Nov. 6: Harris, Biden call to congratulate Trump, discuss peaceful transfer of power

In concession speech, Harris urges supporters to ‘keep fighting’

US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at Howard University in Washington, DC, on November 6, 2024, conceding defeat to Donald Trump. (Mandel Ngan/AFP)

Defeated Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris urges her supporters to “keep fighting” as she publicly acknowledged her loss to Donald Trump for the first time.

“The outcome of this election is not what we wanted, not what we fought for, not what we voted for, but hear me when I say that the light of America’s promise will always burn bright as long as we never give up and as long as we keep fighting,” she tells supporters.

She pledges to “help” Trump with the presidential transition, and tells supporters “we must accept the results.”

“While I concede this election,” she says, “I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign.”

“I will never give up a fight for a future where Americans can pursue their dreams ambitions and aspirations,” she says. America, she adds, “will never give up the fight for our democracy.”

“We will continue to wage this fight in the voting booth, in the courts and in the public square,” Harris said, a nod to the work Democrats are poised to do in the next four years.

Harris specifically calls out the young people she sought to organize, acknowledging the loss may hurt but that the work is not over.

“Sometimes the fight takes a while. That doesn’t mean we won’t win. The important thing is don’t ever give up,” she said. “Don’t ever stop trying to make the world a better place.”

IDF issues fresh Beirut evacuation orders ahead of strikes on Hezbollah sites

The IDF has issued new evacuation warnings for civilians in the vicinity of four buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs, ahead of airstrikes on Hezbollah assets.

Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, publishes maps alongside the announcement, which call on civilians to distance themselves at least 500 meters from the sites.

#عاجل إلى جميع السكان المتواجدين في منطقة الضاحية الجنوبية وتحديدًا في المباني المحددة في الخرائط المرفقة والمباني المجاورة لها في المناطق التالية:
????الأوزاعي
????حارة حريك
????تحويطة الغدير
????حدث بيروت

⭕️أنتم تتواجدون بالقرب من منشآت ومصالح تابعة لحزب الله حيث سيعمل ضدها جيش… pic.twitter.com/RBY8ErOXg6

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) November 6, 2024

Germany’s Scholz fires his finance minister throwing future of ruling coalition into doubt

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz gives a statement after a meeting with government leaders in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Germany’s center-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz announces he was firing Finance Minister Christian Lindner, which could undermine the ruling three-party coalition that relies on Lindner’s pro-business party.

Scholz announces the move at a news conference following weeks of disputes among the coalition partners over ways to boost the country’s ailing economy. He also says he would seek a vote of confidence in January.

“I feel compelled to take this step to prevent damage to our country. We need an effective government that has the strength to make the necessary decisions for our country,” Scholz says.

Lindner, from the pro-business Free Democrats, had rejected tax increases or changes to Germany’s strict self-imposed limits on running up debt. Scholz’s Social Democrats and the environmental Greens, who are also part of the coalition, want to see massive state investment and rejected the Free Democrats’ proposals to cut welfare programs.

It was not immediately clear if the Free Democrats would leave the government coalition in reaction. Meetings among the three party coalition earlier today were seen as a last-ditch attempt to patch up the partnership.

Scholz says about Lindner that “he has broken my trust too often. He even unilaterally canceled the agreement on the budget. After we had already agreed on it in long negotiations. There is no basis of trust for further cooperation. Serious government work is not possible like this.”

Germany’s economy is expected to shrink in 2024 for the second year in a row, or at best stagnate, battered by external shocks and home-grown problems including red tape and a shortage of skilled labor.

Israeli jets hit Hezbollah targets in Lebanon’s Nabatieh

Israeli fighter jets carried out a series of strikes against Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon’s Nabatieh earlier today, the IDF says.

The sites included command rooms and weapon depots belonging to the terror group, according to the military.

Before the strikes, the IDF issued evacuation warnings to civilians in the area.

Breaking | Israeli occupation aircraft bomb the town of Nabatieh in Lebanon. pic.twitter.com/aOtZqh1a8m

— Al-Quds News Network (@AlQuds_News2023) November 6, 2024

More than 230 Gazans evacuated for medical care via Israel

Israel and the World Health Organization say more than 200 Gazans, both patients and their carers, were evacuated via Israel to the United Arab Emirates or Romania today for medical treatment.

In total, the group numbered some 230 people, according to the WHO and COGAT, the Israeli defense ministry body responsible for civil affairs coordination with the Palestinians.

“This is the largest number of patients and caregivers who have left through the Kerem Shalom crossing in recent months,” COGAT says in a statement.

The operation was carried out in cooperation with the UAE, the European Union and the WHO, it adds.

The WHO says the “patients included those with autoimmune diseases, blood diseases, cancer, kidney conditions and trauma injuries.”

The patients were transferred from Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing into Israel, and then to Ramon Airport near Eilat in southern Israel.

In a joint operation with the UAE and EU, we facilitated the safe passage of 231 patients and caregivers from Gaza to receive medical treatment abroad today.

The 231 patients and caregivers left Gaza via the Kerem Shalom Crossing and the Ramon Airport to receive medical… pic.twitter.com/sNyvXQdOGV

— COGAT (@cogatonline) November 6, 2024

Hezbollah rocket attack victim identified as Sivan Sadeh, 18

The victim of a Hezbollah rocket attack in northern Israel is identified as 18-year-old Sivan Sadeh of Kibbutz Kfar Masaryk.

Reports say Sadeh was working in the kibbutz fields when Hezbollah fired a salvo of some 25 rockets at the area.

He got off his tractor and took cover in a nearby ditch, but the rocket exploded meters from him, killing him.

His body was found about an hour later after searches and medics called to the scene confirmed his death.

ההרוג מפגיעת הרקטה בגליל המערבי – סיון שדה, בן 18 מכפר מסריקhttps://t.co/bdUHSRz1dS pic.twitter.com/t5RunRapKF

— ynet עדכוני (@ynetalerts) November 6, 2024

Trump spokesperson: He wants to see Israel’s wars end soon with decisive victory

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump acknowledges the crowd as he exits the stage after speaking at the Israeli American Council National Summit, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

A spokesperson for US President-elect Donald Trump says that he wants to see Israel wrap up its wars soon with decisive victories.

Speaking to Israel’s Channel 12 TV in the wake of Trump’s win, Elizabeth Pipko is asked about Trump’s comments in his victory speech where he declared, “I’m not going to start wars, I’m going to stop wars.”

“He wants the wars to end as soon as possible, but he wants it to end with a decisive victory [for Israel],” Pipko says trying to allay fears in Israel that Trump could force Israel to halt the fighting against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon without achieving its war goals.

Pipko also says that the Biden administration has not been “decisive” in its support for Israel.

She declines to comment on whether Trump will give Israel a green light to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities, saying that it was up to the incoming president to express his views on that subject and that he would do so when he takes office in January.

Democrat Elissa Slotkin wins election to US Senate from Michigan

Democratic Michigan Senate candidate Rep. Elissa Slotkin speaks during an election night watch party, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Democratic US Rep. Elissa Slotkin wins election to Michigan’s open US Senate seat.

Slotkin’s victory preserves a key seat for Democrats following the retirement of longtime Sen. Debbie Stabenow.

Slotkin is a former CIA analyst who was first elected in 2018 to Congress, where she serves on the House Armed Services Committee.

Slotkin, who is Jewish, has at times faced criticism for not being harder on Israel in a state with a large Arab-American community.

Slotkin defeated former congressman Mike Rogers, who was attempting to become the first Republican in 30 years to win a US Senate race in Michigan.

Biden calls to congratulate Trump

US President Joe Biden speaks about the federal government's response to hurricanes Milton and Helene, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

US President Joe Biden has called President-elect Trump to congratulate him on his election victory and to invite him to the White House to discuss the transition.

The White House says staff would coordinate a date “in the near future.” Biden plans to address the nation tomorrow on the election results, which will have sharp implications for his legacy.

Biden also spoke with Vice President Harris to congratulate her on her campaign.

Victim of Hezbollah rocket fire identified as 18-year-old kibbutz resident, not foreign worker as originally believed

This picture taken in northern Israel along the border with Lebanon, shows a barrage of rockets fired from a position in south Lebanon toward Israel on November 6, 2024. (Jalaa Marey/AFP)

Police say that the person killed in a Hezbollah rocket attack in Kibbutz Kfar Masaryk is a local resident and not a foreign worker as originally thought.

Hebrew media say he was an 18-year-old from the kibbutz who was working in the fields and was apparently hit by shrapnel from a rocket.

Initial reports identified the victim as a foreign worker.

Lebanon says Israeli airstrike lands close to Roman ruins at Baalbek

The Roman ruins of Baalbek, one of the best preserved in the world and a UNESCO world heritage site, is seen completely empty of visitors, in the Bekaa valley in Baalbek, Lebanon, Thursday, April 1, 2021. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

An Israeli airstrike landed dangerously close to Baalbek’s UNESCO-listed Roman ruins, a revered heritage site with some of the largest and best-preserved Roman temples outside of Rome, a Lebanese local official says.

“This is the closest raid on Baalbek Temple since the beginning of the aggression, as a missile fell inside the castle’s parking lot,” the governor of Baalbek-Hermel province, Bachir Khodr, says in a post on X. “The temple has not yet been inspected to determine if there is any damage inside it.”

Footage captured by a resident in Baalbek showed thick smoke rising from the impact site, with panic gripping the scene as she repeatedly says, “[it hit] right at the temple.”

Since early last week, the Israeli army has been striking Hezbollah targets in various areas in Baalbek-Hermel after having issued several evacuation warnings for the entire city of Baalbek and its surroundings. The maps attached with the evacuation warning included the Roman ruins.

Concerns have been mounting that further strikes may impact the ancient temples, which have survived nearly two millennia.

30 killed,35 injured in about 20 Israeli ???????? airstrikes across Baalbek-Hermel governorate, governor Bachir Khodr

The closest airstrike today on Baalbek Temple Ruins since the beginning of the war on Lebanon ????????

A missile fell inside the parking lot of the Monolithic Roman Ruins… https://t.co/tFjPZaBmV7 pic.twitter.com/5RLdd4Jmg6

— Saad Abedine (@SaadAbedine) November 6, 2024

Poll shows slight drop in support for Netanyahu after Gallant firing; 55% say DM shouldn’t have been sacked

A handout photo released by his office on October 26, 2024, shows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meeting with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and IDF commanders in the bunker below the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv. (Avi Ohayun/GPO)

A poll indicates a slight drop in support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition a day after his controversial firing of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

It also shows most respondents are opposed to the defense minister’s dismissal.

Netanyahu’s Likud would win 25 seats if elections were held today, the Channel 12 poll finds, down one mandate from the channel’s poll last week.

Benny Gantz’s National Unity would get 20 seats, while Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid would get 15.

Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu would get 13 and The Democrats — the unified left-wing Labor and Meretz under Yair Golan — would win 11.

The ultra-Orthodox Shas would win 10, United Torah Judaism gets eight seats in the poll, as did far-right Itamar Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit, while the two Arab-majority parties Hadash-Ta’al and Ra’am each won five.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s far-right Religious Zionism and newly appointed Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar’s New Hope both fail to cross the election threshold, as does the Arab Balad party.

The poll gives the current coalition 51 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, down from their current 68.

The poll also finds that 55% of Israelis are opposed to the firing of Gallant, with 32% in favor. Thirteen percent had no opinion.

It also finds that 50% believe Gallant’s assertion that he was fired for opposing a law that would enshrine draft exemptions for the ultra-Orthodox, while 39% accept Netanyahu’s explanation that he was fired due to professional disagreements.

Finally, the poll finds that 67% of Israelis were satisfied with Donald Trump winning the US elections, while 18% were unhappy and 15% did not know.

Harris calls Trump to concede defeat, discusses need for peaceful transfer of power

Howard University students watch live election results during a watch party near an election night event for Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at Howard University in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP/Nathan Howard)

Kamala Harris called President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday to concede the election and congratulate him on his victory, according to a senior adviser to the vice president.

The aide, who declines to be identified discussing a private conversation, says Harris talked about the need for a peaceful transfer of power.

Harris, once viewed as a potential savior for the Democratic Party after Joe Biden’s reelection campaign stalled, is reckoning with a profound rejection by American voters in this year’s presidential election.

She trailed in every battleground state to Donald Trump, a man she described as an existential danger to the country’s foundational institutions. And Trump appeared on track to win the popular vote for the first time in his three campaigns for the White House — even after two impeachments, felony convictions and his attempt to overturn his previous election loss.

Harris planns to deliver a concession speech Wednesday at 4 p.m., her office announces. She’ll speak at Howard University, her alma mater in Washington, where her supporters watched returns Tuesday night before being sent home after midnight as Trump pulled ahead in battleground states.

In a bitter footnote for Harris, as the sitting vice president she is expected to oversee Congress’ ceremonial certification of the election.

UN tells Israel replacing UNRWA services in West Bank, Gaza not its responsibility

Boys sit on a cart with humanitarian aid packages provided by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in central Gaza City on August 27, 2024 amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

The United Nations says replacing its Palestinian relief agency UNRWA in Gaza and the West Bank is not the world body’s responsibility, signaling it is Israel’s problem, according to a letter excerpt seen by Reuters.

The UN formally responds in a letter to Israel’s decision to cut ties with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, a move that UNRWA has said leaves its operations in Gaza and the West Bank at risk of collapse.

Under a new law, Israel told the UN on Sunday it was ending a 1967 cooperation agreement with UNRWA that covered its protection, movement and diplomatic immunity. The law will also ban UNRWA’s operations in Israel from late January.

“I would note, as a general point, that it is not our responsibility to replace UNRWA, nor do we have the capacity to do so,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ chef de cabinet, Courtenay Rattray, writes to a senior Israeli foreign ministry official late on Tuesday.

The mention of responsibility is a veiled reference to Israel’s obligations as an occupying power.

The UN views Gaza and the West Bank as Israeli-occupied territory. International humanitarian law requires an occupying power to agree to relief programs for people in need and to facilitate them “by all the means at its disposal” and ensure food, medical care, hygiene and public health standards.

Israel’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Rattray’s letter.

“If UNRWA is no longer able to operate it would be the responsibility of the Israeli authorities to replace its services that it delivers to civilians, in education, in health, and all sorts of other areas,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric later clarifies to reporters.

Trump wins Michigan on back of Muslim discontent with handling of Israel-Hamas war

Paul Manni, from left, Sam Alasri, Wasel Yousaf, Waseem Makani and Abrahim Tamimi, cheer as Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump's speech is broadcast during an Arab Americans for Trump watch party at the Lava Java Cafe, a hookah lounge, in the early hours of Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in Dearborn, Mich. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Former president Donald Trump wins Michigan, reclaiming the battleground state and its 15 electoral votes for the Republicans after Joe Biden flipped it in 2020 on his way to the White House. Trump won Michigan in 2016 by just over 10,000 votes, marking the first time a Republican presidential candidate had secured the state in nearly three decades.

Trump’s Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, faced concerns that discontent among Democrats in metro Detroit over the Biden administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war could jeopardize her campaign. Michigan is home to the US’s largest Arab-American community.

With Trump’s victory in Michigan, he completes a sweep of the Great Lakes “Blue Wall” states that Harris had considered her smoothest path to victory.

Trump managed the same sweep of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania in 2016, when he defeated Hillary Clinton. President Joe Biden outpaced Trump in those states in 2020.

Unlike Clinton’s campaign in 2016, Harris campaigned heavily across the region through September and October. The vice president spent all day Sunday in Michigan, but she was unable to match Biden’s level of support, most notably in Wayne County, where Detroit offers a trove of Democratic votes.

Trump was active in the region, as well, and he improved on his 2020 margins across the three key states.

Families of Americans among the hostages urge Trump to help free loved ones

An exhibit to raise awareness for the hostages being held in Gaza on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 20, 2024. (Jacob Magid/Times of Israel)

The families of seven American hostages still in Gaza call on President-elect Donald Trump’s transition to begin working with the Biden administration in order to secure the release of their loved ones.

“This is an urgent, catastrophic humanitarian crisis, not a partisan issue,” the families say in a joint statement.

“Our family members in captivity in Gaza need a bipartisan coalition of brave, committed leaders to bring them home.”

“The hostages cannot wait any longer. They are depending on us and on Republican and Democratic leaders to seize this moment,” the families add.

Foreign worker killed in Hezbollah rocket attack on northern Israel

Medics at the scene where a foreign worker was killed in a Hezbollah rocket attack in Kfar Masaryk in northern Israel on November 6 2024. (Magen David Adom)

The body of a man was found in a field near the northern community of Kfar Masaryk a short while ago. According to medics, the man was killed in a Hezbollah rocket barrage on the area earlier today.

Magen David Adom says a farmhand who found the body led medics to the site.

MDA medics report that the man in his 40s, a foreign worker, was suffering from severe shrapnel injuries, and they were forced to declare his death at the scene.

Kfar Masaryk is located between Acre and Haifa in northern Israel.

Hezbollah has fired more than 150 rockets at Israel today, including a barrage of 25 rockets at the Western Galilee and the Haifa Bay area.

Thousands protesting in Jerusalem against firing of Gallant

Israelis demonstrate in Jerusalem after the dismissal of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, on November 6, 2024. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP)

Thousands of Israelis are gathering in Jerusalem for a second night of protests after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

The demonstrators gather near the Knesset calling for Netanyahu to rescind the decision.

They are also calling on him to reach a deal to free the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, cancel a planned law to enshrine draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox youth and set up a state commission of inquiry into the events of October 7, 2023.

Gallant highlighted those three issues of dispute with Netanyahu in an address to the nation after he was fired.

Following the announcement of the decision to fire Gallant last night, tens of thousands protested across the country, with demonstrators blocking a main highway near Tel Aviv for several hours.

IDF intercepts rocket fired from Gaza

A rocket launched from the central Gaza Strip at the border community of Kissufim was intercepted by air defenses a short while ago, the IDF says.

It marks the first rocket fire from Gaza at Israel since Saturday.

Police question Hanegbi on suspicion of taking a bribe

National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi arrives for a court hearing in the trial against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at the Jerusalem District Court, March 5, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi was interrogated by police in his home on Sunday on suspicion of receiving a bribe in 2017.

He is alleged to have received NIS 10,000 for writing a recommendation letter for a Jerusalem airport project when he was Regional Cooperation Minister, Ynet reports.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office puts out a statement saying that “this is an investigation that is not related to the Prime Minister’s Office and the National Security Council, and relates to the publication of an event from seven years ago.”

Two other investigations have been opened recently into members of Netanyahu’s office.

A statement from Hanegbi says that the claim “was raised as part of a civil dispute between businessmen and was published two years ago.”

Hanegbi says he has “already denied these claims as soon as they were published and gave his version to the police as well.”

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, a watchdog group, calls on Netanyahu to immediately suspend Hanegbi, saying the investigation against him raises suspicions that he has abused his public position for personal interests.

“At this time, when the country is at war and the National Security Council makes fateful decisions, it is unreasonable that the person who heads it is someone under investigation for bribery,” the organization says, adding that the Israeli public “deserves honest elected officials who act for the public interest alone.”

Iran says student in underwear protest moved to ‘specialized care center’

An Iranian student protests against harassment by stripping to her underwear outside her university in Tehran, November 2, 2024. (Video screenshot)

An Iranian student who stripped to her underwear in Tehran in protest at alleged harassment over her clothing was transferred to a center of “specialized care,” Iran’s embassy to Paris says.

“The student in question suffers from psychological fragility and was transferred by an ambulance of the emergency social services to a specialized care center,” it says in a statement, without giving further details on the nature of the center.

Concern has grown over the whereabouts and welfare of the young woman, with activists worried authorities could confine her in a psychiatric institution.

In farewell with General Staff, Gallant says IDF loyalty must be to State of Israel and its laws

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (center right) meets with the IDF General Staff Forum at the military headquarters in Tel Aviv, November 6, 2024. (Shachar Yurman/Defense Ministry)

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant held a farewell meeting with the IDF General Staff Forum earlier today, telling the military’s top brass to not allow anyone to divert them off their path of morals and values.

“I saw you in the difficult hours of failure on October 7, and I also saw you in the moments of recovery and unprecedented achievements,” Gallant says to the generals, in remarks provided by his office.

“When the winds are stormy, when darkness surrounds you, stick to the values compass, the moral compass, and don’t let anyone divert you from this path,” he says.

“The loyalty of the IDF, of its commanders, of its officers, of the oath of the recruits from day one, is to the State of Israel and its laws, and the commitment is expressed in the spirit of the IDF and the values ​​of the IDF. That is what we are committed to,” Gallant continues.

The outgoing defense minister also repeats that the IDF must grow in size to handle current and future challenges.

“The security challenges will increase significantly and the meaning is that we will need more resources, the first of which, we will need more people,” he says.

“We will have to draft larger parts of Israeli society… I am sure we will succeed because we are at a turning point,” Gallant says, referring to the ultra-Orthodox community.

Gallant last night said that among the reasons for his dismissal by the prime minister was his support for drafting Haredi men to the IDF, which he has said is an urgent security need.

Gallant has opposed legislation that would preserve the exemption of ultra-Orthodox males from military service, putting him at odds with the Haredi parties, which have demanded it be pushed through as a matter of priority and have said they are prepared to topple the coalition should it not pass into law.

Pro-Israel politicians sweep New York’s swing districts

Mondaire Jones (L) and Rep. Mike Lawler speak during the Congressional District 17 election debate on Wednesday, October 16, 2024, in Westchester, New York. (AP Photo/Brittainy Newman)

Republican Rep. Mike Lawler retains his seat in New York’s 17th Congressional District in a race that saw both candidates vie for the area’s large Jewish vote and spar over support for Israel.

The race was one of several swing districts in New York State that could sway control of the House.

Lawler defeats Democratic challenger Mondaire Jones in the district, which covers territory north of New York City in Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess and Westchester counties. Lawler won around 57 percent of the vote, 16 points ahead of Jones, and is projected to win in every county in the district.

Lawler has forged close ties with the approximately 30,000 Orthodox Jewish voters in his district, frequently visiting their communities and meeting with their leading rabbis, at one point along with House Speaker Mike Johnson. He has also been vocally supportive of Israel and measures to combat antisemitism, advancing some via bipartisan legislation.

In the neighboring 18th District, Democrat Pat Ryan defeats Republican challenger Alison Esposito with around 56% of the vote. The district north of New York City covers Orange County and parts of Dutchess and Ulster Counties, and includes the Hudson Valley cities of Poughkeepsie, Newburgh and Kingston.

During the campaign, Ryan drew fire from some progressives for not demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, with a small number of activists protesting at his offices and at public events. Ryan took a position more closely aligned with Israel, saying in January that he would support a ceasefire if Hamas released Israeli hostages and surrendered.

In the 19th Congressional District, covering a swath of New York from the Massachusetts border to the Southern Tier, Democrat Josh Riley narrowly defeats incumbent Republican Rep. Marc Molinaro, securing slightly more than 50% of the vote. The two were largely aligned in their stance toward Israel and the Middle East conflict, advocating for the end of Hamas rule in Gaza and the return of the hostages. Both attended pro-Israel events during the campaign.

Other Jewish and pro-Israel candidates in blue areas of New York defeated their Republican rivals as expected.

In Manhattan’s 12th District, covering the Upper West Side and Upper East Side, Rep. Jerrold Nadler trounced Republican Michael K. Zumbluskas, winning around 80% of the vote.

Pro-Israel stalwart Rep. Ritchie Torres kept his seat in the 15th Congressional District in the Bronx, winning around 76% of the vote. Latimer won his election as expected, cruising to victory over Republican Miriam Flisser in the deep blue 16th District in the Bronx and Westchester.

Tom Suozzi, a pro-Israel Democrat in Long Island and Queens’ 3rd Congressional District, defeated Republican Michael LiPetri, winning around 51% of the vote. Suozzi won a closely watched race earlier this year in the district against Israeli-American Mazi Pilip, after George Santos was expelled from Congress for massive lies about his life and background.

Drone from Lebanon shot down over northern Israel

A drone launched from Lebanon was shot down by the Israeli Air Force over the Western Galilee a short while ago, the IDF says.

There are no injuries in the incident.

IDF says it hit a series of Hezbollah sites in Beirut strikes

Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Israeli fighter jets struck a series of Hezbollah sites in Beirut’s southern suburbs earlier today, the IDF announces.

According to the IDF, the targets included Hezbollah command rooms, weapon depots, and other infrastructure.

All of the Hezbollah sites were located “in the heart of a civilian population,” the military says, accusing the terror group of using human shields.

Before the strikes, the IDF issued evacuation warnings to civilians in the area.

IDF says Gaza polio vaccination campaign has been completed

Palestinian medics administer polio vaccines to children at the al-Daraj neighborhood clinic in Gaza City on September 10, 2024. (Omar Al-Qattaa/AFP)

Israel says that the Polio vaccination campaign in Gaza conducted in recent weeks has been completed, with some 1.1 million vaccines administered and a vaccination rate among children of over 90 percent.

According to the Coordinator of Government Affairs in the Territories (COGAT), a Defense Ministry agency that coordinates the provision of humanitarian aid into Gaza, 211,170 children were vaccinated in northern Gaza; 379,361 children were vaccinated in central Gaza; and 517,070 were vaccinated in southern Gaza.

COGAT says the campaign was carried out in cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, and that the Israeli agency facilitated tactical humanitarian pauses in the fighting in Gaza in order to facilitate the distribution of the vaccines.

The vaccination drive that has just been completed is the second in three months, after an initial campaign was undertaken and completed in September.

That drive came after an unvaccinated 10-month-old baby from central Gaza contracted polio and suffered partial paralysis in September, the first case of the disease in the enclave in 25 years.

To ensure the success of the campaign, COGAT says it and the aid organizations involved facilitated the entry of polio specialists to Gaza, as well as the delivery of medical and logistical equipment, refrigeration equipment to store and transport the vaccines, and essential vitamins.

“The State of Israel, through COGAT, will continue to act in accordance with international law, addressing the medical situation of civilians in Gaza,” COGAT says.

IDF chief says military must prepare to expand Lebanon ground operation

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi (center) meets with senior officers, November 4, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi says the military must prepare to expand the ongoing ground offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“Alongside the diplomatic attempt to reach agreements in Lebanon, we need to continue formulating the plans for the continuation of the fighting in Lebanon, including expanding and deepening the [ground] maneuver, and we will activate these plans as needed,” Halevi says during an assessment, in remarks provided by the IDF.

He adds that the IDF “continues to strike Hezbollah targets according to plan in the entire region, in southern Lebanon, the Beqaa Valley, Beirut and Syria.”

Officials say 30 killed in Israeli strikes on Baalbek in Lebanon

People and rescuers try to put out a fire at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon's eastern city of Baalbek on November 6, 2024. (Nidal Solh/AFP)

Israeli strikes on Lebanon killed at least 30 people around the eastern city of Baalbek in the Bekaa Valley, according to the regional governor.

Around 20 Israeli strikes on the Baalbek-Hermel governorate killed 30 people and wounded 35, governor Bachir Khodr says on X. The Israeli military did not immediately comment.

He did not differentiate between civilians and Hezbollah members.

25 rockets fired at Galilee, Haifa area from Lebanon, no injuries

Some 25 rockets were fired from Lebanon at the Galilee and Haifa Bay area a short while ago.

The IDF says some of the rockets were intercepted and the rest hit open areas.

There are no reports of injuries.

Hezbollah has fired some 150 rockets at Israel today.

The IDF reported that following the sirens that sounded in the Upper Galilee, Central Galilee and Haifa Bay areas, approximately 25 projectiles were identified crossing from Lebanon.
Some of the projectiles were intercepted, and fallen projectiles were identified in open areas.… pic.twitter.com/gR78St98K6

— Ulfh3dnar (@Ulfh3dnar_) November 6, 2024

Netanyahu calls Trump to congratulate him on his victory, discuss Iran threat

US president Donald Trump (left) welcomes visiting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House in Washington, DC, on March 25, 2019. (AP/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls Donald Trump to congratulate him on his electoral victory, the Prime Minister’s Office tells The Times of Israel.

According to Netanyahu’s office, he was among the first leaders to call Trump, and the conversation was “warm and cordial.”

“The Prime Minister congratulated Trump on his election victory, and the two agreed to work together for Israel’s security, ” says the PMO. “The two also discussed the Iranian threat.”

The conversation lasted some 20 minutes.

Earlier today, Netanyahu posted a fulsome message congratulating the former president on his impending return to office.

North Korean troops engaged in combat against Ukraine for first time

North Korean soldiers march during a mass military parade in Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung Square to celebrate 100 years since the birth of North Korean founder, Kim Il Sung on April 15, 2012. (Ng Han Guan/AP)

North Korean troops were engaged in combat against Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk in recent days for the first time, two US officials told Reuters on Wednesday.

One of the officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said they took part in combat on November 4. The officials did not say whether there were any North Korean casualties and did not provide further details on the engagement.

IDF withdraws 252nd Reserve Division from Gaza after 3 months

Reservists of the 252nd Division operate in the Netzarim Corridor area of the central Gaza Strip, in a handout photo published November 6, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF’s 252nd Reserve Division has been withdrawn from the central Gaza Strip after over three months of operations in the Netzarim Corridor area.

The responsibility for the corridor has now been handed over to the 99th Division.

The IDF says the 252nd Division killed hundreds of terror operatives and demolished over 10 kilometers worth of tunnels and dozens of tunnel shafts during their operations in the area.

The Netzarim Corridor is built around a road south of Gaza City, enabling the IDF to carry out raids in northern and central Gaza while allowing Israel to control access to the north for Palestinians seeking to return after fleeing south.

In recent months, the IDF has been expanding the corridor, reaching as far as the outskirts of Gaza City’s Zeitoun Neighborhood to the north, and the Wadi Gaza stream to the south.

UNRWA chief says agency facing ‘darkest hour,’ calls on UN members for help after Israel ban

A UN employee stands at a UNRWA school in the Jalazone camp north of Ramallah in the West Bank, on November 4, 2024. (Photo by Zain JAAFAR / AFP)

The UN’s aid agency for Palestinians is facing its “darkest hour,” its chief says as he implores member states to defend it against an Israeli decision to cut ties.

“Without intervention by member states, UNRWA will collapse, plunging millions of Palestinians into chaos,” the head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, tells the UN General Assembly, calling for the body — which created UNRWA in 1949 — to prevent implementation of the Israeli ban.

Harris to call Trump to concede election, will deliver speech later today

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris phone banks with volunteers at the DNC headquarters on Election Day, in Washington, November 5, 2024. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

US Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to call Donald Trump today to concede defeat in the presidential election, NBC News reported, citing two Harris aides.

She is expected to then deliver a concession speech at 6 p.m. ET (2300 GMT) sources tell Reuters.

President Joe Biden also plans to call Trump and will speak publicly about the election results, NBC News reported, citing a White House official.

Likud MK Edelstein said sanctioned over opposition to coalition bills

Likud MK Yuli Edelstein in the Knesset plenum, October 28, 2024. (Noam Moskowitz, Office of the Knesset Spokesperson)

Coalition chairman Ofir Katz informs Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein that he will not be allowed to submit any bills for a month and will not be allowed to speak on behalf of their Likud party, national broadcaster Kan reports.

Katz has similarly penalized MK Dan Illouz for his recent conduct, banning him from submitting private bills for the next month and a half and removing him from the Knesset Economic Affairs and Foreign Affairs and Defense committees.

Both Illouz and Edelstein have come out against legislation relating to ultra-Orthodox IDF enlistment, with Edelstein saying he will only allow it to pass his committee if lawmakers can reach a “broad consensus” on the matter.

Illouz has also come out publicly against the coalition-supported Daycare Bill, which aims to guarantee that the children of ultra-Orthodox men who are obligated to perform military service, but have not done so, will continue to be eligible for state-funded daycare subsidies.

Sweden charges 3 over explosives planted at Israeli defense firm

Swedish prosecutors charge three men for their alleged involvement in planting explosives outside an Israeli military technology firm in Gothenburg, court documents obtained by AFP show.

Two insulated flasks packed with plastic explosives were found outside the offices of Elbit Systems, known for its unmanned aerial systems, in Sweden’s second-largest city on June 4.

The national bomb squad removed the objects and no damage or injuries were reported.

Two of the accused, a 17-year-old and a 24-year-old, were charged with “aggravated unlawful threat” and “attempted destruction causing public endangerment” for placing the explosives at the scene.

The third suspect, 29, is accused of storing the explosives in his home and transporting them to his two accomplices near the scene.

All three suspects have denied the charges.

The action was directed at “the company’s security guard, representatives and employees” and aimed to cause “serious fear for their and others’ personal and property safety,” prosecutor Johan Uden says in the charge sheet.

Since the October 7, 2023, Hamas assault on Israel and the subsequent war, there have been several incidents targeting Israeli interests in Sweden.

The Swedish intelligence agency Sapo in late May accused Iran of recruiting members of Swedish criminal gangs to commit “acts of violence” against Israeli and other interests in Sweden.

Likud MK Illouz stripped of committee post over opposition to Daycare Bill

Likud MK Dan Illouz attends a meeting of the Jerusalem lobby at the Knesset, May 17, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Coalition chairman Ofir Katz announces that following Likud MK Dan Illouz’s “statements regarding coalition discipline and his conduct in recent days,” he will be replaced on the Knesset Economic Affairs and Foreign Affairs and Defense Committees.

The freshman lawmaker will also be barred from submitting private bills for the next month and a half.

Illouz had come out publicly against the coalition-supported Daycare Bill, which aims to guarantee that the children of ultra-Orthodox men who are obligated to perform military service, but have not done so, will continue to be eligible for state-funded daycare subsidies.

Writing on X last week, Illouz insisted that “there will be no enlistment [of Haredim] without significant personal sanctions.”

“Exempting such a large group from the duty to serve in the IDF in such a critical period is a non-Zionist act that is unworthy of us as a nation — whether it be called ‘the enlistment law’ or ‘the daycare law,’ whose purpose is to cancel the daycares sanction and restore the funding,” he declared.

Illouz did not respond to a request for comment.

IDF downs two drones launched from Lebanon

Two drones launched at Israel from Lebanon were shot down by the Israeli Air Force a short while ago, the military says.

According to the IDF, the drones were intercepted before entering Israeli airspace.

UK anti-Israel activists behead stolen bust of Israel’s first president Weizmann

Days after Palestine Action published footage of activists stealing two busts of Israel’s first president Chaim Weizmann from the University of Manchester, the British anti-Israel group posts images on social media showing that they have decapitated one of the statues.

“First bust of Weizmann is dead. Soon, his zionist project will be too,” the post says.

On Saturday, Palestine Action said that activists had taken the sculptures of the late Israeli leader from the university in northern England because he had “secured” the 1917 Balfour Declaration, “which began the ethnic cleansing of Palestine by signing the land away.”

UK politician John Woodcock, known as Lord Walney, was quoted by the Daily Mail as saying that the act was “designed to terrorize British Jews” and could be seen as incitement to violence.

Weizmann, who worked as a biochemistry professor at the University of Manchester, was a leading statesman of the Zionist movement in the early 1900s. He spearheaded the international diplomatic efforts that led to international recognition of the budding Jewish state and is considered one of Israel’s founding fathers.

First bust of Weizmann is dead. Soon, his zionist project will be too! pic.twitter.com/CZcTX1MIu5

— Palestine Action (@Pal_action) November 5, 2024

Israeli airstrikes reported in Beirut after call to evacuate

After the IDF called on civilians to flee the area surrounding three Hezbollah sites in Beirut’s southern suburbs, Lebanese media report airstrikes in the area.

غارة عنيفة على الضاحية الجنوبية pic.twitter.com/TDfLjmRW2c

— مصدر مسؤول (@fouadkhreiss) November 6, 2024

Breaking

Strong airstrike hit Beirut’s southern suburb.
Whole our building shook. This is what I see: pic.twitter.com/GWzMZJ9g5E

— Nafiseh Kohnavard (@nafisehkBBC) November 6, 2024

Unofficial Oct. 7 probe issues ‘urgent request’ to Gallant to testify after being fired

Then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant at a state ceremony marking the Hebrew calendar anniversary of Hamas's October 7, 2023, attack, at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem, October 27, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg FLASH90)

The independent Civilian Commission of Inquiry investigating the government’s failures on and leading up to Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack addresses an “urgent request” to outgoing Defense Minister Yoav Gallant “to come and give your version of the events of the war.”

In a letter to the recently fired defense chief, the commission states that his “testimony is significant for strengthening public trust and revealing the truth as you yourself emphasized in your speech.”

“This is your civic duty,” the commission declares.

Addressing the nation after being informed of his termination last night, Gallant called for the formation of a state commission of inquiry, insisting that “only sunlight and a truthful investigation will allow us to learn and build our strength to face future challenges.”

This is the second time in less than a month that the commission has called on Gallant to testify.

In late October, it sent warning notices to several current and senior officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, offering them a final opportunity to testify before the release of the probe’s findings in the coming weeks.

IDF says Tel Aviv sirens triggered by single rocket from Lebanon that was intercepted

The IDF says the sirens that sounded across central Israel a short while ago were triggered by a single missile launched from Lebanon.

The projectile was successfully intercepted, the military adds.

Hezbollah has fired over 120 rockets from Lebanon that crossed into Israel today, according to an IDF tally.

Sirens sound in Tel Aviv for second time today

Sirens are sounding in central Israel following long-range rocket fire from Lebanon.

The alerts are activated in several towns in the Tel Aviv area.

It marks the second time Hezbollah has launched rockets at central Israel today.

Hezbollah chief says ceasefire deal doesn’t hinge on who wins US election

A man sits on a public bench beneath a large billboard congratulating Donald Trump in Tel Aviv on November 6, 2024.(Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP)

The leader of Hezbollah says the results of the US presidential election will have no impact on any possible ceasefire deal to end the Israel-Hezbollah war.

“We don’t base our expectations for a halt of the aggression on political developments… Whether [Kamala] Harris wins or [Donald] Trump wins, it means nothing to us,” Naim Qassem says in a pre-recorded speech before Trump announced his victory.

Several reported hurt as rocket from Lebanon strikes in Avivim

A woman in northern Israel snaps a picture of smoke billowing after rockets fired from Lebanon targeted Moshav Avivim near the border on November 6, 2024 (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP)

Several people are wounded in a rocket impact in the area of the northern border community of Avivim, according to first responders.

The IDF says that some 50 rockets were launched in the barrage from Lebanon, some of which were intercepted.

Merom Hagalil Regional Council says that several rockets hit Avivim.

Hezbollah leader says no diplomatic agreement with Israel before end of hostilities

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem during a televised address, November 6, 2024. (Screenshot)

In his second address since being appointed Hezbollah leader, Naim Qassem rules out a diplomatic settlement to the conflict with Israel before the end of hostilities.

In a pre-recorded televised address, Qassem says that the war will only end once Israel stops its “aggression” against Lebanon, and only at that point will the terror group agree to indirect negotiations, under the mediation of its ally Nabih Berri, president of the Lebanese Parliament.

Qassem does not indicate a ceasefire in Gaza as a precondition for a halt to its war against Israel.

Qassem claims that the terror group is conducting a defensive war of attrition and has been preparing for a long confrontation since the end of the Second Lebanon War in 2006. He further claims that Hezbollah has “tens of thousands of jihadis that are ready to die as martyrs,” strengthened by their Islamic ideology, their training and their weapons.

Qassem further accuses Israel of aiming to defeat the terror group as a first step to conquering Lebanon, and subsequently to “change the map of the Middle East.”

In response to the Israeli “aggression,” Qassem says that the terror group will continue firing rockets and drones at Israel, and that the launches of the past days are only a taste of what is to come next.

Touching on the heavy toll the war has imposed on the Lebanese civilian population, Qassem claims that it is the “price to pay for victory” and denies that there are frictions between displaced Shiites and other groups inside Lebanon, despite evidence to the contrary.

Qassem also comments on the abduction of a top Hezbollah naval operative in north Lebanon by Israeli commandos last week, saying that it was a “humiliation” for Lebanon and demanding explanations from the Lebanese Armed Forces and UNIFIL, in particular from the German contingent, which mans a naval patrol.

Qatar congratulates Trump on election win

US President Donald Trump meets with Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, July 9, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The Qataris congratulate Donald Trump on his election win.

Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani says on X that he looks forward “to working together again to strengthen our strategic relationship and partnership, and to advancing our shared efforts in promoting security and stability both in the region and globally.”

Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani calls the US “a key partner for Qatar and the Region. We look forward to working with your administration to tackle ongoing challenges, and unlocking future potential.”

Despite Republican mistrust of the Gulf country, Trump hosted both men in September, calling the emir “a great and powerful leader of his country, advancing on all levels at record speed.”

IDF issues evacuation notice for area of 3 Hezbollah-linked buildings in Beirut

The IDF is calling on civilians near three buildings in Beirut’s southern suburb to immediately evacuate ahead of airstrikes.

Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, publishes maps alongside the announcement, which call on civilians to distance themselves at least 500 meters from the sites, which according to the military are used by Hezbollah.

#عاجل إلى جميع السكان المتواجدين في منطقة الضاحية الجنوبية وتحديدًا في المباني المحددة في الخرائط المرفقة والمباني المجاورة لها في برج البراجنة

⭕️أنتم تتواجدون بالقرب من منشآت ومصالح تابعة لحزب الله حيث سيعمل ضدها جيش الدفاع بقوة على المدى الزمني القريب

⭕️من أجل سلامتكم… pic.twitter.com/X87FKQdHRu

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) November 6, 2024

Rocket alerts sound in Galilee, including Safed, Rosh Pina, Kiryat Shmona

Multiple rocket sirens have sounded in the Galilee, sending residents of Safed and Rosh Pina to bomb shelters, alongside alarms in the mostly evacuated Kiryat Shmona and surrounding towns.

There are no immediate further details.

PA’s Abbas voices confidence Trump will back Palestinian aspirations for statehood

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas speaks during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on September 26, 2024 in New York City. (Stephanie Keith/Getty Images/AFP)

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas congratulates Donald Trump on his US presidential election victory, expressing confidence he will support Palestinians’ “legitimate aspirations” for statehood.

“We are confident that the United States will support, under your leadership, the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people,” Abbas says in a statement carried by the official PA news agency WAFA, reaffirming what he calls the Palestinian commitment to “the pursuit of freedom, self-determination and statehood, in accordance with international law.”

Palestinian President Abbas CongratulatesPresident-Elect Trump pic.twitter.com/NRh86aXsNB

— Dr. Bishara A. Bahbah (@BahbahBishara) November 6, 2024

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Medics say 2 civilians lightly hurt in attempted ramming and stabbing attack in West Bank

The attack near the West Bank settlement of Shilo appears to have been an attempted car-ramming and stabbing, and not a shooting attack, according to first responders.

Medics at the scene say that the attacker was shot after crashing his car into a bus stop at the Shilo Junction and getting out with a knife.

The IDF confirms the details in a statement.

Magen David Adom says it is treating two civilians, a 26-year-old woman and a 15-year-old boy, who were lightly hurt in the attack, and taking them to Jerusalem’s Hadassah Hospital Mount Scopus. Several others are being treated for acute anxiety.

ניסיון פיגוע בצומת שילה: מחבל הגיע לצומת, פגע בעוצמה רבה בגדר ההפרדה אך פספס את הישראלים שהיו במקום. הוא יצא החוצה כשבידו סכין וניסה לדקור אותם, ואז חוסל. ישנם שני נפגעי חרדה בשטח, אין פצועים פיזית ככל הידוע.

צילום: TPS pic.twitter.com/OgRpPKDPk0

— חנן גרינווד (@hanan_green) November 6, 2024

Hamas says it will judge Trump on his stances on Palestinians, after Biden administration’s ‘cover’ for Israel

Hamas comments on Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election and says it will judge the Trump presidency on its “positions and actions towards the Palestinian people.”

In a statement, the Palestinian terror group says that the incoming president must “listen to the voices raised by Americans for over a year against the Zionist aggression on the Gaza Strip” and the US’s “bias in favor of the Zionist entity.”

Hamas says that since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, the US has consistently supported Israel over the Palestinians, and slams the outgoing Joe Biden administration for granting “political and military cover to Israel in its genocidal war.”

2 said injured in suspected terror shooting near settlement of Shilo; attacker ‘neutralized’

IDF troops and medics are responding to reports of a terror shooting attack near the West Bank settlement of Shilo.

According to first responders, at least two people are injured.

The IDF says the assailant has been “neutralized.”

Lebanon files UN complaint against Israel over Hezbollah pager blasts

Lebanon says it has filed a complaint with the United Nations’ labor agency over deadly attacks on communication devices held by Hezbollah operatives across the country in September, which it blames on Israel.

Lebanese Labor Minister Mustafa Bayram claims the attack was an “egregious war against humanity, against technology, against work,” saying his country has filed the complaint with the International Labour Organization in Geneva.

“It’s a very dangerous precedent,” he tells journalists in the Swiss city at an event organized by the UN correspondents’ association ACANU.

In September, before Israel launched a ground operation in Lebanon following a year of non-stop cross-border attacks by the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group, thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah exploded, killing dozens of people and injuring thousands more across Lebanon, in what has widely been reported as a successful Mossad operation.

Israel has not officially taken responsibility for the attacks, but Bayram says it is “widely accepted internationally… that Israel was behind this heinous act.”

“In a few minutes, more than 4,000 civilians fell, between martyrs and injured and maimed,” he says, speaking through a translator, while avoiding mentioning that the attack was directed against terror operatives, not civilians.

Among the victims not killed, he says many people “lost their fingers; some have totally lost their eyesight.”

“We are in a situation where ordinary objects, objects you use in daily life, become dangerous and lethal,” he claims.

“If left unchecked, this crime could become normalized,” he says, adding that filing the complaint is meant “to prevent such crimes from happening in the future.”

Iran sentences 4 people to death over charges of spying for Israel

Four people have been sentenced to death by a revolutionary court in northwest Iran over charges of spying for Israel, the semi-official Fars news agency reports.

Drone from Iraq intercepted before entering Israeli airspace, military says

A drone launched at Israel from “the east,” code for Iraq, was shot down by the Israeli Air Force a short while ago, the IDF says.

The drone was intercepted before entering Israeli airspace, according to the military.

Far-left US Rep. Rashida Tlaib wins reelection in Michigan House race

US Rep. Rashida Tlaib and university employees at a press conference titled "Unions Defend Free Speech on Campus" on Capitol Hill on May 23, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Michael A. McCoy / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

US Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Michigan Democrat, the only Palestinian American in the US Congress, has won a fourth term in the House.

Tlaib represents a district with a large Arab-American population. She has been highly critical of Israel in its war against the Hamas terror group, describing its actions in Gaza as genocide, a charge Israel vehemently denies.

But her comments have also evoked outrage from many of her colleagues. The Republican-led House voted last year to censure the far-left lawmaker for her statements regarding the war.

Tlaib said her criticism was directed toward Israel’s government and its leadership under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and vowed she “will not be silenced.”

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Hezbollah claims barrage at central Israel, asserts it targeted IDF base near airport

A rocket attack from Lebanon is intercepted over central Israel on November 6, 2024. (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)

Hezbollah takes responsibility for the rocket barrage on central Israel earlier today.

In a statement, the terror group claims to have targeted the IDF’s Tzrifin base, located south of Ben Gurion Airport.

The bases houses a number of IDF units, including several training schools and a logistics center.

The IDF said earlier that 10 rockets were launched in the attack, most of which were intercepted. One rocket struck in the Ben Gurion Airport area.

Netanyahu’s party scorns opposition chiefs’ criticism of Gallant’s firing

(L-R) The Democrats party head Yair Golan, National Unity party head Benny Gantz, Yisrael Beytenu party Avigdor Liberman (standing) and Yesh Atid party head and Opposition Leader Yair Lapid hold a joint press conference at the Knesset in Jerusalem on November 6, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Hitting back at criticism of Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to fire Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, the prime minister’s Likud party launches a withering attack on the opposition, without addressing any of the arguments made by the four opposition party chiefs today.

“When the left led by [Yair] Golan, [Yair] Lapid and [Benny] Gantz together with [Avigdor] Liberman stands by Gallant’s side, that says everything,” a party spokesman says in a statement, following a joint press conference by the heads of the Yesh Atid, National Unity, Yisrael Beytenu and The Democrats parties.

“Just two years ago, the four of them formed a government together with the Muslim Brotherhood party” — a reference to the Islamist Ra’am party — “and made a surrender agreement with Hezbollah — and they still dare to talk about security?” he asks.

“Just a few months ago, Liberman mocked Gallant and said that ‘we don’t have a defense minister, we have a threats minister.’ And two months ago, Gantz stated that Gallant must resign,” the spokesman continues.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu, together with new Defense Minister Israel Katz, will lead Israel to complete victory. They will continue to complain, and we will continue to win.”

TV prankster and film director Yigal Shilon dies at 78

Israeli TV personality Yigal Shilon attends the funeral of fellow entertainer Dudu Topaz, August 21, 2009. (Gili Yaari / Flash90)

Former TV and film personality Yigal Shilon has died aged 78, Tel Aviv’s Ichilov hospital says.

Shilon is best known for hosting the popular pranks show “Fisfusim” in the 1990s and early 2000s, after rising to prominence in the 1980s by directing prank-themed movies.

He is survived by his wife Zehava and their four children. The funeral time has not been announced.

Levin mocks High Court justice for deciding to hear petition opposing Gallant’s firing

Justice Minister Yariv Levin attends a plenum session at the assembly hall of the Knesset, in Jerusalem on November 6, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Justice Minister Yariv Levin issues an acerbic rebuke of High Court Justice Yael Wilner for her decision to hear a petition asking the court to annul Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to fire Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, accusing her of judicial overreach.

“The honorable Justice Wilner already turned herself into the justice minister when she issued an outrageous order and took control of the management of the Judicial Selection Committee,” snipes Levin in reference to a High Court decision in September ordering him to call a vote on appointing a new Supreme Court president after he refused to do so for nearly a year.

“Now is the opportunity to congratulate her on going up another level when as she enters the prime minister’s shoes and deliberates on the firing and hiring of ministers, instead of rejecting the petition outright,” Levin says sarcastically.

“The sky is the limit. Let’s wait until January 20 to see when the honorable Justice Wilner will hold a hearing on the decision of the American people in the US presidential election,” he concludes.

‘Act of insanity’: Opposition chiefs declare Netanyahu unfit to be PM after Gallant’s sacking

Yesh Atid party head Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, right, speaks at a joint press conference with (R-L) National Unity party head Benny Gantz, The Democrats party head Yair Golan, and Yisrael Beytenu party Avigdor Liberman at the Knesset in Jerusalem on November 6, 2024. (Sam Sokol/Times of Israel)

Speaking at a joint press conference in the Knesset, the leaders of the opposition declare that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has proved that he is no longer fit for his job following last night’s termination of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Standing alongside National Unity chairman Benny Gantz, Yisrael Beytenu chief Avigdor Liberman and The Democrats head Yair Golan, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid declares that Gallant’s dismissal was an “act of insanity by an incompetent prime minister.”

“In the middle of a war, while Israel is fighting on seven fronts, Netanyahu weakened and damaged the IDF, the fighting forces, just to pass the evasion laws,” he stated, asserting that the prime minister no longer has the trust of the troops. He was referring to contested legislation that would exempt Haredim from compulsory military service.

“Don’t let the lies work on you. Gallant was not fired because of professional disagreements. Just last week, Netanyahu stood here in the Knesset, bragging about his victories and achievements on the battlefield. He talked about the assassinations of Nasrallah, of Haniyeh, of Sinwar, and of Muhammad Deif. Then he fired the minister of defense who brought about all these successes.”

“Gallant was fired only for political reasons, only because he prevented Netanyahu from passing the evasion laws. He was fired because Netanyahu chose draft dodgers instead of those serving,” Lapid continues. “The prime minister cannot be trusted, the cabinet cannot be trusted; the last person who could be trusted in this crazy government was fired yesterday.”

Netanyahu’s continued refusal to convene a state commission of inquiry into October 7 during wartime no longer holds water, he argues, stating that “if the time has come when a defense minister can be fired, there is no problem in establishing a state commission of inquiry. If it’s time to pass evasion laws, there’s no problem going to the elections either.”

Referring to his fellow opposition politicians, Lapid says that they “will not give up” and “will continue to fight until we succeed.”

Lapid appeals to “the good people who still remain in the coalition” not to continue to support the government, adding that “in the end, good will win over evil. Zionism will defeat cynicism. Patriotism and love of Israel are stronger than any bad and corrupt government.”

Replacing Lapid at the podium, Gantz recalls that when he fought in the 1982 Lebanon War, he “always felt that the decisions were made… for the sake of Israel’s security” despite the deep divisions in Israeli society.

“What should our fighters in Lebanon think today when they see that the defense minister is fired after he issues conscription orders? We have already seen what our enemies do when they see us torn apart from the inside,” he states.

“The dismissal of the minister of defense against the background of the political need to pass legislation that would exempt the ultra-Orthodox from military service is a serious blow to security and the spirit of the people, but it will not break us,” he continues. “A large majority of the people are behind us, and a large majority of Knesset members from Likud, from Religious Zionism as well as from the ultra-Orthodox parties understand that we must not let Netanyahu return us to October 6.”

“I call on them to show the courage not to abandon the citizens of Israel again,” he states.

“Between the security of the state and the security of the coalition, Netanyahu chose to preserve the coalition and dismantle Israeli society,” Liberman agrees. “Anyone who follows the Iranian media saw that there was a big celebration there yesterday. It is clear that the dismissal of the defense minister harms the security of the country and national stability. The next step will be the dismissal of [Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman] Yuli Edelstein from his position and then the dismissal of the attorney general.”

“I call on the members of the Likud faction, those who are loyal to the legacy of Jabotinsky and Trumpeldor (who are turning over in their graves over Netanyahu’s decision to promote draft evasion): Don’t lend a hand to political bribery,” he adds.

Speaking after his colleagues, The Democrats’ Golan is even more withering in his criticism, stating that both Netanyahu and his government are “illegitimate” and promising to escalate the struggle against them.

Donald Trump has won the US presidency after clinching Wisconsin, major US outlets confirm

Republican presidential nominee former US president Donald Trump speaks at an election night watch party at the Palm Beach Convention Center, in West Palm Beach, Florida, November 6, 2024. (Evan Vucci/AP)

Donald Trump has been elected the 47th president of the United States, an extraordinary comeback for a former president who refused to accept defeat four years ago, sparked a violent insurrection at the US Capitol, was convicted of felony charges and survived two assassination attempts.

The former president has won the key state of Wisconsin, defeating Vice President Kamala Harris in a critical battleground, major American outlets including AP and The New York Times say.

The win delivers 10 Electoral College votes to Trump, pushing him over the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the presidency.

The victory validates his bare-knuckle approach to politics. He attacked his Democratic rival, Kamala Harris, in deeply personal — often misogynistic and racist — terms as he pushed an apocalyptic picture of a country overrun by violent migrants.

The coarse rhetoric, paired with an image of hypermasculinity, resonated with angry voters — particularly men — in a deeply polarized nation. As president, he’s vowed to pursue an agenda centered on dramatically reshaping the federal government and retribution against his perceived enemies.

Sa’ar’s deal with Likud puts MK Elkin in charge of rebuilding war-ravaged south, north

New Hope chairman Gideon Sa'ar (left) and Housing Minister Ze'ev Elkin speak during a faction meeting at the Knesset on June 20, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

New Hope party chairman Gideon Sa’ar announces the portfolios his faction will receive in the government as part of an agreement with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud.

Sa’ar will become foreign minister, while party MK Ze’ev Elkin will be appointed a minister in the Finance Ministry. Elkin will oversee the Tekuma Directorate, tasked with rehabilitating the Gaza border communities overrun by Hamas terrorists on October 7, and the Northern Rehabilitation Directorate. Elkin will also be part of the team formulating the plan for postwar Gaza, a party spokesperson says.

Sa’ar and Elkin will sit in the powerful security cabinet and “will regularly take part in security and policy consultations, including on the Iranian nuclear program,” the spokesman says.

MK Sharren Haskel will become deputy foreign minister, working on public diplomacy.

Iran doesn’t rule out preemptive strike by US, Israel, says it’s ready for confrontation

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards deputy chief Ali Fadavi says Tehran is ready for confrontation with Israel and does not rule out a preemptive strike by the US and Israel, the Iranian Student News Agency reports, after Donald Trump claimed victory in the US presidential election.

Debris from intercepted rocket hits empty parked car in Ra’anana

Debris from an intercepted Hezbollah rocket that hit an empty parked car in Ra'anana, November 6, 2024. (Magen David Adom)

Debris from an intercepted Hezbollah rocket directly struck a parked car in the central city of Ra’anana.

No injuries were caused in the Hezbollah attack.

The IDF said that 10 rockets were fired, most of which were intercepted. One hit the Ben Gurion Airport area.

פגיעת רסיס ברעננה pic.twitter.com/NfkXAdJjNL

— איתי בלומנטל ???????? Itay Blumental (@ItayBlumental) November 6, 2024

Ben Gvir declares Trump’s victory a ‘time for sovereignty’ in West Bank, death penalty for terrorists

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir speaks at the Knesset plenum in Jerusalem on November 6, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Speaking in the Knesset, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir again welcomes Donald Trump’s presumptive US election victory, stating that now “this is the time for sovereignty, this is the time for complete victory.”

It is also the time to pass a death penalty for terrorists and “all kinds of laws [on which] I have no doubt that the president of the United States will see eye to eye” with us, he adds.

IDF says rocket landed in area of Ben Gurion Airport, causing no injuries

A rocket attack from Lebanon is intercepted over central Israel on November 6, 2024. (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)

The IDF says that one of the 10 rockets launched in the Hezbollah barrage struck an area in central Israel.

The rocket impacted in the Ben Gurion Airport area. No injuries were caused.

According to the IDF, most of the 10 rockets launched in the attack were intercepted.

Amid reports that some flights are experiencing delays and disruptions, the Israel Airports Authority says the airport is “open and working normally for arrivals and departures.”

Debris from an intercepted rocket also hits an empty parked car in Ra’anana.

פגיעת רסיס ברעננה pic.twitter.com/NfkXAdJjNL

— איתי בלומנטל ???????? Itay Blumental (@ItayBlumental) November 6, 2024

Egypt joins Turkey’s call for UN arms embargo on Israel

Egypt joins a call led by Turkey and backed by dozens of countries urging the United Nations to halt arms deliveries to Israel, citing concerns over their use.

The call comes as Israel battles Hamas in the Gaza Strip while also fighting a war against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

A foreign ministry statement says Egypt has joined the call as part of “international efforts to pressure Israel to cease its continuous violations of international law and international humanitarian law.”

It also aims to stop “Israeli violations” against Palestinians and protect civilians, the statement reads.

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon on Monday accused Turkey of “malice” after Ankara submitted a letter signed by 52 countries calling for a halt in arms deliveries to Israel.

Egypt was the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, followed by Jordan in 1994.

In 2020, the Abraham Accords, mediated by the United States, saw the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco recognize Israel.

Gantz hails Trump as ‘true friend of Israel’

National Unity leader Benny Gantz hold a press conference in Ramat Gan, September 3, 2024. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

National Unity chief Benny Gantz declares Donald Trump “a true friend of Israel” in an English-language tweet, stating this has been “demonstrated [this] through not only his words but actions.”

“Throughout his former tenure, he brokered the Abraham Accords, officially recognised the Golan Heights as part of Israel, and moved the US Embassy to Jerusalem,” Gantz writes.

“Against the backdrop of emboldened Iranian aggression in the region, its race to nuclear capabilities, and the paramount efforts to return the hostages home, President Trump’s leadership will not only ensure the US continues to be a special friend and ally to the State of Israel but a vital beacon of moral clarity to the Middle East and the world. Thank you, and congratulations, Mr. President.”

High Court orders Netanyahu to respond by tomorrow to petitions against firing of Gallant

The High Court of Justice gives Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu until tomorrow at 12 p.m. to file his response to petitions filed against his firing of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant last night.

The dismissal takes effect tomorrow evening, and two nonprofits have petitioned against the move and requested injunctions delaying its implementation until a decision is made.

IDF says at least 10 rockets fired by Hezbollah at central Israel; no injuries

The IDF says at least 10 rockets were launched from Lebanon at central and northern Israel in the Hezbollah attack a short while ago.

Some of the projectiles were intercepted, the military says.

At least one rocket impact is reported near Ben Gurion Airport. There are no reports of injuries or major damage.

Jordan’s King Abdullah congratulates Trump

Jordan’s King Abdullah is the latest world leader to congratulate Donald Trump on his apparent election win.

“Looking forward to working with you again to bolster Jordan’s longstanding partnership with the United States, in service of regional and global peace and stability for all,” writes the king on X.

Interceptions reported over central Israel after salvo from Lebanon; no known injuries

Interceptions are reported over central Israel following long-range rocket fire from Lebanon.

There are no immediate reports of injuries or damage in the attack.

צה"ל: הופעלו התרעות בצפון ובמרכז הארץ עקב שיגורים מלבנון – הפרטים בבדיקה@ItayBlumental pic.twitter.com/fAAelxFo1F

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) November 6, 2024

Hezbollah leader Qassem to deliver speech today at 3 p.m.

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem delivers a televised speech on October 30, 2024. (Screenshot)

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem will deliver an address today at 3 p.m., according to the Lebanese Al-Mayadeen outlet.

Qassem was appointed to head the terror group last week.

Incoming FM Sa’ar announces campaign to improve Israel’s image abroad

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) shakes hands with New Hope leader Gideon Sa'ar after the latter announces his reentry into government, September 29, 2024. (Chaim Tzach/GPO)

As he prepares to assume his new position as Israel’s top diplomat, Gideon Sa’ar’s office announces that the Foreign Ministry will receive a budgetary increase of NIS 545 million ($146 million) for a campaign to improve Israel’s public diplomacy abroad.

The campaign will take place in foreign media, social networks and American campuses.

Sa’ar’s office notes that the campaign will be managed in cooperation with the US Jewish community, and will not infringe on the activities of the Diaspora Ministry.

Sa’ar will take part in security consultations, including on Iran’s nuclear program, his office notes.

Sirens sound in Tel Aviv and throughout central Israel after barrage from Lebanon

Sirens are sounding across central Israel following long-range rocket fire from Lebanon.

The alerts are activated in Tel Aviv and numerous surrounding towns. Sirens also sound in some towns close to the border with Lebanon.

The IDF says the details are being looked into.

Turkey’s Erdogan congratulates Trump, says he hopes for end to wars

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — a bitter Israel critic who got along well with Donald Trump — congratulates the former US president on his electoral win.

“I hope that Turkey-US relations will strengthen, that regional and global crises and wars, especially the Palestinian issue and the Russia-Ukraine war, will come to an end,” he writes on X. “I believe that more efforts will be made for a more just world.”

Haredi party agrees to delay vote on contentious Daycare Bill, which has imperiled coalition

A highly contentious bill to keep subsidizing daycare for Haredi families of draft evaders will not be put up for a Knesset vote today after all, after ultra-Orthodox parties agree to delay the move they have been demanding.

United Torah Judaism MK Yisrael Eichler’s office says he has met coalition whip Ofir Katz and they have agreed for now to take the bill off the agenda “to enable the government to solve” the matter.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defied demands from United Torah Judaism to pass the law, and ordered the so-called Daycare Bill taken off the Knesset agenda after the coalition majority for passing the bill dissipated. According to Hebrew-language press reports, the ultra-Orthodox party had threatened to not support any other coalition legislation before the bill is brought to a vote.

Hamas official: Trump will be tested on his boast that he can stop the war within hours

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri. (AP/Hatem Moussa)

Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri says Donald Trump will be tested on his statements that he can stop the war within hours as US president.

“We urge Trump to learn from [US President Joe] Biden’s mistakes,” Abu Zuhri tells Reuters.

Jerusalem affairs minister hopes Trump’s support for capital and Jewish people will continue

Minister of Jerusalem Affairs and Jewish Heritage Meir Porush arrives for a cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem on September 10, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Minister for Jerusalem Affairs and Jewish Heritage Meir Porush congratulates Donald Trump in a statement, citing the biblical verse “the heart of a king is in the hand of God.”

“President Trump proved during his previous term that he is a true friend of the Jewish people and the city of Jerusalem. We all pray and expect that this trend will continue even more strongly in [his] coming term,” he says.

FM Katz, the incoming defense minister, welcomes Trump victory

Incoming defense minister Foreign Minister Israel Katz congratulates Donald Trump on his apparent electoral victory.

“Together, we’ll strengthen the US-Israel alliance, bring back the hostages, and stand firm to defeat the axis of evil led by Iran,” says Katz, posting a photo of the two of them.

Congratulations to President-Elect @realDonaldTrump on his historic victory. Together ????????????????, we'll strengthen the US-Israel alliance, bring back the hostages, and stand firm to defeat the axis of evil led by Iran.#BringThemHome #USIsraelAlliance pic.twitter.com/aEYfttfPt1

— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) November 6, 2024

Herzog says he’s looking forward to working with ‘champion of peace’ Trump

(R-L) US First Lady Melania Trump, US President Donald Trump, opposition leader Isaac Herzog and his wife Michal Herzog at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem. (Haim Zach/GPO)

President Isaac Herzog congratulates presumptive US presidential winner Donald Trump on his “historic return to the White House,” calling him “a true and dear friend of Israel, and a champion of peace and cooperation in our region.”

“I look forward to working with you to strengthen the ironclad bond between our peoples, to build a future of peace and security for the Middle East, and to uphold our shared values,” Herzog tweets.

“On behalf of the Jewish and democratic State of Israel, and all our people, I wish you much success.”

Congratulations to President @realDonaldTrump on your historic return to the White House. You are a true and dear friend of Israel, and a champion of peace and cooperation in our region.

I look forward to working with you to strengthen the ironclad bond between our peoples, to…

— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) November 6, 2024

IDF warns Lebanese to stay away from 4 buildings in Nabatieh ahead of strikes

The IDF is calling on civilians near four buildings in southern Lebanon’s Nabatieh to immediately evacuate ahead of airstrikes.

Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, publishes maps alongside the announcement, which call on civilians to distance themselves at least 500 meters from the sites.

“You are located near Hezbollah facilities and assets, against which the IDF will operate in the near future,” Adraee says.

#عاجل إلى جميع السكان المتواجدين في منطقة النبطية وتحديدًا في المباني المحددة في الخرائط المرفقة والمباني المجاورة لها

⭕️أنتم تتواجدون بالقرب من منشآت ومصالح تابعة لحزب الله حيث سيعمل ضدها جيش الدفاع على المدى الزمني القريب

⭕️من أجل سلامتكم وسلامة أبناء عائلتكم عليكم اخلاء… pic.twitter.com/8AYT3nlx1n

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) November 6, 2024

Minister Sa’ar praises Trump’s ‘truly historic victory’

Minister Gideon Sa'ar speaks at a meeting of his New Hope faction in the Knesset in Jerusalem on October 28, 2024 (Sam Sokol/Times of Israel)

New Hope chairman Minister without Portfolio Gideon Sa’ar sends apparent US presidential victor Donald Trump congratulations “on a truly historic victory.”

“As a true friend of Israel with a proven commitment to Israel’s security, we welcome your strong and dedicated leadership as we work to build a better future of security and cooperation for the Middle East,” Sa’ar tweets.

Congratulations President @realDonaldTrump on a truly historic victory.
As a true friend of Israel with a proven commitment to Israel’s security, we welcome your strong and dedicated leadership as we work to build a better future of security and cooperation for the Middle East.

— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) November 6, 2024

Iran downplays importance of US election after Trump declares victory

Iranians’ livelihood will not be impacted by the US election, government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani says according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency, after Donald Trump declares victory in the US presidential election.

Levin sets Nov. 28 Judicial Selection Committee meeting to appoint new Supreme Court president

Justice Minister Yariv Levin attends a swearing in ceremony for newly appointed judges at the president's residence in Jerusalem, on June 23, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Justice Minister Yariv Levin says he’ll convene the Judicial Selection Committee on November 28 at 3 p.m. at his office in Jerusalem.

A statement from Levin’s office says the move comes in light of “the expropriation of the justice minister’s authority” after a September High Court ruling that said he must call a committee meeting to appoint a Supreme Court president, a position that has been filled in an interim manner for over a year.

In an act of defiance, Levin nominated all 12 sitting justices for the role on September 22, starting a 45-day evaluation period, only after which can a vote be called.

The court ruled that Levin must convene the Judicial Selection Committee to make the appointment “shortly after” the end of the 45-day period.

Levin’s statement says he wanted to call the meeting for next Tuesday, but that it has been delayed at the request of the committee’s secretariat.

Former Supreme Court justice Uzi Vogelman served as acting president in the year since former president Esther Hayut retired in October 2023, but himself retired at the end of this October and was succeeded by Justice Isaac Amit as acting president. Amit, whom Levin opposes, is likely to be appointed permanent president when a vote is called.

Jeremy Sharon contributed to this report.

Trump: ‘God spared my life for a reason — to save our country and restore America to greatness’

Former US president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (R) arrives for an election night event alongside former US First Lady Melania Trump and his son Barron Trump at the West Palm Beach Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, on November 6, 2024. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP)

“God spared my life for a reason,” Donald Trump says in his victory speech, referring to the two assassination attempts he survived on the US campaign trail.

“And that reason was to save our country and restore America to greatness. And now we’re going to fulfill that mission together,” he says.

“The task before us will not be easy, but I will bring every ounce of energy, spirit and fight that I have in my soul to the job that you’ve entrusted to me,” he adds.

Netanyahu congratulates Trump, hailing ‘history’s greatest comeback’

US president Donald Trump (left) welcomes visiting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House in Washington, DC, on March 25, 2019. (AP/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara congratulate Donald and Melania Trump on the former US president’s apparent win in the elections.

“Congratulations on history’s greatest comeback!” he says in an English-language statement written in Trump’s trademark over-the-top style.

“Your historic return to the White House offers a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America. This is a huge victory!”

“In true friendship,” Netanyahu signs off.

Dear Donald and Melania Trump,

Congratulations on history’s greatest comeback!

Your historic return to the White House offers a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America.

This is a huge victory!

In true friendship,… pic.twitter.com/B54NSo2BMA

— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) November 6, 2024

Trump: ‘I’m not going to start wars, I’m going to stop wars’

Republican presidential nominee, former US president Donald Trump arrives to speak during an election night event at the Palm Beach Convention Center on November 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Florida. (CHIP SOMODEVILLA / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

“I’m not going to start wars, I’m going to stop wars,” declares Republican US presidential nominee Donald Trump in his victory speech.

“We had no wars, for four years we had no wars. Except we defeated ISIS,” Trump says.

Trump declares he has won, hails ‘most incredible political victory our country has never seen before’

Former US president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (R) arrives for an election night event alongside former US First Lady Melania Trump and his son Barron Trump at the West Palm Beach Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, on November 6, 2024. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP)

Republican Donald Trump claims victory in the 2024 presidential contest after Fox News projected he has defeated Democrat Kamala Harris, and other major networks say he has clinched the most crucial swing state in Pennsylvania, capping what appears to be a stunning political comeback four years after he left the White House.

“America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate,” he says to a roaring crowd of supporters at the Palm Beach County Convention Center.

“We’ve achieved the most incredible political thing, political victory, that our country has never seen before — nothing like this,” he declares.

AP says Donald Trump has won Pennsylvania, all but sealing his victory

Former US president Donald Trump has won Pennsylvania, defeating Democrat Kamala Harris in the critical battleground state, The Associated Press says.

Both candidates campaigned vigorously in the state, visiting it more often than any other.

Trump wins Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes four years after Democrat Joe Biden carried the state, flipping it from Trump’s column in 2016 on his way to capturing the “blue wall.”

No Democrat has won the White House without also winning Pennsylvania since 1948.

Trump’s victory in Pennsylvania puts him three electoral votes short of winning the presidency.

He could win the White House by capturing Alaska or any remaining swing state.

‘The American people have spoken’: GOP House Speaker Johnson declares Trump victory

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, Republican-Louisiana, delivers an economic address to financial and business leaders, at the New York Stock Exchange, October 1, 2024. (Richard Drew/AP)

Republican US House Speaker Mike Johnson declares Donald Trump “our President-elect,” adding that “The American people have spoken, and President Trump and Senator JD Vance are going to the White House.”

There is hope and morning in America again! Donald Trump is now our President-elect, chosen by the American people for such a time as this. The citizens of our great country used their voices to decisively reject four more years of Harris’ open borders, high crime, increased cost…

— Mike Johnson (@MikeJohnson) November 6, 2024

We have saved America. ????????
 
The American people have spoken, and President Trump and Senator JD Vance are going to the White House.
 
We are ready to get to work for the American people.

— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) November 6, 2024

Republican Jewish Coalition hails Trump’s ‘greatest political comeback in US history’

The Republican Jewish Coalition congratulates Donald Trump on his apparent US election win, calling it “the greatest political comeback in US history.”

“As we’ve said from the beginning: the Jewish vote matters, and it played a major role in delivering the Presidency for President Trump,” says the RJC in a statement.

“Jewish voters from coast to coast rejected Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party due to their failure to keep the Jewish community safe, and for undermining our ally Israel as it continues to fight an existential war against Iran and its terrorist proxies,” the GOP group adds.

West Bank settler leader hails annexation prospects in light of Trump’s likely win

As Donald Trump is seen as extremely likely to win the US elections, the head of Israel’s Yesha Council settlement umbrella group rejoices and says it’s “time for sovereignty” — referring to annexation of the West Bank.

“One strong Trump; one Jewish state,” Yisrael Gantz tweets.

Rocket sirens blare in Kiryat Shmona and surroundings

Rocket alarms sound in Kiryat Shmona, Metula and communities in the Galilee.

There are no immediate further details.

Watchdogs petition High Court against Gallant’s firing; opposition chiefs to make joint address

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant salutes as a sign of respect to Israel's security forces at the end of a press conference after he was fired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, November 5, 2024. (Reuters/Nir Elias)

The Israel Democracy Guard and the Movement for Quality Government watchdogs have both filed petitions to the High Court of Justice against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s dismissal last night of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

“The firing of the defense minister in the midst of a war, and while the State of Israel is under an unprecedented multifront threat, was made out of ulterior and narrow political motives with the sole aim of advancing [Haredi] draft evasion laws and preserving the coalition, and in contradiction of the considerations anchored in rulings on the matter of firing a minister,” MQG argues.

The Israel Democracy Guard nonprofit demands that the court issue an injunction freezing Gallant’s termination until a ruling on the matter, arguing that Netanyahu has failed to prioritize stability at the helm of the defense establishment during a multifront war, or to give adequate weight to defense-related experience by appointing Israel Katz to the position.

Opposition party leaders Yair Lapid, Benny Gantz, Avigdor Liberman and Yair Golan say they will hold a joint announcement at the Knesset today.

Ministers in Netanyahu’s party congratulate Trump

File - Education Minister Yoav Kisch at the ministry's Jerusalem offices, August 31, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party issue statements congratulating Donald Trump, even though US networks other than Fox News are yet to call the presidential race.

“Welcome back Mr. President!!” tweets Education Minister Yoav Kisch, in English.

Culture Minister Miki Zohar writes in Hebrew: “Congratulations to US President-elect Donald Trump. We are already looking forward to the next four years.”

Trump supporters in Dearborn, Michigan, erupt in cheers as Fox News declares GOP win in Pennsylvania

Alaa Sanger, right and Abrahim Tamimi, both supporters of Republican US presidential nominee former president Donald Trump, watch results during an Arab Americans for Trump watch party at the Lava Java Cafe, a hookah lounge, early on November 6, 2024, in Dearborn, Michigan. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

DEARBORN, Michigan — For the first time tonight, attendees at the Arab Americans for Trump election watch party in Dearborn, Michigan, have erupted in cheers and applause, as Fox News calls the US state of Pennsylvania for Donald Trump, which would all but clinch his return to the White House.

Optimism has been bubbling along with the hookah for the past several hours at the Lava Java Cafe, but the several dozen Trump supporters present appeared careful not to celebrate prematurely.

Now, with Fox putting Trump just three electoral votes away from clinching the presidency, election watch party attendees are willing to let loose.

Arab Americans for Trump national chairman Bishara Bahbah says he expected the former president to win, but admits his surprise that he appears to have done so in a landslide, with the latest counts putting the Republican nominee ahead in all seven swing states.

“We were hoping he’d at least get Michigan, and then use that as a springboard to win the whole thing, but this is incredible,” he says.

“This is good for ending the wars. It’s good for peace in the Middle East,” Bahbah adds.

Fox News projects Trump win in Pennsylvania, which would all but seal presidency; other networks more cautious

Fox News projects that Republican Donald Trump has won the battleground state of Pennsylvania, which would all but close off Democrat Kamala Harris’s chances of winning the US presidency.

Other networks and data providers have yet to make a call in the state.

Trump has already won the swing states of North Carolina and Georgia in the US presidential election, according to Edison Research and the major US outlets, taking him closer to completing a stunning political comeback four years after he left the White House.

He is showing strength across broad swaths of the country. The former president is headed to a convention center near his home in Palm Beach, Florida, to address supporters, a campaign aidehas said.

Republicans have also won a US Senate majority after flipping Democratic seats in West Virginia and Ohio.

Neither party appears to have an edge in the fight for control of the House of Representatives, where Republicans currently hold a narrow majority.

79% of US Jews voted for Kamala Harris, according to largest preliminary exit poll

With some US Jews feeling alienated from the left and others all-in on the right due to support for Israel, some have speculated that Donald Trump could post an unusually strong showing among Jewish voters.

Initial exit polls suggest that is not the case. The National Election Pool, which produces an exit poll for a consortium of major news organizations, has found that 79% of Jews say they voted Democratic, compared to 21% who voted Republican.

Edison Research, which conducts the national pool poll, surveyed voters in 10 states: Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin. (It did not survey voters in New York or California, which are home to the largest Jewish populations and also reliably vote Democratic by wide margins.)

It does not immediately release details about how many voters were surveyed and cautions that the results may change as polling continues and results are adjusted to reflect the real vote tallies, a process called weighting that is a standard component of survey methodology.

If accurate, the National Election Pool’s result would be the lowest proportion of Jewish votes for a Republican presidential candidate in 24 years.

But that’s a big if: Exit polls are notoriously unreliable, with famous examples of polls failing to reflect the real results of elections.

Some have shifted in methodology as the proportion of voters casting ballots in person on Election Day has fallen over time. And like all polls, they can also reflect the partisan bent of their pollsters.

Fox News, which is right-leaning but has a reputation for reliable polling, has conducted its own Election Day “voter analysis” that it says solved some of the problems in traditional exit polling. It finds that 67% of Jews voted for Harris, compared to 31% for Trump. The poll still finds that Jews voted for Harris at higher rates than members of any other religion.

Both the Fox News poll and the National Election Pool ask voters about their opinions on Israel. The Fox News poll finds that 56% of Trump voters strongly or somewhat support “continuing aid to Israel in the war against Hamas and Hezbollah,” while 58% of Harris voters strongly or somewhat oppose doing so.

The National Election Pool survey asks voters whether they think US support for Israel is too strong, not strong enough or just right. Voters are evenly split among the categories, with Democrats making up 68% of those who say US support for Israel is too strong and Republicans making up 81% of those who say it is not strong enough.

Harris campaign says she will not speak on election night

Kamala Harris will not address her supporters on election night, her campaign says, after Donald Trump pushes closer to victory in the tense US presidential vote.

“You won’t hear from the vice president tonight but you will hear from her tomorrow,” Cedric Richmond, Harris campaign co-chair, tells a watch party at Howard University in Washington.

‘There were no new wars when he was president’: Arab Michigan mayor explains Trump endorsement

Dearborn Heights, Michigan Mayor Bill Bazzi speaks as Republican US presidential nominee former president Donald Trump looks on during a campaign rally at the Suburban Collection Showplace, October 26, 2024, in Novi, Michigan. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

DEARBORN, Michigan — Dearborn Heights Mayor Bill Bazzi explains his decision to endorse Donald Trump, arguing that the Middle East was a much calmer region when the former US president was in office.

“During his administration, there were no new wars, and he worked to pull the US out of wars that previous administrations started,” Bazzi says in an interview with The Times of Israel on the sidelines of an election watch party in Dearborn hosted by Arab Americans for Trump.

Bazzi’s town of Dearborn Heights is home to roughly 70,000 people outside of Detroit — most of whom are Arab American, he says.

Bazzi is one of two Arab mayors to endorse Trump ahead of Tuesday’s election, demonstrating widespread frustration in the minority community over the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war.

The Lebanon native says his frustration extends to US President Joe Biden’s handling of the war in Ukraine.

“I don’t like seeing our tax dollars being used to fund war machines — both in Israel and in Ukraine. We just keep funding them, but there’s no diplomacy,” he argues, as excited chatter continues picking up at the Dearborn watch party, given the initially favorable results for Trump.

Dearborn Heights mayor Bill Bazzi at an election watch party in Dearborn, Michigan on November 5, 2024. (Jacob Magid/Times of Israel)

The US has sought to broker a ceasefire in Gaza, but has blamed Hamas for refusing to engage in negotiations and for rejecting repeated offers, while also expressing frustration with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for adding conditions to previous Israeli proposals.

Bazzi says the US hasn’t used its leverage over Israel to end the war, and failing to do so will lead to the conflict spreading further throughout the region.

He recognizes that the US will always support the State of Israel, “but you still have to hold that government accountable for some of the atrocities being committed against both Palestinian and Lebanese people.”

Asked about Trump’s rhetoric against immigrants and the ban he instituted against Muslim-majority countries, Bazzi argues that the former president’s policy only targeted seven of the world’s 40-plus Muslim countries in order to prevent the entry of former ISIS fighters.

A soft-spoken military veteran, Bazzi recalls growing up in southern Lebanon during a civil war in the 1970s, which also featured aerial bombardments from Israel.

“I remember sleeping under a stairwell when our village was getting bombed. We could feel the earth shake,” he says.

“I was a product of war myself, and I don’t want to see other kids go through what I went through,” Bazzi adds.

‘Yesssss’: Ben Gvir, Smotrich rejoice in projected Trump win

Religious Zionism party head MK Bezalel Smotrich (right) with Otzma Yehudit party head MK Itamar Ben Gvir in the Knesset, on December 28, 2022. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

A pair of far-right Israeli ministers appear to welcome Donald Trump on his likely US election win, though the victory isn’t yet final.

“God bless Israel; God bless America,” tweets Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich tweets in English, without explicitly mentioning Trump.

God bless Israel????????
God bless America ????????

— בצלאל סמוטריץ' (@bezalelsm) November 6, 2024

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir is more unequivocal, retweeting a post from July in which he wrote, “God Bless Trump,” and adding: “Yesssss.”

Yesssss ???????????????????????? https://t.co/kPqkYI3PDP

— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) November 6, 2024

Trump wins Georgia, which becomes first US state to flip from 2020 result

The Associated Press, CNN and The New York Times have called the battleground US state of Georgia for Donald Trump, giving him a further boost after he won North Carolina and continues to lead in the other swing states.

The result returns Georgia’s 16 electoral votes to the Republican column, with the state becoming the first to flip from the 2020 results. Joe Biden narrowly carried the state back then, but Republicans have won every other Georgia presidential vote since 1996.

Republicans secure US Senate control

Supporters of former US president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump cheers near his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, on Election Day, November 5, 2024. (Giorgio Viera / AFP)

The GOP has won control of the US Senate as Senator Deb Fischer secures reelection in Nebraska.

With at least 51 Senate seats secured, Republicans will retake control of the chamber for the first time in four years. It gives the party a major power center in Washington, DC, and important power in confirming the next president’s Cabinet, as well as any Supreme Court justice if there is a vacancy.

With a handful of battleground races yet to be decided, Republicans still have an opportunity to grow their majority.

Trump en route to his watch party from Mar-a-Lago

Donald Trump is on his way to his Mar-a-Lago watch party, where he’s expected to speak tonight to his gathered supporters.

Craig Goldman of Texas wins race, becoming 3rd Jewish Republican in US Congress

Craig Godman appears on the NBC affiliate in Dallas Fort Worth on May 23, 2024. (YouTube via JTA)

Craig Goldman, a businessman and Texas state legislator, has handily won his congressional race in north Texas, bringing the number of Jewish Republicans in the US Congress to three for the first time in more than a decade.

Goldman’s defeat of Democrat Trey Hunt, by a margin of 64% to 36%, means that he succeeds Rep. Kay Granger in the 12th District, which stretches west from Dallas-Fort Worth. Granger, a long-serving Republican congresswoman who was close to the pro-Israel community, is retiring.

Goldman will join Reps. David Kustoff of Tennessee and Max Miller of Ohio as the Republican Jewish contingent in the House. Republicans have not had three Jewish members in Congress since the 2000s, when Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia had a leading role in the House and Norm Coleman of Minnesota and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania served in the Senate. It shrunk to one in 2009 when Coleman was unseated and Specter switched parties.

There are currently 24 Jewish Democrats in the House and nine in the Senate.

Goldman, 56, is a real estate businessman who has served in the Texas legislature for 12 years, rising to become majority leader in the state House of Representatives. He has been an active member of and a fundraiser for the Republican Jewish Coalition.

“Congressman-Elect Goldman’s victory expands Jewish Republican representation with  @HouseGOP!” the RJC says in a tweet, congratulating Goldman.

According to a May profile in Jewish Insider, Goldman stands out against the ascendant isolationist wing within his party by supporting continued aid to the United States’ allies abroad, including both Israel and Ukraine.

IDF says it killed Hezbollah commander behind many rocket attacks on Galilee

Troops operating in southern Lebanon in an undated photo cleared by the military for publication on November 5, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

A Hezbollah battalion commander in the Khiam area of southern Lebanon was killed in a recent airstrike, the IDF says.

The military says that the Hezbollah commander, Hussein Abd al-Halim Harb, was responsible for numerous rocket attacks on towns in the Galilee, especially Metula.

Meanwhile, during ground operations in southern Lebanon in the past day, the IDF says several Hezbollah operatives behind rocket fire on Israel were killed in airstrikes directed by troops of the 36th Division.

Trump antagonist Schiff wins California senate seat, but GOP expected to take control

Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff has won the California US Senate seat long held by the late Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein after a lopsided, low-key contest.

The Jewish Los Angeles-area congressman, who rose to national prominence as the lead prosecutor in then-President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial, defeated Republican former baseball star Steve Garvey, who had tried to parlay his sports celebrity into a political upset.

Schiff shaped his campaign around national issues including abortion rights while continuing to play a foil to Trump, calling the former president a threat to democracy.

New York’s George Latimer, who was heavily backed by pro-Israel group AIPAC in a June primary against US Rep. Jamaal Bowman, beats Republican Dr. Miriam Levitt Flisser.

In Ohio, Republican Bernie Moreno is projected to beat incumbent Sherrod Brown, flipping a second seat for Republicans and likely giving them a majority in the chamber.

Trump projected to win North Carolina in major boost for former president

A supporter of US Presidential candidate Donald Trump poses for a picture at "Pinche Gringo" restaurant as he follows the US election results in Mexico City on November 5, 2024. (Yuri CORTEZ / AFP)

The Associated Press calls North Carolina for Republican candidate Donald Trump, marking a first win in a key battleground state for either candidate.

Electoral vote tallies show Kamala Harris moving closer to Trump after she is widely projected to win California, Oregon and Washington, but she still appears to be trailing in key battleground states that have yet to be called.

Trump continues to lead in Georgia, and Pennsylvania, and is also ahead in Michigan, Wisconsin and even Minnesota, three states much further behind in counting ballots. He also has a tiny lead in Arizona.

Polls have now been closed everywhere but Alaska and Hawaii.

Supporters of US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris react as they attend an election night event at Howard University in Washington, DC, on November 5, 2024. (CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP)

At a party for Harris at Howard University in Washington, D.C., the mood is decidedly subdued, according to people there. Attendees of a Florida party for Trump, meanwhile, are jubilant as the former president appears to move closer to retaking the White House.

Analysts caution that many votes are yet to be counted and that it could take days for a final picture to become clear.

Rocket sirens ring in Gaza border community

Rocket sirens have sounded in Netiv Ha’asara, a community just north of Gaza, ending an overnight lull in which no alarms were triggered in Israel’s south or north.

There is no comment from the Israel Defense Forces on the possible attack and no reports of injuries or damage.

Sirens in the area at this time of day are sometimes declared false alarms.

New York Times says Trump likely to win presidency

Supporters of former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump show their support on Election Day near his residence at the Mar-a-Lago Club, in West Palm Beach, Florida, on November 5, 2024. (Giorgio Viera / AFP)

The New York Times says it considers Trump “likely to win the presidency” with the former president leading in key swing states.

The newspaper puts Trump’s chances of winning at 87%.

No major network has called any of the seven crucial battlegrounds yet, but at an election party for Trump near his home in south Florida, supporters are growing more excited and rowdy, giving the event the feel of a rally, the Times reports.

Meanwhile, at a “pray and watch party” at Detroit’s Historic King Solomon Baptist Church, a pastor struggles to keep spirits buoyed.

“I am so glad we are here,” says Rev. Charles Williams II, the event’s host. “If I was at home, I would turn off the TV and go to bed. Because this is challenging,” Williams says, reflecting the anxiety in the room.

Winning governor race, North Carolina’s Stein says voters rejected hate, chaos

Democratic North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Attorney General Josh Stein speaks during an election night watch party, November 5, 2024, in Raleigh, North Carolina. (AP Photo/Grant Halverson)

JTA — Josh Stein, North Carolina’s Democratic attorney general, says the state’s voters “chose hope over hate, competence over chaos, decency over division,” after he beats Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the Republican candidate who once called himself a “Black NAZI.”

“Tonight the people of North Carolina resoundingly embraced a vision that’s optimistic, forward-looking and welcoming, a vision that’s about creating opportunity for every North Carolinian,” Stein says in his victory speech.

Stein, 58, is a centrist Democrat who is the son of a prominent civil rights lawyer. He is active in Temple Beth Or in Raleigh, a Reform synagogue, and has invoked his Judaism publicly. He once coached a kids’ JCC soccer team.

“Our Jewish faith obliges us to do our part to make the world a better place, better than we found it,” he tweeted to mark Rosh Hashanah in 2022. “This principle guides me as your attorney general.”

For the state’s Jewish Democrats, the joy of seeing Stein win may be overshadowed only by the relief of seeing Robinson lose. A newcomer to politics before he won the lieutenant governor’s race in 2020, Robinson has a history of offensive posts, including on adult websites, that emerged in a litany of revelations over the last year.

Besides calling himself a “Nazi,” Robinson has written dismissively about Nazis, posting on Facebook in 2017, “I am so sick of seeing and hearing people STILL talk about Nazis and Hitler and how evil and manipulative they were. NEWS FLASH PEOPLE, THE NAZIS (National Socialist) ARE GONE! We did away with them.”

Trump could impose arms embargo on Israel if war continues, Arab surrogate says

Arab Americans for Trump national chairman Bishara Bahbah at an election watch party in Dearborn, Michigan on November 5, 2024. (Jacob Magid/Times of Israel)

DEARBORN, Michigan — The national chairman of Arab Americans for Trump tells The Times of Israel that the Republican nominee could well impose an arms embargo against Israel if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ignores his call to quickly end the war in Gaza.

“If he says to Netanyahu, ‘End the war by the time I enter office,’ and Netanyahu fails to do so, there’s nothing stopping Trump from stopping the flow of arms to Israel,” Bahbah says in an interview on the sidelines of an election watch party in Dearborn, Michigan.

Asked how Trump plans to implement his pledge to end the multi-front Mideast war, Bahbah acknowledges that the Republican has been light on the details but points to his significant influence over Netanyahu. He notes that the former president got over the Israeli premier congratulating Joe Biden on winning the 2020 election.

Judging solely based on Trump’s record as president, though, there is little to suggest that he would abandon Israel.

But Bahbah retorts that “the Trump of 2016 and 2020 is a very different person than the Trump of 2024.”

“He’s been exposed to the Arab Muslim American communities. He has had at least 15 meetings with Arab and Muslim leaders,” the Trump surrogate argues.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump visits The Great Commoner, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, in Dearborn, Mich., as owner Albert Abbas, left, escorts him and Massad Boulos watches, (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Indeed, entering Trump’s inner circle over the past year has been Lebanese-born businessman Massad Boulos, whose son Michael married Tiffany Trump in 2022.

The elder Boulos is spending election night with Trump at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, Bahbah says.

“Trump has committed himself publicly multiple times that he will end the wars and bring peace to the Middle East, and he is someone who keeps his word,” Bahbah says.

But the former president has also urged Israel to “finish the job” in Gaza and used the term “Palestinian” as an insult in comments over the past year that have alarmed members of the Arab American community.

Bahbah says Trump simply meant that he wants to end the war with the former phrase, whereas he has not used the latter after doing so for the first time during a presidential debate in June.

“That was early on. After that he stopped,” Bahbah notes, adding that “During the Republican National Convention, he did not mention the word Palestinian or Palestine at all, and he did not use the word Muslim or Islamic either.”

Voters depart a polling place at McDonald Elementary School, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Dearborn, Mich. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

The Arab Americans for Trump national chairman says he has “to compare another four years of Harris to four years of Trump,” downplaying the former president’s decision to move the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

“Moving a plaque from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem does not equal killing 43,000 people,” he says, referencing the Hamas-run health ministry’s death toll from the Gaza war.

“I have zero confidence that Harris would be able to compel the Israelis to do anything,” Bahbah adds.

Trump inches ahead amid wait for results from battleground states

New vote tallies coming in after polls closed in some western states push Donald Trump up to as many 205 electoral votes compared to 117 for Kamala Harris, according to a Fox News projection, but the battle over swing states seen as key to victory for either candidate remains neck and neck.

NBC, ABC and CBS all give Harris 91, but vary over Trump, counting between 178 and 201 electoral votes for the Republican.

The AP and New York Times, meanwhile, have him leading the Democrat 198 to 109.

The NYT’s needle now gives Trump a 78 percent chance of winning.

In Georgia, which appears to be the first of seven swing states nearing the completion of vote counting, Trump leads by some 200,000 votes, or 5%, with 85% of ballots reporting.

New York Times gives Trump edge in election forecast

With polls closed in all but one swing state — Nevada — The New York Times is estimating that Donald Trump has a better chance to win than Democrat Kamala Harris, putting his chances at victory at 69-70 percent.

The network says Georgia is leaning heavily toward the Republican, and he appears to be edging out Harris in North Carolina as well. If she loses both states, she’ll need to notch wins in Pennsylvania, Michigan and  Wisconsin to stay in the game.

In Pennsylvania, Harris holds a small lead, but analysts say the tally is mostly made up of mail-in and early ballots, which lean Democrat. She also holds a three point lead in Wisconsin, but there are many votes yet to be counted. In Michigan, Harris holds a more substantive lead, but only 13% of votes there have been tallie thus far.

Arab Americans for Trump, a group unthinkable 4 years ago, gathers to watch results in Michigan

Arab Americans for Trump at an election watch party in Dearborn, Michigan on November 5, 2024. (Courtesy)

DEARBORN, Michigan — The leadership of Arab Americans for Trump is getting together for an election watch party at a smoke-filled hookah lounge in Dearborn, Michigan.

Several dozen members of the local Arab community, considered the largest outside of the Middle East, come and go, as a clear picture is not expected for several hours at the earliest. Organizers plan to puff away in the lounge until at least 2 a.m.

Just two hours have passed since polls began closing in certain states and no competitive states have been called yet, so little attention is being paid to the election eve broadcasts, as attendees largely converse among themselves.

While attendance at the watch party appears underwhelming, the mere existence of an Arab American campaign supportive of former president Donald Trump would have been all but unheard of in the previous election cycle, when the Republican leader’s record during his first term included a host of steps supportive of Israel and a ban on immigration from Muslim-majority countries.

But fury over the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of the war in Gaza has led to a mass abandonment of the Democratic Party by the Arab American community, which backed the Democratic nominee overwhelmingly in 2020, helping Biden win the critical swing state. Some have embraced Trump’s anti-war rhetoric.

After spending the day canvassing in Dearborn, Arab Americans for Trump national chairman Bishara Bahbah says turnout in the community seemed about average, but well down numbers from 2020 when there was significant enthusiasm in preventing a second term for Trump.

This time around, Bahbah predicts a radically different breakdown, with the voters in the half-a-million-strong Arab American community split between Trump and third-party candidate Jill Stein.

“Very few people would be willing to admit that they voted for Harris,” the Trump surrogate claims.

Trump maintains lead over Harris as more states called

Tallies from states where polls just closed push Donald Trump as high as 178 electoral votes to 113 for Kamala Harris, at least according to Fox News.

TV networks ABC, CBS and NBC put the race at 154 to Trump versus 30 for Harris, while the AP and New York Times have it at 137 to 99.

The New York Times’ live forecast needle estimates Trump will finish with 281 electoral votes to Harris’s 257, though the paper says the race is still a toss-up.

None of the seven swing states considered key to either candidate winning have yet been called by any major outlet.

Floridians move sharply to right, including near Miami

Supporters of former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump show their support on Election Day near his residence at the Mar-a-Lago Club, in West Palm Beach, Florida, on November 5, 2024. (Giorgio Viera / AFP)

In comparison to 2020, nearly all of Florida has moved right during this presidential election cycle, figures show.

Miami-Dade County saw the greatest increase, with an 18 percentage point move right. It was enough to move the county from the Democrats’ column in 2020 to the Republicans’ this year.

At least some of the shift is attributed by some analysts to older Jewish voters moving toward Trump due to the perception that he is more supportive of Israel than Harris.

But the figures also reflect the former swing state’s shift toward Republicans over the last decade.

Florida voters also reject an abortion rights amendment and keep in place Gov. Ron DeSantis’ 6-week ban, as the initiative fails to reach the required 60% threshold.

The measure faced an uphill battle in the deeply red state where Trump, a Florida resident, said during the campaign that he would vote against it.

Electoral vote projections put Trump over Harris, though math varies

Howard University students watch live election results during a watch party near an election night event for Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at Howard University in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP/Nathan Howard)

Various US news outlets are giving different electoral vote counts as they disagree over what states to call, even as the electoral map shapes up just as predicted so far.

While the New York Times and Associated Press project Donald Trump at 101 votes to Kamala Harris’s 71, ABC News and CBS News give her a mere 27 votes to Trump’s 105, and NBC News puts the race at 105 to 30. Fox News, meanwhile, puts the tally at 111 to 72 in Trump’s favor.

Networks appear to be readying to call Georgia for Trump; the former president holds an 11-point lead with nearly 60% of votes counted.

The state is one of seven battlegrounds key to either candidate winning the White House.

A New York Times gauge gives Trump a slightly smoother path to the 270 needed electoral votes.

Projections are based on exit poll data shared by the networks and actual vote tallies released by authorities, though each outlet has its own model for building out the math to make a projection.

Georgia Rep. Greene, criticized for use of antisemitic tropes, cruises to third term

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the conservative firebrand who specializes in incendiary political speech and has been criticized for dalliances with antisemitic rhetoric, has been reelected to a third term serving a staunchly Republican district in northwest Georgia.

Greene defeated Democrat Shawn Harris, a retired Army general and farmer.

The race was not expected to be competitive.

Greene has generated a national profile fighting with Democrats, spreading antisemitic conspiracy theories online and even trying to boot her own party’s leadership as she unsuccessfully tried to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson from the job this year.

One person she doesn’t criticize is Donald Trump as she carefully links her brand with his.

Candidates notch expected wins as more states called; key races still up for grabs

Polls have closed in most states in the eastern US, giving slightly more shape to results of the US presidential race.

Several projections give Republican Donald Trump the states of Florida, South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Missouri, notching him 95 of 271 needed electoral votes. He was expected to win all seven states.

Democrat Kamala Harris is widely projected to win Maryland, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and the District of Columbia, as expected, giving her 35 electoral votes.

Harris has a lead in Ohio, which had been projected to go to Trump, and voting tallies show Texas still neck and neck, though most votes have not yet been counted in both states.

Harris is also leading in the key states of Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Michigan, and in Virginia and Virginia, though vote-counting remains early in all of those states.

Trump has a lead in Georgia, another key state, and in Kansas.

Campaign aides on both sides sanguine as first votes counted

Voters wait in a long line at a polling place at the Michelle and Barack Obama Sports Complex on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP/Chris Pizzello)

Senior Donald Trump and Kamala Harris advisers are both projecting confidence as polls begin to close in the US.

“He feels great,” aide Corey Lewandowski says of Trump, speaking at the former president’s watch party in West Palm Beach, Florida. “We are ready, when the election is called, to begin the transition to put this country back on track.”

Trump’s campaign sees its easiest path to the nomination running through Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

“Donald Trump has momentum,” he argues.

Earlier, senior Harris campaign adviser Stephanie Cutter told MSNBC that the vice president was better at staying on message in the closing weeks of the race

“I’m not going to make any predictions,” Cutter said. “But I do think that we finished very strong. And if you were making your decision in the last couple weeks of this campaign, I think, you know, by significant margins, people were deciding for Vice President Harris.”

Trump wins West Virginia, leads in Florida, but battlegrounds still tight

Republican candidate Donald Trump is projected to win West Virginia as voting ends there, bringing his electoral vote count to 23.

The state also votes Republican Jim Justice to the Senate, replacing moderate Democrat Joe Manchin.

In the battleground state of North Carolina, the presidential race is still too close to call, but Democrat Josh Stein is projected by Fox News to win the race for the governor seat, beating out controversial Trump-backed Republican candidate Mark Robinson.

Tallies in Florida give Trump a sizable lead over Democrat Kamala Harris.

He also has the edge in Georgia and South Carolina, where vote-counting is at much earlier stages, while Harris leads in Virginia.

Iraqi group claims fresh drone attacks on Israel

An Iran-backed militia in Iraq claims to have fired drones at Israel in a pair of statements.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq says it fired drones at an unspecified site in “the southern occupied territories,” apparently referring to Israel’s south.

The group also says it attacked a “vital target” in Haifa.

Earlier, the Israeli military said it downed two drones fired from Iraq, including one that entered Israeli airspace in the Arava Desert, close to Ramon Airport.

The second drone was shot down before entering Israeli airspace, the military said.

Those attacks were also claimed by the Iraqi group.

There are no reports of drone attacks in Israel since then and no sirens have been activated.

First projections give Trump Kentucky and Indiana; Harris takes Vermont

The first statewide polls in the US have closed, with Republican candidate Donald Trump projected to win Kentucky and Indiana, and Democrat Kamala Harris snagging Vermont.

The projections give Trump 19 electoral votes to Harris’s three.

Voting tallies are still too close to call in the key states of Georgia, Florida as well as in Virginia and Florida, where some polls have closed.

In Vermont, Senator Bernie Sanders is projected to retain his seat.

Polls are set to close in North Carolina in 25 minutes.

Pro-Netanyahu channel says protests ‘failed,’ noting low turnout

A news station seen as heavily supportive of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says protesters “failed emphatically” to repeat the 2023 demonstrations that forced the premier to walk back his first attempted firing of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, noting the significantly smaller turnout.

“Hundreds, maybe thousands of protesters indeed went out into the streets, after millions of cell phones got text messages calling on them to take to the streets,” Channel 14 says in its coverage of the protests. “There were a few protests in various places, the largest among them on the Ayalon [highway] in Tel Aviv.”

Indeed, the number of protesters to show out appears to have paled in comparison to March 2023, though there are no crowd numbers from organizers or officials.

On the Ayalon, all protesters have now been removed from both sides of the Tel Aviv highway, according to media reports, though detritus from the rallies, including bonfires set by demonstrators, is still being cleared before traffic can resume.

First polls close, hours extended in some states

Polls in a few Indiana districts across the state and polls on the eastern side of Kentucky are the first to close in the nation.

The first large poll closing comes at 7 p.m. Eastern US time (2 a.m. in Israel). That closure includes most of Florida, all of Georgia and Virginia, among others, though some polls in Georgia will stay open for up to 45 extra minutes due to bomb threats that shut down ballot boxes and other issues.

Some areas of the key swing state of Pennsylvania, where polls are set to close at 8 p.m., will remain open for up to two hours due to delays.

In Kentucky, a judge has declined to grant a two-hour extension of voting hours in Kentucky’s most populous county after problems with electronic poll books led to delays at some precincts.

Election officials in Jefferson County, which includes Louisville, said delays involved loading poll books to include the 113,000 early voters who cast ballots before Election Day.

Despite the scattered delays, no major issues have been reported in the nationwide election.

Shifting tone, US official says Gallant firing ‘concerning,’ questions PM’s motives

Israelis block the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv as they protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to fire Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, November 5, 2024. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

After initially avoiding criticizing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to fire Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, the Biden administration shifts to questioning the premier’s motives.

“We have real questions about the reasons for Gallant’s firing and about what is driving the decision,” a US official tells The Times of Israel.

Critics in Israel accuse Netanyahu of firing Gallant for narrow political considerations related to coalition politicking rather than putting the nation’s security first. Netanyahu claims Gallant was insubordinate.

Three hours ago, a White House National Security Council spokesperson sufficed with a statement hailing Gallant and pledging to work with his successor.

But the US official speaking to The Times of Israel now is less diplomatic.

“The surprising decision to fire Defense Minister Gallant is concerning, especially in the middle of two wars and as Israel prepares to defend against a potential attack from Iran,” the official says.

Over the past year, Biden officials speaking to The Times of Israel on condition of anonymity have shared their belief that some of Netanyahu’s key decisions relating to the prosecution of the war against Hamas have been motivated by his reliance on the support of far-right coalition partners in order to remain in power.

Cops use ‘skunk’ water to clear part of Tel Aviv highway, drag protesters away

Police have used high-powered streams of foul-smelling “skunk” water to disperse protesters on the southbound side of the Ayalon highway.

According to the Ynet news site, relatives of hostage Matan Zangauker are among those blasted with the water.

In the other direction, mounted officers encircle several dozen protesters remaining on the road, dragging them onto waiting buses one by one in front of a large media scrum. Earlier, a water cannon was used to put out bonfires on the road, but was not aimed at the protesters.

Protesters yell “Where were you in Beit Lid?” at the police, referring to the lack of arrests at a military court stormed by a right-wing mob in July, after reservists were taken there on suspicion of sodomizing a Palestinian inmate.

Police have yet to announce any arrests in Tel Aviv.

The protests in Tel Aviv and elsewhere appear to have been smaller than those that erupted when Gallant was fired in March 2023, but still far exceeded crowd size limits set by the Homefront Command due to the threat of rocket fire.