank, October 17, 2026. (Doron Kadash / Army Radio via X)
The European Union says that it “strongly condemns” the attack yesterday by a group of settlers on visiting European diplomats.
“The EU strongly condemns the latest attacks by violent settlers in the West Bank, including on European diplomats,” the foreign service says in a communique, also urging “full accountability as well as effective measures to prevent continued acts of violence and violent harassment against Palestinians, including during the ongoing olive harvest season, as well as against journalists.”
Egypt says ready to give Saudi Arabia necessary support amid Houthi fighting
Egypt is ready to provide Saudi Arabia with the support it needs to defend its security and stability, the presidency says, as Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis intensify their attacks on the world’s largest oil exporter.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi had requested an urgent parliament session to authorize the military, one of the region’s largest and most powerful, to help defend Saudi Arabia if the kingdom requested its support.
The Houthis have in recent days attacked Riyadh’s international airport and the state oil giant Saudi Aramco, amid renewed fighting with the Saudi-backed forces of the internationally recognized government in Yemen following the collapse of a truce.
“Egypt will provide Saudi Arabia with all necessary and possible forms of support to defend its security and stability, protect its resources, territorial integrity and Islamic holy sites,” the Egyptian presidency says in a statement.
It follows a meeting of Egypt’s National Defense Council chaired by Sissi and attended by the parliamentary speaker, the prime minister and the army chief.
Boy reportedly shot dead by IDF in northern Gaza, 2nd child said killed today
Palestinian media outlets affiliated with Hamas in Gaza report that a boy named Tamer Soboh was shot dead by the IDF this morning west of Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip.
He is the second Gazan child reported killed today, after Hamas-affiliated media outlets reported earlier that Masak al-Dalu, a 7-year-old girl, was shot dead by IDF troops this morning near the al-Maghazi refugee camp in the center of the Strip.
The boy’s exact age was not reported. The Times of Israel could not independently verify the report. The IDF has yet to comment on either incident.
Key Update
Trump says ‘France is burning,’ blames riots on immigrants ‘with hatred in their hearts’
US President Donald Trump speaks at a dinner at his Mar-a-Lago club, October 17, 2026, in Palm Beach, Florida. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
US President Donald Trump blames immigration for unrest during protests in France and urges the country to tighten its migration rules.
“France is burning! The immigration of people from an entirely different world, people with hatred in their hearts, has shattered that once great country,” Trump writes in a post on his Truth Social platform. “Close your Borders and take control, before it is too late!”
BBC’s AI scientist accused Israel of ‘apartheid,’ was reportedly arrested for having al-Qaeda manual
A senior AI data scientist at the BBC is a pro-Palestinian activist who accused Israel of apartheid and was once arrested for possession of an al-Qaeda terrorist training pamphlet, according to The Telegraph.
Hicham Yezza, born in Algeria, has worked for the BBC since 2021, when he served as an expert in the Middle East and North Africa. He now serves as the principal data scientist at the British public broadcaster’s Responsible AI unit, according to his LinkedIn profile.
But until a few days ago, The Telegraph reports, he was also listed as the editor-in-chief of Ceasefire magazine, a pro-Palestinian publication he co-founded in 2003.
In 2008, Yezza was arrested for possession of the al-Qaeda pamphlet, but was not charged because he said he had it to conduct “academic research on militant Islam,” according to the Telegraph.
The next year he was imprisoned on immigration offenses. He was not deported upon release and is now a British citizen, according to the Telegraph.
A former prisoner who has accused Israel of “ethnic cleansing” and defended Hamas terrorism is now employed by the BBC to advise on the use of AI in its news output.
🔗: https://t.co/ODvIIudirB pic.twitter.com/pziIkCgaqS
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) October 17, 2026
He has lashed out at Israel on social media as well. He has accused Israel of “apartheid” several times, including posting on X in 2021 about Israel’s “decades-long racist Apartheid occupation and brutalisation of the Palestinians.”
In 2018, he wrote that “apologists” for “Israeli crimes” shouted “Hamas! Hamas! Hamas!” as a distraction.
In 2014, he shared an Al Jazeera article accusing Israel of “systematic genocide to make life unbearable for Palestinians.”
He also defended former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who faced repeated accusations of antisemitism.
The BBC told the Telegraph, “While we wouldn’t normally comment on individuals, none of this appears to relate to his time at the BBC.”
It said he was mistakenly listed as the editor of the publication he founded, which the BBC said he left five years ago, before he began as its employee.
Ra’am accuses right-wing operatives of mounting fake campaign depicting party leaders with Pride flag
Ra’am accuses right-wing operatives of orchestrating a fake election campaign featuring billboards depicting party chairman Mansour Abbas and his No. 2, Yoav Segalovitz, alongside an Israeli flag and a Pride flag.
The billboards, which have appeared across Israel in recent days, primarily in the country’s center, according to Hebrew media reports, feature the Hebrew slogan “The New Israeli Story” and the Arabic phrase “Together We Will Bring Change,” giving the impression that they are part of Ra’am’s official campaign.
שמרנים בציבור הערבי רותחים מזעם על השילוט הזה של רע"מ בגבעתיים, כשעבאס וסגלוביץ' (או אולי מישהו אחר?) עם דגל רע"מ, דגל ישראל ודגל הגאווה מאחוריהם
המבקרים מזכירים מקרים שבהם מנצור עבאס ורע"מ לא הסכימו להיות במשותפת בגלל תמיכת חד"ש בלהט"בים (כמו הסערה סביב טחינת אלארז, או סרטון… pic.twitter.com/A9FJ45w9KS
— Moran T 𓂆 موران ت (@MoranT555) October 16, 2026
The advertisements do not identify a funder, in apparent violation of election campaign laws.
Ra’am has Islamist roots and has historically appealed to socially conservative voters. It has not historically supported LGBTQ rights.
It says the campaign is intended to damage the party’s image among voters and promote the interests of right-wing parties, according to Haaretz.
The party stresses that it is responsible only for official campaign materials bearing its logo, claiming that the effort reflects the right wing’s fear that Ra’am and other parties seeking to oust Netanyahu’s government could secure a majority in the Knesset in the October 27 election.
Ra’am says it “has confidence in the awareness of the Arab public and its ability to confront the smears,” urging voters to turn out in large numbers “to bring down the racist and extremist right-wing coalition and establish a new government of change, in which Ra’am will be a partner and wield influence for the benefit of Arab society.”
Leading economists: Western pressure over settlements, settler violence could spike cost of living
Palestinian men inspect a vehicle that was burned by Israeli settlers the previous night, in Aqraba in the West Bank on October 6, 2026. (JOHN WESSELS/AFP)
The Economists’ Forum for Democracy, which represents more than 60 economists, academics, and former senior officials, warns that mounting Western pressure and sanctions over Israeli West Bank settlements and settler violence could exact a heavy toll on the Israeli economy, leading to a spike in the cost of living.
The Economists’ Forum cautions that the issue gained urgency last month when the UK announced a ban on trade with Israeli settlements and 12 Western countries announced similar plans to impose or support restrictions.
“The damage to the Israeli economy could escalate if the measures expand from a handful of countries to a significant portion of Europe and spill over from the settlements to the Israeli economy as a whole,” the Economists’ Forum says in a letter. “There are growing concerns about a significant deterioration in economic relations between Israel and Europe, which will cause substantial macroeconomic damage.”
“The imposition of sanctions will lead to a significant increase in the cost of living,” the forum warns.
The worry is that measures initially targeting settlements and businesses operating beyond the Green Line could ultimately be extended to companies and banks inside Israel’s pre-1967 borders, given the difficulty of separating their activities and supply chains from the West Bank.
The Economists’ Forum called on decision-makers to change government policy towards settlements and settler violence, as current policy is deepening Israel’s isolation.
Settler violence has mounted in recent months, and the letter comes as two recent settler attacks, on European diplomats and a Washington Post photographer, have drawn sharp international condemnation.
“The failure to prevent Jewish terror jeopardizes Israel’s vital trade relations with nations around the world and threatens the entire economy,” the forum says. “The damage must be prevented now, while it is still possible.”
Among the signatories of the letter are Jacob Frenkel, former governor of the Bank of Israel; Zvika Eckstein and Avia Spivak, former deputy governors of the bank; Leo Leiderman and Michel Strawczynski, former heads of research at the bank; former Finance Ministry director generals; and Manuel Trajtenberg, former head of the National Economic Council.
Key Update
Number of arrests in France protests rises to 1,800; Macron to address nation
People look at a charred car on Place de la Republique the day after a demonstration against rising living costs, joining students’ grievances, in Paris, October 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
Police have arrested at least 1,800 people across France after violent groups clashed with officers and looted shops during nationwide demonstrations that have drawn hundreds of thousands denouncing rising living costs and poor conditions in schools.
Authorities say masked groups yesterday set fires and attacked public buildings, including city halls, in several cities.
In Limoges, a city in central France, flames engulfed the 19th-century City Hall, causing its roof to collapse. Haute-Vienne prefect Maurice Barate tells LCI television that the fire was deliberately set and nearly destroyed the building. The fire was under control as of today.
French President Emmanuel Macron will hold an emergency meeting with top government officials this afternoon, before addressing the nation at 8 p.m., according to his office.
“The right to protest is a fundamental right. Deliberately and collectively sowing disorder through violence is not,” Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez writes on X, pointing to the looting of hundreds of businesses in many cities including Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Bordeaux.
About 550,000 people took part in protests across France, according to authorities, while organizers count about 800,000. More than 500 police officers, gendarmes and firefighters were injured, Nuñez says.
One person died of a heart attack, Paris police say in a statement, without providing details. Paris prosecutors’ office says it is investigating.
Eisenkot’s party puts up billboards accusing Netanyahu, Magal of ‘disparaging Mizrahim’ after ‘monkey’ slur
Opposition frontrunner Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party has put up billboards accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “disparaging Mizrahim” after an ally of Netanyahu called Eisenkot a “monkey” on air.
Eisenkot is of Moroccan heritage and would be the first Israeli prime minister from a Mizrahi, or Middle Eastern Jewish, background if he wins the October 27 election.
Last night, Yinon Magal, a commentator on the pro-government Channel 14 and a vocal supporter of Netanyahu, repeatedly called Eisenkot a “monkey,” and asserted that he was “managed” by Ashkenazi Jews. Opposition figures, including Eisenkot, slammed the remark as racist, and Netanyahu also condemned it while saying members of his Likud party faced worse.
Now, Yashar has erected billboards attacking Netanyahu and Magal over the remark.
A picture of Eisenkot is captioned “He will unite Israel,” while opposite, a picture of Netanyahu and Magal is captioned, “Disparaging Mizrahim.”
המוקד: שלטי החוצות של איזנקוט בתגובה לאמירה של ינון מגל אמש pic.twitter.com/LQfHIyFVQj
— חדשות המוקד (@hamoked_il) October 18, 2026
Trump gives ‘warrior’ Netanyahu ‘complete and total endorsement’ for reelection
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) and US President Donald Trump meet in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on July 28, 2026. (GPO)
US President Donald Trump offers his “complete and total endorsement” of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nine days before Israel’s October 27 election, calling him “a Great Warrior Prime Minister, and an even greater Partner for Peace in combating the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
In a post to his Truth Social, Trump writes in all caps that Netanyahu “WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!”
“Bibi Netanyahu has been Strong, Brave, and Brilliant in the face of tremendous opposition,” writes Trump, “including that coming from even Israel, itself.”
Trump says Netanyahu has “endured and, in fact, he has thrived!”
“I have watched Bibi under the most trying of times,” writes Trump. “Normal men or women in such situations would have wilted under the pressure — But Bibi did not wilt, he actually got stronger, and maintains that same Strength today. This is the kind of Partner that the United States of America is demanding of Israel, a Country for which it has done so much.”
Trump also justifies the US-Israel campaign against Iran, saying the Islamic Republic ultimately would have tried to carry out its promise to “destroy the Little Satan and the Big Satan.”
Iran, he says, has been “systematically destroyed, both Militarily and Financially, and unless they change their ways, rapidly, we will soon finish the job.”
“If Israel has the wrong Leader, which would be anyone other than Bibi,” he writes, “America will have to do this work ourselves, and I am not inclined to do so.”
Key Update
After endorsement, Netanyahu thanks Trump for ‘tremendous support’
Shortly after US President Donald Trump offers a full-throated endorsement of his reelection campaign, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanks him for “the tremendous support and the collaboration.”
“Together we will complete the mission!” writes Netanyahu on X, above a video collage of Trump praising the prime minister.
תודה לך הנשיא טראמפ על התמיכה האדירה והעבודה המשותפת.
יחד נשלים את המשימה! pic.twitter.com/0D4h9hkL5o
— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) October 18, 2026
Houthi media says Saudi strike killed 9 in northern Yemen
An alleged Saudi airstrike in Yemen today killed at least nine people and wounded 16 others, Houthi media reports, as fighting between the two sides in the country’s revived civil war escalates further.
The Iran-backed group’s Saba news agency says an airstrike on a home in Saada governorate in Yemen’s north “led to the martyrdom of nine and the injury of 16 others, most of them women and children,” adding that the toll is not final.
The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis has launched hundreds of raids in Yemen backing the internationally recognized government since the start of the renewed fighting in the long-running civil war.
The Houthis have repeatedly attacked Saudi targets in recent weeks, including vessels in the Red Sea, oil facilities and Riyadh’s international airport, where 13 people were killed in a single attack last week.
According to the Houthis, Saudi strikes since the beginning of September have killed scores of people.
IDF mulls canceling leave for troops on election day
An IDF officer votes in Israel's general elections at a base in southern Israel, October 31, 2022. (Israel Defense Forces)
The IDF is examining the possibility of canceling all leave for soldiers on election day next week, according to a military official.
The official says that as part of preparations for the October 27 election, the possibility of canceling furlough is being examined. The official does not cite a specific or immediate warning, but says the decision is being considered as a “measure of readiness and alertness given the sensitivity of the period.”
In an official statement, the IDF says that as part of its “ongoing assessment of the situation across all combat arenas, an alert order has been issued placing additional ground forces on standby.”
“A decision on the matter has not yet been finalized and will be finalized later this week,” the military adds.
In Israel, municipal and national election days are designated a national holiday, in order to encourage voter turnout.
Amid the multifront war that began with the Hamas-led onslaught on October 7, 2023, the military canceled a decades-old practice in which large portions of the IDF take time off at the same time, usually on national holidays.
Ben Gvir: PM promised European officials that I won’t be part of next government
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir gives a press conference ahead of Israel’s upcoming election, Jerusalem, October 18, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir claims Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised European officials that he will shut Ben Gvir’s far-right party out of his coalition if he wins reelection next week.
Ben Gvir says he has “received information about messages” from Netanyahu’s office making such a pledge. Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party is a partner in Netanyahu’s outgoing coalition.
“The Prime Minister’s Office has committed to countries in the European Union — whether to foreign ministers or a higher rank — that Ben Gvir and Otzma Yehudit will not be in the next government,” Ben Gvir says at a press conference in Jerusalem.
“I was in shock. I didn’t understand where it came from,” Ben Gvir says.
He adds that people in Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party told him that the premier, a historian’s son, is driven by historic sensitivities that make him want “to finish the term in consensus” — indicating that he could reach out to opposition parties to form a government.
“Mr. Prime Minister — don’t the waste the effort. Don’t count on the left in Israel,” Ben Gvir says.
“If you lead a genuine right-wing policy, then history will remember you positively,” he says, adding that US President Donald Trump’s fresh endorsement of Netanyahu gives the premier the legitimacy to form a right-wing government.
Likud responds in a statement that “Ben Gvir is continuing with the false political spin,” and that Netanyahu “has made clear that any government will include the current coalition’s base of partners, and that every Zionist party will be invited to join based on our guidelines.”
Key Update
Bennett says he can work with Trump despite US president’s endorsement of Netanyahu
Former prime minister Naftali Bennett speaks during a 'Friday Culture' event hosted by the Israel Bar Association at Beit HaPraklit in Tel Aviv, October 16, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Former prime minister Naftali Bennett, who leads the opposition B’Yachad party, says that he will be able to work with US President Donald Trump despite Trump’s endorsement today of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, telling students at Tel Aviv University that the Israeli public will decide who leads the country.
“I know I can get along very well with President Trump,” he says.
“Ultimately, in international politics, every leader works with the leader who is elected,” Bennett says.
He argues that Israel will be able to restore its standing around the world under his leadership and says the country “succeeded very well before Netanyahu” and will “succeed much more after Netanyahu.”
Bennett’s party is currently polling third, behind opposition frontrunner Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party, and Netanyahu’s Likud. But he has continued to campaign as a candidate for prime minister.
Asked who the next prime minister will be, Bennett replies that voters will decide, adding, “I’m certainly running for the job.”
However, he notes that the next prime minister does not necessarily have to come from the party with the most votes. That is what happened when Bennett became prime minister in 2021, when his party had just six seats in the coalition but played a key role in briefly unseating Netanyahu.
Bennett also calls for unity between the Zionist left and right, saying “I believe the Zionist left and the Zionist right, who fought together in Gaza, will repair the State of Israel together.”
Asked whether he would sit in a government with right-wing parties currently allied with Netanyahu, he does not give a direct yes or no, explaining that he is a “liberal right-winger” and that parties could work together if they accepted his party’s core principles — namely a state commission of inquiry into the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack, which Netanyahu and his allies have opposed.
UAE president, Saudi defense minister discuss regional security amid Houthi attacks
UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan received Saudi Arabia’s defense minister in Abu Dhabi, with the two discussing regional developments and ways to bolster security, the Emirati state news agency WAM reports.
The talks follow a visit to Riyadh last month by UAE Vice President Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the first trip by a senior UAE official to the kingdom since a deep rift emerged between the two Gulf powers last year.
The visits come as Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis intensify attacks on the kingdom.
Russia’s Lavrov to visit Tehran on Monday, Iran says
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will visit Tehran tomorrow for consultations with Iranian officials, and aims to follow up on the implementation of bilateral agreements, Iran’s foreign ministry says in a statement.
Eisenkot: Israeli voters, not Trump, will choose next PM, I tried to stop endorsement
Yashar party chairman Gadi Eisenkot speaks during an election conference at Tel Aviv University, October 18, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Opposition frontrunner Gadi Eisenkot, responding to US President Donald Trump’s endorsement of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, says Israeli voters will choose their next prime minister.
“I have great appreciation for the US president,” Eisenkot says at a Tel Aviv University event for students, but adds that “Israel is a democracy” and “Israel’s citizens are the only ones who will decide who the prime minister will be.”
Asked later, in an interview with Channel 12, whether he tried to stop Trump from endorsing Netanyahu, he says, “There were a number of meetings I don’t want to elaborate on. I requested that there be no intervention in Israel’s internal election. But I’ll deal with it.”
He recalls working with the US military during his tenure as IDF chief of staff, saying the two countries had “excellent relations.”
Asked about a possible resumption of fighting with Iran, Eisenkot says, “I don’t currently see any information or event that requires urgent, immediate action nine days before an election.”
If there were an immediate threat, he says, “I trust the chief of staff. I’ve known him for decades,” and voices confidence that IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, not Netanyahu, would make the right recommendation.
Regarding other opposition leaders’ stated desire to be prime minister, he adds, “The leader of the largest party should be the natural candidate for prime minister… because that reflects the public’s will.”
According to recent polling, Eisenkot’s Yashar is projected to win the most votes in the October 27 election.
He says he will work to form “a Zionist, statesmanlike and stable government.”
Eisenkot adds that he is pushing for a state commission of inquiry into Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack, something Netanyahu has resisted.
“I ask myself what I could have done better,” he says, reflecting on the events that led to the onslaught. “I know what I did, and I know what he didn’t do,” he adds about Netanyahu, accusing the premier of doing nothing to prevent the massacre.
Key Update
6 injured after Houthi strike hits southern Saudi Arabia, civil defense says
A Houthi projectile injured at least six people in southern Saudi Arabia today after it struck a residential area in Najran near the border with Yemen, according to the kingdom’s civil defense agency.
“On Sunday, civil defense in the city of Najran responded to the fall of an enemy projectile launched by the terrorist Houthi militia at a residential site, resulting in six citizens being injured and material damage to three homes and three vehicles,” the civil defense says on X.
For weeks, the Iran-backed Houthis have targeted airports and energy infrastructure in Saudi Arabia on a near-daily basis, as fighting between the kingdom and the group has sharply escalated.
Netanyahu: Listen to Trump on election; he’ll only finish the job against Iran with me
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, October 18, 2026. (Screenshot/PMO)
After Donald Trump endorses him, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the US president explained his decision: “He said we did wonderful things together. We decimated Iran, we decimated the Iranian axis, we pushed off the immediate threat of nuclear weapons on us,” the premier says.
Netanyahu stresses, in a Hebrew video, that there is still a mission to complete regarding Iran, and that Trump said he would do it together with the prime minister personally. Trump said, according to Netanyahu, that the partnership between them would continue in order to “eliminate the Iranian threat” in the coming years.
תודה לנשיא טראמפ על התמיכה האדירה בי בבחירות. יחד עשינו דברים גדולים ויחד – בשנתיים הקרובות – נשלים את המשימה ונחסל את הגרעין האיראני.
זה או ימין – או פלסטין.
או ימין – או גרעין.צאו להצביע מחל! pic.twitter.com/LAE6DoiBWk
— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) October 18, 2026
“That is the biggest consideration” in the October 27 election, he argues. Israel’s very existence, he insists, is in the balance in the coming vote.
“President Trump says he will do it, and that he will do it only if the two of us do it together,” Netanyahu says. “Therefore, I am asking you, listen to him, Weigh his words, and vote for me.”
Captain of flydubai plane describes blocking axe blows as co-pilot attacked
An undated photo of Captain Smit Machchhar, captain of a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv that suffered a terrorist attack mid-air, with the copilot subdued after stabbing Machchhar, in an alleged attempt to crash the plane full of Israelis, September 30, 2026. (Danny Danon via X)
The captain of the flydubai flight to Israel last month, who was attacked by a co-pilot who intended to crash the plane in a terror attack, describes blocking axe blows to the head and screaming for help as he reached for a knob to open the cockpit door.
Captain Smit Machchhar has been hailed as a hero for his role in averting disaster on the flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv last month, helping to thwart the attack by the Omani co-pilot who reportedly intended to crash the plane into Ben Gurion Airport. Israeli passengers subdued the attacker and helped steady the plane.
Speaking in an interview with The National newspaper from a hospital bed in Abu Dhabi, his head and left arm bandaged, Machchhar says that when the first blow landed, he thought something had gone “horribly wrong [with] the aircraft structure,” before quickly realizing he was being attacked and things had “taken a drastic turn.”
“The next thought was I need to get help in here,” he said in the interview, published yesterday.
“My immediate action was to free myself from the seat belts and I tried to just block the blows as much as I could,” he says, pointing to his arm that was wounded as he defended himself. “The blows were coming on the head.”
“Immediately, my hand went to the knob that opens the door and screaming for my colleagues, screaming his name,” he says. “I believe that was the first time when I lost my consciousness.”
The aircraft was in Saudi airspace when the co-pilot attacked Machchhar with a crash axe, typically kept in the cockpit for emergency use.
Machchhar says he heard the cockpit door opening and screaming “between my colleague and the guy.”
He says the scariest thing he felt was the aircraft nose “steeply going down.”
“I was not very sure that I’ll make it out alive from this,” he says. “Did I give up? No.”
Syria, World Bank agree to set up fund for recovery and reconstruction
Syria and the World Bank have agreed to set up a multi-donor trust fund focused on recovery and reconstruction, they say in a joint statement, as Damascus aims to rebuild after a civil war that lasted more than decade.
The fund aims to provide concessional financing, investment guarantees, technical support, and capacity building.
Canada’s Carney says 4 service members killed in fire at Alberta military base
Paramedics load an injured person into an ambulance at the Wainwright Health center after a fire at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright, outside of Wainwright, Alberta October 17, 2026. (John Ulan/ The Canadian Press via AP)
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says four service members were killed and dozens more seriously injured in a fire at a military base in Alberta, describing it as one of the worst peacetime tragedies for Canada’s military on domestic soil.
Fire crews scrambled last night as fierce winds whipped flames beyond Canadian Forces Base Wainwright and into the surrounding rural area. The Canadian military says there are no indications that the incident was the result of terrorism, but the cause remains under investigation.
Speaking in a televised address, Carney says the families of those killed had been notified and that the situation is still evolving.
Carney says the service members killed and injured were participating in military training when the fire broke out.
Flags would fly at half-staff on federal buildings across the country in honor of those affected by the tragedy, he says.
Carney says those affected included reservists and soldiers from Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, one of Canada’s most storied military regiments. The personnel came from bases across the country to train at Wainwright.
It is not immediately clear exactly how many people are injured. Carney says the wounded are being treated in Wainwright, Edmonton, Red Deer, and Calgary.
A doctor at a hospital in the city of Edmonton, 180 kilometers (112 miles) northwest, tells Canada’s national broadcaster that patients were taken to hospitals across the city as healthcare facilities around the base became “completely overwhelmed” by the number of people needing care.
Report: Trump says he ‘was always’ going to endorse Netanyahu; some of his aides opposed move
US President Donald Trump, right, shakes hands with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida, December 29, 2025. (Alex Brandon/AP)
US President Donald Trump says he had long intended to endorse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for reelection but deliberately waited until closer to next week’s vote, according to Axios.
“I was always going to do that. I just didn’t want to do it too soon,” Trump tells the publication in a brief phone interview following the endorsement today.
Trump stresses the “good relationship” he has with the premier, and says, “It is important that Israel has a person they can count on.”
Asked if he could work with an alternative Israeli leader, Trump replies: “Maybe I will, maybe I won’t. Who wants to take the chance?”
The endorsement came despite the fact that several of Trump’s close advisers had favored Netanyahu’s replacement, believing it would better serve US interests in the Middle East, according to Channel 12’s Barak Ravid, who also writes for Axios.
Sources in Netanyahu’s office tell Channel 12 that they were unaware of Trump’s planned endorsement. The Hebrew network adds that the two leaders spoke several times this month, possibly signaling coordination on the matter.
Golan says Netanyahu must be ousted despite Trump’s endorsement
Democrats party chairman Yair Golan takes part in a bicycle ride with party activists as part of the party’s election campaign in Tel Aviv, October 16, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Democrats chairman Yair Golan says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must be ousted despite US President Donald Trump’s endorsement.
“I respect President Trump, but I’ll say categorically: Benjamin Netanyahu is a diplomatic and security danger to Israel,” he says, speaking at a Tel Aviv University event for student voters.
Asked about joining a government with Arab parties, an idea he supports, Golan says he can work with anyone who sees Israel as “the national home of the Jewish people and, at the same time, as a free, equal and democratic state,” which Ra’am chairman Mansour Abbas has done.
“People keep asking about the Arabs. Why don’t we ask Netanyahu about the ultra-Orthodox?” he says, insinuating that the Haredi parties aligned with the premier are also anti-Zionist.
Golan says the four Jewish-led opposition parties are united by the goal of “saving Israel” and replacing Netanyahu’s government.
Asked about a reported Netanyahu proposal to form a coalition without far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, Golan argues there is “no difference” between Likud and Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit, and says the government has brought Kahanism, the extremist ideology that Ben Gvir subscribed to in past years, into the political mainstream.
While saying he does not support the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, Golan argues that its overall contribution to Israeli security is positive.
“If the Palestinian Authority were as terrible as you say, believe me, it would have been dismantled seven times between the signing of the Oslo Accords and today,” he says, “Netanyahu himself, after almost 20 years in power, has never dismantled it.”
“It’s better for the Palestinian Authority to govern the West Bank than Hamas,” he says, adding that the PA arrests Hamas operatives.
Former chief rabbi Yitzhak Yosef forbids followers from voting for Ben Gvir
Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, during a weekly teaching at the Yazdim synagogue in Jerusalem, on June 7, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/ FLASH90)
Yitzhak Yosef, the former Sephardi chief rabbi of Israel and son of Shas founder Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, pens a letter prohibiting support for the far-right Otzma Yehudit party.
Yosef says voting for the party in the October 27 election is forbidden because its chair, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, has ascended the Temple Mount.
Ben Gvir and others on the far right have called for the abolition of restrictions on Jewish prayer at the mount, Judaism’s holiest site, which Muslims revere as the Noble Sanctuary, and which is administered by an Islamic body.
But Haredi leaders have long said Jews ascending the mount is forbidden because it is a violation of Jewish law.
הרב יצחק יוסף קובע שאסור על פי הלכה להצביע לבן גביר: "התומך במפלגתו של העולה להר הבית הרי זה כאילו הוא עצמו באיסור כרת ח"ו"@MHlpryn pic.twitter.com/Me7S8NKv0c
— גלצ (@GLZRadio) October 18, 2026
“All of the great sages across generations, without exception, forbade this to the utmost extent,” Yosef writes, according to Hebrew media reports. He adds that those who encourage ascending the mount also run afoul of the prohibition, and therefore “it is forbidden according to Jewish law to support this party.”
The letter also comes as Shas and Otzma Yehudit compete for overlapping pools of religious, right-wing voters.
Protests disrupt Ben Gvir interview as far-right minister asks, ‘What happened to democracy?’
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir speaks during an election conference at Tel Aviv University, October 18, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni/ Flash90)
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s interview at an event at Tel Aviv University is derailed by protests, with demonstrators chanting, “There will be no fascism here,” as a smaller crowd of counterprotesters shout, “Death to Arabs.”
“What happened to democracy?” Ben Gvir asks the crowd. “All of a sudden, when it’s a voice from the other side, you don’t want to hear it?”
He accuses the protesters of agreeing to hear leaders of the Arab-majority parties Ra’am and the Joint List, as well as left-wing Democrats chairman Yair Golan, who took the stage earlier in the evening, while trying to silence him.
Ben Gvir argues that Hamas made no distinction between left and right in its October 7, 2023, onslaught, seeking to kill Israelis “because we’re Jews.”
He also reiterates that he wants to “conquer all of Gaza,” saying Hamas must not remain there.
IDF to hold drill in Haifa, explosions and gunfire may sound
The IDF says it will conduct a military drill in the northern coastal city of Haifa starting tomorrow morning.
The exercise is expected to end on Tuesday night.
During the drill, there will be an increased presence of security forces, vehicles, and naval vessels, and sounds of explosions and gunfire may be heard, the IDF warns.
In speech on France riots, Macron says, ‘We all feel anger and shame’
France’s President Emmanuel Macron, center, hosts an Interministerial Crisis Meeting at the Elysee Presidential Palace, in Paris, on October 18, 2026, the day after nationwide riots. (Ludovic Marin/ Pool Photo via AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron says, “Nothing justifies” the “unbridled” violence seen in nationwide protests over the rising cost of living and other grievances this weekend.
“Tonight, we all feel anger and shame,” Macron says in an address to the nation, adding that there must be a distinction between protesters with “legitimate demands” and “those who destroyed, smashed, and looted.”
Iranian official urges against AI warfare, says new ‘Persian Gulf Data Authority’ is coming
Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf says that a new “Persian Gulf Data Authority” is on its way, hinting that it will be part of an effort to target data centers across the region.
“To governments, funds, and firms in the region: you are kindly advised to give no resources to any AI or data company aiding invasions or killing children,” he writes on X. “No finance, equity, land and energy.”
“Assist them and face our enforcement,” he threatens.
The post comes days after Iran’s top security official Mohsen Rezaei threatened that undersea cables, data centers and other AI infrastructure could be targeted if the US or Israel strike Iran again.
Austrian Air flight from TLV to Vienna makes emergency landing due to suspected security threat
An Austrian Airline plane on the airstrip at Ben Gurion Airport on August 3, 2013. (Moshe Shai/FLASH90)
An Austrian Airlines flight from Tel Aviv to Vienna has made an emergency landing in Sofia, Bulgaria, due to a suspected security threat on the flight, according to reports.
The security concerns were triggered by a suspicious object on the aircraft deck, according to the reports. The plane reportedly sent out an emergency signal.
Passengers tell Ynet that the emergency was the result of an anonymous report of a bomb on board. The plane reportedly was carrying a delegation of young people who were due to speak at the United Nations.
The passengers have disembarked from the plane, Ynet reports.
The incident comes less than three weeks after a co-pilot on a flydubai flight to Tel Aviv attempted to crash the plane in a terror attack, and was thwarted by the plane’s captain and several Israeli passengers.
Key Update
Documents show how Israel oversaw flow of Qatari money to Hamas-controlled Gaza — report
Palestinians receive their financial aid as part of aid allocated by Qatar, at a post office in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on November 27, 2019. (Abed Rahim Khatib/ Flash90/ File)
Documents published by Time magazine show how Israel coordinated and encouraged the flow of nearly $2 billion from Qatar to Hamas-controlled Gaza for over a decade.
The Qatari payments into Gaza, long a source of controversy, came under far more intense scrutiny and criticism following the October 7 onslaught. Qatar has previously denied that any of the money was meant for Hamas and has said Israel is to blame if the terror group received any of the money.
The Time report reviews, as previously reported by The Times of Israel, how Israel encouraged and facilitated the payments, including via suitcases of cash that were delivered to the Strip; a United Nations-backed agreement on the payments; and a 2020 letter from then-Mossad director Yossi Cohen to Qatar’s emir.
The report says Israel took an active role in coordinating and facilitating the payments.
Netanyahu to Trump after endorsement: US, Israel, Jews are lucky to have you in office
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, October 18, 2026. (Screenshot/PMO)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanks US President Donald Trump for endorsing him, and praises his “clarity, consistency, conviction, and courage.”
In an English-language video posted to X, Netanyahu tries to repay the favor ahead of the US midterm elections, in which polls show Republicans trailing.
“Let me say to the American people,” he says, “if you’re worried about today’s gas prices, think of what will happen if Iran gets nuclear weapons — something that Donald Trump and I will never allow.”
When the Iranian regime “disappears,” he says, “gas prices will go down, and how — but only under Trump.” The claim echoes one Trump has made.
“The world has been fortunate,” says Netanyahu, “America has been fortunate, America’s allies have been fortunate, Israel has been fortunate, and the Jewish people have been fortunate” to have a leader like Trump.
President Trump, my friend Donald – thank you for your extraordinary endorsement. Israel has never had a greater friend in the White House. Together we will never let Iran's regime get nuclear weapons. Thank you for your clarity, courage and unwavering support.@realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/GqaOVB74Dj
— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) October 18, 2026
“There’s never been a greater friend of Israel in the White House. That’s an understatement,” Netanyahu says.
“You’re not set back by internal criticism,” Netanyahu tells Trump. “And you’re laser-focused on the task of removing this threat from this current generation of Americans, from all future generations.”
‘Choose Bibi, not the monkey’: Channel 14 panelist repeats slur targeting Eisenkot
One day after Yinon Magal, a commentator on the pro-government Channel 14, ignited a firestorm by calling opposition frontrunner Gadi Eisenkot a “monkey” on air, another panelist on the same show repeats the slur, drawing laughter.
Magal has faced a barrage of criticism, including from his favored politician, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for the remark, which many have called racist because Eisenkot is of Moroccan heritage. Magal used the slur in the context of a discussion of Eisenkot’s ethnicity and said the ex-IDF chief is “managed” by Ashkenazim.
Yotam Zimri, another panelist on the same Channel 14 talk show, “The Patriots,” repeats the slur on tonight’s edition, during a conversation about US President Donald Trump’s endorsement of Netanyahu.
“He also said, ‘Choose Bibi, not the monkey,'” Zimri says, eliciting laughter from his co-panelists. Magal, who also laughed, has defended making the remark, arguing that he was not using it in a racist context, but that it was a reference to a term from the criminal underworld referring to someone’s “puppet,” or fall guy.
יותם זמרי הערב בפטריוטים: ״טראמפ אמר תבחרו בביבי ולא בקוף״. כל האולפן מתפקע מצחוק.
בערוץ 14 מספיק להגיד ״קוף״ וכולם על הרצפה. pic.twitter.com/z14batYDWf— Shem Tov Heavy (@ShemTovHeavy) October 18, 2026
Lufthansa group: Austrian Air flight that made emergency landing undergoing security checks
Lufthansa Group says in a statement that the Austrian Airlines flight that made an emergency landing en route from Tel Aviv to Vienna is undergoing security checks.
The plane’s 51 passengers will be put on another jet as soon as possible, following the security scan, says the statement, reported in Hebrew media. The plane was also carrying six crew members.
The flight made an emergency landing in Sofia, Bulgaria, following a report of a suspicious object on board. All passengers disembarked safely, according to reports.
“The safety of passengers and crew members is always our top priority,” the statement says.
Opposition source reportedly says Trump endorsement of PM was compensation after he refused to attack Iran
An official with one of the parties opposing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells the Kan public broadcaster that, to their understanding, US President Donald Trump’s endorsement of the premier was compensation after Trump refused to resume attacks on Iran.
The report does not name the official or their party. The network reports that Trump’s endorsement of Netanyahu nine days before the election took the opposition bloc by surprise. Opposition figures are now debating whether to avoid the topic or accuse Netanyahu of compromising Israeli security in exchange for the endorsement, according to the network.
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