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Ruby Chen: “What Israel’s new government needs is strategic thinking. In January 2029, a new administration will enter the White House. What will Israel’s relationship with it be based on? Above all, Israel must once again become an issue that does not divide Republicans and Democrats.”
Ruby Chen is the father of Itay Chen, an IDF tank soldier who fell on October 7 on the Gaza border. Itay was taken into Gaza and brought home to Israel after 760 days, the last fallen American to be returned from Gaza.
Read the full post on The Blogs.
*The posts on The Blogs are contributed by third parties, and don't necessarily reflect the views of The Times of Israel.
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The Israeli military began to vote in the national election on Wednesday, just under a week before the rest of the country, to enable troops stationed in remote locations and inside enemy territory to cast their ballots.
Read more: timesofisrael.com/israeli-so…
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The Times of Israel retweeted
Op-ed: Netanyahu cannot be part of the healing process. It is Netanyahu from whom we must be healed
timesofisrael.com/for-israel… via @timesofisrael
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Israel frees congressional candidate Brad Lander, as official map shows activists didn’t enter forbidden West Bank area as authorities claimed timesofisrael.com/liveblog_e…
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The Times of Israel retweeted
IDF soldiers vote in Israel's national elections, from an army post in south Lebanon to a missile boat off the coast of Eilat.
The Israeli military has begun to vote in the national elections, less than a week before the rest of the country, to enable troops stationed in remote locations and inside enemy territory to cast their ballot.
The IDF says it has deployed some 850 polling stations across the country and beyond Israel's borders. They will remain open through October 27, when the rest of the country votes.
Around 3,000 soldiers, mainly young conscripts, are serving as polling station staff, according to the military. The personnel have been trained by the Central Elections Committee.
Around 25% of the stations are fully mobile, to enable both conscripts and reservists stationed in hard-to-reach areas to vote, including at the IDF's 40 outposts in the Gaza Strip, numerous army positions in Lebanon, and nine outposts in Syria.
The mobile polling stations will move between several units according to a predetermined schedule. Their staff will be accompanied by an armed officer responsible for security, and the ballot boxes will remain locked while in transit.
"Our mission is to enable all IDF service members to exercise their democratic right to a secret ballot, including during operational activities and combat beyond the border," says Col. Vered Ben Yehuda, who is overseeing the military's elections process.
"The IDF is the people's army that will do everything necessary to enable the elections to take place as scheduled," she adds.
Soldiers may also vote at civilian polling stations on October 27. Double envelopes will be used to ensure that each soldier votes only once.
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The Times of Israel retweeted
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Iran has been trying to advance the development of nuclear weapons, while speaking at an IDF cadets graduation ceremony.
"The Iranian regime still has not learned its lesson. Mojtaba Khamenei decided to follow in his father's footsteps. He has taken the safety off, and Iran is once again trying to develop its weapons of death," Netanyahu says at the officers' school in southern Israel, known as Bahad 1.
"Therefore, there is only one way to remove this threat once and for all, to topple the regime in Iran, and that is my directive to the IDF, the Mossad and the security agencies," he says.
Defense Minister Israel Katz, speaking at the same ceremony, warns Iran and its proxies against carrying out attacks during the elections next week.
"In recent days, we have identified attempts by our enemies, foremost among them Iran and its proxies, to carry out terror attacks that would affect the results of the elections in Israel," he says.
Katz says that "the Iranian regime is at its weakest point ever, and we identify that this weakness could lead it to take the most extreme measures, including against the State of Israel."
"Our message to the Iranian regime is clear: We are identifying your attempts, we are prepared to thwart them, and we are ready to strike you with full force," he continues, adding that "If Iran attacks Israel, Iran will burn!"
Meanwhile, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir says the defense of Israel must be a shared goal, amid ongoing efforts by the military to draft members of the ultra-Orthodox community who largely do not enlist.
"The mission of defending the State of Israel is shared by all of us and is greater than any disagreement. The IDF is the people's army, and unity within it is essential to its strength," he tells the graduating officers.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu planned to carry out strikes against Iran earlier this month, but US President Donald Trump opposed reigniting the fighting before the US midterm elections, the Financial Times reported Wednesday, citing anonymous sources.
Read more: timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-…
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Some 7.3 million Israelis eligible to vote in next week’s election, of whom 810,000 live abroad
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NY congressional candidate Brad Lander detained in West Bank olive harvest, rights group says
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As Israel heads into its first election since 2022, the October 7 attack, ensuing wars and an ongoing fight over accountability have weighed heavily on Israelis deciding who they will vote for.
Nowhere is the impact more immediate than in the Gaza border communities that bore the brunt of the 2023 invasion, where residents saw their towns overrun, neighbors killed or abducted, and long-held assumptions about their security collapse.
Read more: timesofisrael.com/despite-th…
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Eisenkot vows not to serve in a Netanyahu government, even under rotation deal
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Netanyahu, other officials summoned to give testimony in inquiry over submarine affair
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The Times of Israel retweeted
A Hamas operative who took part in a deadly attack on an Israeli tank crew in the Gaza Strip last year was killed in a strike in Gaza City earlier this week, the military says.
The strike on Sunday killed Musa Abd Muhammad Hamouda, a member of Hamas's elite Nukhba Force, who, according to the IDF, participated in planning an explosive device attack on a tank of the 401st Armored Brigade's 52nd Battalion on September 8, 2025.
The explosive device killed Lt. Matan Abramovitz, Staff Sgt. Uri Lamed, Sgt. Amit Arye Regev, and Sgt. Gadi Cotal.
The military says Hamouda had recently been involved in advancing attacks on Israeli troops and civilians and acted to restore Hamas's capabilities, "in systematic violation of the ceasefire."
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The next film in @Docu.Nation x The Times of Israel is Lost Angeles, directed by Sharon Yaish and Golan Rise.
Yosef Hurriye is a modern-day Sallah Shabati. At 60 years old, his life is in disarray, barely scraping by repairing watches in his modest shop in the southern town of Kiryat Malachi. When a threatening municipal notice puts his livelihood on the line, Yosef refuses to stay silent. Against all odds, he decides to run for mayor, launching an improbable grassroots campaign to lead the very town that left him behind. Blending documentary realism with the vibrant spirit of a musical, Lost Angeles is an endearing, humorous, and heartfelt portrait of an ordinary man who still dares to dream of real change.
🎥 Watch between October 22 to 29
Live Q&A on October 25 at 8 PM Israel time (2 PM Eastern)
Join The Times of Israel Community to watch at timesofisrael.com/join.
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RT @manniefabian: A Hamas terrorist who took part in abducting the body of Israeli hostage Shani Louk during the October 7 onslaught was ki…
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Report: Netanyahu planned attack on Iran earlier this month, but Trump opposed it
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IDF troops begin voting as military’s polls open in Israel, Gaza, Lebanon and Syria
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The Times of Israel retweeted
The 13 ultra-Orthodox male draft evaders who initially refused to enlist after being apprehended at Ben Gurion Airport this morning as they landed in Israel, have signed affidavits expressing their willingness to draft, the military says.
They join 27 other draft evaders who were released home earlier today after signing the agreement committing to enlist before a judge.
The IDF says this means that 40 ultra-Orthodox men will be enlisting in the military "in the coming period and be assigned to the various Haredi service tracks."
Among the 42 ultra-Orthodox male draft evaders who were apprehended at Ben Gurion Airport this morning as they landed in Israel, 27 have been released home after expressing willingness to enlist, the IDF says.
The 27 signed an agreement before a judge committing to enlist "and were found fit for military service," the IDF says. They received suspended jail sentences and will soon begin enlistment procedures and start their service.
Another 13 draft dodgers refused to enlist and were "consequently tried and sent to military prison," the IDF says.
The IDF says two others, "who had been evading military service for an extended period of more than 540 days," were immediately sent to a military prison upon being detained at the airport.
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The Times of Israel retweeted
Israeli soldiers began voting today in the election for the 26th Knesset. The IDF says around 850 military polling stations, a quarter of them mobile, will serve troops across all fronts, including those operating inside Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza.
#IsraelElections2026
#IsraelElections
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The Times of Israel retweeted
The Israeli military has begun to vote in the national elections, less than a week before the rest of the country, to enable troops stationed in remote locations and inside enemy territory to cast their ballot.
The IDF says it has deployed some 850 polling stations across the country and beyond Israel's borders. They will remain open through October 27, when the rest of the country votes.
Around 3,000 soldiers, mainly young conscripts, are serving as polling station staff, according to the military. The personnel have been trained by the Central Elections Committee.
Around 25% of the stations are fully mobile, to enable both conscripts and reservists stationed in hard-to-reach areas to vote, including at the IDF's 40 outposts in the Gaza Strip, numerous army positions in Lebanon, and nine outposts in Syria.
The mobile polling stations will move between several units according to a predetermined schedule. Their staff will be accompanied by an armed officer responsible for security, and the ballot boxes will remain locked while in transit.
"Our mission is to enable all IDF service members to exercise their democratic right to a secret ballot, including during operational activities and combat beyond the border," says Col. Vered Ben Yehuda, who is overseeing the military's elections process.
"The IDF is the people's army that will do everything necessary to enable the elections to take place as scheduled," she adds.
Soldiers may also vote at civilian polling stations on October 27. Double envelopes will be used to ensure that each soldier votes only once.
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