NETANYAHU: ISRAELIS VOTED FOR NATIONAL PRIDE AND A JEWISH STATE: Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu delivered his apparent victory speech early Wednesday morning, November 2, claiming that the Israeli public has decided and granted him the victory, according to the Israeli election exit polls.
Netanyahu thanked his supporters for giving him and his bloc a “massive vote of confidence from the Israeli public.” He also said that “it was again shown that Likud is the biggest party in Israel.” Netanyahu also made his intentions clear regarding the coalition he plans to form, as he said that he will form a coalition of the “national camp.” He also said that he has spoken with his partners and congratulated them on their success. Netanyahu demanded that the purity of elections will be kept, perhaps hinting toward a possible difference between the exit polls to the election results. Netanyahu also said that “the Israeli public voted for national pride and a Jewish state.”
After all the votes were counted, the right-wing bloc won 64 seats and the left-Arab camp won 56 seats. (JPost / INN / VFI News)
ROCKETS FIRED FROM GAZA INTO ISRAEL FOR FIRST TIME SINCE ‘BREAKING DAWN’: After three months of quiet, rocket alerts sounded off in Kissufim, Ein Hashlosha and Nirim in the Gaza border area of southern Israel on Thursday evening, November 3.
The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit confirmed the details and said that they are under investigation. One launch was detected from the territory of the Gaza Strip towards Israeli territory. According to the IDF spokesperson’s unit, the Iron Dome was activated and it intercepted the rocket. About 30 minutes later, the IDF detected three more rocket launches from the northern Gaza strip, the rockets likely failed and fell in an open field inside the strip, no sirens were activated, according to the IDF spokesperson unit. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the rocket launches and claimed that it was “a response to the assassination of the commander of the Al-Quds Brigades in Jenin,” according to Israeli media. This is the first time that rocket alerts were activated in Israel since the end of Operation Breaking Dawn on August 7. In response, IDF fighter jets targeted an underground military site in the Gaza Strip used as a rocket developing and manufacturing complex, belonging to the Hamas terrorist organization. (JPost / VFI News)
LIKUD MK ESTIMATES: NETANYAHU WILL ATTACK IRAN’S NUCLEAR FACILITIES: MK Tzachi Hanegbi (Likud) said on Friday, November 4, that he believes that Benjamin Netanyahu will act to thwart Iran’s nuclear program during his upcoming term in office. “If there’s anything that could be critical in the next few months, it is the issue of Iran’s nuclear program” he said.
“We have already forgotten that there was a negotiation between Iran and world powers, which has in essence ended. If this negotiation does not end in an agreement and the US does not act independently, which is what I believe will happen, Prime Minister Netanyahu will work, in my estimation, to destroy the nuclear facilities in Iran,” Hanegbi clarified. “If he does not do this, Israel will face an existential threat.” Asked to clarify if Israel, in a government headed by Netanyahu, will physically attack Iran’s nuclear facilities with bombs, he replied, “I believe it will have no choice. It’s a similar story to 1981 with [Menachem] Begin (who authorized the bombing of an Iraqi nuclear reactor -ed.) and 2007 with [Ehud] Olmert (who authorized an air strike against a suspected nuclear reactor in Syria -ed.).” On the question of whether he heard this from Netanyahu himself or whether this is his own assessment, Hangebi replied, “I’m talking about an assessment, but from an acquaintance of over 35 years with Netanyahu, I’m basing my assessment on the fact that when there is no choice, someone has to take command, and that someone will be Netanyahu.” (INN / VFI News)
US OFFICIALS: IRAN SEEKING RUSSIA’S HELP TO BOLSTER NUCLEAR PROGRAM: US intelligence officials believe Iran is seeking Russia’s help to bolster its nuclear program, American media reported on Friday, November 4, as Tehran looks for a backup plan should a lasting nuclear deal with world powers fail to materialize.
The intelligence suggests that Iran has been asking Russia for help acquiring additional nuclear materials and with nuclear fuel fabrication, sources briefed on the matter. The fuel could help Iran power its nuclear reactors and could potentially further shorten Iran’s so-called “breakout time” to create a nuclear weapon. Experts emphasized however, that the nuclear proliferation risk varies depending on which reactor the fuel is used for. And it is also not clear whether Russia has agreed to help – the Kremlin has long been outwardly opposed to Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon. The Iranian proposal has come amid an expanding partnership between Iran and Russia that in recent months has included Iran sending drones and other equipment to Russia for use in its war in Ukraine, and Moscow potentially advising Tehran on how to suppress a protest movement sweeping Iran, US officials said. (INN / VFI News)
IRAN TO SEND HUNDREDS OF COMBAT DRONES TO RUSSIA IN NOVEMBER – UKRAINE INTEL: Iran is set to send over 200 combat drones to Russia in the beginning of November, the Ukrainian Intelligence Directorate warned on Tuesday, November 1. The shipment would include Shahed-136 and Arash-2 suicide drones and Mohajer-6 reconnaissance drones.
Ukrainian intelligence first claimed last Monday that the Arash-2 would be added to Russian arsenals for the first time. Ukraine claimed that the disassembled drones would be delivered by the Caspian Sea to the port of Astrakhan, and would be repainted and given Russian markings. “We will continue to vigorously enforce all US sanctions on both the Russian and Iranian arms trade to make it harder for Iran to sell these weapons to Russia.” Ned Price, Spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State said. Pentagon Press Secretary Brig.-Gen. Pat Ryder said on Tuesday that he had no “specific information to provide” on the reports, but that the US was concerned that “Russia may also seek to acquire additional advanced ammunition capabilities from Iran – for example, surface-to-surface missiles – to use in Ukraine.” The Ukrainian Intelligence Directorate claims that Kyiv’s military forces have downed some 300 Iranian Kamikaze drones since the first detected use of the weapon platforms. (JPost / VFI News)
SAUDI ARABIA WARNS THAT IRAN IS PLANNING IMMINENT ATTACKS – WSJ: Saudi Arabia recently warned the US of an imminent attack by Iran, on targets in the kingdom and in Erbil, Iraq, American media reported on Tuesday, November 1.
The US military and other militaries in the Middle East have raised their alert level in response to the warnings, according to the report. The planned attacks are aimed at distracting from the protests that have swept Iran in recent weeks. The White House National Security Council said it was concerned about the warnings and was ready to respond. “We will not hesitate to act in the defense of our interests and partners in the region,” said a National Security Council spokesperson. “We are concerned about the threat picture, and we remain in constant contact through military and intelligence channels with the Saudis. We will not hesitate to act in the defense of our interests and partners in the region.” (JPost / VFI News)
NIKKI HALEY AT JERUSALEM EVENT: “THE US CAN NEVER LET ISRAEL DOWN”: Anti-Semitism should always be called out, Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said at a recent event for the Jerusalem College of Technology.
Haley spoke out against the recent wave of anti-Semitism, while reaffirming the need for the US to stand with Israel. Recently, the Canadian Friends of Jerusalem College of Technology (CF-JCT) held its 50th-anniversary gala dinner in Toronto. Haley gave the keynote address and received an honorary degree. The former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, who stood strongly against an anti-Israel bias at the institution, took the opportunity to speak out against anti-Semitism, a problem that has recently skyrocketed in the United States. “We have to call out anti-Semitism every time we see it,” Haley said to the 500 attendees at the event. “It’s not okay. It will never be okay. We have to speak up every time we see it. We have to humiliate those that do it every time they do it. And we have to remind leaders to speak up.” She also addressed the problem of intolerance on college campuses. “We have to remind our leaders that they have to speak up because I don’t want kids going to college wondering if they will be targeted,” she said at the Toronto gala, where she also commended the Trump administration for taking the matter seriously when they enacted legislation that would pull federal funding from universities if they didn’t rebuke anti-Semitism on their campus. (I365N / VFI News)
UN COMMITTEE VOTES FOR ISRAEL TO DISPOSE OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS, ALLOW INTERNATIONAL INSPECTORS: The United Nations General Assembly’s First Committee voted for Israel to dispose of all nuclear weapons and have any and all nuclear sites under the watch of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Israeli media reported.
The resolution passed overwhelmingly on Friday, October 28, with a vote of 152-5 vote, with only the United States, Canada, Israel, Micronesia, and Palau voting against it. The European Union and 23 others abstained. Despite officially being a resolution on the “risk of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East,” the resolution – submitted by Egypt as it does annually – focused mainly on Israel, without mentioning Iran. “That’s unfortunate, because all those countries who voted on this resolution should ask themselves what is the source of instability in the region,” former Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon told American media. “It’s Israel or Iran? What is the danger and the threat to the region? And I think that they all know that the threat’s coming from Iran and not Israel.” Iran has been trying to develop its own nuclear program. The Islamic nation, despite having signed the non-proliferation treaty, has been enriching uranium to levels approaching what is needed for weapons. (FN / VFI News)
QATAR’S FORAY INTO LEBANON’S GAS COULD SPELL TROUBLE – OR OPPORTUNITY – FOR ISRAEL: Qatar’s potential foray into Lebanon’s offshore gas project could spell trouble for Israel or, alternatively, present it with a rare opportunity for rapprochement, regional analysts say.
State-owned QatarEnergy is in talks with the Lebanese government to get a 30% stake in Lebanon’s offshore gas exploration according to British media. The Qatari oil firm also is negotiating with the French-owned TotalEnergies and Italian-owned ENI, which are part of an international consortium seeking to carry out exploration in the Eastern Mediterranean. News of potential Qatari involvement in the gas project comes on the heels of a historic US-brokered agreement signed between Israel and Lebanon, which put an end to a decades-long dispute over the countries’ maritime borders. The Qana reservoir, which could be worth billions of dollars, was at the heart of the dispute. If Qana proves to hold gas reserves, which has not yet been determined, then as part of the agreement Israel would receive an undisclosed amount of royalties from whatever is extracted. Some analysts are wary of Qatar getting involved, however. Professor Efraim Inbar, President of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, told media that Qatar is looking not only to expand its gas industry but also to bolster the Iran-backed Hizbullah group in Lebanon. (JPost / VFI News)
The suggestions, opinions and scripture references made by VFI writers and editors are based on the best information received.
Blessings from Jerusalem,
Barry Segal with the Editorial Staff
