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A recent survey conducted by Channel 12 News, released on Monday, indicates that a majority of Israelis favor Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu to remain in office. However, the coalition he heads would not secure a majority of 61 seats if elections were held at this moment.

When asked who would be a more appropriate Prime Minister, Netanyahu received 41 percent of support, while opposition leader Yair Lapid garnered 24 percent. In a comparison with Benny Gantz, Netanyahu holds 39 percent against Gantz’s 27 percent. Against Naftali Bennett, Netanyahu also comes out ahead with 35 percent compared to Bennett’s 23 percent.

In terms of election timing, 52 percent of participants expressed a desire for elections to take place as soon as possible, whereas 40 percent believe they should occur as originally scheduled at the end of 2026.

Should Bennett establish a new political party, it is expected that his support would primarily come from Gantz’s National Unity Party. The poll suggests that, under these circumstances, Likud would obtain 24 seats, while Bennett’s new party would secure 21.

According to the poll results, the National Unity Party would receive 13 seats, with Shas and Yesh Atid both obtaining ten seats. The Democrats, led by Yair Golan, would have nine seats.

The Yisrael Beytenu party and United Torah Judaism would each get eight seats, while Otzma Yehudit would secure seven. Both Chadash-Ta’al and Ra’am would win five seats each.

Parties that fall below the electoral threshold include the Religious Zionist Party with 2.8 percent, Balad at 2.6 percent, and Gideon Sa’ar’s United Right with a mere 0.8 percent.

If Bennett decides not to run, Likud would likely earn 26 seats, with National Unity taking 22. Yesh Atid and Yisrael Beytenu would both have 13 seats, while Shas and the Democrats led by Yair Golan would each capture 10.

In this scenario, Otzma Yehudit and United Torah Judaism would each win eight seats, while both Hadash-Ta’al and Ra’am would secure five seats each.

The Religious Zionist Party would again fall below the threshold at 2.9 percent, with Balad at 2.6 percent and United Right at 1 percent.

{Matzav.com}

Against the backdrop of the chareidi retreat on the issue of the draft law and the agreement to pass the state budget even without securing the status of yeshiva students, the IDF is preparing to send thousands of draft orders to chareidi young men in the coming days.

Simultaneously, the IDF has issued 800 arrest warrants for chareidi young men who failed to respond to summonses issued to them in recent months.

According to sources in HaChadashot, these arrest warrants mean that those apprehended could be detained by police at Ben Gurion Airport, and they will also be barred from obtaining a driver’s license.

Senior figures within the chareidi political factions acknowledged overnight that they have not yet found a solution to the issue of the arrest warrants, which effectively renders young chareidi men as lawbreakers, subjecting them to criminal sanctions.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu convened a special meeting last night at his office in the Knesset to attempt to find a solution to advance a law that would allow the continued subsidization of daycare even for kollel students of draft age in an effort to circumvent the decision of the Attorney General.

Yesterday, the United Torah Judaism faction gathered to discuss the daycare subsidy issue. At the end of the meeting, it was announced: “MK Rabbi Yisrael Eichler, Chairman of the Labor and Welfare Committee, presented to the faction the proposed law he submitted to the Knesset, signed by all faction members, regarding ‘State Participation in the Cost of Daycare Tuition.’

“According to the proposed law, only the employment status of the mother will be taken into account for assessing state participation in tuition costs,” stated United Torah Judaism. “The faction demands that the coalition leadership advance this law proposal through three readings as swiftly as possible.”

{Matzav.com Israel}

Vice President Kamala Harris was caught on an open microphone revealing that her campaign needs to improve its outreach to male voters during a campaign event over the weekend. While at a bar with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in Kalamazoo, Harris appeared to forget about the presence of microphones and cameras, as shown in footage that surfaced on social media.

“We need to move ground among men,” Harris reportedly told Whitmer while they enjoyed drinks at the Trak Houz Bar and Grill.

Realizing the cameras were recording, the Democratic nominee suddenly looks up.

“Oh, we have microphones in here listening to everything. I didn’t realize that,” Harris says, turning around and gesturing to the surroundings. “OK. So now you’ll tell us.”

“You’ll bleep my [Profanity] words,” Whitmer quipped.

“We just told all the family secrets. [Profanity],” Harris responded with laughter.

Numerous social media users speculated that the “hot mic” incident was a deliberate joke, given that both the governor and vice president had microphones attached to their clothing, surrounded by boom mics, cameras, and reporters for a photo opportunity.

Regardless, Harris’ campaign needs to make significant efforts to connect with male voters.

Currently, she trails behind former President Donald Trump, 78, by a notable margin among men.

According to a recent New York Times/Siena College poll published less than two weeks before Election Day, Trump leads Harris 55% to 41% among male voters.

However, Harris has a slight advantage with female voters, securing 54% compared to Trump’s 42%, as per the same poll.

The survey, conducted from October 20 to 23 with 2,516 registered voters nationwide, has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.

The poll also indicated that the 2024 election is essentially a dead heat. Both Harris and Trump garnered 48% support among likely voters, placing them in a tie as early voting has already started in several states.

{Matzav.com}

On Monday, Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, urged the UN Security Council to implement sanctions targeting Iran’s military and economic sectors and to officially classify the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist group.

Danon also cautioned Iran that any further hostile actions would provoke a rapid response from Israel.

In a message directed at Iranian leaders, Danon remarked, “Take this as a warning: Israel has shown restraint, but from here on you will only see strength. Any further aggression will be met with consequences that are swift and decisive.”

Addressing the members of the Security Council, the Israeli Ambassador insisted, “We call on you to act. Enough empty words. Enough statements of ‘concern’. The Iranian regime must face real consequences for its actions.”

He continued, “We demand immediate and crippling sanctions targeting Iran’s military and economic infrastructure. Designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as the terrorist organization it is, isolate Iran diplomatically, but most importantly: Take the necessary measures to prevent a lunatic regime from obtaining nuclear capabilities.”

Danon further emphasized, “Imagine who will sit here in a few years if, God forbid, they will have nuclear capabilities. The world cannot afford to ignore the threat Iran poses. It is no longer a matter of words. It is a matter of action.”

The Security Council meeting on Monday was initiated by Iran in response to Israeli airstrikes on military locations within the Islamic Republic early Shabbos morning.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, in light of his request for the emergency meeting of the Security Council, expressed skepticism on Sunday regarding the potential of the meeting to ease tensions or deter Israeli operations in the region.

{Matzav.com}

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos defended the Washington Post’s choice to refrain from endorsing a presidential candidate ahead of the November 5 election, stating that such endorsements can “create a perception of bias.”

In an op-ed published by the Washington Post on Monday evening, Bezos articulated that the newspaper’s decision to cease its long-standing practice of endorsing presidential candidates represents a “principled decision, and it’s the right one.”

“Presidential endorsements do nothing to tip the scales of an election. No undecided voters in Pennsylvania are going to say, ‘I’m going with Newspaper A’s endorsement.’ None,” he remarked.

“What presidential endorsements actually do is create a perception of bias. A perception of non-independence.”

On Friday, Washington Post CEO and Publisher Will Lewis revealed that the newspaper would not be selecting a candidate for president, a decision that sparked outrage within the newsroom and among its readership.

Reports indicate that the editorial board had already drafted an endorsement for Vice President Kamala Harris over former President Donald Trump before this decision was halted.

Following the controversial announcement, NPR reported that over 200,000 readers have canceled their digital subscriptions to the Washington Post.

Additionally, one opinion section staff member resigned, while two others stepped down from the editorial board but chose to remain with the publication, according to Semafor.

In his op-ed, Bezos also emphasized that public trust in the press has eroded, and news organizations “must work harder to control what we can control to increase our credibility.”

“We must be accurate, and we must be believed to be accurate. It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but we are failing on the second requirement,” he stated.

“Most people believe the media is biased. Anyone who doesn’t see this is paying scant attention to reality, and those who fight reality lose.”

Bezos, the second-richest individual globally, noted that while his publication and the New York Times receive numerous awards, “increasingly we talk only to a certain elite.”

“Many people are turning to off-the-cuff podcasts, inaccurate social media posts and other unverified news sources, which can quickly spread misinformation and deepen divisions,” Bezos expressed.

He also addressed a claim made by Robert Kagan, an editor-at-large who resigned, suggesting that Bezos had a deal with Trump due to the GOP nominee meeting with Blue Origin executives—Bezos’s space company—after the Washington Post’s announcement.

“I would also like to be clear that no quid pro quo of any kind is at work here,” he stated. “Neither campaign nor candidate was consulted or informed at any level or in any way about this decision.”

Bezos claimed he was not aware of the Blue Origin meeting with Trump that coincided with the announcement about not endorsing, and when he learned about it later, he “sighed.”

“I knew it would provide ammunition to those who would like to frame this as anything other than a principled decision,” he added.

This marks the first time in 36 years that the Washington Post will not issue an endorsement for the presidential election.

Lewis stated on Friday that the Washington Post is not departing from its tradition but is instead reverting to a past practice of not endorsing candidates.

He affirmed that this approach is “consistent with the values the Post has always stood for” and reflects the publication’s trust in “our readers’ ability to make up their own minds.”

{Matzav.com}

The recent interview between podcaster Joe Rogan and former President Donald Trump has drawn over 35 million views, but finding the video on YouTube has proven difficult for fans. This has led to accusations of censorship against YouTube’s parent company, Google.

On YouTube, searches using keywords like “Joe Rogan Trump” or “Joe Rogan Donald Trump” did not immediately display the three-hour discussion from Friday near the top of the results. Additionally, the widely viewed interview was missing from YouTube’s trending page as of Monday.

Instead of the Rogan-Trump interview, users were shown content from traditional media outlets, including clips from The Hill, MSNBC, and Fox News discussing the interview.

Surprisingly, an unrelated skit from “Saturday Night Live” even appeared higher in the search results than the actual interview video.

The difficulty in locating the video has led some Trump supporters to accuse Google of trying to suppress the interview’s visibility in the days leading up to the election.

“YouTube does not return the link to the full Joe Rogan/Trump interview no matter how I try to search for it,” one user posted on X. “There is no sensible explanation for this, and if deliberate, Google is overtly interfering with the elections.”

Musk responded to this comment with a simple: “Unreal.”

Google has yet to reply to The Post’s request for a statement on the matter.

The tech giant has previously been accused of prioritizing negative articles about Trump in search results, especially around election-related queries.

When searching specifically for “joe rogan” on YouTube, the interview did appear closer to the top of the search results.

Comments flooded the video, with many viewers claiming YouTube had acted to suppress the interview.

One person pointed out that a general Google search for the interview brought up anti-Trump articles instead.

The user shared a screenshot showing a Google result from The Arizona Republic with the headline, “Opinion: Donald Trump’s Joe Rogan interview was a brain-rotted waste of 3 hours,” as the top result.

“How did The Arizona Republic rocket to the top of search results for Joe Rogan Trump interview? I wonder,” the user wrote.

“Wow,” Musk replied.

Fans had raised similar concerns of censorship when the video was initially released.

Upon its first upload to YouTube, the video was “unlisted,” meaning it wasn’t visible in search results.

Rogan clarified that the “unlisted” status was actually a technical error with Spotify, not due to any intentional blacklisting.

“There is no issue with YouTube censoring the trump episode,” Rogan wrote in a post on X on Friday. “It was just supposed to go live on both Spotify and YouTube at the same time and there was a glitch in Spotify’s upload system and so we delisted the YouTube link until it’s fixed. It should be fine now.”

{Matzav.com}

LISTEN:

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LISTEN:

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Major Guy Yaacov Nezri, a 25-year-old Company Commander in the 52nd Battalion of the IDF’s 401st Brigade from Atlit, has passed away after suffering critical injuries during a battle in southern Lebanon on October 19, 2024.

Tonight, a video surfaced showing an address Guy delivered two months prior to students at Ramat Hanasi school in Haifa. In his message to the students, he said, “It’s good to live for our country, it’s good to live for our country – and I’m not here to die for our country. We’re here to fight and to stay whole.”

On Sunday, it was reported that Captain (Res.) Amit Hayut from Haifa and Sergeant Major (Res.) Gilad Elmaliah, a resident of Yerushalayim’s Ramot neighborhood, had been killed in combat in southern Lebanon. Additionally, it was announced that Rabbi Avi Goldberg, an IDF reserves captain and teacher at Himmelfarb yeshiva high school in Yerushalayim, also fell in combat in southern Lebanon.

Later on Sunday morning, news confirmed that Malachi Yehuda Harari, from the community of Even Shmuel, had succumbed to injuries received while fighting in the Gaza Strip.

{Matzav.com Israel}

Christophe Barraud, known for his highly accurate economic predictions, forecasts that Donald Trump will likely secure the presidency and that Republicans are positioned to gain full control of Congress on November 5.

Barraud, the chief economist and strategist at Market Securities Monaco, notes that while a Trump victory could provide a short-term economic boost, it may create more complex challenges in the future, particularly given the growing national deficit.

“Looking at different metrics such as betting markets, polls, election modelers’ forecasts, financial markets, as of now, the most probable outcomes are: [1] #Trump victory [2] #GOP clean sweep,” Barraud stated on X.

Having earned Bloomberg’s recognition as the top forecaster for the U.S. economy in 11 of the past 12 years, the 38-year-old French economist has become widely recognized as the “world’s most accurate economist.”

Barraud sees strong indicators suggesting a Trump win, along with Republican control of the Senate. Although GOP control of the House may be somewhat challenging, he currently expects them to achieve it.

However, Barraud notes that if Kamala Harris were to win the presidency, the current split control of Congress would likely remain in place, as he mentioned in an interview with Business Insider.

In a scenario where Trump wins but Congress remains divided, he would face obstacles implementing his economic agenda, potentially shifting his focus to tariffs—a strategy that could slow the U.S. economy in the long run and hinder global growth, Barraud explained.

In what Barraud sees as the most probable scenario, with Republicans securing both the White House and Congress, he projects a GDP increase between 2.1% and 2.3% in 2025.

Barraud adds that the economy would probably continue to grow in the short term, no matter who is in office.

Nonetheless, Barraud warns that a significant risk with Trump would be potential tax cuts that lack funding, potentially driving the deficit higher.

Under Trump, he anticipates the 10-year Treasury Bond yield would initially rise to 4.5%, up from its current 4.29%, and then gradually increase to around 5%.

Overall, Barraud predicts that a Trump-led administration would see U.S. GDP growth surpassing most forecasts, which currently estimate growth of 2.6% in 2024 and 1.8% in 2025.

Current polling generally shows the presidential race as highly competitive, though Trump is currently ahead in the RealClearPolitics aggregate of national and battleground state polls.

Meanwhile, election historian Dr. Allan Lichtman, known for accurately predicting nine of the last ten presidential elections, is leaning toward a Harris victory.

Prominent polling analyst Nate Silver, however, has indicated he feels that Trump will likely win, with the election just days away.

{Matzav.com}

Watch IDF Chief of Staff LTG Herzi Halevi’s tour of a massive Hezbollah terror tunnel located near the border with Israel, and his message for the UN, UNIFIL, and the world.

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Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu addressed recent reports concerning an Egyptian suggestion for a temporary two-day ceasefire in Gaza, intended to secure the release of four hostages from the 101 captives held by the Hamas organization.

“If there was a deal for a two-day ceasefire to release four hostages, I would take it immediately,” Netanyahu declared at the weekly Likud faction gathering on Monday.

He also discussed Israel’s ongoing initiatives to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapon capabilities, mentioning last week’s Israeli strike on Iranian military positions. “I have not given up on the [Iranian] nuclear program, it is at the forefront of our minds. We continue to work to remove the Iranian threat. Israel is today seen as the most powerful country in the region. These fateful days have seen a historic turnaround,” he stated.

Likud MK Eli Dallal brought up concerns surrounding the Draft Law, which includes the potential conscription of chareidi men into the Israeli Defense Forces. “The Likud as a national movement cannot allow a law that exempts thousands chareidim in the middle of an existential war. If we in the Likud pass such a law, we will lose the people,” he remarked.

“I go from funeral to funeral, from comforting mourners to comforting mourners, and people are begging me not to pass this law. It is impossible not to be moved by the voices coming from the field. There is no way that the Draft Law will be passed in such a period when the reserve system faces collapse under the burden. It’s not fair,” Dallal expressed.

{Matzav.com}

A federal judge on Monday granted Donald Trump’s lawyers’ request to push back the deadline for filing their view of whether the former president is immune from prosecution in the 2020 election subversion case until two weeks after the presidential election.

Trump’s attorneys had asked to have until Nov. 21, instead of Nov. 7, to file an up-to-180-page brief arguing why Trump’s efforts to overturn President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory should be immune from criminal prosecution, citing disruptions caused by Hurricane Milton to the work of several of Trump’s Florida-based attorneys. U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan granted the request hours later, removing the possibility of the filing landing almost immediately after next Tuesday’s contest, when officials might still be counting votes.

The blockbuster filing is expected to be key part of the criminal case against Trump, which special counsel Jack Smith is seeking to salvage after the Supreme Court’s landmark July ruling establishing that presidents generally cannot be criminally tried for their official acts, with some exceptions.

“Specifically, the impacts of the hurricane, which remain ongoing for certain counsel, have substantially slowed progress on the Response,” wrote Trump attorneys led by Todd Blanche and John Lauro. “This, in turn, has limited counsel’s ability to thoroughly consider the Court’s extensive classified and unclassified discovery order and prepare an appropriate [motion].”

Lauro and Blanche noted that Smith has continued to turn over classified evidence in the case as recently as Monday, requiring lawyers to travel to a secure facility to review them. Trump’s attorneys also asked to push back completion of arguments over the immunity issue, evidence, and a separate challenge to the special counsel’s appointment and funding, from Dec. 5 to Dec. 19, making any oral argument or decision unlikely before the New Year. Chutkan granted all the requests.

No trial date has been set, as the case is all but certain to makes its way back to the Supreme Court, and Trump is expected to end the case if he regains office. A 36-page indictment alleges that Trump conspired to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 election by using knowingly false claims about election fraud to obstruct the government’s processes for collecting, counting and certifying the vote, culminating in the violent Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Prosecutors have argued that his actions were not taken in his capacity as president, but rather as a private candidate seeking to benefit his campaign.

(c) Washington Post

The fertility rate in England Wales fell to a record low in 2023, as financial pressures and wider societal shifts put young people off starting a family.

Women had an average of 1.44 children, the lowest figure since records began in 1938 and down sharply since 2010 when the rate was 1.94, data from the Office for National Statistics showed on Monday. In London the rate was even lower at 1.35.

The figures will set off alarm bells over a worsening demographic crisis that is set to ramp up the pressure on the workforce and the public finances. The national level is well below the natural replacement rate of of 2.1

It leaves Britain heavily reliant on immigration to grow its population at a time of growing political tensions over arrivals from overseas.

More women in employment and financial pressures from housing and child care have been blamed for the slump, which is being seen across the developed world. The sharp drop since 2010 has coincided with a difficult period for the UK economy with stagnant real wages and growth slowing from pre-financial crisis rates.

The ONS said there were 591,072 live births in England and Wales, the lowest since 1977 and a decrease of 14,407 on 2022. The biggest falls in the fertility rate were seen in Wales and the North West of England.

The ONS said that the population can continue to grow even after a slump in the fertility rate “as it takes some time for population growth to reverse.”

“The population of England and Wales is projected to continue to grow, largely because of net migration,” it added.

(c) Washington Post

Iran is determined to employ “all available tools” in response to Israel’s recent strike on its military facilities over the weekend, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei announced Monday.

Initially, Iran had minimized the impact of the airstrike by Israel on Shabbos, stating the assault inflicted only limited damage. Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden urged restraint to prevent further escalation, amid rising concerns about a larger conflict brewing in the Middle East.

During his weekly broadcasted press briefing, Baghaei affirmed that “[Iran] will use all available tools to deliver a definite and effective response to the Zionist regime [Israel].” The specifics of Iran’s response, he noted, will depend on the precise actions taken by Israel, though he did not provide further details.

On Sunday, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei emphasized that Iranian authorities should decide on the appropriate way to demonstrate Iran’s power in response to Israel. He also cautioned that the attack should “neither be downplayed nor exaggerated.”

Israeli military sources reported that, early on Shabbos, scores of Israeli jets launched three waves of strikes, targeting missile production facilities and other locations near Tehran and in western Iran.

{Matzav.com}

Israeli Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich has firmly dismissed an ultimatum from Construction and Housing Minister Yitzchok Goldknopf of United Torah Judaism to pass the Draft Law prior to voting on the national budget.

“Not happening,” Smotrich posted on X.

The Prime Minister’s Office addressed the issue, stating, “During the government meeting, Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich clarified that the State budget must pass on time, in accordance with the principles of the budget which were already agreed upon. The Prime Minister requested that the ministers meet for negotiations with the Finance Ministry ahead of the Thursday discussion.”

Smotrich explained that the current budget has been complicated by the war, emphasizing the need for all ministers to exercise fiscal restraint to help the economy recover and expand post-war. In their message, Netanyahu and Smotrich urged the ministers to “understand the call of the hour and lend a hand to it.”

Earlier, Ynet reported that during Monday’s session of the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, Goldknopf opposed a Likud bill. Concurrently, he called for the government secretariat to cancel Thursday’s scheduled budget vote.

Meanwhile, the Shas party has opted not to join in this demand, preferring to address the Draft Law debate following the budget’s approval.

On Sunday, charedi MKs refrained from attending the Ministerial Committee for Legislation’s vote, voicing frustration that Likud has not prioritized advancing the Draft Law.

Last month, reports indicated that agreements on the Draft Law were reached, with Goldknopf emphasizing the need to pass it before Rosh Hashanah.

{Matzav.com Israel}

NATO chief Mark Rutte said Monday that North Korean soldiers have been deployed to Kursk, the Russian region where Ukrainian forces seized territory in a surprise attack over the summer.

The United States said last week that at least 3,000 North Korean personnel were undergoing combat training in Russia, though it was not yet clear if they would join the war. The U.S. announcement, which officials said was based on newly declassified intelligence, followed similar disclosures from Kyiv and Seoul.

“Today I can confirm that North Korean troops have been sent to Russia and that North Korean military units have been deployed to the Kursk region,” Rutte told reporters, describing it as an escalation in North Korea’s “growing involvement” in Russia’s war and a “dangerous expansion” of the conflict. The move means North Korean troops could now be in direct combat with Ukrainian forces.

He made the comments after South Korean intelligence and military officials visited NATO headquarters on Monday to brief the defense alliance, as well as officials from Australia, Japan and New Zealand. Rutte said NATO countries also shared their intelligence assessments.

“Pyongyang has already supplied Russia with millions of rounds of ammunition and ballistic missiles that are fueling a major conflict in the heart of Europe,” Rutte added. In turn, Russian President Vladimir Putin was providing North Korea with military technology and “other support to circumvent international sanctions,” he said.

Putin appeared to obliquely acknowledge the presence of North Korean troops in Russia last week and cited the article on mutual defense in the two countries’ new security treaty.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday said condemnations from Western leaders about Russian-North Korean cooperation were “an attempt in retrospect” to justify their own military support to Ukraine.

“The treaty is not secret. It is open,” he said, adding that “it implies, among other things, assisting each other in case one of the countries participating in the treaty is militarily attacked.”

Ukrainian officials have accused North Korea of preparing to send as many as 10,000 troops to fight on Russia’s side and have said some advisers are already on the front lines. South Korea’s National Intelligence Service said this month that at least 1,500 North Korean special operations troops were training in Russia, and later estimated that an additional 1,500 troops had entered the country.

For Kyiv, such a deployment would further complicate an already tense battlefield, where Ukrainian forces have suffered new setbacks – including ceding up to half of the territory Kyiv seized during its cross-border offensive into Kursk this summer, analysts say.

Ukrainian officials had hailed the Kursk attack as a success that could give them leverage, but its results have been unclear, and recent Russian counterattacks have cast doubt on how long Kyiv will be able to keep holding ground.

A Ukrainian security official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter, said North Korea’s role in the conflict now meant “the Russians will have an additional source of human power.”

“It means they will have less pressure on society and it’s cheaper as well,” the official said. “It’s really bad.” Putin has so far avoided another major mobilization of personnel in Russia for the war which could have a negative impact on the popularity of the government.

(c) Washington Post

The Jewish state’s strike on Iran was “yet another record-breaking achievement during this war,” Yoav Gallant, the Israeli defense minister, said at an Israeli Air Force leadership forum over the weekend.

“The enemy has been weakened—both in its ability to produce missiles and in its ability to defend itself,” he said. “This changes the balance of power.”

Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, the Israel Defense Forces chief of the general staff, also joined the event.

Gallant thanked the “pilots, base commanders and fighters in the air and on the ground.”

“The response appears to have been very precise, effective and powerful—striking our targets as planned,” he said. “You have demonstrated record-breaking capabilities.”

“You have conducted accurate strikes on their radars and air defense systems, which creates a huge disadvantage for the enemy when we will want to strike later,” Gallant added. “You have also damaged their production capabilities, which changes the balance of power. Their supplies are now set, and this affects their calculus. Both their attack and defensive capabilities have been weakened.”

JNS

In his remarks upon landing at Philadelphia International Airport on Oct. 26, U.S. President Joe Biden appeared to suggest that former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for president, works for Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu.

A reporter asked Biden how worried he is that Trump “seems to be talking to Bibi Netanyahu quite frequently?”

“Well, you know, the—the criticism is Trump is talking with Bibi, but Trump works for—for—Trumps works—Bi-,” Biden said, per the official White House transcript. “Trump work—talks to Bibi and his good multibillionaire friend talks to him a lot too. So, I guess they’re all three friends.”

It wasn’t clear which multibillionaire friend Biden meant. Elon Musk, who owns multiple companies, including Tesla, has talked to Netanyahu several times. Many Jewish organizations, antisemitism watchdogs and others have noted that it is an antisemitic trope to suggest that Israel controls powerful people or world leaders.

In 2019, The New York Times apologized for publishing a cartoon that depicted Netanyahu as a guide dog leading a blind Trump. The American Jewish Committee didn’t accept that apology. “Naked antisemitism such as in this image is not ‘an error of judgment,” it wrote. “We have to wonder if The New York Times editors would’ve published a similar cartoon depicting any other country or people.”

“Are you—are you not concerned at all that he seems to be doing diplomacy while he’s not really representing the United States?” the reporter asked Biden in Philadelphia on Saturday, per the White House.

“Yes,” Biden responded. “But I’m not surprised.” JNS

{Matzav.com}