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Key updates, 21 October 2026:
Hegseth says he ‘had a chance’ to meet Netanyahu in Israel when visiting troops
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks during a meeting with Britain’s Defense Minister Wes Streeting at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on October 15, 2026. (Nathan Howard/POOL/AFP)
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirms that he visited US troops in Israel yesterday and says he will not discuss the details of a private conversation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“I was there visiting our troops, [and] had a chance to talk to the prime minister. Of course, the nature of our conversation is not something I would talk about, but they’ve been good partners, and I appreciate that,” Hegseth tells reporters.
Trump criticized for again using term ‘Shylock’ during speech at a rally
Several former Republican lawmakers criticize US President Donald Trump for again using a term considered antisemitic.
Trump was defending Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall against Democrats’ ads that criticize the physician for aggressive collection of small medical debts from his patients.
Trump quipped that the ads paint Marshall as a “Shylock,” a slur that plays on stereotypes of Jewish people and is derived from William Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice.”
Trump: Roger Marshall was mandated by law to request money owed from patients. You have to by law go after those people, and they made it like he was some kind of a Shylock type guy, I don’t know if I should be saying it. pic.twitter.com/P8k8S27JU4
— Acyn (@Acyn) October 20, 2026
Barbara Comstock, a former Republican congresswoman from Virginia, says “Trump once again lets loose his anti-Semitic rhetoric” and calls it “a bizarre defense of” Marshall, the Kansas senator.
Joe Walsh, a former Republican congressman from Illinois, notes on social media that “Trump publicly used the antisemitic term again” and predicted “no one on the right” would condemn it.
The White House does not immediately respond to a request for comment about the president’s use of the word.
Last year, Trump said he did not know the antisemitic history of the term after he was criticized for using it during a rally in Iowa.
Iran’s FM says no response from Saudi Arabia and Houthis on its mediation initiative
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends a press conference after a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at Iran’s Foreign Ministry in Tehran, Iran, October 19, 2026. (AP/Vahid Salemi)
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi tells Iraq’s Al Ekhbariya TV in an interview aired today that Tehran has not received a response from Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Houthis on its mediation initiative.
The offer was first made by Araghchi earlier this month as Iran-aligned Houthis intensified strikes on the kingdom.
Iran provides financial backing and support to the Houthi rebel group, though it has denied being involved in the strikes on Saudi Arabia.
Musk ordered Starlink slowdown that blindsided Ukraine — WSJ
This combination of pictures created on November 8, 2024 shows Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) gives a press conference at the European Political Community Summit in Budapest, Hungary, on November 7, 2024, SpaceX, Twitter and electric car maker Tesla CEO Elon Musk (C) looks on as he speaks during his visit at the Vivatech technology startups and innovation fair at the Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, on June 16, 2023, and former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (R) attends a town hall meeting at the Dort Financial Center in Flint, Michigan, on September 17, 2024. (AFP)
Elon Musk last week ordered the slowdown of a military-grade version of Starlink that Ukraine relies on, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing US officials and people familiar with the matter.
The restriction on Starlink hampered Ukraine’s attack and air defense drone missions against Russia.
Musk and US President Donald Trump discussed the Starlink decision in a call soon after the slowdown became public, while the president was campaigning last week, the report says.
The two also discussed the matter prior to the decision to throttle Starlink, the Journal reports.
Musk earlier said use of Starlink’s military version, known as Starshield, was ultimately up to Trump as US president.
IDF appeals against PM’s expected speech at cadets’ graduation ceremony over electioneering concerns
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at an IDF officers’ graduation course in southern Israel, June 25, 2026. (Flash90)
The IDF is seeking to have Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech Wednesday at the cadets’ graduation ceremony cancelled due to concerns about electioneering, according to Hebrew media reports.
Channel 13 news and the Haaretz daily say the military reached out to the Justice Ministry for clear instructions on how to act, with the latter reporting that the Israel Defense Forces also appealed to the Central Elections Committee.
Man pleads guilty to spraying swastikas on graves in Maryland
Graves vandalized with swastikas at Ohr Knesseth Israel Anshe Sfard Cemetery in Maryland in July 2023 (US Attorney's Office of Maryland)
A man pleads guilty to charges of damaging religious property for spraying swastikas on gravestones in a Maryland Jewish cemetery in July 2023.
George Horn, 36, of Dundalk, carried out the attack at the Ohr Knesseth Israel Anshe Sfard Cemetery, says the US Attorney’s Office for Maryland.
Horn admitted that he deliberately targeted the cemetery because it was Jewish, the statement says.
According to prosecutors, investigators found antisemitic messages and items in Horn’s car and storage unit, including a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf on his phone, a journal with references to Nazi ideology and white supremacy, and a short video of him vandalizing two graves.
He faces a maximum of three years in prison, the statement says.
Report: Netanyahu planned attack on Iran earlier this month, but Trump opposed it
US President Donald Trump listens as Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, December 29, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu planned to carry out strikes against Iran earlier this month, but President Donald Trump opposed reigniting the fighting before the US midterms, the Financial Times reports.
Three people familiar with the matter tell the newspaper that the IDF was ready to carry out strikes on the weekend of October 10 to target Iranian nuclear facilities and regime sites, as well as civilian infrastructure including energy plants.
However, the unnamed sources say that Trump decided not to restart the conflict before the US midterms on November 3.
The sources say the strikes would have been more intense than those carried out by the US and Israel in February.
The report says it was unclear if the US would have joined the strikes. However, a source tells the newspaper that it was “not an unreasonable scenario” for them to be restarted in the coming weeks.
One source says that Israel has prepared a new bank of targets that includes civilian infrastructure sites that have not been hit in the past.
Another source says that the planned strikes by the IDF earlier this month could have been part of a negotiating tactic, and notes that any decision to restart the fighting lay with Trump.
There is no comment from the Pentagon, the newspaper says.
The report comes two days after US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly made a secret visit to Israel and met with Netanyahu to discuss “threats in the region.”
It is not the first time in recent weeks that reports have surfaced of Netanyahu pushing for strikes.
On October 9, Trump said Washington would not attack Iran before the midterms, days after a report that IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir told his American counterparts that such an attack could cause the Israeli election, slated for next week, to be postponed. Jerusalem reportedly assesses that Iran would respond to an American strike with massive missile fire at Israel.
Channel 12 reported last week that Netanyahu had urged Trump to renew the fighting against Iran before Israel’s October 27 election and the US midterm elections on November 3.
Key Update
UN projections say world is losing ground in fight to curb climate change
The coal-fired Mountaineer Power Plant, near New Haven, West Virginia, operates across the Ohio River from the Lock 24 RV Park and Campground in Racine, Ohio, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Losing more ground in the fight against climate change, humanity is heading for a hotter world than experts projected last year — and the United States is a big reason for that, a new United Nations report says.
If all the countries do what they promise to reduce heat-trapping emissions, Earth will likely still warm another 2.2 degrees Fahrenheit (1.2 degrees Celsius) above current temperatures, according to the update of climate calculations by the United Nations Environment Programme. That’s about two-tenths of a degree Fahrenheit (0.1 degrees Celsius) more than last year’s projections by the same science team.
“This is a worse outcome than expected last year, as a result of the formal withdrawal of the United States of America from the Paris Agreement and revised estimates of historical emissions,” the report says.
The report also blames the United States for increased emissions last year, saying all the other top 20 major economies reduced their carbon pollution or at least slowed the growth in how much carbon dioxide was spewed from the burning of coal, oil and gas.
“In terms of magnitude, the increase in the United States of America (133 megatons of CO2 equivalent) far exceeded that of all other countries and was driven by increased electricity demand and a rebound of coal power generation,” the report says.
The 124 countries that increased emissions — not counting the 63 that decreased like most European nations — added 189 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2025, and 70% of that increase came from the US, according to the report.
3 in 5 Jewish students experience antisemitism in English schools, review says
Three in five Jewish students in English schools say they have experienced antisemitism, and one in five of all students say they have witnessed it, a UK government-commissioned report finds.
The independent report, conducted by former British schools inspector Sir David Bell, and set to be released in full later today, finds that less than half of students believed that antisemitism would be dealt with if they reported it.
According to British media, the report will lay out 27 recommendations, which the UK government is expected to accept in full.
“I think what this review has demonstrated is that a general commitment to tackling racism or prejudice or hate has not properly identified antisemitism as a particular kind of hate. And certainly that’s one of the themes of this report,” Bell tells Sky News.
“We do need to name antisemitism as a particular kind of prejudice and hate, because I think if you don’t name it, you don’t actually know what you’re tackling or what you’re going to be able to do to respond to it,” he says.
Bell adds that teaching staff need guidance so that children can “debate topical and difficult issues without feeling that teachers are imposing their own views on students.”
He tells the BBC: “This is not just a report for Jewish children in Jewish schools. This is for all children and young people in all schools and colleges. We know that antisemitism crosses all boundaries.”
According to The Guardian, the recommendations include encouraging schools to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism, and improving teaching about the Holocaust to ensure that antisemitism is shown as the central theme of the genocide.
Additionally, policies on the behavior of staff should ensure that antisemitism is unacceptable, the report says.
The BBC says that earlier this year, Bell said that the then-ongoing review found that the principals of some Jewish schools spent more hours dealing with security than with education.
Jonathan Frisher, a 17-year-old Jewish student from the north of England, says that he was bullied for being Jewish and that he was left on his own to deal with it, without support from the school.
“I was the only Jewish student at my school, and I experienced lots of antisemitic bullying. There were lots of comments around gas chambers, people telling me that I belonged in a gas chamber. And I also saw a wider culture in school of swastikas and Nazi salutes becoming quite normalized,” he says.
“And the burden was often left on me as a 12-year-old Jewish student to explain to my peers why this antisemitism was so wrong. And I really believed then, and I believe now, that this has to come from the government. Teachers have a role to play in tackling antisemitism. The responsibility is on them to tackle antisemitism.”
Key Update
Australia lawmaker wounded in ramming attack has lost both her legs, husband says
Helen Haines, independent MP for the neighboring electorate of Indi, poses during the Farrer By-Election in Albury, New South Wales, on May 9, 2026. (HILARY WARDHAUGH/AFP)
Australian lawmaker Helen Haines, who was deliberately hit by a car this week, has had both legs removed following the attack, her husband tells journalists.
“Helen’s left leg was amputated on Monday. We had been hoping that her right leg would be saved, but as of this afternoon and this morning, the surgeons had to also remove her right leg,” Phil Haines says at a Melbourne hospital, where the lawmaker remains in critical condition.
After public spat, Eisenkot and Liberman jointly urge voters to only back opposition parties set to cross threshold
Yashar leader Gadi Eisenkot and Yisrael Beytenu chief Avigdor Liberman meet at an undisclosed location on October 20, 2026 (Yashar/Yisrael Beytenu)
Yashar leader Gadi Eisenkot and Yisrael Beytenu chief Avigdor Liberman met yesterday to discuss preparations for the October 27 election, their parties say in a joint statement.
The meeting follows last week’s public spat in which Liberman accused Eisenkot of planning to join Likud in a unity government with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the election, dubbing him “Gantz 2” after Blue and White leader Benny Gantz’s past decisions to join Netanyahu-led governments.
Eisenkot and Liberman agree that “the most important effort now is to increase voter turnout,” the statement says.
They also stress “the importance of voting for one of the four parties in their bloc and avoiding votes for parties that do not cross the electoral threshold.”
The bloc also includes former prime minister Naftali Bennett’s B’Yachad and Yair Golan’s Democrats.
Eisenkot and Liberman agreed to “continue their cooperation toward victory and replacing the government of failure” next Tuesday, the statement says.
Recent polls put the four mainstream opposition Zionist parties, together with Yoaz Hendel’s Reservists-Economic party, at around 58 seats, compared with roughly 49 for Netanyahu’s coalition, leaving both blocs short of a 61-seat majority.
Hendel has not said which bloc he’d join, but has made a universal draft law a condition for joining any government, putting him at odds with Netanyahu, whose bloc relies on Haredi parties opposed to conscription.
IDF troops begin voting as military’s polls open in Israel, Gaza, Lebanon and Syria
An IDF officer votes at a base in southern Israel, October 31, 2022. (Israel Defense Forces)
The Israeli military has begun to vote in the national election, just under a week before the rest of the country, to enable troops stationed in remote locations and inside enemy territory to cast their ballot.
The IDF says it has deployed some 850 polling stations across the country and beyond Israel’s borders. They will remain open through October 27, when the rest of the country votes.
Around 3,000 soldiers, mainly young conscripts, are serving as polling station staff, according to the military. The personnel have been trained by the Central Elections Committee. Tens of thousands of troops are eligible to vote at the military’s polling stations.
Around 25 percent of the stations are fully mobile, to enable both conscripts and reservists stationed in hard-to-reach areas to vote, including at the IDF’s 40 outposts in the Gaza Strip, numerous army positions in Lebanon, and nine outposts in Syria.
The mobile polling stations will move between several units according to a predetermined schedule. Their staff will be accompanied by an armed officer responsible for security, and the ballot boxes will remain locked while in transit.
“Our mission is to enable all IDF service members to exercise their democratic right to a secret ballot, including during operational activities and combat beyond the border,” says Col. Vered Ben Yehuda, who is overseeing the military’s elections process.
“The IDF is the people’s army that will do everything necessary to enable the election to take place as scheduled,” she adds.
Soldiers may also vote at civilian polling stations on October 27. Double envelopes will be used in the field so that their names can be checked against their home polling station to ensure that each soldier votes only once.
Italian firm becomes 5th foreign company to withdraw from contentious Jerusalem cable car project
Architect's impression of the planned cable car station on Mount Zion. The Dormition Church can be seen to the left. (From plans submitted to the National Planning Council)
A fifth foreign firm has pulled out of a controversial plan to build a cable car to Jerusalem’s Old City, The Guardian reports.
Last month, the Jerusalem Development Authority (JDA) issued a notice of intent to award a contract without a public tender to Italian cable car engineering consultancy ROPES, the report says.
The company’s CEO Stephan Obexer tells The Guardian that it would not be taking the job due to another commitment in India.
Haaretz, citing Rome newspaper La Repubblica, says the company’s owner admitted accepting the offer to consult on the project, but later regretted the decision.
There is no formal statement from ROPES.
Proponents of the cable car say it’s the least disruptive — and most financially responsible — way to get up to 3,000 visitors per hour from West Jerusalem to the the Western Wall. Those in favor include the Tourism Ministry and the Jerusalem municipality.
But opponents say the plan is obtrusive and culturally and politically irresponsible, and will not solve traffic issues.
The plan has faced opposition from rights organizations, heritage professionals, archaeologists and internationally renowned architects.
In 2019, the Israel Association of Architects and Town Planners decried the plan to locate the final station for the cable car within the controversial Kedem complex being planned by the right-wing City of David Foundation (Ir David/El’ad). The project would also cause visual and acoustic damage to the residents of the crowded Palestinian village of Silwan, over which the cable car is set to pass on its way to the Old City’s Dung Gate, it said.
The association also decried the lack of preservation activities associated with the plan, and said the cable car would be an eyesore.
Earlier this month, the Emek Shaveh organization warned that the apparent renewal of the project after it had stagnated for a number of years “threatens the Palestinian communities of Silwan and the timeless landscape of Jerusalem’s historic core.”
“Over the years, its planners have failed to demonstrate that the cable car will meet any transportation need,” the statement says. “It is clear that the project’s central motivation is to consolidate the settlers’ hold on Silwan and adjacent areas as part of an effort to displace Palestinians from the Historic Basin and reshape Jerusalem’s cultural landscape.”
“More specifically, the project aims to reroute tourism away from the established routes through the Muslim and Christian Quarters, bypassing the historic approaches through Damascus and Jaffa Gates and seeks to funnel visitors through the settler-controlled City of David site,” says the watchdog.
Arkia halts ticket sales to Marrakech at request of Israeli security services
An Arkia plane takes off at the Ben Gurion Airport, outside of Tel Aviv, August 14, 2025. (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)
Israel’s Arkia halts ticket sales to Marrakech, Morocco, with immediate effect at the request of Israeli security authorities.
“Arkia is in contact with the relevant authorities and security officials to discuss the potential continuation of the route, as well as the implications for flights that have already been booked,” an Arkia spokesperson says. “Should Israeli authorities decide to halt flights by Israeli carriers to Marrakech, Arkia is exploring alternative options to maintain the route, including the possibility of operating flights through its commercial partners.”
Last week, Israir halted ticket sales on the route to Marrakech pending clarification of new security directives by local authorities in the wake of the flydubai attack, including for flights by Israeli airlines operating leased foreign aircraft and crews.
Explosion in Yemen’s Aden near airport; police official says blast caused by Houthi missile
An explosion was heard in the Yemeni city of Aden and smoke seen rising near the airport, as fighting intensifies between government forces and the Iran-backed Houthi group.
The police official says the blast was “caused by a Houthi missile,” speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
Malaysia bans civil servants from using Israeli-founded mapping app Waze
Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim speaks at the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha on May 14, 2024. (Karim JAAFAR / AFP)
Malaysia bans civil servants from using Alphabet’s navigation app Waze after Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim says its origins in Israel raised security concerns.
Anwar says the government was looking into potential security risks arising from the use of Waze, which he claimed “was bound to Israeli laws.”
“We cannot compromise on the security of people’s data and identities,” he says in a Facebook post after chairing a national cybersecurity committee meeting.
Anwar did not provide any details of the risks but recommends the use of TuJu, a domestic mapping app developed by the Malaysian Highway Authority, as an alternative.
Malaysia’s Chief Secretary to the Government Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar says all civil servants would now be barred from using Waze, according to a letter addressed to the heads of government agencies.
The letter says the directive followed a decision taken at the meeting chaired by Anwar, with the prohibition to take effect immediately.
An official with the Prime Minister’s Department confirmed the letter’s authenticity.
Waze, which was founded in Israel, uses satellite signals and crowd-sourced data from drivers to offer real-time traffic information. It was acquired by Alphabet-owned Google in 2013 for about $1 billion.
Anwar has in the past been accused of making antisemitic remarks, including alleging while opposition leader that Mossad spies were controlling the Malaysian government and that Jews controlled a public relations firm hired by then-prime minister Najib Razak.
Witkoff arrives in Russia to meet Putin for Ukraine talks
Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev, right, greets US special envoy Steve Witkoff at the international airport outside St. Petersburg, Russia, October 21, 2026. (TASS Photo via AP)
Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, arrives in Saint Petersburg for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin about ending the war in Ukraine, Russian news agencies report.
The American envoy, whose visit comes a day after talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Oslo, is met at Pulkovo Airport in Saint Petersburg by the Kremlin’s adviser for international economic cooperation, Kirill Dmitriev.
Smotrich accuses Winter of ‘boycotting’ him for six months as election feud continues
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends a ceremony marking the establishment of the new Israeli settlement of Ma’ale Arugot in Gush Etzion, in the West Bank, September 2, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Religious Zionism party leader Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich accuses People of Israel head Ofer Winter of having refused to speak with him for six months, amid their increasingly bitter public feud over the former IDF general’s refusal to withdraw from next week’s election.
The latest exchange follows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Smotrich’s meeting yesterday with Winter’s spiritual mentor, Rabbi Eli Sadan, in an apparent effort to pressure him to drop out. Winter responded by accusing the two of employing “ugly” and “dishonest” political tactics and vowed to remain in the race.
In a video responding to Winter, Smotrich complains, “You’ve been boycotting me for six months now. I’ve become radioactive. You refuse to meet, refuse to talk, refuse to consult and think things through together.”
Insisting that he has criticized Winter only for the “irresponsibility” of his independent election bid, Smotrich accuses his rival of running a campaign of “mudslinging and smears” against him and Netanyahu, despite professing to champion a more principled kind of politics.
Smotrich also laments Winter’s refusal to join forces with him before the deadline for submitting electoral lists. After months of polling below the electoral threshold, Smotrich instead teamed up with Zehut leader Moshe Feiglin, with their joint list now polling above the threshold.
Likud and its allies have been pressuring Winter to withdraw despite his pledge to join only a Netanyahu-led government, fearing his party, which is hovering around the 3.25 percent electoral threshold, could waste crucial right-wing votes if it fails to enter the Knesset.
IDF: Hamas operative behind deadly 2025 attack on tank crew killed in Gaza City strike
A Hamas operative who took part in a deadly attack on an Israeli tank crew in the Gaza Strip last year was killed in a strike in Gaza City this week, the military says.
The strike on Sunday killed Musa Abd Muhammad Hamouda, a member of Hamas’s elite Nukhba Force, who, according to the IDF, participated in planning an explosive device attack on a tank of the 401st Armored Brigade’s 52nd Battalion on September 8, 2025.
The explosive device killed Lt. Matan Abramovitz, Staff Sgt. Uri Lamed, Sgt. Amit Arye Regev, and Sgt. Gadi Cotal.
The military says Hamouda had recently been involved in advancing attacks on Israeli troops and civilians and acted to restore Hamas’s capabilities, “in systematic violation of the ceasefire.”
צה"ל ושב"כ חיסלו מחבל נוח’בה שלקח חלק בתכנון פיגוע המטען בו נהרגו ארבעה לוחמי צוות טנק מגדוד 52
צה"ל ושב"כ חיסלו השבוע, בתקיפה במרחב העיר עזה, את המחבל מוסא עבד מחמד חמודה, מחבל נוח’בה בזרוע הצבאית של ארגון הטרור חמאס, שלקח חלק בתכנון פיגוע השלכת המטען ממנו נהרגו ארבעה לוחמי… pic.twitter.com/N1tbNOLUku
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) October 21, 2026
3.4 magnitude quake rattles southern Israel
The Geological Survey of Israel reports a seismic event in the Arava region of southern Israel with an initial estimated magnitude of 3.4 on the Richter scale.
There are no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
‘Bullet in your head’: Yisrael Beytenu says Liberman received new death threats
Yisrael Beytenu party head Avigdor Liberman at the Democracy Festival, at the BIG mall in Glilot, ahead of the election, on October 13, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni/FLASH90)
Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman has received a series of death threats, his party says, announcing that another complaint has been submitted to the Knesset sergeant-at-arms, who is responsible for the security of lawmakers, six days before the election.
According to the party, the threats include messages telling the opposition leader, “Only when you get a bullet in your head will you shut your mouth, you Nazi bastard who hates Judaism,” and “To the gallows today.”
Other messages read, “Your life is coming to an end, you thieving son of a bitch,” and “D-I-E, you bulldog. May the womb that bore you burn, you descendant of Amalek,” invoking the biblical enemy of the Israelites.
“We must not wait for words to turn into actions,” Yisrael Beytenu says in a statement, demanding “immediate and decisive action” against those responsible.
“No threat will silence Liberman or intimidate us. We will continue to speak the truth and work for Israel’s security and universal conscription,” the party adds.
The threats follow similar incidents in recent months. In September, Liberman’s party filed a police complaint after he received a message threatening his execution. Fellow opposition leaders Gadi Eisenkot and Yair Golan have also faced numerous death threats.
Netanyahu, other officials summoned to give testimony in inquiry over submarine affair
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu exits a submarine during a visit to the military port of Haifa on November 17, 2009. (GPO)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other former senior officials are summoned to give testimony to the state commission of inquiry into the submarine affair.
In January this year, the commission issued its findings, which found “systemic failings” in Israel’s acquisition of naval vessels under a previous Netanyahu-led government. It also determined that the sale of naval vessels to Egypt by Germany with Israel’s approval endangered national security.
The testimony will be given behind closed doors and will provide five individuals issued with warnings over the affair in 2024, including Netanyahu, the opportunity to defend themselves against the possibility of being found responsible for failings in the scandal.
The other former officials issued with warnings and who were summoned today to give testimony by the commission are former Mossad director Yossi Cohen, former defense minister and IDF chief of staff Moshe Yaalon, former navy commander Ram Rothberg, and former National Security Council official Avner Simchoni.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, Israeli Navy chief Vice Adm. Eyal Harel, and former president Reuven Rivlin have also been summoned to give testimony, though they are not suspects in the case, among others.
In 2024, the state commission of inquiry into the submarine affair headed by retired Supreme Court president Asher Grunis issued warnings to Netanyahu, Yaalon, Cohen, Rothberg, and Simchoni that they could be negatively impacted by the findings of the commission.
Personal responsibility for the failings will only be attributed by the commission after those issued with warnings have had a chance to defend themselves.
Iran’s new defense minister vows greater air defense with ‘new technologies’ in face of threats
Iranian defense minister Mehrdad Akhlaghi seen at the Iranian parliament, on October 16, 2026. (ICANA.ir)
Iran’s newly appointed defense minister, Mehrdad Akhlaghi, says he has focused his new role on meeting the needs of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Aerospace Force and the regular military’s air defense branch.
“For us, responding to repeated threats is not a contest of rhetoric; it means turning threats into greater readiness and more effective defensive capabilities,” Akhlaghi says in a statement, according to Iranian news agency ISNA.
“We are focusing on our objectives with new technologies,” he adds, concluding, “we will eat dirt, but we will not give up our land.”
He does not specify what those new technologies may include. Akhlaghi was sanctioned by the United Nations in 2007 over involvement in Iran’s ballistic missile program.
Putin announces release of US citizen taken captive in Ukraine
In this photo taken from video released by the Moscow City Court Press Service, Stephen Hubbard, a US citizen accused of fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine against Russia stands in a glass cage during a court session in the Moscow City court in Moscow, Russia, October 7, 2024. (Moscow City Court Press Service via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the release of Stephen Hubbard, an American taken captive by Russian forces years ago in Ukraine, during a meeting with US special envoy Steve Witkoff, news agencies report.
Putin said that Hubbard was at Pulkovo Airport in Saint Petersburg, Russian news agencies report, adding that Witkoff, who was meeting with the Russian president in the city, thanked Putin for the release.
Projectile hit tanker near Strait of Hormuz, maritime agency says
A ship was struck on Wednesday by “an unknown projectile” off the coast of Oman, near the Strait of Hormuz, sparking a fire, a British maritime security agency says.
The tanker, 11 nautical miles (around 20 kilometers) off the town of Bukha, is “now at anchor,” the UKMTO reports.
“All crew are reported as safe. There is no reported environmental impact at this time,” it says.
2 foreign activists to be deported, banned from Israel over olive harvest with proscribed group
Two foreign pro-Palestinian activists will be deported tonight and banned from entering Israel in the future after they accompanied an unauthorized Palestinian olive harvest linked to a proscribed group near the southern West Bank’s Tuwani village, police say in a statement.
Police say the olive harvest near the village of Tuwani was “unapproved and uncoordinated.” In some areas of the West Bank, Israel bars Palestinians from harvesting olives or requires them to seek prior authorization from the Civil Administration.
The statement identifies the activists as a father and son but does not specify their nationality. It says they were detain yesterday and had a hearing at the Population and Immigration Authority this morning, though Palestinian media reported already on Monday that two foreign activists and a local Palestinian man were arrested in Tuwani.
According to police, the two activists were detained after they and Palestinian olive pickers fled to a military firing zone when police arrived on the scene of the harvest, which took place even though Israeli forces told Tuwani residents on Monday not to go through with it.
The activists were arrested on suspicion of both entering the firing zone illegally and “identification with the terrorist organization” al-Haq, which had “encouraged” the harvest, according to police.
Al-Haq is one of six Palestinian NGOs that then-defense minister Benny Gantz declared terrorist organizations in 2021, accusing them of ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Likud minister likens arrest of Haredi draft dodgers to Spanish Inquisition
Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar attends a plenum session at the assembly hall of the Knesset in Jerusalem, May 20, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Culture Minister Miki Zohar of the Likud party compares the plight of ultra-Orthodox Israelis to that of Jews in the Spanish Inquisition, a day after 42 Haredi draft dodgers were detained at Ben Gurion Airport.
“This thing reminds [me of] the difficult days of the Inquisition… where Jews studying Torah were hunted down to be killed,” he says in an interview on the Haredi Kol Berama radio. “I don’t like this thing.”
The Spanish Inquisition, which began in 1478 and lasted for some 350 years, saw the death of thousands of Jews who refused to convert to Christianity and the expulsion of many more.
Of the 42 Haredi draft dodgers arrested yesterday, 40 were released after signing affidavits expressing their willingness to draft and received suspended jail sentences. The IDF said two others, “who had been evading military service for an extended period of more than 540 days,” were immediately sent to a military prison upon being detained at the airport.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also came out against the detention of the draft dodgers, telling Kol Berama that “these arrests are a deliberate attempt to harm the process of drafting Haredim without coercion.”
Saudi coalition says it intercepted 5 drones in eastern, Medina regions
The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthis says it intercepted five drones launched toward the kingdom, including in the Medina region, home to one of Islam’s holiest cities.
“Four drones launched towards the kingdom have been intercepted and destroyed,” coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki posts on X, adding in a second post that the interceptions took place in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern region as well as Medina.
Al-Malki, who did not specify who was behind the launches, later says another drone had been intercepted, also in the Eastern region.
The Houthis deny having targeted the kingdom, with military spokesman Yahya Saree saying their forces had not carried out any “deep” operations in Saudi territory.
Eisenkot vows not to serve in a Netanyahu-led government, even under rotation deal
Yashar party chairman Gadi Eisenkot at a youth conference at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem, October 11, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Yashar leader and election opposition frontrunner Gadi Eisenkot vows that he will not serve in a government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, even under a rotation agreement [under which he would take a turn as prime minister], amid speculation that the two could form a unity government following next week’s vote.
“I unequivocally pledge that I will not serve under Netanyahu in a rotation agreement. Period,” Eisenkot tells Radio 103FM. “If that were to happen, you would see me resign an hour later.”
Eisenkot reiterates that while he does not rule out forming a government with Likud, he refuses to serve alongside Netanyahu due to the prime minister’s responsibility for October 7, 2023.
While Eisenkot has said in the past that he opposes rotation deals and has said that Netanyahu must not be allowed to continue as prime minister, this appears to be the first time he has publicly made an unequivocal statement on the matter.
The remarks come as polls show Likud and Yashar running neck and neck, with neither political bloc currently projected to secure a majority.
President Isaac Herzog has signaled his desire to avoid a repeat of the political deadlock of 2019-2020, which saw Israel hold three elections in 11 months, signaling he would work toward a unity or rotation government should neither bloc secure the 61 seats needed to govern.
Key Update
Macron blasts ‘stupid comments from foreign leaders’ on riots
France’s President Emmanuel Macron speaks to members of the media on the day of the 9th Annual One Planet Sovereign Wealth Funds (OPSWF) Summit in Lusail on October 21, 2026. (Benoit Tessier/POOL/AFP)
French President Emmanuel Macron criticizes “unacceptable and stupid comments from foreign leaders” about ongoing protests in France.
“For me, there is no visible foreign interference in the events that have taken place,” says Macron in a press briefing from Doha. “However, there is foreign manipulation of information which has given rise to unacceptable and stupid comments from many, including foreign leaders.”
France does not need foreign leaders “using our problems for their election campaigns,” says Macron.
Macron does not mention any foreign leaders by name.
In an interview yesterday with i24News, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said France has been hit by an “invasion of extremist Islam,” after weekend mass protests over economic conditions degenerated into riots.
Netanyahu said French leaders failed to prepare for the unrest and claimed it was fueled by extremist Muslims, despite the diverse mix of French society that took to the streets in major cities, including the capital Paris.
US President Donald Trump has also commented on the riots, blaming it on Muslim immigration.
“If Europe doesn’t close its borders and bring the criminals out, like the people that are protesting, Europe is finished,” Trump said. “When I look at France, when you look at Italy, when you look at all the turmoil and the hatred — that’s not about school. That’s about people coming into the countries that hate the country.”
NY congressional candidate Brad Lander detained in West Bank olive harvest, rights group says
US congressional candidate Brad Lander after he was detained during the olive harvest in Nahalin in the West Bank on October 21, 2026. (X/Brad Lander)
Jewish US congressional candidate Brad Lander has been detained accompanying Palestinian olive pickers in the West Bank, according to the left-wing Rabbis for Human Rights organization.
Lander was detained in Nahalin, near Bethlehem in the southern West Bank, alongside several other activists and Palestinian olive pickers, according to Palestinian media.
On X, Lander posts a selfie from a bus full of detainees, and writes: “The occupation is a crime under international law. Harvesting olives isn’t a crime under any law I know.”
MK Gilad Kariv, a Reform rabbi who has previously collaborated with Rabbis for Human Rights, says the organization brought 80 volunteers to Nahalin.
“After two calm hours IDF and police forces came and announced a closed military zone and demanded the volunteers to get on a bus ordered by the military,” Kariv says on X.
The IDF and police do not immediately comment.
Lander is the former New York City comptroller and an ally of Mayor Zohran Mamdani. He won the Democratic primary for a US House seat earlier this year and is expected to win the general election.
Some 7.3 million Israelis eligible to vote in next week’s election, of whom 810,000 live abroad
Ballot papers of various political parties are displayed at the Central Elections Committee warehouse in Shoham, ahead of Israel’s upcoming general election, October 14, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Approximately 7.3 million Israelis are eligible to vote in next week’s election, according to figures released by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), 6.5 million of whom reside in Israel, with another 810,000 living abroad.
The number of eligible voters residing in Israel has risen by 5.4 percent, or approximately 333,000 people, since the last Knesset election in November 2022.
According to the CBS, 77 percent of eligible voters living in Israel are Jewish, including 10.5% who are ultra-Orthodox. Arab Israelis account for 18%, while another 5% are classified as “other.”
The figures also show that 15.1% of eligible voters are aged 18-24, while 26.3% are aged 60 and over.
Jerusalem has the lowest proportion of eligible voters among Israel’s major cities, at just 39.2%, followed by Beit Shemesh (47.1%) and Bnei Brak (50.4%). All three cities have large ultra-Orthodox populations with younger age demographics, contributing to their relatively low proportions of voting-age residents.
Bat Yam has the highest proportion among major cities, at 79.5%, followed by Tel Aviv-Jaffa (77.4%) and Ramat Gan (77.2%).
Police interrogating Likud minister May Golan amid financial crime, job-fixing allegations — reports
Social Equality Minister May Golan arrives at the Tel Aviv District Court, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's corruption trial is being held, December 10, 2024. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
Social Equality Minister May Golan is being interrogated by police’s Lahav 433 major crimes unit, according to Hebrew media.
Golan, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, is suspected of financial crimes including misusing ministry funds and creating fictitious positions for relatives of influential supporters.
Araghchi says Iran is ready for diplomacy, but ‘fully prepared to defend ourselves’
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, arrives the opening session of the 52nd Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Baghdad, Iraq, October 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
Iran is ready for diplomacy but will defend itself, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi writes in an article published in the Financial Times.
“While Iran is firmly committed to seeking a dignified peaceful resolution to the conflict, we are also fully prepared to defend ourselves,” he writes.
He says the White House has shown no willingness to reach an understanding and that there was little reason to expect progress now.
‘We are ready to eradicate your evil from the region,’ writes senior Iranian official in Hebrew post
A senior Iranian official threatens Israel with destruction if it makes the wrong move, regardless of who wins in next week’s election.
“Whatever the results of your election may be, we have no doubt about your hostility,” Ebrahim Azizi, head of the national security commission in Iran’s parliament, posts in Hebrew on X.
“We are ready to eradicate your evil from the region forever in response to the smallest operational misstep,” he continues.
Yesterday, he said that Israel’s fate was “total defeat by the will of the brave Iranian nation and the resistance front.”
The comments come amid reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been planning a new Israeli strike on Iran, but US President Donald Trump quashed that idea until after the US midterms.
Man charged over London assault of 3 Jewish women, including mother pushing stroller
Footage posted to social media by Jewish volunteer security organization Shomrim showing an assault on Jewish women in Stamford Hill, north London, October 20, 2026. (Screenshot/Shomrim via X)
A man is charged over the assault of three Jewish women in London, including a mother pushing her baby in a stroller.
Abdisamad Siad, 33, is charged with three counts of assault by beating over the Monday attacks. He does not appear to have been charged with hate crimes.
Siad pleaded not guilty pleas to the three charges and was remanded into custody, the BBC reports.
Victims told the Shomrim security group they believed they were targeted because they were visibly Jewish.
According to the BBC, Siad was also charged with grievous bodily harm with intent over an unrelated attack on another woman.
PM shares plea from families of fallen soldiers for Winter to withdraw from election; bereaved mother on slate pushes back
Ofer Winter (left) at the launch of his People of Israel party, in Jerusalem, August 25, 2026; Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives to vote at the Likud primary in Jerusalem on August 17, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shares an open letter from bereaved families of soldiers killed in Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught and the ensuing war, calling on People of Israel party chairman Ofer Winter to withdraw from next week’s election.
“These elections are fateful, fateful for the settlement movement, the judicial system and security,” the families write. “In these elections, every vote is important.”
“Ofer, you are not polling above the electoral threshold in any survey,” they say. “We, the bereaved families, call on you, Ofer: Do not endanger Israel’s security.”
Sharing the letter on X, Netanyahu echoes the call for Winter to withdraw, writing: “Ofer Winter, listen to the bereaved families – show responsibility and step down for the sake of the right’s victory!”
But Laly Derai, a candidate on Winter’s People of Israel slate and the mother of fallen IDF soldier Staff Sgt. Saadia Derai, pushes back, stressing that bereaved families do not all share the same views.
“We are not all the same, we do not all think the same way, and therefore speaking on behalf of the bereaved families is something I would not do,” she writes in response to Netanyahu.
Derai says she respects every family that signed the letter, adding that doing so is “entirely their right” and that they have “earned” that right.
Turning to Netanyahu’s call for a right-wing victory, she adds, “After losing my son Saadia, may God avenge his blood, I am here so that there will truly be a victory,” calling for the complete defeat of Hamas in Gaza, the integration of ultra-Orthodox men into the IDF and an end to Israel’s internal divisions.
“For this I am here, and I’m not going anywhere,” she says.
Netanyahu has intensified his efforts to pressure Winter to withdraw from the election race in recent days, meeting yesterday with the party leader’s rabbi alongside Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in a bid to persuade Winter to drop out.
Blue and White ballot slips to be removed from polling stations after all party members withdraw from election
A sample voting booth is displayed at the Central Elections Committee warehouse in Shoham, ahead of the upcoming election, October 14, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Ballot slips for Benny Gantz’s Blue and White party will not appear at polling stations in next Tuesday’s election, the Central Elections Committee announces, after all candidates on the party’s slate formally withdrew from the race.
The committee says it has instructed polling station officials to remove the party’s ballot slips from voting booths and mark them with an X on posters displaying the participating parties.
Any votes cast for Blue and White, whether using printed or handwritten ballot slips, will be considered invalid, the committee says.
IDF soldiers began voting today, while Israeli diplomats stationed abroad have already cast their ballots.
The committee clarifies that votes already cast for Blue and White at military polling stations or Israeli diplomatic missions abroad will be invalidated.
Macron to meet with Saudi ruler to show solidarity in face of Houthi attacks
French President Emmanuel Macron, right, speaks with Saudi Arabia's Prime Minister and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud prior to a group photo at an EU-Gulf Cooperation Council meeting in Brussels, Belgium, October 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)
French President Emmanuel Macron will make a stop in Saudi Arabia today to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — the country’s de facto ruler — on his way back from Qatar, the Élysée Palace says.
The visit is meant to “demonstrate France’s solidarity with the Kingdom in the face of the Houthi attacks against its territory, and to continue efforts to secure and diversify fuel supplies,” says Macron’s office.
Israel condemns Libya’s approval of maritime agreement with Turkey
Israel “strongly condemns” Libya’s eastern parliament’s approval yesterday of a maritime boundaries deal with Turkey.
“This agreement infringes upon the sovereign rights of our close allies in the region. Regretfully, once again we see Turkey working to destabilise the east Mediterranean region,” the Foreign Ministry says in a statement.
Israel strongly condemns the decision of the Libyan House of Representatives to ratify the Maritime Jurisdiction Memorandum between Turkey and Libya.
This agreement infringes upon the sovereign rights of our close allies in the region.Regretfully, once again we see Turkey…
— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) October 21, 2026
Greece swiftly condemned the move yesterday, calling it a violation of international law, as did the European Union. Greece, Egypt and Cyprus have long opposed the deal, which they see as infringing on their own maritime claims.
Bank of Israel keeps interest rate unchanged at 3.25%
The Bank of Israel's main offices in Jerusalem, January 2, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)
The Bank of Israel leaves interest rates on hold at 3.25% as it sees the economy growing at a faster pace this year and in 2027, citing a weaker shekel and stabilization of geopolitical risk.
“Uncertainty remains high in view of the geopolitical tensions,” the central bank says in a statement. “However, during the reviewed period, Israel’s risk premium remained at levels similar to those prior to October 7, 2023, and the shekel depreciated.”
“Current indicators of economic activity show continued growth following the rapid second quarter recovery from Operation Roaring Lion,” the central bank adds.
In its last decision in September, the central bank reduced borrowing costs to 3.25% from 3.50%, after trimming rates in July, May and January this year.
The central bank now expects the economy to grow by 5.6% this year, up from its previous forecast of 4%. In 2027, the pace of growth is expected to pick up to 7.5% versus the 5.5% forecasted last time.
“Much of the revision reflects the large expected contribution of production abroad by Israeli firms,” the central bank says.
IDF decides not to livestream any part of Netanyahu-attended cadets graduation ceremony over electioneering concerns
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at a cadets' graduation ceremony at the Bahad 1 officers' school in southern Israel, June 25, 2026. (Screenshot/Israel Defense Forces)
The Israeli military will not be livestreaming today’s officers’ course graduation ceremony due to concerns that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may use his speech for electioneering.
Yesterday, the IDF reached out to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara for instructions on how to act at the ceremony at the Bahad 1 officers’ school in southern Israel, which will be attended by Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz.
The Attorney General’s Office had instructed the army not to live-broadcast the speeches by the politicians, but the military has decided not to stream any part of the ceremony, including a speech by Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir.
A webpage where the ceremony was supposed to be streamed has been taken down.
The IDF says that “in accordance with the directive of the deputy attorney general, and given the proximity to the election date, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit will not broadcast speeches live at the Ground Forces officers’ course graduation ceremony.”
Haredi anti-enlistment protesters block traffic at Kfar Saba police station, Ra’anana Junction
Police say an “illegal protest” is blocking the road near the Kfar Saba police station, as footage shows dozens of Haredi men rallying there and at the nearby Ra’anana Junction on Route 4.
Officers on the scene at the station are redirecting traffic and working to reopen the road “and restore order,” police say, urging drivers to travel via other routes.
הערינג: בעקבות מעצר העריק – הפלג משתולל כעת בכפר סבא וחוסם את הכביש ליד תחנת המשטרה pic.twitter.com/UG8vrjk5Q8
— הערינג (@NewsHerring) October 21, 2026
Haredi media reports the protest erupted after a student at the Torah BeTifartah yeshiva in Elad was detained at the Kfar Saba police station today for allegedly driving an unregistered car.
The student was reportedly transferred to the Military Police after officers found he had failed to comply with enlistment orders.
טוביה יגלניק: במחאה על מעצר עריק חרדי: דיווח על חסימת כביש 4 בשני הכיוונים באזור צומת כפר-סבא רעננה@tuvyayagelnik pic.twitter.com/wdkGWCDDsb
— חדשות הסקופים. (@Haskupim) October 21, 2026
Likud says Ben Gvir will be senior minister in next government, after Otzma Yehudit accuses PM of planning to excluding him
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir (right) shakes hands with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the floor of the Knesset in Jerusalem, January 5, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party insists it remains “100% committed” to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but accuses his Likud party of seeking to exclude Ben Gvir from the next government in favor of a coalition with Yashar party chairman Gadi Eisenkot.
“The ‘friendly fire’ is coming from Likud,” the party says in a statement, citing recent remarks by Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter to CNN about Netanyahu’s desire for a unity government without Ben Gvir, as well as allegations that Netanyahu promised European officials that he would keep Ben Gvir out of his coalition if he wins reelection.
“If Likud has decided to throw Ben Gvir aside and form a government with Eisenkot, it would be appropriate for Likud to openly stand behind its decision instead of blaming the victim,” the party says.
Likud fires back, insisting Ben Gvir “is a senior minister in our government, and he will remain so in the next government” provided the pro-Netanyahu bloc wins the election.
“It is regrettable that Ben Gvir is engaging in friendly fire and spreading blatant lies against Likud and the prime minister,” the party says, accusing him of using the right-wing Instagram news page “Push” to attack Netanyahu, helping the anti-Netanyahu bloc.
Likud also accuses Ben Gvir of attacking the right instead of targeting smaller right-leaning parties, including Ofer Winter’s People of Israel, Yoav Hendel’s Reservists-Economic party and the radical Noam party, which it says are “wasting precious right-wing votes.”
Winter says it may have been a mistake to pledge early support for Netanyahu, but now stands by move
A composite photo of People of Israel party leader Ofer Winter (left) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90, Channel 14)
People of Israel party leader Ofer Winter says it “may not have been right” to announce at the start of his election campaign that his party would recommend only Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as premier after the vote.
“Maybe it wasn’t necessarily right to say that at the beginning,” Winter says in a Channel 12 interview, but also says: “I’m part of the right-wing camp, and I’m not saying now that I’ll move to the other side.”
Netanyahu’s Likud claims Winter’s new remarks show he will take votes from the right and give them to a “left-wing government” led by Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot.
The comments come amid a public campaign by Likud and its allies to pressure Winter to withdraw from next week’s election, warning that his party could take votes from right-wing parties and waste them if it fails to cross the electoral threshold.
Responding to the pressure on Winter, Yoseph Haddad, the No. 2 candidate on the People of Israel list, insists that the party will remain loyal to Netanyahu despite what he describes as a campaign of attacks and smears by the prime minister and his allies.
“Party chairman Ofer Winter said from the very beginning that we would recommend Netanyahu, and that is what we will do, even when Netanyahu himself and others in the coalition are going after us and working against us,” Haddad says.
“We are part of the right-wing camp,” he adds, insisting that the party will not “move a millimeter from the promises we made to the public.”
Smotrich offers Winter a ministerial post in exchange for withdrawing from election; party said to reject offer
Left: Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, head of the Religious Zionism Party, attends the party primary in Jerusalem, July 26, 2026. Right: People of Israel party chairman Ofer Winter speaks during a press conference in Tel Aviv, September 2, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90, Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says he is prepared to give up one of the ministerial positions allocated to his Religious Zionism party in future coalition negotiations to secure People of Israel party chairman Ofer Winter’s withdrawal from the election race, amid concerns that Winter’s party will fail to cross the electoral threshold and waste right-wing votes.
Smotrich offers Winter a ministerial position within the Defense Ministry, with authority over a proposed project to promote the “voluntary” migration of Palestinians from Gaza and an administration to oversee the recruitment of ultra-Orthodox men into the IDF — two of Winter’s core priorities — in exchange for his party’s withdrawal from next week’s election.
“Ofer, my brother, you are a good man. A principled leader and a brave commander with many achievements to your credit,” Smotrich says. He warns, though, that Winter’s continued candidacy risks repeating the 1992 election, when smaller right-wing parties failed to cross the electoral threshold, making way for Yitzhak Rabin’s Labor government.
“The votes that will be wasted below the electoral threshold will make the difference between victory and defeat in the election,” he says. “The right-wing camp cannot afford to repeat the mistakes of the past.”
Smotrich says he offered Winter a place on Religious Zionism’s electoral slate before the lists were finalized, but the offer was rejected. Religious Zionism has three ministers in the outgoing government, having won seven Knesset seats.
“I do not expect you to withdraw from public activity and go take care of your personal affairs,” Smotrich tells Winter. “I am now offering you a genuine partnership that will provide you with a realistic platform to contribute within the political system.”
“I will give up a ministerial position allocated to my party for you if you withdraw and do not endanger the right,” he adds.
The offer comes amid mounting pressure from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies on Winter to withdraw from the race, with many polls showing his party failing to cross the electoral threshold.
While there is no immediate reaction from People of Israel, various Hebrew media outlets quote “sources” in the party as rejecting Smotrich’s proposal.
“Looks like they don’t understand that we didn’t enter [the race] to secure a job,” the statement says, rejecting the idea that “people can be bought off with a job” and adding: “If we had been satisfied with what is happening in the right-wing camp, we would have joined existing parties.”
Netanyahu: Tehran trying again to develop nukes; Katz: ‘If Iran attacks Israel, Iran will burn’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at an IDF cadets graduation ceremony at the officers' school in southern Israel, known as Bahad 1, on October 21, 2026. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Iran has been trying to advance the development of nuclear weapons, while speaking at an IDF cadets graduation ceremony.
“The Iranian regime still has not learned its lesson. Mojtaba Khamenei decided to follow in his father’s footsteps. He has taken off the safety, and Iran is once again trying to develop its weapons of death,” Netanyahu says at the officers’ school in southern Israel, known as Bahad 1.
“Therefore, there is only one way to remove this threat once and for all, to topple the regime in Iran, and that is my directive to the IDF, the Mossad and the security agencies,” he says.
Defense Minister Israel Katz, speaking at the same ceremony, warns Iran and its proxies against carrying out attacks during the elections next week.
“In recent days, we have identified attempts by our enemies, foremost among them Iran and its proxies, to carry out terror attacks that would affect the results of the elections in Israel,” he says.
Katz says that “the Iranian regime is at its weakest point ever, and we identify that this weakness could lead it to take the most extreme measures, including against the State of Israel.”
“Our message to the Iranian regime is clear: We are identifying your attempts, we are prepared to thwart them, and we are ready to strike you with full force,” he continues, adding: “If Iran attacks Israel, Iran will burn!”
Meanwhile, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir says the defense of Israel must be a shared goal, amid ongoing efforts by the military to draft members of the ultra-Orthodox community who largely do not enlist.
“The mission of defending the State of Israel is shared by all of us and is greater than any disagreement. The IDF is the people’s army, and unity within it is essential to its strength,” he tells the graduating officers.
Israel frees congressional candidate Brad Lander, as official map shows activists didn’t enter forbidden West Bank area as authorities claimed
US congressional candidate Brad Lander after he was detained during the olive harvest in Nahalin in the West Bank on October 21, 2026. (X/Brad Lander)
Israeli authorities have released US congressional candidate Brad Lander after detaining him along with dozens of Jewish American and Israeli activists who were accompanying Palestinians harvesting their olives in the central West Bank.
The IDF and Israel Police claim the harvest on land belonging to the Palestinian village of Nahalin was not coordinated with authorities, as required.
But a map distributed to Palestinian farmers by the Israeli Defense Ministry’s Civil Administration unit shows that the area where the group was detained was not actually in an area that required prior coordination.
Nonetheless, the group of roughly 80 activists is still being held at a police station in the Beitar Illit settlement for questioning and processing. Only Lander has been released after he was identified as a candidate for US Congress — an indication that Israeli authorities wanted to avoid a further international incident after widely covered settler attacks on reporters and foreign diplomats over the weekend.
אז יש מצב שיש פה פארסה גדולה ו-80 איש עוכבו סתם. אוליב החטיבה המרחבית עציון והמנהל האזרחי מתקשה לקרוא מפה.
לפי המפה של המנהל השטח שבו עוכבו הפעילים לא נדרש בתיאום.
מצרף את הצילום מהמפה של המנהל-מה שנדרש בתיאום זה המסומן באדום
ואת המיקום שבו הם עוכבו ב-???? https://t.co/inLAoQAAeF pic.twitter.com/hUSAAGBDJ8— Haim Goldich | חיים גולדיטש (@HGoldich) October 21, 2026
Democrats party MK Gilad Kariv tweets: “If someone at the Foreign Ministry, in the IDF or at the Population and Immigration Authority doesn’t stop this madness, it will cause enormous damage to relations with Jews of the United States — and entirely justifiably so.”
Groups of foreign and left-wing Israeli activists have been joining Palestinian olive harvesters in growing numbers to try and protect them from settler attacks, which have gone largely unchecked.
The delegation in Nahalin was organized by Rabbis for Human Rights, whose spokesperson insists to The Times of Israel that no prior coordination was required for the area where the group was harvesting olives.
Lander posts on X that he was released from Israeli custody “with a ‘warning’ — apparently because of my public profile (I told them I wasn’t even a congressmember yet, just a nominee).” Lander is the Democratic nominee for New York’s 10th congressional district, and is a lock to join the House of Representatives after the election in two weeks, given that the district is overwhelmingly Democratic.
Lander calls for the release of all of those detained.
I’ve been released from IDF custody with a “warning,” apparently because of my public profile (I told them I wasn’t even a congressmember yet, just a nominee).
But several dozen rabbis & participants harvesting olives with me are still in detention. For harvesting olives. They… pic.twitter.com/BcSNkTYUxF
— Brad Lander (@bradlander) October 21, 2026
“To be clear: Palestinians face far worse consequences every day. These detentions by the IDF are one more attempt to undermine Palestinians’ right to harvest their olive groves, travel on their roads, and live in their homes. Yet one more element of escalating, and very clearly state-sponsored ethnic cleansing,” he adds.
The Israel Police has defended the detentions, issuing a statement insisting that the activists had entered an area near the fence of the Beitar Illit settlement that required approval before entering.
But after reporters began publishing the Civil Administration’s map showing that wasn’t the case, the IDF issued its own statement arguing that the area in question isn’t marked on the map because Palestinians had never asked to harvest their olives in that section before.
It’s unclear why the army would have expected Palestinians to request authorization to enter an area that Israeli authorities did not say required coordination ahead of time.
The IDF says it has now provided the owner of the land plots near Beitar Illit with the necessary contact information for coordinating such harvests with the army in the future.
Police stress in their statement that the force immediately released Lander upon learning that he was a congressional candidate, without making any mention of the status of the dozens of other detainees.
Police add that officers are “currently reviewing the incident in consultation with the IDF, the Foreign Ministry, the Interior Ministry and other relevant authorities, with the aim of preventing friction, public disturbances, and incidents that could result in international repercussions.”
Ra’am party chief Abbas says Netanyahu win would be ‘catastrophe’
Ra'am party leader Mansour Abbas speaks to supporters during a campaign event ahead of the Knesset election, in the northern town of Baqa al-Gharbiyye, October 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
A top Arab candidate in next week’s Knesset election, which could see him emerge as a kingmaker, warns of “disaster” if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wins again, voicing hope for high Arab turnout.
If Netanyahu and his far-right allies return to power, “that would, first and foremost, be a catastrophe for the State of Israel,” Ra’am party leader Mansour Abbas tells AFP in an interview. “There is no doubt that the consequences would be extremely serious for us as an Arab community.”
Court extends remand of 1 suspect in weekend’s settler attacks, sends 4 others to house arrest
Police say a court has extended until Monday the remand of one of the suspects arrested this week over settler attacks in the West Bank over the weekend, including on a Washington Post photojournalist and on European diplomats.
The court has released four other suspects to house arrest until a week from tomorrow, police say, adding they will ask for a suspension of the release.
Police this past Monday said seven of 10 suspects arrested over the West Bank attacks and other extremist violence had had their remand extended.
One of the seven was later released after his alibi was confirmed, and another was released following an interrogation, police say.
Man said to leave dead fetus at entrance to Jerusalem hospital and flee; couple arrested
Police say they have arrested a husband and wife in their 30s after a hospital in Jerusalem reported that a man had left a lifeless fetus at the hospital entrance and fled.
The suspects are being questioned on suspicion of involvement in the case, and the circumstances are being probed, police add.
Suspect in weekend settler attacks was detained last year for running over Palestinian with ATV, but never charged
A settler rams an ATV into a Palestinian man as he prays in the West Bank, December 25, 2025 (Video screenshot; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
The lone suspect kept behind bars from the group of 10 settlers arrested for attacking journalists and diplomats over the weekend was detained last year for running over a Palestinian with his ATV, but was never charged.
The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court has extended the remand of Nadav Cohen Tzemach until Monday.
Tzemach is an IDF reservist who was detained in December 2025 for running over a Palestinian with his ATV while the victim was prostrating himself in prayer on the side of the road.
Tzemach also entered a Palestinian village in civilian clothes earlier in the day and opened fire, the IDF said at the time.
חייל מילואים על טרקטורון דרס פלסטיני בזמן שהתפלל לצד הכביש מוקדם יותר היום, ליד דיר ג'ריר באזור רמאללה. בצה"ל מתחקרים את האירוע pic.twitter.com/SjVDddBHmR
— Nurit Yohanan (@nurityohanan) December 25, 2025
While he was placed under house arrest for several days, he was never charged.
Incidents of settler violence take place across the West Bank on a daily basis, but arrests are very rare, and indictments and convictions are even less frequent.
Liberal US Jewish denominations condemn Israel’s detention of activists accompanying Palestinian olive harvest
The Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist denominations of Judaism in the US issue a joint statement condemning Israel for detaining dozens of activists who were trying to protect Palestinian olive harvesters from settler attacks.
Among the roughly 80 detained were nine rabbis from their movements.
“That farmers need to have others serve as a protective presence from violent settlers is itself a betrayal of Jewish values. Yet recent settler attacks on Palestinian harvesters and those working alongside them — and authorities’ failure or refusal to stop such attacks — have made that protective presence necessary,” reads the joint statement.
“Our global memberships span the political and ideological spectrum. Yet we are united in opposing all forms of terrorism across the region and in our conviction that detaining rabbis working for justice undermines Israel’s democratic values,” the groups add.
“We call on the Israeli government to release the detainees immediately, enable the productive harvesting of land, and turn its law enforcement efforts toward the violent settlers who have long been attacking Palestinian farmers and, more recently, journalists and diplomats,” the statement says.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei said to meet parliament speaker Ghalibaf to discuss US-Israeli war
Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has met parliament speaker Mohammed Baqer Ghalibaf and reviewed developments in the US-Israeli war, the state broadcaster IRIB reports.
Khamenei, who senior sources have said suffered facial disfigurement and other injuries in an airstrike, has not been seen in public since he was appointed supreme leader on March 8.
Israel accuses Lander of ‘harvesting headlines’ after his detention while accompanying West Bank olive harvest
US congressional candidate Brad Lander after he was detained during the olive harvest in Nahalin in the West Bank on October 21, 2026. (X/Brad Lander)
The Foreign Ministry claims US Congressional candidate Brad Lander instigated a “calculated political provocation” after he was detained today by Israeli forces along with dozens of activists trying to protect Palestinian olive harvesters from settler attacks.
“This was not about harvesting olives. It was about harvesting headlines,” the Foreign Ministry tweets.
The ministry claims Lander entered a “restricted security area,” even though official maps from the Defense Ministry’s Civil Administration show that the area where his group was detained was not one that required prior coordination with the IDF in order to enter.
“What makes this stunt even more outrageous is that his own team contacted Israeli representatives in the United States ahead of his visit and was explicitly informed that proper coordination with the relevant authorities was required. He chose to ignore those instructions,” the Foreign Ministry argues.
“Had anyone been injured as a result of his reckless political theater, Lander would undoubtedly have been among the first to demand that Israeli authorities intervene and provide protection,” the tweet continues. “Brad Lander came looking for a confrontation. Now he is pretending to be its victim.”
Key Update
Bennett’s security doubled amid threats ahead of election
Former prime minister and B'Yachad party chairman Naftali Bennett attends an agriculture conference ahead of the upcoming general elections in Herzliya, September 23, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Security for former prime minister and B’Yachad party chairman Naftali Bennett has been doubled in recent days following threats and attempted attacks against him, bringing his protection to a level equivalent to that of a defense minister, according to Hebrew media reports confirmed by the party.
The increased security comes as Bennett tours Likud strongholds across the country in an effort to persuade supporters of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to switch their allegiance ahead of next week’s election.
Last month, two glass salt shakers were hurled at Bennett during a campaign stop in the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak, striking two members of his staff, one of whom required medical treatment.
Police have since filed an indictment against 26-year-old Bnei Brak resident Eliya Azard, charging him with simple assault and conduct that could disrupt public order.
The Shin Bet has also thwarted several plots by foreign operatives to harm Bennett over the past year linked to his actions against Iran during his tenure as prime minister, according to Hebrew media reports.
Bennett urges Shin Bet to bar Netanyahu aide Urich from PM’s Office over Qatargate
Jonatan Urich arrives for a court hearing in the Tel Aviv District Court on July 14, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Former prime minister and B’Yachad party chairman Naftali Bennett calls on Shin Bet chief David Zini to immediately bar Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s close adviser Jonatan Urich from any contact with the Prime Minister’s Office, citing recent developments in the Qatargate affair.
“Anyone who worked on behalf of those who funded the Nukhba terrorists during the sadistic massacre must not be allowed to come into contact with the people surrounding the prime minister,” Bennett says, calling for an investigation into whether Urich’s activities on behalf of Qatar endangered Israel’s peace agreement with Egypt and what the prime minister knew.
“When did Netanyahu learn about the affair, and did he know about it in real time? Why does Netanyahu continue to employ Urich and defend him? What is the nature of the relationship between Netanyahu and Qatar?” Bennett asks.
“Until these matters are clarified, the head of the Shin Bet is expected to prevent further harm to Israel’s security,” he adds.
His comments follow a series of Channel 12 and other reports about the case, including one on Monday that Urich, one of several Netanyahu aides suspected of conducting public relations work for Qatar while employed in the Prime Minister’s Office, admitted to investigators that he received “hundreds of thousands of shekels” from Doha and had no moral qualms about working for the Gulf state before or after the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack.
IDF says it killed Islamic Jihad rocket operative, Hamas sniper in Gaza strikes on Monday
A Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket operative and a Hamas sniper were killed in separate strikes in Gaza City earlier this week, the military announces.
One strike on Monday in the area of the Gaza City neighborhoods of Daraj and Tuffah killed Abdullah Munir Mahmoud Harz, a deputy platoon commander in Islamic Jihad’s rocket array, according to the military.
The IDF says another strike on Monday in Gaza City killed Muhammad Wael Mustafa Sha’sha’a, a sniper operative in Hamas’s Daraj-Tuffah Battalion.
The pair had recently been involved in advancing attacks on troops and Israeli civilians, and attempting to restore the capabilities of the two terror groups, “in systematic violation of the ceasefire,” the military adds.
מחבל במערך הרקטי של הגא"פ ופעיל צליפה בחמאס: צה"ל חיסל שני מחבלים בצפון רצועת עזה
צה"ל תקף מוקדם יותר השבוע במרחב דרג' תופאח וחיסל את המחבל עבדאללה מניר מחמוד חרז, סגן מפקד מחלקה במערך הרקטי של ארגון הטרור גא"פ. המחבל קידם מתווי צליפה נגד כוחות צה"ל.
בתקיפה נוספת השבוע במרחב… pic.twitter.com/i0sC41rh5K
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) October 21, 2026
Charedi Public party leader Leitner refuses to quit election race despite pressure from Netanyahu
Moti Leitner, chairman of the Charedi Public party, holds a press conference at the party’s election campaign headquarters in Neve Ilan ahead of the Knesset elections, October 21, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Charedi Public party leader Moti Leitner announces at a press conference that he will not withdraw from next week’s election despite mounting pressure to quit, including from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies.
“I met with the prime minister at his request and listened to his proposal, but United Torah Judaism and Shas are threatening me and ignoring the need for change,” Leitner says, referring to the two dominant ultra-Orthodox parties.
“I am not withdrawing. We are not withdrawing. We are moving forward at full force and building a new political home. The monopoly of Shas and United Torah Judaism is over,” he adds.
Netanyahu met with Leitner last night in an attempt to persuade him to withdraw, according to Hebrew media reports. Charedi Public, which is expected to fall well below the 3.25% electoral threshold, risks siphoning votes from the two Netanyahu-aligned Haredi parties and wasting them if it fails to enter the Knesset.
“If we withdraw now, the old, corrupt system will be the winner,” Leitner warns.
In a subsequent post on X, he accuses the established Haredi parties of maintaining a “violent political monopoly” that has denied ultra-Orthodox Israelis genuine representation for decades and condemned tens of thousands of children to poverty.
Charedi Public has set itself apart from mainstream ultra-Orthodox parties United Torah Judaism and Shas with its relatively moderate stances on IDF enlistment and Haredi education, and by including women on its Knesset slate. Its priorities include funding for ultra-Orthodox yeshivas, an agreed-upon military conscription plan, and core curriculum studies for the Haredi community.
Key Update
US imposes sanctions on Greek, Panama law firm for helping Iran shipping
The US Treasury Department imposes sanctions on Panama- and Greek-based law firm Karnakis and Karnakis, which it says has supported Iranian shipping for years.
The US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FINCEN) also issues an administrative subpoena to advance an investigation into a Greek bank over potential ties to Iran, according to a Treasury statement, which does not name the bank.
FINCEN also issues requests for information to six other banks in Europe over relationships with Iranian financial institutions under US sanctions.
Ofer Winter refuses to quit election race despite Smotrich offer, Likud pressure
People of Israel party chair Ofer Winter speaks at a party event in Rishon Lezion, September 15, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
People of Israel party chairman Ofer Winter vows to remain in next week’s election despite mounting pressure from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and Religious Zionism party leader and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who earlier today offered him a ministerial position in exchange for withdrawing.
“I did not surrender in the past. I am not surrendering today. And I will not surrender in the future when it comes to the values and principles for which we entered this fight,” Winter declares in a video statement.
The statement comes amid an aggressive campaign by Likud and its allies to pressure Winter to withdraw. Winter accuses members of his own political camp of waging an “ugly and unimaginable” campaign against him, alleging harassment of candidates and their children, the hiring of private investigators and pressure on rabbis.
The party has repeatedly polled below or around the 3.25% electoral threshold, raising concerns within Netanyahu’s bloc that it could siphon votes from established right-wing parties without winning any Knesset seats.
Winter reiterates that his party remains firmly within the pro-Netanyahu bloc, but warns that its support for a future government will be conditional on advancing its own priorities, including benefits for military personnel and promoting the “voluntary” migration of Palestinians from Gaza.
“There will be no blank check,” he says. “If they deliver, they’ll get our support. If they don’t, they won’t.”
However, he also rejects any possibility of him joining the anti-Netanyahu bloc, saying: “We will not take our votes and establish a government with [Democrats leader] Yair Golan.”
Key Update
Report: Israeli jets flew to Iran’s border in what US sources suspect was a bid to provoke Tehran
Illustrative: An Israeli Air Force F-35I fighter jet prepares to take off for strikes in Iran, in a handout photo published on March 19, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)
Dozens of Israeli fighter jets and refueling aircraft flew over Syria and Iraq toward the Iranian border earlier this week, following a flight path resembling an attack on Iran, Channel 12 reports, citing US officials.
The aircraft turned around shortly before reaching Iranian territory and returned to Israel, according to the report, which follows an earlier Fox News report on the matter.
Israel informed Washington of the sortie in advance, saying it was a military exercise and a show of force intended to deter Iran, the sources tell Channel 12. However, several sources say they believe some Israeli officials may have hoped Iran would fire on the aircraft, providing Israel with justification to launch an attack.
The report also comes after the Financial Times reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had sought to launch strikes against Iran earlier this month, but US President Donald Trump opposed renewed fighting before the US midterm elections.
Channel 12 adds that IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir warned his American counterpart, Dan Caine, that a war before Israel’s elections next week would likely force the vote to be postponed.
Zamir said yesterday that the military will enable next week’s election to take place “without external interference.”
The report notes an apparent contradiction between warnings from Israeli political and security officials about the risk of miscalculation with Iran and the decision to send dozens of aircraft over 1,000 kilometers toward the Iranian border, knowing that Iranian air defenses would detect them.
Channel 12 adds in a separate report that Israeli security officials fear recent remarks by Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz could prompt Iran to consider launching a preemptive strike against Israel.
Security officials and opposition figures have also urged Zamir to oppose any Israeli attack before the elections unless there is a real military imperative, given its potential impact on the vote, the network reports.
Israel set to deport 4 activists detained after participating in Palestinian olive harvest, over 70 others freed
Israel has initiated pre-deportation procedures for four of the left-wing activists detained earlier today by security forces after helping Palestinian olive growers harvest their crop, with over 70 others released, some of whom have been barred from the West Bank.
Police say four foreign activists are set to have a pre-deportation hearing at the Population and Immigration Authority tomorrow after investigators found they have a history of online “anti-Israel activity” and “support for organizations opposed to Israel.”
Another 32 activists were released under the condition that they stay away from the West Bank, and 40 other activists have been released without restrictions, police say. Another activist, US congressional candidate Brad Lander, was released earlier today.
Of the almost 80 activists detained, 52 were foreigners, the majority of whom are Jewish, the Rabbis for Human Rights organization that organized the harvesting activity says.
Barbara Gaffin, one of the activists who participated in the olive harvest, said earlier that the activists were concerned they would be expelled and banned from the country.
The police took fingerprints and photographs of those detained, she added.
Last year, several activists were expelled and banned from Israel after being detained while helping Palestinians with the olive harvest, while two weeks ago, the commander of the police’s Judea and Samaria (West Bank) district said that the police force in the district would act to “expel and prevent the arrival of foreign citizens, supporters of the enemy and of terrorism, who arrive in the country under the cover of humanitarian organizations and human rights groups, and act to delegitimize the State of Israel around the world.”
The activists were detained by the IDF and police in olive groves between the West Bank Palestinian town of Nahalin and the settlement of Beitar Illit. The IDF says that the activists were in an area requiring prior coordination with the military, but military maps show this not to be the case.
“This is a little bit absurd, were doing nothing illegal, we were simply picking olives, helping Palestinians with their annual harvest, it’s all legal,” says Gaffin, 72, from Newton, Massachusetts in the US.
“I consider myself a Zionist, I come to Israel every year, I’m a strong supporter of human rights, and I care about democracy and human rights,” continues Gaffin, who says that in years past she also assisted Ethiopian Jews in Ethiopia seeking to get to Israel and refuseniks in the Soviet Union.
“I’ve heard about what’s been going on in the West Bank, and I felt it was important that I participate in the harvest,” she continues, in reference to the severe violence Palestinian farmers have suffered at the hands of settler extremists in recent weeks and months.
“I believe in a healthy, strong democratic Israel, and a lot of people here believe in the same; we all love Israel, many of us believe in a Jewish homeland, and it’s tragic that this is what it has come to.”
Yehoshua Schoffman, a former deputy attorney general, was also among the participants in the olive harvest and was also detained.
“They told me I was detained on suspicion of olive harvesting,” Schoffman writes sardonically on X. “There was no friction whatsoever with settlers or security forces.”
The incident near the village of Nahalin was not the only one in which Palestinians and activists were detained by Israeli forces while trying to harvest olives.
עוד מהבלאגן בג׳אלוד, מתנחלים פתחו באש לעבר הכפר. מעניין אם הצבא יעצור אותם כמו שהוא עצר 80 פעילי נוכחות מגנה היום. https://t.co/gITWdqxbFM pic.twitter.com/AsbZGaRh6t
— Arbel – ארבל ???? (@ArbelReports) October 21, 2026
A similar incident was reported in Turmus Ayya, where the IDF blocked Palestinians, activists and journalists from reaching olive trees, declaring the area a closed military zone.
In the northern West Bank village of Jalud, Palestinian media reported that settlers opened fire on olive harvesters and vandalized a number of trees.
The IDF did not immediately respond to comment on either incident.
גם בתורמוס עיא הבוקר, הצבא מעלה מדרגה מול פעילים וגם מול עיתונאים זרים, ועוצר אותם מללוות אזרחים במסיק זיתים.
איפה הנוכחות הצבאית הזאת הייתה כשמתנחלים הרביצו לדיפלומטים זרים בטייבה? איפה היא הייתה כשהרביצו לעיתונאית האמריקאית היידי לוין? pic.twitter.com/mXFn3PDXgW
— Arbel – ארבל ???? (@ArbelReports) October 21, 2026
US Democrats pan Israel’s brief detention of congressional candidate in West Bank
US congressional candidate Brad Lander after he was detained during the olive harvest in Nahalin in the West Bank on October 21, 2026. (X/Brad Lander)
Condemnations are pouring in from Democratic US lawmakers over Israel’s brief detention of Congressional candidate Brad Lander.
“Last week, out-of-control settlers injured an American journalist. Now, the IDF targets volunteers for helping Palestinians harvest olives. The eyes of the world are on the West Bank,” tweets Rep. Jamie Raskin.
Lander was detained with roughly 80 other Americans and Israelis who were accompanying Palestinian olive harvesters who have come under repeated attacks by settlers.
Israeli authorities claimed that the group did not coordinate their activity as required, but official maps distributed by the Defense Ministry showed that the detentions took place in an area that did not require prior authorization to enter.
All of those detained have been released, except for four American activists who Israel is deporting from the country.
“I’m glad that Brad has been released — but he should never have been detained in the first place. Everyone else needs to be released immediately,” tweets Rep. Greg Cesar, urging the passage of legislation barring the import of settlement goods.
Rep. Ro Khanna, who was briefly detained by IDF-backed settlers earlier this year, writes that he is “waiting for [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and [President] Isaac Herzog to pipe in calling Brad Lander a liar who is staging a photo op. Or maybe Mr. [Steve] Witkoff will be brazen enough to compliment Netanyahu & Herzog as great humanitarians like [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and [US President Donald] Trump.”
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani uses the incident to again accuse Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.
Senator Chris Van Hollen writes: “If this is how they treat Americans, imagine how they treat Palestinians. Trump & Rubio’s silence fuels this impunity.”
While much of the criticism comes from the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, the more centrist Jewish Democratic Council of America also calls out the Israeli conduct.
“The detention of American rabbis, volunteers and a congressional candidate is unacceptable,” JDCA CEO Halie Soifer writes.
Over 67,000 Haredi men are draft dodgers, AG says, urging High Court to weigh more sanctions
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara attends a Knesset committee meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem on June 9, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
There are 67,230 ultra-Orthodox men who are currently defined as draft dodgers or who have refused to report to IDF enlistment offices after receiving conscription orders, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara says in an update to the High Court of Justice on the implementation of court rulings on the issue.
In total, there are 110,000 draft dodgers, or people who have failed to report. The attorney general says that along with 67,230 ultra-Orthodox men, another 21% of the total figure are also from the ultra-Orthodox community, although her update does not explain why they are not included in the first group of 67,230.
Another 19% of draft dodgers are from the non-Haredi public. The figures are accurate as of September 8.
The attorney general notes that while 2,811 men from the Haredi community enlisted in the 2024 enlistment year (ending in June 2025), 4,298 Haredi men enlisted in the 2025 enlistment year (ending in June 2026), an increase of 65%.
Baharav-Miara says that the professional assessment is that this increase was due to the expansion of IDF tracks for Haredi men and increased enforcement. But Baharav-Miara says this increase is far from fulfilling the army’s needs for increased manpower.
“Enforcement efforts across various fields are far from being fully exhausted, both in the realm of criminal enforcement and due to the absence of a coherent government policy regarding the revocation of benefits for draft-eligible individuals who fail to enlist,” writes the attorney general.
Baharav-Miara says, therefore, that the court should consider issuing additional operative orders to what it has already issued, including ordering the revocation of state benefits which could be conditioned on complying with conscription orders by a government decision.
US said readying to evacuate some personnel from Gulf embassies over potential resumption of hostilities
The US State Department is preparing to order the departure of some personnel and family members from US embassies across the Gulf region, three US officials say.
The move is due to a possible resumption of hostilities, particularly with the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen, two of the US officials say.
Two of the US officials say the ordered departures will potentially involve the evacuation of all personnel and their families from the US Mission to Saudi Arabia.
The US Embassy in Riyadh issued a security alert today about possible further attacks by the Houthis on Saudi Arabia, after recent deadly strikes, including on Riyadh’s airport.
Washington orders all US embassy staff, families to leave Saudi Arabia — source
Washington has ordered all US embassy staff and their families to leave Saudi Arabia, a diplomatic source tells AFP, as the kingdom comes under sustained attack by Yemen’s Houthis.
“All American staff and their families have been ordered to depart from the US embassy in Saudi Arabia,” the source says, adding that the families of embassy staff are also ordered to leave the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Qatar and Bahrain.
Explosions heard near Strait of Hormuz, Iran state media says
Iran’s state media reports the sound of explosions in the southern Hormozgan province overlooking the Strait of Hormuz.
“A few minutes ago, the sound of several explosions was heard in the Karpan area of Sirik, in Hormozgan Province,” the official IRNA news agency says, adding that “local sources have not yet disclosed the nature of these explosions.”
Arson attack reported at tomb of biblical Eleazar the Priest in West Bank Palestinian village
Israeli authorities are investigating a reported arson attack at a tomb believed to be the burial site of the biblical Eleazar the Priest, in the Palestinian village of Awarta in the northern West Bank.
The military says troops have been dispatched to Awarta after receiving footage published by Palestinians showing a fire at the tomb.
“The troops searched for suspects, who fled the scene before they arrived,” the army says.
Israel Police officers are set to enter the village, with IDF escort, to collect evidence for an investigation.
The army says it “strongly condemns incidents of this nature and security forces are working resolutely to locate the suspects.”
ראשוני: ערבים מכפר המרצחים עוורתא בשומרון הציתו את ציון קבר אלעזר הכהן.
הסרטון פורסם ברשתות הערביות עם שירי האדרה לאויב. pic.twitter.com/hpatL6woik
— אלחנן גרונר (@elchanangr) October 21, 2026
Interception debris kills two foreigners in Saudi Arabia
The Saudi energy ministry says that falling debris from the successful interception of a drone targeting an oil facility has killed two people and injured two others.
“The attempted attack resulted in the deaths of two individuals, a Filipino and a Nepali, and injuries to two others,” the ministry says in a statement. It does not say who launched the drone aimed at Shaybah oil field near the UAE border.
Vance says he’s done endorsing foreign candidates, standing by decision not to join Trump in backing Netanyahu
US Vice President JD Vance speaks during a campaign rally at the Sharonville Convention Center, October 21, 2026, in Sharonville, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)
US Vice President JD Vance says he will no longer endorse foreign candidates for elections, standing by his decision not to join President Donald Trump in backing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after both the president and vice president endorsed Viktor Orbán of Hungary earlier this year.
“I’ve endorsed one foreign candidate for election in my entire life. First of all, it didn’t go particularly well. As much as I’m very much an admirer of [former] prime minister Orbán… That was in April 2026,” Vance quips in remarks to reporters during an event in Ohio. Orbán lost that election to Péter Magyar.
In addition to Orbán, though, Vance met last year with the leader of Germany’s far-right AfD and expressed his support for the party, while stopping short of a formal endorsement.
Le vice-président américain JD Vance a, contrairement à Donald Trump, refusé d'exprimer son soutien à Benjamin Netanyahu en vue des législatives en Israël#BFM2 pic.twitter.com/6o419F1Pne
— BFM (@BFMTV) October 21, 2026
“We’re in the middle of an American election cycle where I’m very focused on getting candidates elected in the United States of America,” Vance says in Ohio today, referring to the November 3 midterm Congressional elections.
“I’m not attacking Bibi Netanyahu. I’m not endorsing Bibi Netanyahu. I think the president’s endorsement is ultimately what matters, and the president is going to make the decision about how he doles out that endorsement according to his preferences.”
“I’m not endorsing any more foreign candidates now or in the future,” Vance asserts.
Vance first revealed this stance on Monday, hours after Trump announced his endorsement of Netanyahu.
The vice president has at times been more critical of Israel, particularly of some of its more far-right ministers who criticized Washington’s diplomacy with Iran earlier this year.
State Department orders non-essential US embassy staff, families to leave Saudi Arabia
Washington has ordered non-essential US embassy staff and their families to leave Saudi Arabia, the State Department says, as the kingdom comes under sustained deadly attacks by Yemen’s Houthis.
US State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott says on X that the order applies to “non-emergency US government employees and their family members in Saudi Arabia only.”
He links the move to Houthi attacks on the country, including airports, saying “the safety and security of Department personnel and their families remain our highest priority.”
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