Israel Votes With No Clear Winner
7.3 million eligible voters, and the polls have neither bloc at 61 seats.
Israel votes Tuesday, and the polls say nobody wins outright. About 7.3 million Israelis are eligible in the first Knesset election since Oct. 7. Most polls have Netanyahu's bloc around 50 seats and Gadi Eisenkot's camp closer but short of 61, with the two Arab-majority slates projected at 14 or 15 seats combined. Tens of thousands of Israelis living abroad reportedly flew home to vote. Analyst Tani Frank says the likeliest result is a deadlock, which could mean another election. 1
A Torah fragment listed as SS wrapping paper is off the auction block. Oslo's Valkyrie Historical Auctions listed the calfskin piece Oct. 18, saying SS soldiers used it to wrap a parcel to Germany, and logged a winning bid of $8,500. Israel's Foreign Ministry says the sale is canceled and the piece will go to RUTH, a San Diego Holocaust group, which says it won't accept it until the provenance is verified. The World Jewish Restitution Organization wants the seller named. 2
L.A. schools say Canoga Park High teachers broke civil rights law with anti-Israel advocacy. The district substantiated all 11 allegations in a complaint from the North American Values Institute, including a graded exam on "martyrs of Gaza." Reported conduct also included a library display called a "mini-Gaza." The district ordered the material out and antisemitism training for staff. 3
Hero: Tom Stillman. Protesters at Thursday's Blues home game in St. Louis held a blood-splattered Israeli flag reading "Israel Kills" and hung "Free America from Israel" from a luxury box. Arena staff and police ejected the protesters. The Blues chairman then signed a statement condemning "antisemitic rhetoric in all forms." Our view: good on him for signing it himself. 4
Villain: Cenk Uygur. His Rebellion PAC's Michigan Senate ad has a couple in a grocery store blaming food prices on aid to Israel: "We have to suffer here at home, so Israel can get all its wars." The PAC is spending $1,000 to run it online. Abdul El-Sayed, the candidate it backs, disowned it. Brianna Wu, the PAC's co-founder, called it "wildly antisemitic." We agree with her. When the candidate your ad is for won't touch it, the ad is the problem. 56
Tuesday is 16 Cheshvan 5787, eight years to the day since a gunman killed 11 worshipers at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life synagogue. Organizers aim to finish the rebuild by the end of this year. This week's parsha is Vayera. 789
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