Israel Elections

The rating agency left the credit rating unchanged, but the outlook remains negative. The reason: Fear of an endless election wave that will prevent painful budget decisions from being made.

Ben-Gvir refused to sign a surplus vote agreement with Ofer Winter, calling him "Bennett II," prompting Winter to accuse him of wasting right-wing votes ahead of the elections.

"Instead of dealing with the People of Israel and the electoral threshold, focus on reducing the percentage of trucks entering Gaza every day as protection money for Hamas," Winter said.

Israel needs those answers to understand how its leaders would prevent another catastrophe. Accountability also requires examining the decisions of the military and intelligence establishments.

It was a different time. Everybody watched the same station, giving the parties an opportunity today’s campaign managers can only dream of: reaching a broad audience in one place.

Declaring the Joint List will use "every tool at our disposal," party leader Yousef Jabareen also laid out a series of demands as conditions for providing political support to a minority government.

The two major haredi parties announced a vote-sharing deal to maximize their Knesset seats and pledge a united front on key religious issues after the elections.

In the weeks ahead, Israelis will argue fiercely about the election and the country’s future. Jews elsewhere will have their own arguments about Israel, politics, and the Jewish community's future.

NATIONAL AFFAIRS: Despite painful October 7 commemorations, Netanyahu's bloc holds steady in polls as both sides clash over security failures, military achievements, and the flydubai incident.

Former Likud MK and Yisrael Beytenu candidate Dan Illouz discusses what originally drew him to Likud, the October 7 massacre, and what ultimately led him to join Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu.