Election Campaigns Reach the Final Round, Political Blocs Are Still in Balance: General elections will be held on Tuesday, November 1st, and political leaders are making last efforts to engage voters. PM Yair Lapid met with Arab leaders in Nazareth, in an effort to raise the turnout among Arab citizens. Elections are highly dependent on the Arab turnout in terms of outcomes for possible coalitions: low turnout will play in favor of Netanyahus right wing block. Arab citizens of Israel are 21% of the electorate.
There is also an intensive effort from grassroots organizations to encourage Arab voters to turn out on Election Day. The dominant sentiment among the Arab citizen is not to vote, since they feel that their needs are not being addressed by the government, every government, and that their leaders are not counted or considered when governing coalitions are formed. Most of the Jewish leaders announced that they will not take the Arab parties into account if and when they get the votes to form a coalition. It is a common occurrence for Arab leaders to be called “terror supporters”.
The political discourse was also engaged this week with leaked audio tapes in which Religious Zionist leader Bezalel Smotrich called Netanyahu a “liar” time and again. Smotrich’s party is part of the right-wing bloc led by Netanyahu, and if Netanyahu gets a majority the Religious Zionists will be an influential member of the coalition. Smotrich referred to an ongoing claim that Netanyahu was willing to add to his coalition an Arab party, Ra’Am, and the United Arab List. Netanyahu denied having any negotiations with Mansour Abbas the leader of the Ra’am party, but both Abbas and Smotrich claim that he did.
Smotrich later apologized to Netanyahu.
Israeli Army Forces Killed Five Palestinians and Arrested More Than Ten In an Operation Against the Newly Rising Palestinian Organization “Lion’s Den” in Nablus: The organization is gaining more and more popularity, especially among the youth, as they attract many followers on social media platforms, especially TikTok. The Israeli army has been intensely engaged in Nablus for the last few months, trying to subdue the rising organization. Tens of thousands of people attended the funeral of the five operators that were killed by Israel. This group was responsible for some of the terrorist attacks against Israelis, mainly soldiers, in the West Bank during the last few weeks. The Palestinian Authority has no power over these operators, and that may point to the overall weakening of the Palestinian Authority . An Israeli Army spokesperson announced that army forces destroyed a terror lab in Nablus, and that Israeli forces will continue to operate in the area until the group surrenders.
President Herzog in 48-hour Visit to DC, Meets with President Biden, and Secretary Blinken: This is Herzog’s first formal visit to Washington DC since he assumed the presidency in July 2021. Herzog met with Secretary of State Blinken, and U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, prior to his meeting with President Biden. He also met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a bi-partisan congressional delegation. The President of the State of Israel is the head of state. The position is largely a ceremonial role. Executive power lies in in the cabinet led by the prime minister.
Herzog and Blinken discussed the escalation in violence in the West Bank. In a formal statement, Blinken said: “we’re urging everyone to take the necessary steps to try to de-escalate that violence and to avoid actions or statements that may incite it.” Blinken also reaffirmed the US administration’s commitment to the two-state solution.
At the meeting with POTUS, Herzog and Biden discussed Iran, growing antisemitism and the upcoming signing of the ground breaking Israel-Lebanon agreement. According to media reports, Herzog informed Biden that Israel's defense establishment has identified fragments of Iranian-produced Shahed-136 attack drones, in Ukraine, and that advanced Iranian weapons have been deployed against Ukrainian civilians in recent weeks.
President Biden commented on the signing of the Israel-Lebanon Maritime Bilateral Deal this week, and said it was “courageous” and “a historical breakthrough”.
Arab Influencers Call for Boycott of Zara Israel Over Franchisee Support of Ben-Gvir: the public uproar in the Arab community in Israel started when a leading TV channel reported that franchise chairman Joey Schwebel hosted a campaign meeting for MK Itamar Ben-Gvir, chairman of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party. The online protest then gained momentum as social media fashion influencers and community leaders called to boycott Zara Israel and posted photos of themselves discarding purchased Zara items. A heated debate broke out on social media among those supporting the boycott and those challenging its legitimacy or efficacy. Arab analysts also commented on the boycott, and called on the Arab community to go out and vote on election day. The call for a boycott also made headlines and generated commentary in Palestinian and international media outlets and social media.
A Woman That Was Carrying the Wrong Embryo Due to A Mistake in an IVF Procedure, Gave Birth to a Baby Girl: A wrong embryo implant case, that was detected accidentally a few weeks ago, continues to engage the public debate. Israel is known for its policy that encourage and finances virtually unlimited IVF procedures for couples that are unable to get pregnant in a natural way. Thousands of embryo are frozen waiting for implant at the right time. The case was revealed and the hospital which is responsible for the mistake, still has not found who are the biological parents of the newly born baby girl. It is obvious that she does not carry the genetics of the woman who carried the pregnancy and her partner. The ongoing investigation is still intensive, and a few hundred couples are terrified that their frozen embryos are indeed theirs.
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