Israel

As Israel goes to the polls on Tuesday, the first since the tumultuous events of October 7, 2023, it is being seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's leadership. Issues such as security, judicial overhaul, the secular-religious divide over national burden sharing, ethnicity, and the economy are at the forefront but talks of a two-state solution to the vexed Israel-Palestinian conflict have been pushed out of public discussions. Opinion polls indicate that Netanyahu's Likud party and the opposition led by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot are competing in a close race, with neither side assured of the parliamentary majority needed to form a government. Netanyahu is seeking to retain power after three years of war and mounting demands for accountability over the October 7, 2023, attack. Eisenkot, a former chief of staff of the Israel Defence Forces, has emerged as a principal challenger, while former prime minister Naftali Bennett is leading a separate oppositio

Israel will hold parliamentary elections on Tuesday, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seeking to retain power amid debate over the government's handling of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, the subsequent wars and its domestic and foreign policies. The election is widely seen as a test of Netanyahu's leadership, as opposition leaders, including former military chief Gadi Eisenkot and former prime minister Naftali Bennett, seek to challenge his right-wing coalition. Opinion polls indicate neither bloc is assured of the parliamentary majority needed to form a government. Israel, roughly the size of north-eastern India's Mizoram state, uses a nationwide proportional representation system, with the entire country serving as a single electoral constituency to elect the 120 members of the Knesset, Israel's parliament. Voters do not elect individual members of parliament. Instead, they vote for closed party lists. This system allows numerous political parties to compete for seats i

Final opinion polls point to a possible deadlock, with neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition nor the Opposition projected to secure a majority

Soaring defence spending, rising debt, talent outflows and ultra-Orthodox exemptions pose long-term economic challenges despite strong headline growth

For two decades since leaving Israel for Canada, Yael Natra said, she didn't consider returning to vote in her home country's elections. She felt it wasn't right to cast a ballot in a place she no longer lived. But now, after seeing the far right gain power, Natra, 61, said she believed she had no choice. Ahead of Israel's election on Tuesday - the first since the 2023 Hamas-led attacks and ensuing wars in the region - Natra spent thousands of dollars to travel nearly 6,000 miles from Toronto to Tel Aviv to be in the country and vote, she said. Israeli law generally requires citizens to vote in person in the country, with narrow exceptions for diplomats and certain official emissaries abroad. Natra said she plans to cast her ballot for parties not aligned with the current government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "The Israel that I grew up in is disappearing," she said in an interview from Toronto, citing an eroding democracy and deeply divided society. "If something won

Israelis held a final large rally against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of what has been described as the most consequential election in the country's history. Meanwhile, the death toll rose from Friday's attack on a church in Jordan. And an Iranian military commander said his country will not allow US warships to enter the Persian Gulf as concerns grow of a return to all-out war. Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Saturday. Read our full coverage here. Thousands rally in Tel Aviv days ahead of Israel's election ---------------------------------------------------------------- A large crowd gathered in a final protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government ahead of Tuesday's close election. The crowd heard calls for a commission of inquiry into the security failures that led to the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that sparked the war in Gaza. Netanyahu has refused such an inquiry. Netanyahu's chief rival, Gadi Eisenkot, attended the

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu invited Narendra Modi to light a torch alongside Indian pilot Smit Machchhar, who helped foil an alleged hijacking attempt, on Israel's Independence Day.

Hegseth said ‌in a social media post ​that he had visited ​US service members in the Central Command area of responsibility, which covers ​the West Asia, northeast Africa and parts of Asia

Vice President J D Vance declined to endorse Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu for reelection a day after President Donald Trump endorsed the embattled Israeli leader. "The president has the most influential endorsement in American or international political history," Vance said on Monday during an interview with journalist Mark Halperin. "I endorse American candidates, and that's where I'm focused on the midterms," Vance said, while travelling to campaign for Republican Senate nominee Michael Whatley of North Carolina. "So, I'm not getting involved in Israeli elections." Vance has campaigned for a foreign leader -- then-Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban -- last spring before the right-wing leader's party lost that country's parliamentary election. Vance's deference to Trump on Netanyahu comes at an extraordinarily sensitive time for Jewish Americans and the US alliance with Israel. Concerns about antisemitism have surged across the political spectrum ahead of the midterm ..

Netanyahu praised Trump's leadership while arguing that their strategic partnership is essential to completing the mission against Iran's nuclear ambitions

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday warned that a future US president could be hostile towards Israel, calling for new alliances with countries such as India and those in Latin America to strengthen his country's position. Netanyahu made the remarks during an event at which he presented his security doctrine, nine days before Israel's October 27 election. The remarks came hours before a strong endorsement he received from US President Donald Trump, who publicly expressed his support for Netanyahu's re-election bid days before the country goes to the polls. "In two years, a President, man or woman, could come to power who is very hostile to Israel," Netanyahu said. "How would you deal with that? How would you operate in relation to the United States? And beyond that, what solutions would be necessary?", he questioned. The Israeli Premier stressed that Israel must use the remaining years of Trump's presidency to strengthen its position while preparing for a potential

Trump backed Netanyahu nine days before Israel's October 27 election, while rival Gadi Eisenkot said only Israeli citizens would decide who becomes the next prime minister

Arab parties could hold the balance of power in Israel's October 27 election as voters seek action on violent crime and discrimination under Netanyahu's far-right government

Trump calls Israel's support for Saudi Arabia 'very helpful' and says Riyadh could join the Abraham Accords, as regional hostilities escalate

Pakistani pilots and cabin crew are barred from serving on flights entering Israeli airspace under new restrictions, according to media reports, after a hijacking attempt last month on a flight travelling from the UAE to Israel, in which Indian Captain Smit Machchhar was injured while foiling the suspected plot. Israel's public broadcaster Kan reported that the Transportation Ministry's Aviation Security Operations Centre has issued the new and updated directives following the hijacking attempt. According to Israeli broadcaster N12, the ministry had informed foreign airlines about the restrictions on October 1. The restrictions followed the hijacking incident on September 30, when a flydubai flight travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv was diverted to Saudi Arabia after its Omani co-pilot attacked Captain Machchhar and attempted to seize control of the aircraft and crash the plane into Israel's Ben-Gurion Airport. According to the new directive, pilots and cabin crew operating flights

Israel will honour Captain Smit Machchhar with its highest civilian award for helping avert a suspected crash of a flydubai flight, while the US Congress has also recognised his bravery

From the October 7 attack and 251 hostages to the war in Gaza, regional escalation, ceasefires and plans for Gaza's future, here is a timeline of the key developments over three years

Israelis are gathering Wednesday to commemorate the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that killed 1,200 people, saw 251 taken hostage, and sparked a devastating war in Gaza that Palestinians still grapple with. In southern Israel, families will mourn at intersections, bomb shelters, and the site of a music festival that Hamas-led militants overran three years ago in the deadliest attack against Israel. This will be the first anniversary that all the hostages are home, marking a new stage of grief. For Palestinians, the anniversary brings another day living with the results of Israel's retaliatory campaign in Gaza that has killed tens of thousands of people. Most of the population of about 2 million people live in vast, squalid tent camps, with large parts of the strip's cities reduced to rubble. More than half the territory remains in the hands of the Israeli military, and despite a ceasefire deal reached nearly a year ago, Israeli strikes continue almost daily. For the region, the day highligh

A third source briefed on the UAE probe said the co-pilot, an Omani national, had planned to crash last Wednesday's flight into Ben-Gurion airport near ‌Tel Aviv