Dear Friends,
In times like these, clear, factual, and courageous voices for Israel are more important than ever. The mission of Israpundit has always been to share truth, defend Israel against misinformation, and give readers a place to find clarity and conviction.
PELONI: Unity is the answer to the question of how we might survive the maelstrom which faces us. Indeed, only a strong Israel can withstand the forces aligned against the Jewish People around the world, and a strong Israel requires a sense of unity which faced its many enemies in turn around the world since October 7.
In the months since the attacks, Israel has confronted not one enemy but many — in Gaza, on the northern border, and in the courts of public opinion abroad. Each front has demanded something different: resolve, endurance, clarity. And each has reinforced the same truth the pre-war years had obscured — that the state is not a collection of factions but a single body, and that its strength is measured not in weapons alone but in the cohesion of the people who wield them.
The wars wage onward, and so too does the need for unity — unity of purpose, of survival, and of destiny. Not the unity of agreement, which no nation achieves, but the unity of a people who have chosen, out of their own free will, to stand together against what would unmake them. That choice is what makes the state more than a territory, and the people more than a population. It is destiny in the truest sense: not what our enemies intend for us, but what we choose to become. And in doing so we will frustrate their objective to destroy us in this age as we have done in past ages.
Harry Liberman
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Is the Holocaust not lesson enough for the Jews in and out of the Jewish state ?
History will judge nations not by the noise of their internal debates, but by their resolve in the face of annihilation. Today, Israel is locked in a multi-front existential war, fighting a network of adversaries committed to its total destruction. In such an unprecedented hour of peril, the fundamental principle of nation-state self-defense demands a clear, unyielding truth: a country fighting for its survival requires absolute national solidarity and strong, uncompromising leadership.
Forum Calls on Michigan Officials to Stop Funding and Honoring These Institutions Until They Review What Is Preached There, and on Every State and Washington to Ask the Same Questions
MEF | Oct 29, 2026
For Immediate Release
PHILADELPHIA, October 29, 2026. Speakers at Michigan Islamist pulpits have told worshippers that they live “in America, in the house of Shaitan [Satan],” declared that “the fall of the great Satan has begun,” prayed that God take Netanyahu, “his soldiers, and his minions” and “kill them individually, leaving none of them,” foretold the “final annihilation of Jews,” and asked God to let them “live upon jihad” and “die upon martyrdom.” The Middle East Forum today published these statements, each with the institution’s own video, in Michigan’s Islamist Pulpits.
PELONI: The election returns stand with the Right bloc having 53 seats and Israel Beitenu having 7. So the shot at a Right wing govt with Liberman’s support is a no go, unless something minor changes giving either Liberman or the Right bloc one added seat. Failing this, the only outcome available to avoid elections or a minority Left-UTJ coalition would be to have Eisenkot join with Likud, but that would require them each to entirely betray much of the promises which they ran on. Should the Iran war breakout once again, as explained yesterday, Netanyahu’s call for a Zionist govt could give him what he needs to solidify a single vote from the Left Bloc to add to Lieberman.
Yossi Baum | X | Oct 28
Screengrab via Youtube
If the Jewish bloc and/or Lieberman gain seats, such that the Jewish bloc together with Lieberman have 61 seats, another option opens up for a right-wing government, in which Netanyahu would give Lieberman the premiership later in the term.
PELONI: As expected no easy choices exist for forming a govt.
Despite Likud’s first-place finish, the current coalition bloc has 53 seats, leaving it eight short of a parliamentary majority.
By Vered Weiss | World Israel News | Oct 29, 2026
Screengrab via Youtube.
Likud, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, emerged as the largest party in elections for the 26th Knesset after counting of nearly 100% of the votes was completed Thursday evening, but neither of the two main political blocs secured the 61 seats needed to form a government on its own.
by Steven Emerson | IPT News |October 28, 2026
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Declassified FBI reports, interview records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and documents seized from a Hamas leader’s home place the MSA, ISNA, ICNA, the Muslim American Society and CAIR in the Muslim Brotherhood’s American network. El-Sayed has helped lead a chapter of one, spoken at the conventions of three, and praised and raised money for a fourth.
PELONI: UKLFI’s Natasha Hausdorff joins Wikipedia expert and editor, Alan Sohn to discuss how Wikipedia works and how it can be manipulated. He acknowledges that Wikipedia has the “trappings of a democratic process” but due to extremely low voter participation there exists an inherent vulnerability to regulatory capture by small groups which share a substantively singular perspective. In this respect decisions made by just a couple of arbitrators can control what millions of people read with no corresponding checks or balances. Sohn makes the point that on any given contentious topic the system is largely broken. Among the topics discussed here is the ADL‘s March 2025 report Editing for Hate, which identified at least 30 editors circumventing policies to push anti-Israel/anti-Semitic narratives. Sohn expressed that the greatest point of concern about what was highlighted in this report is that the practice of coordinated editing, “pushing others to be editing in a particular direction and supporting each other.” He notes that while there has been significant work done to correct these issues there is still a great deal of work yet to be done.
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PELONI: Rabbi Pesach Wolicki and Pastor Doug Reed discuss where things stand as we wait to see the outcome of the final count of votes in the Israeli election. Among the more curious indications that Wolicki draws from the election is that Trump’s endorsement of Netanyahu may have backfired causing the current political debacle.
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PELONI: One point bears addressing regarding RFK Jr’s praise for what he describes as the Golden Age of Islam. He describes this period as being marked by both tolerance and pluralism and further describes it as being cosmopolitan, but surely he goes too far in doing so. Indeed, if we are to believe the context of tolerance, pluralism and cosmopolitan to indicate anything equating to equality among various religions or peoples, such a description would clearly offer a poor depiction of many aspects of the Muslim world, both certainly in the present and most certainly in the past. Indeed, in the Muslim world, non Muslims faced various forms of discriminations which were specifically related to their being nonbelievers, and were designated as being Dhimmis, second class citizens of the Muslim world. While the Muslims were largely tolerant of these second class citizens, this tolerance existed within a system of religious hierarchy, in which Muslims occupied the apex and all others resided below them. Indeed, the Dhimmis were subject to paying the jizya tax, the amount of which varied considerably but which could represent a significant financial burden on the non Muslims. This tax was traditionally associated with the protection afforded to Dhimmis and their exemption from Muslim military obligations, but they still faced legal and social restrictions due to their Dhimmi status beyond the tax specified for them. Their legal testimony against Muslims was restricted, and they were generally prohibited from holding positions of religious or judicial authority over Muslims. Non Muslim men were forbidden to take Muslim brides, while Muslim men were free to marry Jewish or Christian women. There were also various restrictions placed on public expressions of non-Muslim faiths, including church bells, religious processions, and other public displays. In addition to this, there were various restrictions placed on non-Muslim religious dwellings as well as requirements for Jews and Christians to wear distinctive clothing, with yellow garments or identifying marks. Restrictions on public funeral ceremonies and other religious practices were also required in some jurisdictions.
So, when we discuss the Golden Age of Islam, I think describing Muslim-ruled societies as pluralistic and cosmopolitan requires a more nuanced if not more accurate description which acknowledges the restrictive second class status which existed for Dhimmis, even during the age known as the Golden Age of Islam. It is also important to acknowledge the history of military expansion and the development of doctrines of armed jihad which took place in this age. These realities complicate any idealized portrayal of the period as being defined by tolerance, coexistence, and intellectual achievement.
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UPDATE: Degel HaTorah Delays Coalition Decisions as Final Election Tally Concludes, so UTJ is still supporting the Right block while final votes are counted.
PELONI: No surprises here. There was never any expectation that UTJ would hold out with the Right Bloc particularly when there was no chance of obtaining the 61 seats to form a govt. Even if they had the ability of forming a govt with the Right, however, the High Court’s move to scuttle Netanyahu’s negotiations with the Haredi parties left them nowhere to go but with the Left who will likely give them the same deal as that offered by the Right Bloc, but with the acquiescence and support of the partisan ruling High Court. This being stated, as of now, Deri’s Shas Party is holding out with the Right.
United Torah Judaism is reportedly considering supporting Gadi Eisenkot in a minority government arrangement, signaling potential cracks in its alliance with Benjamin Netanyahu amid ongoing political gridlock.
WireIsrael | Oct 29, 2026
UTJ Rabbi Dov Lando. Screengrab via Youtube.
Ultra-Orthodox party United Torah Judaism is reportedly weighing a potential political maneuver that could back Gadi Eisenkot for prime minister through a minority government supported from the outside, according to reports. Sources within the faction indicate that the long-standing alliance with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has run its course, prompting officials to explore alternative avenues for political influence amid a persistent parliamentary deadlock.
UPDATE: First Official Statement on Election Bribery Investigation at bottom
PELONI: See WireIsrael report at bottom regarding Qatari response as well as WIN report regarding Mossad potentially being brought into support the investigation.
By Pamela Geller |
While Jews have no say in elections in Muslim countries, let alone a political role, almost a million Israel Arab voters voted for United List+Raam, whose leaders praise Hamas. It’s unsustainable. It is, in fact, a horror. This tolerance when applied to evil is evil.
PELONI: And here we go…with only a week being offered to collect what evidence can be found in that time to support the suspected fraud, a serious question arises. Recall that the Central Election Committee determined that the Joint List and Ra’am Arab parties were ineligible to participate in this election, and that it was the High Court exercising its authority to make arbitrary rulings rather than legal judgements which determined that these parties would be included in this election. So if the High Court is presented with evidence of massive fraud committed by foreign and hostile nations, either in collaboration with or on part of the anti-Zionist Arab parties, will the High Court maintain its use of arbitrary rulings to ignore the fraud and validate the fraudulent election, or will it render the fraudulent election void? Furthermore, if the latter course is chosen, will the new election come to include the anti-Zionist parties on whose part massive fraud was committed, or will Israel finally be faced with a choice between Zionist and post Zionist parties? The implications of all of this has serious legal, judicial, political, and geopolitical considerations.
BOMBSHELL DECISION: Security officials investigating allegations that foreign actors, including in Qatar and Turkey, funneled money into Israel to boost Arab parties.
By David Rosenberg | World Israel News | Oct 29, 2026
Major-general rank awarding ceremony of David Zini and Nimrod Aloni, June 2023. By IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikipedia
Israeli Supreme Court Deputy President Noam Sohlberg, who chairs the Central Elections Committee, on Wednesday instructed the Shin Bet security agency to investigate suspicions of foreign interference in Tuesday’s general election, amid reports that substantial sums of money were transferred from overseas to organizations working to increase voter turnout in Israel’s Arab communities.
Watch out America… a new Abdul El-Sayed campaign ad just dropped and this time Dave Smith and Ana Kasparian are the stars. pic.twitter.com/uO0so6QItn
— DFF (@DFF6769) October 27, 2026
PELONI: This is a very important article by Leonard Grunstein demonstrating the false nature of the “Occupation” narrative used to deligitimize the connection between the Jewish people and our ancient lands on which our ancestors lived.
An archaeological reminder that this is a Jewish state by right, no matter what the Arab parties’ ambitions are. Opinion.
Leonard Grunstein | Oct 28, 2026
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The false narrative labeling the Jewish people as occupiers and, by extension colonizers, is a deceitful canard.
by Steven Emerson | IPT News | October 28, 2026
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The question came from the back of a town hall room in Caro, a farm town in Michigan’s Thumb, on the evening of October 17. A man who gave his name only as “Tommy,” later identified in press reports as Thomas Teepell, a former aide to Republican Sen. Josh Hawley, called out to Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate: “Will you disavow the Muslim Brotherhood?”
IT HAS ARRIVED ACROSS A PROTECTIVE OCEAN VIA MASS IMMIGRATION
Harry Liberman
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The accelerating decline of Western civilization is no longer a localized crisis or a distant prophecy; it is an unfolding reality visible in the physical decay and ideological subversion of its most prominent cities.
PELONI: Unless the Double Envelop votes radically change where things stand currently, it would appear that the Left have as many votes as the Right, plus they have the added advantage of holding the power of the High Court as an ace only they can play. More than this the Left have the support of the Arabs, yet this would hinge on the war with Iran not reigniting, which signals the only path to victory which Netanyahu might have — leveraging Netanyahu’s call for the formation of a United Jewish Block so as to crack the strength otherwise held in a Left Wing-UTJ coalition with Arab support. Yossi Baum explains below.
Yossi Baum | X | October 28, 2026
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The right is unfortunately not focused and is completely failing to read the political map. And here’s why:
PELONI: As promised before the election, Arlene Kushner offers her insights on the Haredi community, their serving in the army, and the political embroglio which has kept the problematic nature of this topic from being resolved long ago.
Arlene Kushner | October 28, 2026
Hasmonean Brigade. Screengrab via Youtube.
This is where we are, and where we must go:
Because of the way in which we vote, it is necessary to count ballots by hand. No speedy electronic calculations. Paper ballot slips – which are placed in sealed envelopes – are utilized. With close to 40 parties running, it would be impossible to incorporate them all on an electronic voting machine board in any event. But there are other reasons for utilizing this low-tech method of voting. It is immune to cyberattacks and provides a physical record so that a recount is always possible.
PELONI: Recall that Ra’am was disqualified from participating in the election by the election authorities, but that this was reversed as per rote by the High Court. Due to that ruling, Mansour Abbas stands ready to play a commanding role in deciding the future of Israel’s governance, even as he still refuses to even give word of mouth to describe Hamas as a terror organization.
Israeli lawmakers and government ministers accuse Islamist party of orchestrating large-scale voter fraud operation, demand election committee toss out all votes for that faction.
By David Rosenberg | World Israel News | Oct 28, 2026
Ra’am party leader Mansour Abbas. Screengrab via Youtube.
A group of Israeli government ministers and right-wing lawmakers on Wednesday demanded an urgent investigation into allegations of widespread voter fraud in the Arab sector during Tuesday’s Knesset election, accusing the United Arab List (Ra’am) party of orchestrating a large-scale vote-buying operation that may have influenced the election results.
Defense Minister Israel Katz criticized Gadi Eisenkot’s post-election speech as undemocratic, after Eisenkot urged security chiefs to defy political directives.
WireIsrael | October 28, 2026
Netanyahu, Katz, Ben Gvir Knesset Screengrab via Youtube
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz slammed the speech delivered by Yashar! party chairman Gadi Eisenkot following the exit polls, calling it embarrassing and undemocratic. Eisenkot had called on senior defense and public service officials to resist political pressures and promised them his backing, while also criticizing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
