The Times of Israel liveblogged Sunday’s events as they happened.
Pro-Kyiv site adds Liberman to list of people accused of harming Ukraine’s interests

Finance Minister and Yisrael Beytenu head Avigdor Liberman is added to Peacemaker, a private website that lists individuals accused of harming Ukraine’s national interest.
The site, run by anonymous Ukrainians, calls Liberman a “Russian agent of influence” who “manipulates socially significant information in favor of the Russian-fascist aggressor.”
The site also condemns the Moldova-born Liberman for refusing to condemn Russia over the massacre in Bucha, and allegedly trying to prevent the deployment of a field hospital to Ukraine. Yevgen Korniychuk, Ukraine’s ambassador to Israel, personally invited Liberman to view the evidence for himself at the time.
Though the site is not officially linked to the government, Ukraine’s border guards are believed to refer to the list, and some allege that two pro-Russian Ukrainians murdered in 2015 were targeted because their home addresses were listed on the site.
German FM says EU weighing blacklisting Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as terror group

Germany’s foreign minister says Berlin and EU members states are considering blacklisting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terror organization, given its role in the crackdown on ongoing protests in Iran.
“I made it clear last week that we will launch another package of sanctions, that we will examine how we can also list the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization,” Annalena Baerbock tells the ARD broadcaster, according to Reuters.
She also says there are currently no nuclear negotiations between Iran and the West.
Palestinian car-rammer reportedly visited junction every day over past month
The Palestinian assailant who carried out a ramming attack at separate locations near the West Bank city of Jericho visited the Almog Junction daily over the past month, the Kan public broadcaster reports.
Citing store employees, the report says the assailant would stop and sit in his car for several hours, and was taken to be “weird.”
The broadcaster also says security forces are probing whether there is any connection between the suspect and Udai Tamimi, who carried out a deadly shooting near Jerusalem earlier this month. Following a manhunt, Tamimi was caught while attempting another attack.
No intel indicating attack plans on election day — report
Israeli security forces do not have any intelligence about concrete threats to carry out attacks on election day, according to Channel 13 news, following a series of recent attacks.
But the network, which does not cite a source, says there is concern that the remnants of the Nablus-based Lion’s Den terror group will try to carry out an attack soon.
Ukraine blames Russia for making grain exports ‘impossible’
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia’s blockade of grain exports makes it “impossible” for fully loaded ships to leave port, Ukraine charges after Moscow claimed drone attacks on its Crimea fleet had exploited the grain corridor safe zone.
Kyiv’s maritime grain exports were halted after Russia pulled out of a landmark agreement that allowed the vital shipments.
The July deal to unlock grain exports signed between Russia and Ukraine and brokered by Turkey and the United Nations, is critical to easing the global food crisis caused by the conflict.
“(A) bulk carrier loaded with 40 tons of grain was supposed to leave the Ukraine port today,” Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov tweets.
“These foodstuffs were intended for Ethiopians, that are on the verge of famine. But due to the blockage of the ‘grain corridor’ by Russia the export is impossible,” the Ukrainian minister says.
The agreement had already allowed more than nine million tons of Ukrainian grain to be exported, and was due to be renewed on November 19.
Netanyahu evasive over Ben Gvir’s demand to be police minister

Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu responds evasively to Otzma Yehudit chief Itamar Ben Gvir’s demand that he be public security minister in the next government, if their right-religious bloc secures a majority in Tuesday’s vote.
“Ben Gvir will be a minister only if I form the next government and for this to happen Likud must be bigger than Lapid,” Netanyahu says, without addressing whether he would agree to give the ministry — which oversees police — to the far-right lawmaker.
Meanwhile, Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s National Unity party rips the prospect of Ben Gvir receiving the public security portfolio. It also notes that Ben Gvir’s electoral partner, Religious Zionism leader Bezalel Smotrich, has said he would seek the Defense Ministry.
“Ben Gvir demands, Ben Gvir receives. It’s clear to everyone how Netanyahu’s extremist government will look — public security minister Ben Gvir will burn the country from within and Defense Minister Smotrich will burn it from without,” National Unity says in a statement.
Ra’am leader Abbas to reportedly call for Jewish voters to back his Islamist party

Ra’am leader Mansour Abbas is due to call on Jewish voters to back his Islamist party during a press conference, Channel 12 news reports.
Citing concerns over not passing the minimum vote threshold, the network says Ra’am believes it needs just a few thousand more votes to ensure its entry to the next Knesset but is struggling to turn out Arab voters.
Final TV polls predicted Ra’am, which is part of the outgoing coalition, will pick up four seats in Tuesday’s election.
Hadash-Ta’al, a predominantly Arab alliance that is aligned with neither of the two major political blocs, yesterday made a similar appeal for Jewish support.
Far-right Ben Gvir says will demand police ministry in coalition talks

Leader of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party MK Itamar Ben Gvir says he will demand to be appointed public security minister with authority over the police, during coalition negotiations after the upcoming election.
Ben Gvir cites a series of Palestinian terror attacks committed in recent months in cities around the country and in the West Bank, and accuses Prime Minister Yair Lapid, Defense Minister Benny Gantz, and Public Security Minister Omer Bar Lev of “falling asleep on their watch.”
The far-right leader lays out a five-point plan for dealing with the spike in terrorism, including arming reserve soldiers; relaxing open fire rules to allow police and soldiers to use live fire at rioters throwing stones and petrol bombs; and passing legislation granting police and soldiers immunity from criminal prosecution over actions they take.
The left-wing Meretz party responds to Ben Gvir’s announcement by posting video footage of the Otzma Yehudit MK from 1995 dressing up as Baruch Goldstein, the Jewish terrorist who carried out the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre in 1994 killing 29 Palestinians.
Wife of Brazil’s Bolsonaro casts vote wearing Israeli flag T-shirt

Brazil’s First Lady Michelle Bolsonaro shows up to vote in the country’s runoff presidential elections wearing a T-shirt depicting an Israeli flag.
Her husband, President Jair Bolsonaro, is facing left-wing challenger and former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is slightly ahead in polls.
Bolsonaro, who enjoys the support of the country’s millions of evangelical Christians, pledged to move Brazil’s embassy to Jerusalem, but in the end opened a trade and investment office in the capital.
Brazil’s First Lady Michelle Bolsonaro shows up to vote in an Israel flag t-shirt, a move sure to excite @jairbolsonaro’s many millions of evangelical supporters pic.twitter.com/OIIf2qPbG2
— Lazar Berman (@Lazar_Berman) October 30, 2022
Paul Pelosi attacker carried zip ties, in echo of US Capitol riot — source

WASHINGTON — The man accused of attacking US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband carried zip ties with him when he broke into the couple’s San Francisco home, according to a person briefed on the investigation, in what is the latest parallel to the Capitol riot of January 6, 2021.
The person isn’t authorized to publicly discuss the Pelosi case and speaks to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
The attack on Democratic leader’s 82-year-old husband, Paul Pelosi, less than two weeks before before the November 8 election that will determine control of Congress was a jarring reminder of the nation’s toxic political climate.
Police said the suspect, identified as David DePape, 42, confronted Paul Pelosi in the family’s Pacific Heights home early Friday and, the AP has reported, demanded to know, “Where is Nancy?”
The two men struggled over a hammer before officers responding to a 911 call to the home saw DePape strike Paul Pelosi at least once, police said. DePape was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, elder abuse and burglary. He is expected to be arraigned early in the coming week.
Eerie echoes of the January 6 riot were apparent in the Paul Pelosi assault.
Rioters who swarmed the Capitol trying to overturn Joe Biden’s election victory over Donald Trump roamed the halls and shouted loud calls demanding “Where’s Nancy?” Some in the siege were seen inside the Capitol carrying zip ties.
The violent attack on a congressional leader’s family comes as threats to lawmakers and other political officials are at all-time highs.
At least 30 killed in India bridge collapse
NEW DELHI — At least 30 people died today when a 100-year-old suspension bridge collapsed in India, a government minister confirms to AFP.
“So far 30 bodies have been recovered. The rescue operation is going,” says Brijesh Merja, a minister in the state government of Gujarat, where the incident happened.
IDF to impose closure on West Bank, Gaza during Tuesday’s election

The Israeli army announces it will impose a closure on crossings between Israel and the West Bank and Gaza Strip during election day on Tuesday.
The closure is set to begin on November 1 at 00:01 a.m. and last until 11:59 p.m.
The Israel Defense Forces says the border crossings for Palestinians will reopen “subject to a situational assessment.”
Such closures are standard practice during festivals and holidays, in what the military says is a preventative measure against attacks at those times, which are seen as periods of increased tension.
Exceptions during the upcoming closure will be made for humanitarian and other outstanding cases, but will require the approval of the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories.
IDF acknowledges off-duty soldier wasn’t throwing rocks at troops

The Israel Defense Forces corrects itself after accusing left-wing activists and Palestinians of “violently attacking and throwing stones” at troops in the South Hebron Hills area of the West Bank on Friday.
In a new statement, the IDF admits that an activist — who is also an off-duty soldier — who was detained was actually throwing stones near a herd of sheep to direct them out of the area.
The activists strongly denied the IDF’s initial claims that they had attacked troops alongside Palestinians, and said they were only assisting the shepherd.
Still, the IDF says that the stones thrown by the activist to direct the sheep “consequently were also in the direction of the military force at the scene.”
One of the soldiers has filed a complaint with the police because he felt threatened by the stone-throwing.
The detained activist was released Friday after several hours of police questioning, and has been barred from the area for two weeks.
Lapid vows Israel will ‘stand firm against terror’ after ramming attack
Prime Minister Yair Lapid vows to “stand firmly against terror” after five soldiers were wounded in a ramming attack near Jericho.
“The State of Israel will act with a strong hand and without compromise against anyone who tries to harm us,” Lapid says in a statement.
He wishes a speedy recovery to the wounded and hails a cop and civilian who “neutralized the despicable terrorist.”
“You saved further lives, you are heroes,” he says.
Iran protesters hold fresh rallies, defying warning by Revolutionary Guards

PARIS — Iranian protesters rally again, defying an order by the powerful Revolutionary Guards to stop the demonstrations — now in their seventh week — sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini.
Students gathered overnight and today across Iran, even after Major General Hossein Salami, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, had warned demonstrators: “Do not come to the streets!”
Amini, 22, died in custody on September 16 after her arrest in Tehran for an alleged breach of Iran’s strict dress rules for women, triggering a wave of unrest and a state response on the “riots” that Amnesty International calls a “brutal crackdown.”
Security forces today fired gunshots and tear gas at a gathering of students in the flashpoint western city of Sanandaj, where videos showed billowing clouds of smoke amid chants of “freedom,” the Norway-based Hengaw organization reports.
It also posts a video with the sound of echoing gunfire, and of a 12-year-old girl wailing with her bloody arm peppered with metal pellets, in reports AFP cannot independently verify.
Security forces have struggled to contain the protests, which started with women taking to the streets and burning their hijab headscarves and which have evolved into a broader campaign to end the Islamic Republic founded in 1979.
Thousands of black-clad Mussolini admirers march to Italian fascist dictator’s crypt

PREDAPPIO, Italy — Several thousand black-clad fascist sympathizers chant and sing in praise of Benito Mussolini as they march to the slain Italian dictator’s crypt, 100 years after Mussolini entered Rome and completed a bloodless coup that gave rise to two decades of fascist rule.
The crowd of some 2,000 to 4,000 marchers, many sporting fascist symbols and singing hymns from Italy’s colonial era, is more numerous than in the recent past, as the fascist nostalgics celebrated the centenary of the March on Rome. On October 28, 1922, black-shirted fascists entered the Italian capital, launching a putsch that culminated two days later when Italy’s king handed Mussolini the mandate to start a new government.
The crowd in Predappio, Mussolini’s birth and final resting place in the northern Emilia-Romagna region, also is apparently emboldened by the fact that a party with neo-fascist roots is heading an Italian government for the first time since World War II.
Organizers warned participants, who arrived from as far away as Rome, Belgium and the United States, not to flash the Roman salute used by the Fascists, or they would risk prosecution. Still, some can’t resist as the crowd stops outside of the cemetery where Mussolini is laid to rest for prayers and greetings from Mussolini’s great-granddaughter, Orsola.
“After 100 years, we are still here to pay homage to the man this state wanted, and who we will never stop admiring,” Orsola Mussolini says to cheers.
She lists her great-grandfather’s accomplishments, citing an infrastructure boom that built schools, hospitals and public buildings, reclaimed malaria-infested swamps for cities, and the extension of a pension system to nongovernment workers. She is joined by her sister Vittoria, who leads the crowd in a prayer.
The crowd gives a final shout of “Duce, Duce, Duce,” Mussolini’s honorific as Italy’s dictator.
Anti-fascist campaigners held a march in Predappio on Friday, to mark the anniversary of the liberation of the town — and to prevent the fascists marching on the exact anniversary of the March on Rome.
Saudi tennis player defeats Israeli in match at Bahrain tournament
Saudi Arabia’s rising tennis star Yara Al-Hogbani has defeated Israel’s Isabell Bilaus in the semifinals of the J5 Isa Town Tournament currently taking place in Bahrain.
Al-Hogbani, 18, is the first professional Saudi female tennis player.
She will now need to beat Tamara Ermakova of Russia in the tournament’s final round later today.
#SaudiArabia’s rising #tennis star Yara Al-Hogbani beats Isabell Bilaus of #Israel in the semi-final of the J5 Isa Town Tournament 2022 in #Bahrain https://t.co/5bge9kLpzL pic.twitter.com/b7JW7U1ECq
— Arab News | Sport (@ArabNewsSport) October 30, 2022
German police probe attack on pro-democracy vigil outside Iranian embassy

BERLIN — German police are investigating an attack on a pro-democracy vigil outside the Iranian embassy in Berlin in which three people were injured early this morning.
Police say an officer guarding the embassy saw three men with face coverings tear banners and flags from a mobile home parked near the building.
Despite calls by the officer for them to stop, the assailants opened the door to the mobile home and attacked the four men inside, police say in a statement.
Three of occupants were injured in the ensuing fight, it says. The assailants fled by car.
German news agency dpa reports that the mobile home sported banners reading “Iranians want democracy” and “Women Life Freedom,” a slogan widely used in recent anti-government protests in Iran.
There have also been large solidarity protests in Germany and other European countries.
IDF to send reinforcements to West Bank after recent attacks

The Israel Defense Forces says it will be bolstering the West Bank with additional troops and police forces, following a series of attacks against civilians and Israeli troops in recent weeks.
The reinforcement will comprise IDF company and several Border Police units who will be deployed in the southern West Bank and near Jerusalem.
Earlier this year, the IDF deployed additional troops to the northern West Bank.
The IDF’s anti-terror offensive, mostly in the northern West Bank, was launched following a series of Palestinian attacks that killed 19 people earlier this year.
An Israeli man was killed in a terror attack last night, and another woman was killed in a suspected attack last month.
Four soldiers have also been killed in the West Bank in attacks and during the arrest operations.
With 25 people killed as a result of Palestinian attacks, 2022 is the deadliest year since 2015, when 29 people were killed.
Funeral held for victim of Kiryat Arba terror shooting

The funeral of a Kiryat Arba resident Ronen Hanania is being held in Jerusalem, after he was killed in a terror shooting at the West Bank settlement last night.
Hundreds of mourners are currently in attendance, according to Hebrew media estimates.
Russia claims Crimea attack drones traversed grain corridor ‘safe zone’
MOSCOW — Russia says it recovered debris from drones that attacked its fleet in Sevastopol, saying they used the “safe zone” of a grain corridor and could have been launched from a “civilian ship.”
“The marine drones were moving in the safe zone of the ‘grain corridor,'” Russia’s defense ministry says, adding it has “lifted” some of the drones’ debris from the sea.
It says one of the drones may have been launched “from aboard one of the civilian ships chartered by Kyiv or its Western masters for the export of agricultural products from the seaports of Ukraine.”
Moscow yesterday pulled out of a UN-brokered grain deal after its Black Sea Fleet in Russian-annexed Crimea was targeted by a drone attack.
Russia also says some of the drones used in what it called a “terrorist attack” had Canadian-made parts.
The army says its specialists had “conducted an examination of Canadian-made navigation modules.”
Russia has said Kyiv planned the Sevastopol attack with the help of British military specialists.
It says one of the drones’ data from a “navigation receiver” showed that it was launched “from the coast near the city of Odesa.”
Kyiv and the West condemned Moscow’s decision to exit the grain deal, brokered to ease a global food crisis.
Israeli envoy denounces Brussels for allowing ‘march of hate’ in Belgian capital
Israel’s envoy to Belgium denounces authorities in Brussels for allowing a “march of hate” today.
“Posters of murderous terrorists, calls to annihilate Israel, calls against the Palestinian Authority. Israel mustn’t exist, killers of Israeli children are heroes,” Idit Rosenzweig-Abu writes on Twitter.
She also rebukes the local municipality “for enabling this.”
Disgusted by the march of hate allowed today in Brussels. Posters of murderous terrorists, calls to annihilate Israel, calls against the Palestinian Authority. Israel mustn’t exist, killers of Israeli children are heroes. SHAME on @Ixelles_Elsene for enabling this. pic.twitter.com/KEEmHirhJZ
— Ambassador Idit Rosenzweig-Abu (@IditAbu) October 29, 2022
61 cups and ‘gevalt’: Rival parties ratchet up pressure to vote for them Tuesday

With less than two days remaining before polls open, political parties are turning to the familiar “gevalt” campaign of making far-reaching claims and warnings over the potential outcome of voting for or against them in Tuesday’s election.
In a video, opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu stacks 60 paper cups to represent his right-religious bloc, after the final television polls before the vote showed it one seat short of a majority, and then he adds a 61st cup.
“If [the one seat] doesn’t go to Likud, and if Yesh Atid is just one seat bigger than Likud, then [Prime Minister Yair] Lapid will form the government,” he says.
The former premier argues that it then won’t matter how many seats the allied far-right Religious Zionism party wins, declaring “all of us will be in the opposition” as he knocks the cups over.

Meretz, meanwhile, releases a video that repeatedly shows a clip of Netanyahu saying “we will win the elections” if the left-wing party “falls.”
The video then warns that in such a scenario, Netanyahu and Otzma Yehudit leader Itamar Ben Gvir — who is No. 2 on the Religious Zionism slate — will win 61 Knesset seats, a majority in the Knesset.
National Unity leader Benny Gantz also appeals to concerns over a potential Netanyahu government with Ben Gvir, releasing a graphic contrasting himself with the two of them and Religious Zionism leader Bezalel Smotrich.
The poster shows the three of them looming ominously in the background as Ben Gvir clutches a smoking gun, while touting Gantz as best “against the threat.”
קמפיין חדש של המחנה הממלכתי.
מול הסכנה: דווקא גנץ pic.twitter.com/hPyFdjtqEY— 🔅 זירה פוליטית‼ (@Zira_politit) October 30, 2022
IDF confirms attack victims are soldiers; troops opened fire after initial ramming
The Israel Defense Forces confirms the five victims wounded in the ramming attack south of Jericho in the West Bank are soldiers.
The IDF says troops fired at the attacker following the initial ramming near Nabi Musa, before he fled and plowed into a bus stop at Almog Junction.
Another injury reported in West Bank ramming attack, with 2 in moderate condition
Medics raise the number of wounded in the ramming attack south of Jericho in the West Bank to five.
Police say the Palestinian attacker first rammed people near Nabi Musa, then continued driving and plowed into a bus stop at Almog Junction, injuring others.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service says all of the victims are in their 20s.
Two are listed in moderate condition and the rest are lightly hurt, MDA adds.
The five are being taken to hospitals in Jerusalem.
The alleged attacker was shot by security forces.
Lapid tours Karish gas field days after inking of Israel-Lebanon maritime border

Days after Israel signed a maritime boundary deal with Lebanon, Prime Minister Yair Lapid tours the Karish gas field to view the production process.
Lapid says that the field contains Israel’s “energy and economic future.”
“Producing gas from the Karish field will lower energy costs in Israel, will turn Israel into a regional energy supplier, and will help Europe deal with the energy crisis,” he says.
The prime minister adds that the natural gas from Karish will help lower the cost of living in Israel.
Lapid receives a briefing from Shaul Zemach, the country manager for Energean, the London-listed company extracting gas from the Karish and Tanin fields. It began production on Wednesday, the day before the signing of the deal in Naqoura.
Lapid is joined by PMO Director-General Namma Schultz, Military Secretary Avi Gil, National Security Adviser Eyal Hulata and Foreign Ministry Director-General Alon Ushpiz.
Number of wounded in West Bank ramming attack raised to 4
Medics raise the number of wounded in the ramming attack south of Jericho in the West Bank to four.
Police say the Palestinian attacker first rammed a person near Nabi Musa, then continued driving and plowed into a bus stop at Almog Junction, injuring others.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service says all of the victims are in their 20s. One is listed in moderate condition and the rest are good, MDA adds.
Lebanon faces power vacuum as Aoun vacates presidential palace without successor

BAABDA, Lebanon — Michel Aoun is vacating Lebanon’s presidential palace amid acclaim from his supporters, a day before his mandate expires without a designated successor, threatening a new power vacuum in the crisis-torn country.
A few thousand well-wishers gather to pay tribute to the Maronite Christian former army chief and head of the Free Patriotic Movement which is allied with the powerful pro-Iranian Shiite terror group Hezbollah.
FPM supporters, some brandishing portraits of the outgoing head of state widely referred to as “General,” flocked to the presidential palace in the hills above the capital Beirut, where some had spent the night in tents, to accompany him to his private home.
“We have come to escort the president at the end of his mandate, to tell him that we are with him and that we will continue the struggle by his side,” says teacher Joumana Nahed.
Lebanese lawmakers have tried but failed four times in a month to agree on electing a successor after Aoun’s six-year term ends Monday, stoking fears of a deepening political crisis.
The term of Aoun, who is in his late 80s, was marred by mass popular protests, a severe economic crisis and currency collapse, and the August 2020 portside blast of ammonium nitrate that killed hundreds and laid waste to swathes of the capital.
Neither the Hezbollah camp, the powerful armed movement which dominates political life in Lebanon, nor its opponents have the clear majority to impose a candidate to succeed him.
Lebanon is being run by a caretaker government as political divisions have prevented the formation of a new cabinet ever since legislative elections in the spring.
2 hurt in ramming at West Bank junction; suspect shot

Two people are injured in a ramming attack at the Almog Junction, south of Jericho, in the West Bank, the military and medics say.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service says two young people are hurt after a Palestinian driver plowed his car into a bus stop in the area.
The suspected assailant driver has been shot by Israeli security forces, according to first responders.
The victims are listed in moderate and light conditions, MDA says.
The Israel Defense Forces says the incident is being looked into, without providing additional details.
Jewish student group: Rising support for Israel’s far-right will ’embolden’ antisemitism in Europe
The European Union of Jewish Students has come out against the potential inclusion of far-right leaders Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir in the next Israeli government.
“On a daily basis, Jewish students around the world, including in Europe, are facing increasing antisemitism and anti-Zionist sentiments on university grounds, from professors, from strangers on the street, in the workplace and beyond,” the group’s president, Avital Grinberg, is quoted as saying in a statement.
“The rise of the far-right, and their potential participation in the next Israeli government, will further embolden and empower such statements, and will have a direct effect on Jewish students in the diaspora.”
The statement specifically names Smotrich and Ben Gvir, calling them a “danger to Israelis and Palestinians.”
“EUJS cannot afford to sit idly by and watch these men, who stand in stark contrast to the values of our organization, ascend to power without us raising serious worries and concerns. Respect for human rights, dignity, and inclusion are non-negotiable and must be respected,” Grinberg adds.
Brazilians begin voting in runoff between leftist Lula and far-right incumbent Bolsonaro

RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazilians began voting this morning in a polarizing presidential runoff election that pits an incumbent vowing to safeguard conservative Christian values against a former president promising to return the country to a more prosperous past.
The runoff shaped up as a close contest between President Jair Bolsonaro and his political nemesis, former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Both are well-known, divisive political figures who stir passion as much as loathing.
The vote will determine if the world’s fourth-largest democracy stays the same course of far-right politics or returns a leftist to the top job — and, in the latter case, whether Bolsonaro will accept defeat.
Bolsonaro is first in line to cast his vote at a military complex in Rio de Janeiro. He sports the green and yellow colors of the Brazilian flag that always feature at his rallies.
“I’m expecting our victory, for the good of Brazil,” he tells reporters afterward. “God willing, Brazil will be victorious today.”
Voting stations in the capital, Brasilia, are already crowded by morning and, at one of them, retired public servant Luiz Carlos Gomes said he’ll vote for da Silva.
“He’s the best for the poor, especially in the countryside,” says Gomes, 65, who hails from Maranhao state in the poor northeast region. “We were always starving before him.”
More than 120 million Brazilians are expected to cast ballots, and because the vote is conducted electronically, the final result is usually available within hours after voting stations close in late afternoon. Most opinion polls gave a lead to da Silva, universally known as Lula, though political analysts agreed the race grew increasingly tight in recent weeks.
Smotrich says he doesn’t agree with partner’s proposed law that would end Netanyahu trial

Religious Zionism leader Bezalel Smotrich says he disagrees with his far-right electoral partner Itamar Ben Gvir’s support for legislation that would cancel opposition chief Benjamin Netanyahu’s ongoing trial on graft charges.
In a recording released earlier today, Ben Gvir could be heard saying that if he is part of the next government, he will advance the so-called so-called French Law barring police from probing corruption suspicions against premiers, and push to have it applied retroactively.
“No, my program is clear,” Smotrich says in an interview with the Galei Yisrael radio station.
Smotrich, who is running on a joint slate with Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit faction, touts his own proposes electoral reforms — which include drastically curbing judicial authority and scrubbing the criminal charges of fraud and breach of trust from the criminal code.
Netanyahu was charged with fraud and breach of trust in three separates cases, as well as bribery in one of them. Smotrich has insisted that if passed, his proposal to get rid of the charges would not impact ongoing cases.
“Netanyahu’s trial is the best thing helping us,” he asserts in regards to his proposals.
Lapid criticizes Yesh Atid MK’s referencing Hitler in warning over far-right

Prime Minister Yair Lapid criticizes MK Ram Ben Barak, a member of his Yesh Atid party, for referencing Nazi German dictator Adolf Hitler to warn of a potential government that opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu could form with the far-right.
In an interview with the Walla news site, Lapid is asked if he believes Netanyahu and the leaders of the Religious Zionism slate — MKs Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir — are “dangerous” like Hitler.
“No. I’m against any comparison to the Holocaust,” says Lapid, noting he is the son of a Holocaust survivor. “It’s not acceptable to me.”
“It’s also not acceptable to Ram,” Lapid adds, referring to Ben Barak’s later insistence he was not making a comparison to Hitler.
“That was a real unsuccessful comment, and untrue of course.”
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