KOENIG

Israeli members of Knesset congratulated Donald Trump on Wednesday's election victory on social media.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately wrote to the President-elect, stating, "Congratulations on history’s greatest comeback!

"Your historic return to the White House offers a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America. This is a huge victory! 

The page includes statistics for each state as well as options to see other races.

[WWD side note: We should continue to pray against potential voter fraud as the last ballots are counted, especially in Congressional/Senate races.]

Republicans are projected to win Indiana, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, New Hampshire, Utah, Vermont and West Virginia.

Democrats are projected to win Delaware, North Carolina and Washington.

Sadly, a number of states codified additional laws allowing abortion. Thankfully, these laws did not pass in Florida, Nebraska and South Dakota.

Voters in nine states are deciding whether their state constitutions should guarantee a right to abortion, weighing ballot measures that are expected to spur turnout for a range of crucial races.

Passing certain amendments in Arizona, Florida, Missouri, Nebraska and South Dakota likely would lead to undoing bans or restrictions that currently block varying levels of abortion access to more than 7 million women of childbearing age who live in those states.

The future legality and availability of abortion hinges not only on ballot measures, as policies could shift depending on who controls Congress and the presidency. Same with state governments — including legislatures that pursue new laws, state supreme courts that determine the laws’ constitutionality, attorneys general who decide whether to defend them and district attorneys who enforce them.

(images/photos: Reuters / Flash90 / The Jerusalem Post)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant Tuesday night, citing a “crisis of trust” that “gradually deepened,” replacing him with Foreign Minister Israel Katz.

The move comes as Israel is braced for a direct Iranian attack and after the IDF under Gallant’s command executed a successful strike on the Islamic Republic that targeted its missile production facilities.

“In the midst of a war, more than ever, full trust is required between the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense,” Netanyahu stated, as he laid out his rationale for Gantz’s removal while the country was over a year into a war with Iran and its proxies; chiefly Hamas and Hezbollah.

The Hamas terrorist group in Gaza has rejected an Egyptian proposal for a short-term ceasefire in exchange for the release of four Israeli hostages, according to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Speaking with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty on Monday, Blinken said, “Hamas has once again refused to release even a limited number of hostages to secure a ceasefire and relief for the people of Gaza,” according to a State Department readout of the call.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi had put forward a 12-day proposal at the end of October that would have started with a 48-hour ceasefire followed by Hamas releasing four captives over the next 10 days, two Arab diplomats told The Times of Israel on Monday. 

The Biden administration on Monday pressed Israel to take additional steps to increase the flow of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, more than three weeks after the United States warned it would consider restricting weapons transfers to Israel if more assistance did not enter Gaza soon.

On a call with Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Secretary of State Antony Blinken “reviewed actions Israel has taken to date and urged further actions to substantially increase and sustain humanitarian aid — including food, medicine, and other essential supplies — to civilians across all of Gaza,” according to a State Department readout.

In an Oct. 13 letter to senior Israeli officials, Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned that Israel had 30 days to take steps to improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza — including by allowing in at least 350 aid trucks per day and enacting humanitarian pauses to enable aid deliveries — or it could face consequences, such as suspension of military aid.

Israel believes that whichever way the presidential vote goes, the Biden administration will take a harder line and could even impose sanctions on Israeli officials or slow the arms flow.

Senior Israeli officials are bracing for ramped-up U.S. pressure to end the war in Gaza after Tuesday's presidential election, regardless of who wins.

(Note: Haaretz article; you can only see a preview if not a subscriber.)

A disturbance in the Caribbean strengthened into Tropical Storm Rafael on Monday afternoon. The storm is forecast to become a hurricane Tuesday.

Rafael, previously known as Potential Tropical Cyclone 18, formed Sunday. At 4 p.m. ET Monday, it was about 175 miles south of Kingston, Jamaica, with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph, and moving north at around 9 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).

In this exclusive commentary for Koenig World Watch Daily, contributor Max Obeidin gives an analysis of the 2016, 2020 and 2024 presidential elections by looking at some scriptural principles from Joshua chapters 6, 7 & 8 in the Bible and how these principles relate to the elections and the outcomes involving Donald Trump. The commentary also includes an analysis of how Trump's role involving Israel's land could affect a second term.

 A majority of Israeli Jews believe that former U.S. President Donald Trump would serve the Jewish state’s interest better than Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, according to a survey published on Monday.

The poll, conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute’s Viterbi Family Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research and published less than 24 hours before the presidential vote, shows that 72% of Jewish Israelis believe that a Republican win would help to advance their country’s interests.

Only 11% of Israeli Jews think a Harris White House would be better.

The Foreign Ministry on Monday officially informed the United Nations that Israel is withdrawing from the 1967 agreement recognizing the Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA after the Knesset passed legislation to severely limit the operations of the agency in Israel and in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Foreign Ministry Director-General Jacob Blitshtein sent the letter to UN General Assembly President Philemon Yang of Cameroon, informing him that “Israel will continue to work with international partners, including other United Nations agencies, to ensure the facilitation of humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza in a way that does not undermine Israel’s security. Israel expects the United Nations to contribute to and cooperate in this effort.”

(photo: Flash90)

Mossad Director David Barnea told relatives of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza in a recent meeting that the prospects for an agreement with the terrorist group are low, Channel 12 reported on Monday.

During the meeting, a family member asked Barnea about the status of talks, to which he replied: “We still haven’t received a response from the intermediaries regarding either the Qatari or Egyptian proposals, so it’s best to wait. At the moment, the chances for a small-scale deal are low; Hamas insists on stopping the war.”

The family member asked about the situation in Gaza, to which Barnea responded that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had not given negotiators a mandate to move forward with a comprehensive deal that would end the war.

An end to the ongoing Israeli military operation in Gaza does not appear to be on the horizon, with Ynet reporting on Sunday that raids to clear Hamas terrorists from northern Gaza could take at least another six months, according to IDF officials.

Fifty-one out of the 101 hostages still being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip are alive, according to the latest Israeli intelligence assessments.

Iran is preparing an attack on Israel that will use more powerful warheads and “other weapons” not used in its previous two attacks, Iranian and Arab officials briefed on the plans tell The Wall Street Journal.

An Egyptian official tells The Journal that Tehran warned Cairo privately that its response to Israel’s airstrikes on its territory on October 26 — which was in retaliation for the Islamic Republic’s October 1 ballistic missile attack — will be “strong and complex.”

The official says the attack will target Israeli military sites “much more aggressively than last time,” and that Iraqi territory may be used to launch projectiles.

The Israel Defense Forces will push the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terror group north of Lebanon’s Litani River even without a ceasefire deal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Sunday night.

“With or without an agreement, the key to restoring peace and security in the north, to return our northern residents to their homes in safety, is to distance Hezbollah beyond the Litani, to strike any attempt to rearm it, and to respond firmly against any action against us,” the prime minister said during a visit to IDF soldiers serving on the Lebanese border.

“Simply put: Enforcement, enforcement, enforcement,” Netanyahu said following a meeting with reservists of the IDF’s 228th Brigade, known as the Northern Nahal. “And cutting off Hezbollah’s oxygen pipeline from Iran through Syria. We are committed to all of this,” the premier added.

Israeli naval forces captured a senior Hezbollah operative in north Lebanon, an Israeli military official said Saturday.

Earlier on Saturday, Lebanese authorities said it was investigating whether Israel was behind the capture of a Lebanese sea captain who was taken away by a group of armed men who had landed on the coast near the northern town of Batroun Friday.

“The operative has been transferred to Israeli territory and is currently being investigated,” the military official said, without providing the name of the person in detention.

Two Lebanese military officials confirmed to the Associated Press that a naval force landed in Batroun, about 30 kilometers (18 miles) north of Beirut, and abducted a Lebanese citizen. Neither gave the man’s identity or said whether he was thought to have links to Lebanon’s Hezbollah group. They did not confirm whether the armed men were an Israeli force.

A senior US official disclosed to Walla that Washington informed Tehran it would not be able to prevent Israel from reacting to an attack. The Biden administration recently cautioned Iran against launching another attack on Israel, emphasizing that it could not restrain an Israeli response if provoked again, Wallareported on Saturday evening. 

The warning follows Iran’s October 1 attack on Israel, which retaliated against Israeli targeted operations. Israel's response included strikes on military targets but excluded strategic sites like nuclear and oil facilities. These facilities could be potential targets should Iran initiate further attacks.

Iran’s supreme leader on Saturday threatened Israel and the US with “a crushing response” over attacks on Iran and its allies.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei spoke as Iranian officials are increasingly threatening to launch yet another strike against Israel after its October 26 attack on the Islamic Republic that targeted military bases and facilities and that Iran said killed at least five people.

Israel’s retaliatory strikes on Iranian military facilities came weeks after the October 1 attack, in which Iran launched 200 ballistic missiles at Israel, sending most of the population rushing to bomb shelters and safe rooms, causing relatively minor damage to military bases and some residential areas, and killing a Palestinian man in the West Bank.

In keeping with our commitments to the protection of U.S. citizens and forces in the Middle East, the defense of Israel, and de-escalation through deterrence and diplomacy, the Secretary of Defense ordered the deployment of additional ballistic missile defense destroyers, fighter squadron and tanker aircraft, and several U.S. Air Force B-52 long-range strike bombers to the region. These forces will begin to arrive in coming months as the USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN Carrier Strike Group prepares to depart.

The US Central Command announces that B-52 bombers have arrived in its area of responsibility, which mainly consists of the Middle East.

The deployment, announced on Friday, is possibly an attempt to deter Iran from attacking Israel again — as it has promised to do — following several recent direct attacks on each other.

Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan al Saud said Thursday that if the United States and Saudi Arabia reach an agreement on all issues, they might sign a defense pact before the US presidential election next week.

However, he emphasized that not all emerging bilateral agreements are directly linked to normalization with Israel.

Iran’s supreme leader has ordered his military officials to prepare a reprisal attack against Israel, a report said Thursday, as senior Iranian officials warned of “harsh” and “unimaginable” responses to Israel’s strikes on Iranian military sites earlier this month.

The report in The New York Times, citing Iranian officials, said Tehran’s response would not come until after US voters go to the polls on November 5, though other news outlets have quoted sources saying Iran’s response could come ahead of the vote.

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia on Wednesday hosted the first meeting of a new global alliance aimed at establishing a Palestinian state.

In his opening remarks in Riyadh, Foreign Affairs Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan reaffirmed the Kingdom’s position in support of Palestinian independence and “the right of the Palestinian people to determine their own fate and end the occupation.”

“The region is witnessing an escalation and continuation of Israeli aggression on Palestine and Lebanon,” he said. “The escalation of this conflict regionally and maybe internationally urges us all to take a firm and immediate stance to put an end to the crimes and violations committed by Israel. Convictions and partial solutions are no longer enough.”

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said Thursday that normalization with Israel is "off the table" until there is a "resolution to Palestinian statehood" and clarified that there is no ambiguity in Saudi policy on the conflict in Gaza.

Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said on Thursday that some of the bilateral agreements the kingdom has been negotiating with Washington are "not that tied" to the normalization of Saudi relations with Israel and are "moving ahead."

Potential US-Saudi agreements about trade and artificial intelligence are "not tied to any third parties" and "can progress probably quite quickly," Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said on stage at an investment conference in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

Iran will deliver a “definitive and painful” response to Israel’s recent attack on its territory, likely before the US presidential election on November 5, CNN reports, citing an anonymous senior source.

The source, who has knowledge of deliberations in Iran tells the network: “The response of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Zionist regime’s aggression will be definitive and painful.”

Israel has warned Tehran that any further attacks on its territory will be met with resolute action.

Iran will deliver a “definitive and painful” response to Israel’s recent attack on its territory, likely before the US presidential election on November 5, CNN reports, citing an anonymous senior source.

The source, who has knowledge of deliberations in Iran tells the network: “The response of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Zionist regime’s aggression will be definitive and painful.”

Israel has warned Tehran that any further attacks on its territory will be met with resolute action.

Former US president Donald Trump has told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he wants Israel to wrap up the war in Gaza by the time he returns to office if he wins the election, two sources familiar with the matter revealed to The Times of Israel this week.

The message was first conveyed when the Republican presidential nominee hosted the Israeli premier at his Florida Mar-a-Lago resort in July, according to a former Trump administration official and an Israeli official.

While Trump has publicly confirmed having told Netanyahu that he wants Israel to win the war quickly, the sources speaking to The Times of Israel are the first to reveal that a timeline was attached to that request.

Two senior White House officials are traveling to Israel this week to discuss a potential ceasefire agreement between Jerusalem and the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah.

U.S. President Joe Biden dispatched Special Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk and Amos Hochstein, deputy assistant to the president and senior adviser for energy and investment.

According to Israeli reports, the two will arrive on Thursday, where they will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials.

Senior Israeli and American officials told Israeli journalist Barak Ravid that an agreement could be reached within weeks.

Mediators are working on a proposal to halt hostilities between Israel and the Hezbollah terror group, starting with a 60-day ceasefire, two sources said on Wednesday as Washington dispatched senior diplomats to the region for talks on ending the fighting.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was holding a security consultation on Tuesday evening to discuss a possible diplomatic solution to the fighting in Lebanon, Hebrew media outlets reported, as Defense Minister Yoav Gallant assessed that Hezbollah retains only some 20 percent of the rocket and missile capabilities that it had before the war.

In his first speech since being appointed Hezbollah leader earlier this week, Naim Qassem vowed to continue the path of his slain predecessor Hassan Nasrallah, he declared on Wednesday.

“I start with a verse from the holy Quran which guides us and points out what happened with the Jews throughout history,” said Qassem, according to a translation by Lebanon’s L’Orient Le Jour daily.

“What is my plan? A continuation of my predecessor’s. We will carry on with the war program as it has been outlined so far.”

Netanyahu says Israel wants more peace deals with Arab states after the current war ends.

In a recent Knesset address he stated, "The Day After includes another thing that is of utmost importance: I aspire to continue the process I led a few years ago of the signing of the historic Abraham Accords, and achieve peace with additional Arab countries. In the Abraham Accords we achieved four peace treaties -- and I underline: Peace for peace, peace of strength -- with important countries in the Middle East. These countries, and other countries, see clearly the blows we are landing on those who attack us, the Iranian axis of evil. They are impressed by our determination and boldness."

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte announced on Monday that, according to Alliance information, troops from North Korea have been sent to Russia and deployed in the Kursk region bordering Ukraine.

Reports have emerged that North Korean soldiers clashed with the Ukrainian army on Friday. This was said to have taken place on October 25 in the Kursk region of Russia, which Kyiv controls. These details were provided by Jonas Ohman, head of the well-known Lithuanian non-governmental organization Blue/Yellow. The organization has been helping Ukrainian forces since 2014 and has access to firsthand information about the front line.