| DAILY ALERT |
Sunday, November 8, 2026 |
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News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday blamed Republicans' midterm losses on the administration's unpopular war with Iran, though Trump said he had no choice but to launch the conflict and would do it again. "If I had to do it again, I'd have to do it again," Trump said of the war. "You can't let Iran have a nuclear weapon." (Washington Post) On Nov. 7, the commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), Adm. Brad Cooper, directed the formation of a new team to coordinate U.S. efforts to prevent the movement of advanced weapons systems, dual-use technologies, sanctioned materials, and illegal revenue streams across Iran's land borders and the Caspian Sea. Strict enforcement at sea continues against all ships entering or departing Iranian ports. (CENTCOM) Israel's economy is gaining steam after more than three years of war. The International Monetary Fund expects Israel's economy to expand by 4.5% in 2026, up from a July forecast of 3.5% - the fastest projected rate among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Israeli businesses, hardened by past crises, quickly adjusted to wartime disruptions. The country also entered the conflict with a relatively low debt load, giving the government room to borrow to fund the military, compensate reservists, and keep households and businesses afloat. The central bank had $237 billion in foreign-exchange reserves as of September. Domestic offshore natural-gas fields helped keep electricity prices relatively insulated from global energy shocks. (Wall Street Journal) The House of Lords on Wednesday narrowly voted to pass a motion of regret relating to the government's sanctions policy. Led by Lord Leigh of Hurley, who proposed the motion, a cross-party group of Peers identified a wide variety of problems linked to the Foreign Secretary's recent announcement of sanctions on the West Bank. Lord Leigh said that "Sanctions, precisely targeted and founded on clear evidence, are a legitimate instrument of British foreign policy, and they have my support. But these regulations do not meet that test. They seem to many to be there to satisfy local domestic political objectives of the Foreign Secretary and his government." Contrary to promises about the regulations being targeted, they were in fact wide-ranging and could apply to someone even associated with someone involved. Such sanctions were "not a scalpel; that's a net. And the government knows it." Questions that arise include the case of Israeli banks, which are mandated by Israeli law to provide services in the West Bank, the tens of thousands of Palestinians currently employed in the West Bank by Israeli firms, and what would happen to a Jewish person purchasing property in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem? (Jewish News-UK) Pro-Palestinian protesters armed with sledgehammers raided the factory of Ultra Intelligence & Communications in Tring in Hertfordshire on Nov. 2, claiming they had destroyed technology used to "assist in the Zionist occupation of Palestine." Footage posted shows activists smashing satellite dishes, parabolic antennas, and a van with a sledgehammer. (Telegraph-UK) News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on X on Friday: "U.S. military aid to Israel has always been a cross-the-aisle agreement. Israel has used it both to defend itself and to confront enemies who threaten America and the West....Today, Israel has a strong and stable economy. The move by Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump from aid to partnership shows the strength and sophistication of our relationship, and its ability to adapt and stand strong over time." (X) Hamas has no intention of relinquishing its grip on Gaza. Videos posted on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 from the funeral of Arafat al-Areer, a Hamas terrorist killed by the IDF, showed large crowds and dozens of armed men firing into the air. On July 30, 2026, President Trump announced that the Board of Peace had reached an agreement for the complete disarmament of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza. What happened to the negotiations to disarm Hamas? Weren't we told that Hamas had agreed to surrender its weapons? Islamist terrorist organizations such as Hamas cannot be talked into abandoning their jihadist ideology, surrendering their weapons, and giving up their commitment to Israel's destruction. The U.S. and the members of the Board of Peace should demand measurable, independently verified progress toward the complete dismantling of Hamas's military and governing structures. There must be clear deadlines, transparent reporting, and immediate consequences for noncompliance. A peace arrangement that leaves Hamas and Iran armed, organized and capable of rebuilding their military infrastructures is not an arrangement for lasting peace. It is a temporary pause that allows both Hamas and Iran to prepare for more massacres against Israel and everyone else. Israel cannot be expected to accept the permanent presence of armed terrorist organizations, such as Hamas or its patron, Iran, committed to its destruction. Israel cannot be expected to wait indefinitely while Hamas rebuilds a war machine. (Gatestone Institute) Israel's Jewish majority has every right to test the relationship of the Arab parties in the Knesset and their conduct and aspirations towards the state, its Jewish majority, and its many declared enemies near and far. At least 85% of Arab voters voted for the two Arab lists. Content on the official sites of these parties paints a troubling picture from the point of view of most Jewish Israelis. Neither site acknowledges that Israel is the state of the Jewish people. One finds an exhortation of a Palestinian state with eastern Jerusalem as its capital. The more radical Joint List calls "to find a just solution to the refugee issue and their right of return." Regarding Gaza, it calls "to consolidate the cessation of the war and the genocide and prevent their resumption, to lift the siege on Gaza and end military control over it, to guarantee aid, reconstruction, and the return of the displaced, and to resume the operations of international organizations, foremost among them the Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, UNRWA." When the overwhelming majority of Israel's Arab citizens vote for parties which do not accept the basic formula of the Jewish and democratic state, Israel's Jewish citizens and parties that represent them have every right to distinguish between the Arab citizens' civil rights as individuals and the parties they have elected. These parties seek to share in government and influence decision-making on matters related to the state's fundamental identity and the crucial security issues it faces. The writer is a senior researcher at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security and professor emeritus at Bar-Ilan University. (Jerusalem Post) Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis:
Iran Avner Vilan, who has spent most of his career working on the Iranian nuclear issue within Israel's defense establishment, believes economic pressure alone will not persuade the regime to abandon its nuclear ambitions. The military option, he argues, must remain on the table. "Iranian civilians could be reduced to having barely enough bread to eat, or even starve to death, and the regime would still keep pouring money into its nuclear program," he said. He believes Iran has decided to move rapidly toward developing a nuclear bomb, which its leadership sees as essential to the regime's survival. "To everyone who opposes going to war now, I would point out that deciding not to go to war also requires a strategy, rather than simply hoping that time will work in our favor." Oded Ailam, a researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs and a former senior Mossad official who specialized in Iranian strategy, said, "I'm not at all convinced another strike is necessary. Iran hasn't managed to significantly rebuild its nuclear program, and when it comes to missiles, they're trying to move part of their production infrastructure underground." "The most effective approach would be to keep strangling them economically until they can't pay the salaries of the military, which isn't particularly fond of the regime anyway; the Revolutionary Guards, whose pay has already been cut; or the Basij. That could trigger an uprising against the regime." "All that's needed is patience, because the blockade is extremely effective. Last week, the Iranians sold off the remaining oil aboard tankers that had been waiting in the Indian Ocean, and there's no longer any income from oil, petrochemical products and so on. All they have left is 1.6 million pistachio trees, whose harvest is exported." Ailam estimates that Iran will reach a point of no return economically within six weeks, partly because water infiltration into oil wells will force them out of operation for an extended period. (Israel Hayom) See also U.S. Expert: Allow Time for Iran Blockade to Work - Alexander Ward Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said he thinks Trump should "hold the line," allowing time for sanctions and the blockade to work. "I think the president at this moment in time does have a winning hand, and that winning hand will put the onus of escalation or engagement on the Islamic Republic." (Wall Street Journal) Despite significant operational achievements, the U.S. and Israel did not succeed in eliminating the Iranian nuclear program or depriving Iran of its ability to continue possessing and manufacturing missiles and UAVs, which pose a significant threat to its neighbors. The regime survived, and the new leadership in Tehran appears to be even more hardline. The U.S. and Israel deprived Iran of a significant portion of the industrial nuclear capability it had built over the years, but left in its possession hundreds of kg. of enriched uranium, advanced centrifuges, know-how, personnel, and underground infrastructure. Moreover, it is reasonable to assume that the two wars have strengthened Iran's motivation to pursue nuclear weapons. In this reality, it is hardly surprising that Israel increasingly views regime change in Iran as the ultimate solution for removing Iranian threats. The desired political change is to be hoped for, but there is no way to predict when it will occur. The writer is Director of the Iran and the Shi'ite Axis Program at INSS. (Institute for National Security Studies) There is a growing gulf between the suffering exacerbated for most Iranians by the U.S.-led economic blockade and the increasing assertiveness of leaders tied to the regime and IRGC. With inflation running at 88% and foreign currency reserves being squeezed, daily hardships are multiplying. The Iranian government has tried to bridge the affordability gap by giving out food vouchers. But whereas the 10 rial coupon covered about 30% of a person's daily food costs last December, it now covers 18%. A study of satellite imagery by BBC Verify suggested that Iran's military has been digging out the entrances of its underground missile bases, which were caved in by U.S. and Israeli bombing earlier this year. According to some estimates, Iran may retain 1,750 ballistic missiles in these facilities. According to a Reuters investigation, the IRGC has been using cryptocurrency payments to purchase chemicals used in rocket motors or explosive warheads, allowing them to maintain production, particularly of drones. (The Times-UK) U.S.-Israel Relations Israel was a prominent issue in many campaigns during the U.S. midterm elections, with some candidates calling to end or condition foreign military aid and downgrade the U.S.-Israel alliance. Yet future anti-Israel legislation could possibly be thwarted by an alliance of Republicans and pro-Israel Democrats (who make up nearly a third of all congressional Democrats). The Democratic camp which supports a full arms embargo against Israel is set to grow only modestly. A more mainstream camp, which supports conditioning arms sales but generally backs the wider U.S.-Israel alliance, will remain the largest faction. Pro-Israel Democrats, the guardians of the "special relationship" between Israel and the U.S., will retain considerable weight within the party. Thus, Pro-Israel Democrats combined with Republicans may still comprise narrow majorities in one or both chambers. The writers are senior researchers at INSS. (Institute for National Security Studies) Other Issues Israel's high fertility rate is extraordinary not only because religious families are large, but because even secular Israelis have considerably more children than their counterparts elsewhere. In Britain, the average number of births per woman is 1.39. Israel's national average is 2.87. In 2024, fertility among Jews stood at 2.94, compared with 2.59 among Arabs. Even in Tel Aviv, Israel's most secular and cosmopolitan city, the fertility rate is higher than any developed OECD country. What is happening in Israeli families that is not happening elsewhere? Traditional Judaism is strongly pronatalist. The desire for children crosses religious, cultural and political boundaries. Israel consistently ranks highly on measures of optimism, and that may matter enormously. Having children is an expression of confidence in the future. Despite recurring war, Israelis continue to behave as though the future is worth investing in. The writer is a demographer and statistician at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. (Jewish News-UK) Israeli defense company BlueBird Aero Systems is set to supply Sri Lanka with four unmanned aircraft in a $12.8 million procurement for maritime surveillance and disaster response. The drones will give the Sri Lankan Air Force additional tools to monitor an exclusive economic zone spanning 517,000 sq. km., an area 27 times larger than the country's landmass. The aircraft will be used to track suspicious vessels, locate missing fishermen, and assist in responding to natural disasters, including floods and cyclones. (Calcalist) Observations: Israel and the Jews Were Collateral Damage in Midterm Elections - Prof. Gil Troy (Los Angeles Jewish Journal)
The writer, a Distinguished Scholar of North American History at McGill University, is a Senior Fellow in Zionist Thought at the Jewish People Policy Institute. |
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