News Digest — 11/2/26
Herzog Calls On Party Leaders To Approach Coalition Talks With ‘An Open Mind’
Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Sunday (1st) urged political leaders to seek compromises to avoid another election, speaking at a memorial ceremony in Rehovot for Israel’s first president Chaim Weizmann.
Herzog said he would receive the official results of the Oct. 27 election on Wednesday (4th) before beginning consultations with Knesset factions at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem.
He called on leaders to approach the talks with “an open mind” and “an open heart.”
“As we all know, during an election campaign, candidates naturally and predictably climb to lofty positions. But the election is over. The election results are a fact. They are a reality,” Herzog said.
He urged leaders to move beyond their campaign positions. “This week at the President’s Residence, we will try to put up ladders so that our leaders can come down and face this reality in a measured and careful way,” he said.
Neither Zionist bloc secured a Knesset majority.
The opening session of the 26th Knesset is scheduled to be held on Nov. 10, the 14th day after the elections, when the newly elected MKs make their declarations of allegiance and are sworn in.
After consulting with all party leaders, Herzog will task the lawmaker he believes is best positioned to form a government according to the lawful procedures of Israel’s coalition building.
The leader granted the task to form the next government need not be the leader of the largest party, meaning that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not guaranteed the opportunity, despite his Likud party emerging with the largest number of Knesset seats.
Likud secured 27 seats, followed by Yashar with 21 and B’Yachad with 12. The Joint List won 11 seats, The Democrats and Ra’am eight each, Yisrael Beiteinu, United Torah Judaism and Otzma Yehudit seven each, and Shas and the Religious Zionist Party six each.
The two Arab parties, Joint List alliance and Ra’am together won 19 seats leaving neither of the Zionist blocs with a majority and setting the stage for tough coalition negotiations.
Although no Israeli government has ever been formed by a minority coalition immediately after an election, Gadi Eisenkot, the chairman of Yashar, told Ynet on Oct. 10 that he would seek to lead one if he fell short of a parliamentary majority, necessarily relying on the tacit outside support of Arab parties.
The government-formation process follows a timetable set by law. The first candidate Herzog designates receives 28 days, with a possible 14-day extension, to form a coalition. If he or she is unsuccessful, the president can assign another candidate 28 days. If that attempt also fails— or the president determines there is no possibility of forming a government—a coalition of at least 61 MKs have 21 days to request that the president designate an alternative candidate. That candidate then has 14 days to form a government.
Failure to establish a government would trigger another election approximately 90 days later. Herzog has pledged to try to avoid that outcome, declaring: “I really, truly will do all I can so there won’t be repeat elections.”
(jns.org)
Historic First: Israeli Ambassador Presents Credentials in Somaliland
Israel’s first ambassador to Somaliland, Michael Lotem, formally presented his diplomatic credentials at the Presidential Palace in Hargeisa last week, the Foreign Ministry announced Sunday (1st).
The ceremony marked a historic milestone in relations between the two countries, making Lotem not only Israel’s first ambassador to Somaliland but also the first ambassador from any sovereign state to be officially accredited to the self-declared republic.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar welcomed the development, emphasizing Israel’s commitment to expanding cooperation with Somaliland.
“Israel is determined to develop and strengthen its relations with Somaliland. The appointment of ambassadors, in accordance with the agreement reached when our countries established mutual recognition, is another important step in deepening the ties between us,”Sa’ar said in a statement released by his office.
Lotem, whose appointment was announced in April, previously served as Israel’s ambassador to Kenya, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan.
Israel established diplomatic relations with Somaliland after formally recognizing its independence in December 2025, becoming the first country to do so. It remains the only sovereign state to have officially recognized Somaliland, which Somalia continues to regard as part of its territory.
Less than two weeks after the recognition announcement, Sa’ar traveled to Somaliland as part of efforts to advance the newly established relationship
Diplomatic engagement continued in January, when President Isaac Herzog met Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Following their meeting, Herzog wrote on social media: “I welcome the establishment of diplomatic relations between our two nations and look forward to deepening our bilateral cooperation for the benefit of both our peoples.”
Abdirahman also welcomed the meeting, writing, “Our discussions focused on strengthening and advancing bilateral relations between the republic of Somaliland and the State of Israel.”
‘Jude Free Zone’ Sticker Stirs Outrage In Stockholm
Outrage erupted over two stickers on a Stockholm shoe store’s door, Kvartal reported alongside the pro-Palestinian BDS campaign label “Apartheid Free Zones,” a second sticker reading “Jude Free Zone” appeared.
The green-and-white “Apartheid Free Zone” sticker signals a shop that per Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) backs its boycott list and avoids suppliers it views as complicit in Israeli breaches of international law. A photo published on the X account of street artist Dan Park showed the second sticker with “Jude” inside a Star of David above the words, “Free Zone.”
Israel’s ambassador to Sweden, Tammy Rahamimoff- Honig, condemned the incident on X, stating that whether or not the author sought to expose antisemitism behind the “Apartheid Free Zone” message, the whole discussion is reprehensible. She wrote, “There must be absolute zero tolerance for antisemitism in all forms.”
Sacha Roytman, head of the Combat Antisemitism Movement, likened the messages to the Nazi term “Judenfrei.” used where Jews were expelled, deported or murdered, writing on X: “Europe 2026. Have we learned nothing from history?” He added, “This is not criticism of Israel. This is the normalization of Nazi antisemitism under the disguise of political activism.”
“Where are Sweden’s political leaders? Where are those who constantly lecture the world about human rights and tolerance? Europe once promised NEVER AGAIN. Yet here we are, watching the language of the 1930s return to the streets of Europe. History is not repeating itself by accident. It is repeating itself because too many people are choosing to look away.”
Park, with a history of Nazi-symbol provocations, was sentenced in April 2026 to six months in prison for incitement against an ethnic group. He denied wrongdoing and said he was not behind this latest account, but admitted creating the artwork posted there.
Rewriting The October 7 Massacres – David Harris
In his novel 1984, George Orwell wrote: “The Ministry of Peace concerns itself with war, the Ministry of Truth with lies.” Three years ago, thousands of attackers crossed from Gaza into Israel in a Hamas-led invasion. Their intent was genocidal. They murdered, raped, and kidnapped. Babies, pregnant women, entire families, farm workers, elderly people, Holocaust survivors, and peace activists were all among the victims.
Hamas had long been designated a terrorist organization across the West. Its ideology was openly antisemitic and virulently hostile not only to Israel but also to core Western freedoms. But before the dead had been buried, the account of what happened began to change, manipulated by Hamas and its allies and enablers in the West. The deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust was blurred, rationalized, justified, celebrated, and, in certain quarters, dismissed as a false-flag operation.
Hamas had announced its intention to destroy Israel long ago. On Oct. 7, its attackers acted on that aim with unprecedented ferocity, in full view of the world, gleefully recording and sharing their crimes with family and friends. Yet, in the story that took hold in many quarters, democratic Israel became the villain, the aggressor, and even the alleged perpetrator of genocide. Terrorist Hamas, meanwhile, was sanitized as a resistance movement.. Its killers were romanticized as freedom fighters.
Hamas started a war. It was a naked act of aggression. And then, along with fellow travelers, it methodically convinced much of the world that it was the innocent victim of the very war it began.
The writer is executive vice chair of the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy. (Jewish Chronicle – UK)
RFK: Hamas Turned Gaza Into A Death Cult
US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. published an extended defense of Israel and the Jewish people on Friday (10/30) , accusing the Muslim Brotherhood and its allies of spreading antisemitism across the world while rejecting criticism of his recent remarks about Arab contributions to science and culture.
In a roughly 3700-word statement posted on X Friday, Kennedy praised Israel’s economic and technological achievements, credited Jews with extraordinary contributions to Western civilization and accused Islamist movements of promoting violence, authoritarianism and hatred of Jews.
The statement followed widespread criticism of remarks Kennedy made Monday (10/26) while campaigning for Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan, where he claimed that the Arab world had largely ceased producing scientific and literary achievements.
“There’s 500 million Arabs in the world, and yet they don’t produce science,” Kennedy declared at the rally. He also noted the relative dearth of winners of major international scientific prizes from Arabic-speaking countries.
The remarks drew condemnation from civil rights organizations, scientists and democratic politicians, who pointed out Arab Nobel laureates and recognized researchers.
Kennedy however, insisted Friday that his comments had been misrepresented.
“My speech was not a critique of Arabs or Islam. But of Islamism,” he wrote, describing political Islam as an ideology promoted by the Muslim Brotherhood.
“Criticizing Islamism is neither Islamophobic nor racist,” he added.
Kennedy accused major American news organizations of omitting important context from their coverage.
He argued that Islamic civilization had once been a global leader in mathematics, medicine, philosophy, astronomy and literature, but that the rise of political Islam had contributed to the decline of intellectual freedom in much of the Muslim world.
The health secretary devoted considerable attention to the Muslim Brotherhood, accusing the movement of encouraging authoritarianism, suppressing independent thought and promoting hostility toward Western democratic values.
He also said that the Brotherhood had developed an international propaganda apparatus targeting Jews and Israel, with roots in its historic relationships with Nazi Germany.
Kennedy claimed that Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels and other German propagandists had helped establish the Brotherhood’s communications operations during the 1930s and subsequent decades.
In his speech Kennedy had said that Hamas, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, had turned Gaza into a ‘death cult’ and rejected allegations of racism in Israel, which he described as a beacon of democracy and innovation.
The Misguided Palestinization Of America – Malik Roberts
I am a Black American who is not Jewish. In the aftermath of Oct. 7, 2023, I was constantly looking for activities in Atlanta that expressed solidarity with Israel and the Jewish people. I wanted to find opportunities to stand alongside people who understood that the Hamas-led massacre of Israeli civilians was not merely another development in an interminable geopolitical dispute. It was an assault on human beings, on Jewish life, and on the fundamental right of a people to exist without fear of annihilation.
Amid the increasingly visible demonstrations against Israel, what I witnessed as the real-time Palestinization of America struck me as a profoundly misguided response to the events of Oct. 7 and their aftermath. Too often, I saw political activism that appeared less interested in understanding the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict than in making Israel the embodiment of every grievance imaginable.
Let me be clear: Palestinian civilians possess human dignity and legitimate rights. Their suffering deserves serious consideration. One can argue for Palestinian self-determination without denying the Jewish people’s right to national self-determination. But there is a difference between advocating for Palestinians and demanding the elimination of the Jewish state. There is a difference between pursuing justice and dressing up hostility toward Jews and Israel in the language of human rights.
I could never accept the proposition that an existing sovereign state should simply cease to exist because someone objected to its existence. The Jewish people’s historical and religious connection to the land of Israel extends back thousands of years.
The Jewish people have endured centuries of persecution, expulsion, discrimination, and violence. The Holocaust remains the bloodiest and most devastating modern expression of that history, but antisemitism did not disappear with the defeat of the Nazis. Jewish communities continue to navigate the consequences of an ancient hatred that repeatedly finds new language and new political surroundings. Oct. 7th added another terrible chapter to that history. (Times of Israel)
