Thousands of Israelis rallied in Tel Aviv on Saturday demanding an independent commission of inquiry into the failures surrounding the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attack, three days before a national election.
The rally at Hostages Square was organised by the October Council, a group representing the families and friends of victims and survivors of the 7 October 2023 attack.
Opposition leaders attended as demonstrators criticised the government that was in power during the attack, chanted “shame” and called for political change and accountability.
Opinion polls have suggested that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition could lose its parliamentary majority, although the fragmented political landscape leaves the outcome uncertain. His main rival, centrist Gadi Eisenkot, also faces challenges in assembling a governing coalition.
In the Negev Desert town of Dimona, traditionally a stronghold of Netanyahu’s Likud party, some disillusioned voters are campaigning for Eisenkot’s Yashar! party ahead of Tuesday’s election.
Likud received about half the votes in Dimona in the 2022 election, and Netanyahu retains a strong base of support. However, some residents are seeking a change in government, making the town a potential battleground for undecided voters.
Michal Elmalem Abu, a former Likud city councillor who now leads Eisenkot’s campaign in Dimona, said the campaign was focused on voters who recognised that the country was in crisis and remained open to persuasion.
Data from the Israel Democracy Institute’s Viterbi Family Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research showed that around 13 per cent of Israeli voters had yet to decide how they would vote. Among those who supported Likud in 2022, 55 per cent said they intended to vote for the party again, while 15 per cent planned to back parties opposed to Netanyahu, including 8 per cent who favoured Yashar!.
Political scientist Amotz Asa-El of the Hartman Institute said towns such as Dimona offered Eisenkot an opportunity to win support from Likud’s traditional voter base.
Despite the challenge, Netanyahu continues to enjoy strong support among many residents. Eisenkot supporter Oria Asaf expressed hope that voters would prioritise the future over past political loyalties.
“The moment people will start thinking about their children's future rather than their parents' past, the government will change,” he said.
Uzbekistan summoned Iran’s ambassador following claims by several Iranian diplomatic missions that the historical and architectural heri...
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Thousands of Israelis rallied in T...
Around 11,000 people joined a demonstration in Orléans on Saturday against the National Rally congress, according to the local prefecture.
Typhoon Champi swept past Taiwan on Saturday, leaving one person dead and more than 500 injured as strong winds and torrential rain brought down trees, cut power and disrupted transport across the island.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday described a deadly shooting in the towns of Trappes and La Verrière, west of Paris, as a racist attack and ‘a turning point’ for the country.
Israeli forces have maintained a tight closure on Hebron in the occupied West Bank for a second day, with Palestinian media reporting home raids, mass detentions and dozens of residents forced outside following a shooting incident the day before.
Armenian authorities have detained 10 more people in a vote-buying investigation involving the opposition Strong Armenia party, just two days before local elections in the northern town of Stepanavan.
Saudi Arabia religious leaders have condemned attacks targeting holy sites and civilians after authorities reported intercepting two ballistic missiles launched towards the Mecca and Medina regions, while Yemen’s Houthi movement denied targeting the two cities.
Uzbekistan summoned Iran’s ambassador following claims by several Iranian diplomatic missions that the historical and architectural heritage of Samarkand belongs to Persian or Iranian-Islamic civilisation, Tashkent's Foreign Ministry said.
Israeli forces have maintained a tight closure on Hebron in the occupied West Bank for a second day, with Palestinian media reporting home raids, mass detentions and dozens of residents forced outside following a shooting incident the day before.
Foreign ministers meeting in Istanbul on Friday warned that renewed military strikes on Iran could deepen the regional conflict, urging diplomatic efforts to prevent further escalation.
Georgia’s Constitutional Court has extended hearings in a case seeking to ban five opposition parties, with proceedings now set to continue until 30 October. The court in Batumi will resume hearings on Monday, 26 October, after missing its original 23 October deadline.
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