Political Blog: Days Before Israel Closes its Candidate Lists 2026

It is a long weekend in North America - Labour Day Weekend - but not here in Israel. Unfortunately, there are no real long weekends in Israel.  Sunday is generally a regular work day - and Shabbat is a different kind of day - where many things  are closed.  Although many Israelis do not work on Fridays - schools are open in most parts of Israel - and many people do work.  So there is no real equivalent of Sunday - where people can go shopping, go on trips with their family, sign the kids up for sports and other activities - etc.,

As well - there are no real "long weekend" holidays - the equivalent of Victoria Day in Canada or Memorial Day in the US, or Labour Day or the August Long Weekend ("Simcoe Day" in Ontario.  

That's not to say Israel has a shortage of holidays - we have lots.  But most of them are Jewish Holy Days - which for observant people - mean no work, no travelling, no commerce etc.,  So these days are not "free holidays" - the way that people in other countries enjoy days off.  One day that is close is Yom Haatzmaut - Israel's Independence Day  - where people often get together for barbecues or visits to some of  Israel's national parks.  Another time period is the two periods of Hol-Hamoed - during Sukkot and during  Pesach, when many Israelis have time off.  Parenthetically, many Israelis, especially non-observant Israelis, travel out of the country during those periods of time.  Others travel within Israel, which means the roads and highways are completely jammed.

In a way, none of this affects me directly, since my work is primarily Canada based - so I can be off on Labour Day and Sundays, even though these are regular work days for most other Israelis.  The Jewish Holy Days can be more of a challenge - but that was the case even while I was in Toronto - and for anyone observing these Holy Days outside of Israel. It is certainly easier in years like this when some of the major holy days fall on weekends.

We plan to make the most of the Labour Day holiday tomorrow - and take a drive up north - towards the Golan Heights.  Perhaps a winery or two is in our future, perhaps a bee farm - where we might pick up some honey for the upcoming holidays -and perhaps an olive oil production factory.  Or maybe we will stop at a chocolate producer.  It might be a bit hot for walk in a national park - but there are some really great ones in northern Israel.

Upcoming Elections

We are in overdrive with election news here in Israel.  Even though the election is not scheduled to take place until October 27th, there is a huge date coming up this week on Wednesday - the date by which all parties have to finalize their candidate lists.  Watching the news unfold - feels like watching the quarter-finals or semi-finals of a sports tournament - so many things going on.

There is a fairly short explanation for this.  There are currently 16 parties listed as having a chance to make it into the Knesset. Right now only 12 of these parties are projected to make it, based on current polls.  Parties need 3.25% to get into the Knesset - at which point they start off with 4 seats (in the 120 member Knesset).  If they don't make it - their votes all get wasted and redistributed, proportionately, among those that have made it in.  

This means that the parties that are close to or below the threshold are negotiating furiously to find options that would get them into the Knesset through amalgamation - or  other deals.  Alternatively, if the picture looks really bad - some of these parties will have to decide whether to fold and not run.

I will write more about all of this once everything  has closed and the final slates are in - but here are a view interesting pieces of information and a few comments on each of the main parties running now.

The Likud

The current governing party - the Likud, led by Prime Minister Netanyahu, is running at between 19 and 22 seats in most polls - other than Channel 14 (A Fox-type pro-Bibi station) which has the Likud at 31. These polls also project Likud being able to secure between 47 and 53 coalition members, which is well short of the 61 needed to form a government.  There is still lots of time - but there is no question that Bibi is starting to panic looking at these numbers.

Last Sunday night - he gave one of his first interviews in a long time - and came with up his latest spin on the horrifying events of October 7, 2026.  Bibi says "I was asleep when the various military personnel met at 3 a.m. that day (3 hours before the attacks started). They were scared to wake me up because they were worried that I would launch massive counterattacks immediately and throw the whole Mideast into turmoil."  He softly denied that he was promoting a conspiracy theory but of course claimed that everyone had failed - the army, the intelligence, the secret services, - everyone except Bibi.

Later in the week, his office released his schedule and it is quite clear that he received full updates at about 625 a.m. when the attacks began.  No one really knows (at this point) what Bibi did between 6:30 and 10 a.m. but he did not speak with the army commander until approximately 10 a.m. Hardly the schedule of someone who would "spring into action" at the first sign of any problems.

Coupled with this, Netanyahu's wife Sara had been on TV for an interview a day earlier - and she basically suggested that Yair Golan, the leader of the Democratic Party (in Israel) (Not affiliated  in any way with the US Democrats) had known about the attacks ahead of time and already had his uniform on and arrived at the massacre site very early in the day to join in the fighting.  In fact she wondered why Golan knew what was going on and was already fighting while her husband was still asleep and wasn't informed. (It is indeed a funny sort of conspiracy allegation to suggest that Golan knew about the pending attack in advance - but would also be one of the first people to go and risk his life to stop it.  Doesn't sound like a great plan to me).

I won't spend too much time on  this - other  than to say that Golan received calls starting at 6:30 a.m. - went and put on a uniform and arranged to get weapons and headed down to the Gaza area as quickly as he could.  The people he went with are credited with saving more than 125 people. He put his life in danger, unquestionably - to go and try to save Israelis and defend the country. The suggestion that he knew about the attacks in advance is simply unhinged and provides much more information about Sara Netanyahu's mental state than  it does about Golan.

Golan promptly issued a libel warning to Sara Netanyahu - with a demand that she issue a full apology within 24 hours. Sara Netanyahu refused and I believe that Golan will now sue her as he has threatened.  He has threatened to sue for one million shequels and donate the proceeds to he victims of the October 7, 2023 attacks. From a legal point of view - it looks like a slam dunk case to me. She has no immunity since she is not a Knesset member, the allegations are clearly malicious and they are false.  Her supporters have claimed that she didn't actually suggest that there was a conspiracy - but I do not think any judges would buy that defence. Of course Sara, a convicted felon (for fraud and other financial improprieties) is no stranger to defending lawsuits.  Aside from her criminal matters, she has had a rash of lawsuits from former employees - mostly alleging torts like intentional infliction of emotional distress, abusive treatment and failure to comply with employment laws.

In any case, this is apparently the Netanyahu game plan for dealing with the events of October 7, 2023 - avoid taking responsibility, suggest a left-wing conspiracy, and launch all kinds of personal attacks on others with a whole range of attack ads aimed at the various opposition members claiming that they are "enemies of the state."

I guess it remains to be seen whether Israelis will buy all of this.  Hopefully not.

Yashar

This is a party led by former IDF General Gadi Eisenkot, which is running on more of a centrist platform (okay - right-centre really).  The party's name means "straight" or "straightforward" and one of the key elements of the platform is an explicit (and sometimes implicit) attack on the corruption of the current coalition.  Eisenkot's party is polling at between 21 and 25 seats. In most polls, it is ahead of the Likud, which would give it the first opportunity to build a government coalition.  Currently, even with all of its potential coalition allies, it is only polling at  between 55 and 58 seats.  That would put them at 3 to 6 seats short of being able to form a government.  One option would be to cut a deal with one or more of the three ultra-nationalist parties.  This is possible but unlikely since there would be such a wide diversity of views on so many issues.  Another possibility is that they could form a government with one of the ultra-religious parties. Again this seems unlikely since neither Eisenkot nor his other coalition members seem ready or willing to give the ultra-religious what they are seeking. A third possibility is another government with Monsour Abbas and his Ra'am party (like the government that Bennett formed when he was Prime Minister).  Although the various coalition members are claiming that they will not do this - I think that this option is something that is quite possible - if Yashar gets 57-60 seats.

Yachad

Yachad is a coalition made up of former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and former short serving Prime Minister Yair Lapid.  Although Bennett himself describes himself as a religious right wing observant Jew, he states that the most important thing is forming a proper government - even  if that means compromising with others.  There was talk that the party might join up with Yashar - and create one big party.  They still have until Wednesday to do that, but it is looking unlikely.  Apparently, they commissioned some huge polls and found that by combining, they might even lose  votes compared to their current numbers. The party released its election list today - and it is comprised of almost 50% women (perhaps the highest percentage of women candidates of any party) with a range of accomplished, highly qualified candidates.  Bennett has been travelling around the country meeting voters and discussing with them his party, its policy and positions.

Many voters he meets with are very upset with Bennett.  In the last round of elections, he promised in writing not to form a government with the Arab party Ra'am.  After the elections, he changed his position - at least in part because he saw that there was no other viable option to form a government and without a deal - there would be another election.

Over the past few weeks - the Yachad numbers seem to be going up and are currently at 11 to 15.

The Far Right

Israel now has three ultra-right wing parties running.  These are religious Zionist parties - that seem to share the view that the only way to end the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is to annex all of the territory, expel all of the Palestinians (with payments or forcibly) and, eventually, rebuild the third Temple in Jerusalem (after destroying the Mosque of course..).

Otzma Yehudit

One party, Otzma Yehudit - Jewish power, led by Itamar Ben-Gvir, is polling at between 6 and 9 seats. Ben Gvir is an extreme populist - who has been serving as the Minister of National Security in the current Likud led government.  Ben-Gvir is a gentleman with a prison record for incitement, a history of being a disciple of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane and someone who the army would not take because he was too extreme.  Needless to say, he is responsible for allowing, explicitly or implicitly, the various attacks on Palestinian Arabs that have been taking place in Yehuda and Shomron.  

As you might have heard, U.S. Ambassador Huckabee, the most pro-Israel ambassador ever, recently describe these attacks as terrorist attacks and called for the perpetrators to be arrested.  

Ben-Gvir recently added Tali Gottlieb to his party, who crossed over from the Likud party after failing to secure a high enough spot for herself in the recent Likud primaries.

Some commentators have indicate that Ben-Gvir and his party could get as many as 12-15 seats.  This would be quite frightening in my view.

Religious Zionist Party

This party is led by Bezalel Smotrich - who previously ran with Ben-Gvir.  He has been serving as Israel's Finance Minister - and has made all  kind of notorious statements and claims over the course of his term.  

Up until last week, he was polling at less than 3% and facing political wilderness.  He joined up with the Zehut (Identity) party led by Moshe Faglin and is now polling at 5 to 6 seats.  It is still possible that this party will fail to make it over the finish line but that remains to be seen.

Your Nation Israel

The newest entry to the Israeli political circus is a new party called "Your Nation Israel" led by Ofer Vinter, a former Israeli General, without an extensive political background - but with extensive military experience.  One of the fascinating things is that Vinter signed up Arab Israeli Joseph Haddad as his number two candidate.  Haddad is an Arab Israeli who has served in the Israeli army and is well known for his active "hasbara" efforts on behalf of Israel.  Some Rabbis have complained publicly about Vinter having an Arab Israeli in such a high position in his party.  Others have flooded him with support.  This alone differentiates him from the other two ultra-right wing parties - though I note, for what it is worth, that Haddad is a Christian Arab and not a Muslim Arab. 

Netanyahu is pleading and begging with Vinter to join up with Smotrich's party or with Ben-Gvir to ensure that the votes are not wasted.  Vinter's party is currently polling at 5 to 6 seats but Netanyahu believes that either Vinter's party or Smotrich's party will fail to pass the threshold which would harm the Netanyahu bloc's chances.

In my view, it is within the realm of possibility that Vinter could actually join Eisenkot - if there were no other options. Vinter has denied that this could happen  - but we are talking about Israeli politics of course - everything is possible.

Overall, these three ultra-nationalist parties are polling at 15-20 seats combined - which is a huge number.  A government that might be made up of Likud plus these folks plus the ultra-religious parties - would create an enormous danger for the continued existence of Israel as a liberal democracy and could move the country even further along the path towards a religious state - like Türkiye or even worse.

The Democrats

This is the party led by Yair Golan that was formerly made up of the left-wing worker oriented Labour party (the party of Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres) and the far left party Meretz - which focused on equality, secularism and a political compromise with the Palestinians.  The Meretz party was devasted in the last elections with Meretz failing to make it past the threshold and the Labour party emerging as a shadow of its former self.  Led by Golan, the Democrats rebranded themselves, merged the two parties and are now polling at 8 to 11 seats.  

Golan was a senior military figure and he is tough as nails.  He is a reserve Major General.  When he first heard of the outbreak of the Hamas terror attacks on October 7, 2023, he sprang into action  - even though he was a retired officer - and headed down to the Gaza area to join the fighting and try to save lives.

Golan is viewed by some on the right as fairly extreme. He is a supporter of full Arab participation in Israeli governments, a two-state solution and full equality for all people in the State of Israel.  He has been known to make some statements at times that have been viewed as extreme by many on the political right.

However, ultimately, he has impeccable  military credentials and is in favour of a strong, democratic, Jewish state, with equal rights for all citizens. He is the most likely of all the candidates to stick to his principles and refuse to make a deal with Netanyahu.  There is a also a good chance that he will achieve a higher number of seats than currently projected.

Yisrael Beitenu

The Yisrael Beitenu Party (Israel, Our Home), led by Avigdor Liberman is polling at between 7 and 10 seats.  This is also a fairly right wing party, heavily supported by Israeli Russian expatriates, but one that is dedicated to separating the state from much of the religious legal framework that now envelopes the State.  Liberman and his party favour full conscription for all military aged Israelis (including Arab citizens and the ultra-religious), full access to civil marriage for everyone (including the LGBT community) and a weakening of many different religious laws generally - including those that apply to Kashrut and Shabbat across the country. More than anything else, Liberman would like to see an Israeli government that does not include the large ultra-orthodox parties.  Liberman himself has extensive political experience and views himself as a possible Prime Minister as part of a coalition deal. He will almost certainly agree to form a government with Eisenkot and Bennett and is very unlikely to join a government led by Netanyahu.

The Ultra-Religious

There are two major ultra-religious parties - Shas and United Torah Judaism (UTJ).  I am not going to discuss them at length but I do have a few comments.

Shas

Shas is made up of primarily Sephardi ultra-orthodox supporters - and is led by convicted felon and fraudster Aryeh De'eri - who has been serving as a Minister in Netanyahu's current government. They are polling at 7 to 10 seats and are likely to be in the government only if Netanyahu can win again. Then again, if they are facing the political wilderness, they might make a deal with other parties for the right amount of money.  They would rather secure funding for their Yeshivas and other institutions than face four years of greatly reduced funding.  De'eri does know how to make all sorts of deals - which also include terms that are to his own personal benefit. For now, they are one of the parties that Netanyahu can really count on - if he has any chance to form a government.

UTJ

This is the ultra-orthodox, anti-Zionist, anti army party - supported by those who live in ultra-religious strongholds in Jerusalem, B'nei Brak and parts of Beit Shemesh.  They are also polling at 7 or 8 consistently (since their supporters vote for whomever their rabbis tell them to vote for).

They are strongly in the Netanyahu camp and very unlikely to support any other leader or party. Then again, for the right amount of money....

But don't worry, no other parties are about to offer them the money and deal it would take to leave Netanyahu.

RA'AM

One of the most interesting parties - this is an Arab Muslim party that was originally fundamentalist in outlook.  The Ra'am party leader Monsour Abbas decided that he would like his party to become involved in Israeli politics in a direct way.  This culminated in him joining the Bennett government - and Abbas becoming a Minister in that government.  

Many on Israel's right - oppose Abbas and  his party and claim that he has not been clear enough in denouncing Hamas.  They argue that the inclusion of Abbas in an Israeli government endangers Israel.

There is no suggestion that Abbas did anything, while serving  in the Bennett government, that warrants this criticism.

Most recently, Abbas announced that he  had come to agreement with a Jewish Zionist politician, former head of the Police services in Israel, Yoav Segalovitz, to join his party and run as number 2 on his list.  This is fascinating.  Perhaps the first time in Israel's history that a Jewish Zionist has joined an Arab Muslim led party - with a view to changing the country.

Some Arab Israelis oppose the inclusion of Segalovitz in the party - but they are being assured by Abbas that this is an appropriate move.  Some Israelis oppose the move by Segalovitz and question his loyalty.  Still others wonder if this is some sort of trick by Abbas to make his party more palatable as a coalition partner.  

I have heard Abbas many times on TV (he speaks fluent Hebrew of course and English) and, in my view, he seems like quite a decent guy - sincere, and committed to some kind of long-term solution for Muslims and Jews in Israel. Abbas is a trained Dentist with a degree from Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has also completed some of the work towards his Masters Degree in political science from the University of Haifa.

Ra'am is running at 4 to 6 seats currently and would like to join the next government.  A Bibi-led coalition is unlikely to make a deal with Ra'am. Some of the opposition parties have said that they will not make an agreement with Ra'am either, but I think that we cannot rule out this possibility.

Other Arab Parties

There are three other Arab parties that run together as the combined "Joint List." Generally, these are anti-Zionist, communist, Muslim parties that are not interested or willing to join  a Zionist-led government - unlike the Ra'am party, which publicly accepts that Israel is a Jewish State. The Joint list is currently polling at 7 to 9 seats.  Party members can and will certainly vote on different bills - which could include bills to dissolve the Knesset.  But unless there is a tremendous sea change - including a change in some of their views - they are unlikely to play a role in any near term Israeli governing coalition.

There you have it - that is my wrap up of the current state of political affairs - as of three days before the lists close.  I will try to write again on Wednesday night or Thursday -once the list deadline passes but before Rosh Hashanah but that might be difficult given the timing.

Final Word on Israeli Politics

There is lots of time between now and October 27th, 2026. I think there are still three strong possibilities and we cannot rule any of them  out.  One  possibility is, essentially, a stalemate.  If no coalition can form a government of 61  - we may face additional rounds of election or we might see some sort of surprise compromise - with either some ultra-religious, some ultra-nationalist (Vinter?) or the Ra'am party helping to form a government.  The anti-Netanyahu coalition may wind up being the winners of a stalemate.

If Netanyahu and his current coalition members can get past 61 -  we can expect more of the same - and perhaps even harder right policies.  The various coalition members, who are all to the right of  Netanyahu or seem to be, are committed to attacking the current judicial system, enhancing executive power, continuing to move Israel towards a path towards annexation of Judea and Samaria, exempting the ultra-religious from the army and attacking equality in various ways and forms, procedurally and substantively, across the country. 

If the anti-Likud coalition can get past 61 seats and form a government, Israel could see quite a huge number of changes, especially on a wide range of domestic policy issues - and possibly in its approach to foreign policy issues as well.  I believe it would be a far less corrupt government - with policies that would ultimately be more representative of the country as a whole.

Other Notes

Israeli TV has spent a fair bit of time over the past few days speaking about the US-Canada trade dispute.

The tone from the Israeli press - I think - is trepidation.   Israeli reporters are wondering what it is that has made Trump so intent on attacking Canada - one of the U.S.'s closest long standing allies, with the largest shared border in the world.  If this is how Trump treats his "friends" - what is going to happen to us?

If Trump would rather spend his time getting the US to cosy up to Türkiye, Qatar, Russia and other very questionable regimes - while attacking and alienating long term allies of the US in Europe, Canada and  other places around the world - what does that mean for the future of the U.S.-Israel relationship? Especially since Bibi banked  completely on Trump and the Republicans and turned the U.S.-Israel relationship into a partisan issue in the US.

Of course, it is not that Israelis are feeling warm and fuzzy about Canada's current government.  The current Liberal government led by Prime Minister  Carney is probably the most anti-Israeli government in Canada's history. These policies have almost certainly played a role in the outbreak of anti-Semitic attacks across the country including attacks on synagogues, Jewish schools, Jewish owned stores and restaurants and, of course, universities across Canada.

Toronto looks like it is on a path to re-electing an extremely anti-Israeli, and probably anti-Semitic mayor, which is really frightening for a city with such a large Jewish population that used to feel safe in the City. 

But despite the situation in Canada, I think Israelis are really starting to wonder whether such a close relationship with Trump will wind up benefiting the country in the long run. Maybe they are even starting to wonder about the medium term.

Sports

Interestingly, Israeli TV networks do tend to show lots of NFL games, regular season and playoffs and lots of NHL playoff games.  But almost no baseball.  I think the average Israeli figures it is simply too boring - especially without having grown up with the sport.

I am admittedly somewhat of a bandwagon jumper myself, but I have been on the bandwagon for a while now - since the Blue Jays started to play reasonably well early last year.  It was a devastating game 7 World Series loss - and this season has not lived up to expectations.

But despite all of that, the Blue Jays have fought themselves back to 0.500 baseball and a tie for the last wild card spot.  So the remaining 19 games will be super  meaningful - and I will have to watch them by streaming them with a VPN - at some very inconvenient times.  

Today's Labour Day game is at a reasonably convenient time - so that helps.

Conclusion

We are gearing up for Rosh Hashanah, which, as you may know, starts on Friday night the 11th.

One of those years in which you will have to go to Shul on the second day if you want to hear the Shofar -  since the first day is Shabbat.

One of our family members will be in Toronto running  an auxiliary service.  Another will be in the U.S.  So it will be fairly quiet here for us for Rosh Hashanah.  For  Yom Kippur we will be leading tefillot here in Ra'anana - our kehillah seems to be in the range of 30  to 50 people - with a community break-fast at the end of the fast (after I blow the Shofar...). 

Wishing  everyone a meaningful, happy, healthy and successful New Year and hoping that I have time to update at least some of this political news later this week.  If you are not too interested in all of this domestic Israeli politics - sorry about that - but my blogs between now and late November (it may take 30 days for anyone to form a government in Israel after the elections) are likely to include lots of political news.

End of August 2026 - Getting to Israel, Some Wineries and Some Politics

We have about 12 days to go until Rosh Hashanah - and we also have about 9 days to go until the Israeli candidate lists for the upcoming election are closed.  So what better time to write a blog? 

This will not be a heavily election focused blog - since we do not have enough information yet to start making serious predictions.  Some of the parties are still in a state of flux - negotiating to amalgamate, settling their candidate lists and trying to decide whether to continue.  I will include some comments - but more detailed Israeli election blogs will follow as we get closer to the election (which is taking place on October 27, 2026).

Getting to Israel - Via Lisbon, Portugal

Getting to and from Israel for Canadians is still quite a challenge.  As you know, El Al stopped its direct service to Toronto and Montreal before Covid and Air Canada's service to and from Tel-Aviv is currently suspended. Air Canada currently advises that it is scheduled to resume service between Tel-Aviv and  Toronto on January 17, 2027 but I don't think anyone should bank on that.  They have cancelled and postponed numerous times and it is probably unlikely that they will resume that date - unless there are some drastic changes to the situation in the Middle East.

We have tried flying through many different European cities, often with Air Canada from Toronto to Europe and then El Al from the European city to Israel.  This is not that easy for several reasons - you have to buy two separate tickets - and if one or the other is delayed or cancelled - you have a problem.  Secondly, you have to collect your bags (if you have checked bags) and then re-check in, often with lengthy line ups at immigration and security. Thirdly, it is very hard to find reasonably priced El  Al tickets through some of these European cities.  You could fly Arkia, Israir, Blue Bird or some other budget airlines - but that depends on your tolerance level for traveling low cost airlines.

We have found that Rome, Athens and Zurich are probably the most convenient, though the immigration line-ups at the Athens airport can be extremely lengthy, both for arriving and for departing. 

This time we tried flying through Lisbon.  The Air Canada prices to Lisbon were quite good - cheaper than most other European cities.  We were planning to spend a few days in Lisbon - but we wound up having to delay our flight - and we could not change the El Al leg from Lisbon to Tel-Aviv so we had only one day in Lisbon.

The Air Canada flight was delayed (what else is new) but ultimately we arrived only about 40 minutes late.  The Lisbon airport uses buses for a large number of its flights - so the airplane parks in the middle of nowhere and then you get on a bus to the terminal.  Much like Israel's airport was about 30 years ago.  It is especially enjoyable when it is raining heavily. 

We locked up our luggage (they have some self-service luggage storage facilities  at the Lisbon Airport that are reasonably convenient) and grabbed a cab to the centre of the city.  I had researched the cost in advance and expected to pay about 15-20 Euros for the cab ride.  The first driver refused to turn on the meter and told us it was a fixed rate of 35 Euros.  After arguing with him for a bit, we got out. The next driver had no problem putting on the meter and the cost was as expected.  Interestingly, we used Bolt on the way back (Bolt is a competitor of Uber and Lyft).  That ride on Bolt cost us 6 Euros from a similar downtown location back to the airport.  You need to  download the app - so make sure you have data on your phone.  But they are happy to use a Whatsapp number so you do  not need to have an e-sim with a European phone number. 

We wandered around different parts of Lisbon - including the old Jewish Quarter, which was interesting.  We tried some  fish at the Time Out market - but it was on pricey side and not particularly memorable.  I think we would have been better off eating at one of the outdoor cafes in the centre of the city. We took a nice walking route through several areas - and spent some time along the water.  I would happily go back to Lisbon even though the air connection is not super convenient (between Toronto and Tel-Aviv).  El Al only has one flight a day and only certain days of the week - so if your flight gets delayed or cancelled  -  you might be enjoying Lisbon  for several more days.

For Americans, life is a bit easier. El Al offers many flights through New York and a few other cities and Delta and United  have both announced that they are restarting their service to Tel- Aviv. So there are many options.  El Al's pricing through the US has been super high but it may come down with some increased competition. Personally, I would rather connect through Europe than one of the New York area airports - generally less chaotic - especially at security - and immigration (even though immigration is fairly easy for me - just long line-ups at some airports).  

I still have good benefits with Star Alliance airlines including Air Canada, Lufthansa, Aegean (through Greece) etc., and no good benefits with the other alliances.  So that makes it more worthwhile to fly through somewhere in Europe. I hope that we will soon see direct flights between Toronto and Tel-Aviv but I am not holding my breath, especially with the current political climate.  The current Canadian government  does not have a warm and fuzzy relationship with Israel - and I am sure that is playing a role in Air Canada's interest or ability to restart flights.

Wineries - Netofa and Bat Shlomo

We have visited a few wineries recently and I sometimes include some comments about some of these wineries.  As you might know - there are somewhere in the range of 300-400 wineries in Israel with the current Israeli business database listing 341 operating wineries.  Of  those, approximately 180 are Kosher, though most of the larger wineries in Israel are certified as Kosher.  In case you are wondering, approximately 25-20 of those wineries produce "mevushal" wine but it is generally the winery's lower end wine - and mostly for export to North America.  Israeli restaurants, even those under the highest levels of Kashruth supervision, do not generally serve mevushal wines - but this is all a topic for another day.

Bat Shlomo

Bat Shlomo is a boutique winery with an in-house chef not too far from Zichron Yaakov.   The winery has a  beautiful courtyard area for wine tasting and provides a plate of delicious fresh breads, spreads, jams fruit and other items, mostly grown on location or nearby.  We tasted a variety of wines and really enjoyed the wines as well as the hospitality.  The winery offers a high-end bed and breakfast experience which includes posh amenities, chef created food and prices to match. The winery and restaurant are strictly Kosher - with only dairy and fish served. We enjoyed the wines quite a bit and wound up buying a few extra bottles.  I would highly recommend a visit.

Netofa

More recently we visited Netofa Winery, which produces wines based on the French-Mediterranean style of wine making. The winery does not produce any Cabernet Sauvignon. Rather there is an emphasis on Syrah, Mourvedre and Semillon grapes as well as a few others. 

The visitor's centre has some tasty food offerings including a very nice cheese and fruit plate, with free refills of certain items. The bread was warm and fresh and the cheeses were tasty. Everything is strictly Kosher - and the host was quite friendly. But overall, we didn't love the wine. We enjoyed one of the white wines, from the higher-end Tel Qasser range - which was made from Roussanne grapes and aged for 10 months in oak barrels.  We also enjoyed the pure Syrah varietal. Overall, it was a nice place to visit but let's just say...we didn't actually buy any wine.  Of course these things are very taste specific and some people may enjoy these wines more than others since the grapes are quite different from those used by many Israeli wineries.   

Some Election News

As I mentioned earlier, I have to say something about the upcoming elections but I will keep it relatively short for. I will write more extensively between September 9 and October 27th.

First of all, things are still in a state of flux right now.  Israel uses a proportionate representation system exclusively with a cut-off of about 3.25%.  So if you put together a party and you run and get less than 3.25% of the vote - all of your votes are wasted and redistributed proportionately among the other parties.

Right now, there are about 15 different parties running in the upcoming elections that have a realistic chance of getting into the Knesset. Based on current polling, 3 of those parties are polling below the threshold and would not make it. They have a deadline of September 9th, by which time they must finalize their slates. Apparently there are all kinds of discussions taking place, especially among these smaller parties, to consider combining, amalgamating or running together.  Once the lists are finalized by September 9th, we will have a better picture of who is actually running.

Most current polls are putting the relatively new "Yashar" (Straightforward) party led by Gadi Eisenkot in the lead with between 22 and 26 seats.  Prime Minister Netanyahu's Likud party is polling at between 19 and 22 seats. Both numbers are probably subject to dramatic fluctuation between now and October 27, 2026. One set of polls, put out by channel 14 News in Israel (think Fox  News) is giving Netanyahu 31 seats.  Interestingly, they release less information about their polling methodology.  But most other polls including those conducted by independent pollsters, and polls run by channels 11, 12 and 13, all have similar numbers.

Of course, as you may know, just winning a plurality in Israel does not entitle you to form a government. To form a government, a party needs to cobble together a coalition with at least 61 seats (out of the 120 seat Knesset).  These coalitions are formed with formal coalition agreements - which include provisions for providing cabinet seats to coalition partners. 

Based on current polls, no party is predicted to be able to form a coalition - yet.  Eisenkot and his political allies (referred to as the "Opposition") have been polling at anywhere from 55 to 60 seats.  They are getting close but still short of the required majority to form a government.

Netanyahu and his partners - i.e. the current government - are polling at between 49 and 54 seats.  Right now, the math does not look good for Netanyahu but he probably has all kinds of strategies, tricks and events up his sleeve to implement between now and October 27, 2026.  It is anyone's guess as to whether any of this will work.

My overall comment is that most of the parties are right-leaning and so, whatever happens, it is unlikely that there will be a seismic shift in policy from any elected government.  The tone might change and some policies are likely to change, especially domestically, if there is a change in government.  But after October 7, 2023, it is highly unlikely that we will see major changes vis a vis the Palestinians or Israel's immediate neighbours.

Eisenkot is viewed as somewhat of a centrist - perhaps centre right. The only coalition partners that he would have that would be on his left would be the Democratic party run by Yair Golan and, perhaps, Lapid's half of the Yachad party (Lapid merged his party with Bennett's early this year). If Eisenkot is able to form a government without any of the ultra religious parties - we could see some major domestic policy changes - which could include laws affecting marriage in Israel (currently controlled by religious authorities), demonopolization of Kashrut laws, reduced funding for Yeshiva students, and strengthened recruitment laws for the ultra-religious and other policies that affect the power of religious institutions in Israel. We may also see increased outreach efforts to countries in Europe and other parts of the world - but I am just not  sure that this will be accompanied by any significant policy shifts.

On the other hand, I don't think that anyone can rule out Netanyahu at this point.  If he is able to win and forms another narrow right wing government - like Israel's current government - he would be likely to double down on some of the policies that his government has been implementing over the past four years.  Increased funding and authority for the ultra-religious and their monopoly over religious institutions in Israel, dismantling of the power of the Israeli Supreme Court, increasing the power and the immunity of the executive branch of government and continued movement towards eventual annexation over  most of Judea and Samaria (often  called the "West Bank"). All of this would be likely to cause long-term increased international isolation for  Israel and significant economic challenges.  At the same time, the events of October 7, 2023 have made it clear that  Israel can only rely on  itself for its own security and defence  in the long run.

Meanwhile, Bibi's criminal trial is still continuing and it is likely that it would come to an end over the course of a four year mandate. I have written about this on several occasions and continue to maintain that there will never be an actual verdict.  Netanyahu will either reach a deal for a plea bargain or a pardon at some point, or, if he gains significant political strength, he will find a way to legislate away his legal problems.  I think that this third option is the least likely - but that remains to be seen.

There is much more to write about but I will leave it at this for now and I will try to squeeze in another blog, more election focused on September 10th or 11th - as we prepare for Rosh Hashanah.   In the meantime, I wish everyone a happy last day of August - which seems to mark the unofficial end of summer in Toronto in most years.  Here in Israel, it will be quite warm for at least two more months, usually, so lots of opportunity to go for a swim at the nearby Herzliah beach.

I am looking forward to the start of NFL season, the start of the NHL season and maybe a strong last minute push by the Blue Jays to get themselves into the playoffs (they are just 1.5 games out from a wild card spot as of the time of writing of this blog).  

Is Renewed Fighting Between Iran and Israel Likely? And Some Israeli Election News

Is Renewed Fighting Between Iran and Israel Likely?

This will probably be my last blog for the summer but I expect that I will have a thing or two to write in September and October as we near Israel's election on October 27, 2026.

These days, we have been on eggshells - or shpilkes if you prefer, waiting to see what will develop in the current war.  As you might know, President Trump has been threatening to launch massive attacks against Iran to try and pressure Iran into making significant concessions (or perhaps, more correctly, any concessions) towards some kind of cease fire deal.  According to various Israeli reports, a major attack was planned for Friday night (July 24, 2026). At the last minute, apparently under pressure from Vice President Vance and others, including military commanders and advisors, Trump cancelled the attacks.

I would say that the mood in Israel seems very mixed.  On the one hand, there is a feeling in Israel that the first round of fighting with Iran (or perhaps, more accurately, the second or third rounds) ended prematurely with what was more or less a U.S. surrender.  None of the U.S.' war objectives were achieved - and the same can be said for Israel.  The Iranians do not appear to have made many, if any, concessions.  In fact, Iran has emerged from the war with  some level of control over the Hormuz Strait, something it did have going into the  war.  Iran still has its nuclear program intact, still has its network of proxies in place including the Houthies in Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon and other allies in Iraq, Gaza and other places.  And Iran is continuing to rebuild its missile program and  capabilities.  The same leadership is running the country even if it is now either Khomenai's son Mojtaba, or some unnamed IRGC leaders.  Overall, by any objective measure, this war can only be characterized as a massive defeat for the U.S. and Israel, even though both countries claim to have caused significant damage to Iranian infrastructure and military capabilities.  By any measure, a war that ends with a country in a better geopolitical position than it was before the war started can only be defined as a victory for that country.  Iran's control of the Hormuz straits and the list of terms that are being negotiated with the U.S. bears no resemblance whatsoever to a U.S. victory.

As a result, many Israelis are certainly of the view that only a series of massive U.S.  attacks might move the Iranian regime to make more concessions and give the U.S. (and Israel) some type of victory or at least some demonstrable gain from the war. Of course, that could backfire - and Iran could continue resisting - and perhaps emerge with even further gains.  From the Israeli point of view, the risk is worth taking - and certainly Prime Minister Netanyahu is anxiously waiting, if not begging Trump, for the attacks to resume.

On the other hand, any major renewed attacks on Iran will almost certainly bring an array of missile attacks to Israel, which will affect Israel's economy, cause the loss of life, shut down the airports and put Israelis in and out of shelters for several days if not weeks.  From various reports that I heard and the "mood on the street," my view is that a majority of Israelis are willing to risk all of that.  They seem to feel that there is a unique opportunity now to do something about the current Iranian regime - and that the combination of having Trump in the White House, having a weakened Iranian leadership and a weakened network of proxies, all  makes this an ideal time to try and "finish the  job" (whatever that might mean).

That being said, I think Israelis underestimate the domestic and  international pressure that Trump is facing - as well as the limitations on his freedom of  action due to deals or understandings with a variety of countries including Qatar, Russia and others.  On Friday, it certainly seemed that this war was going to ramp up at any time in a big way.  Late Friday, Trump announced that the U.S. would not be proceeding with further attacks - and even ceased the types of attacks that the U.S. had been carrying out for the preceding 11 days. Now, I am starting to become less convinced (even though Trump might be bluffing with his announcement that he will not be attacking). 

The manner in which the previous round of fighting ended is indicative that Trump's "bark is worse than his bite" and the Iranians probably have a very good understanding of that now.  If things end the way they are now, the end result from the U.S. - Iranian conflict will have been a weakened perception of the U.S. Military, a stronger and more confident Iran, a weakening of the U.S. -Israel relationship and, most likely, a renewed determination by Iran to build a nuclear weapon.  

All of this is disastrous for Prime Minister Netanyahu  who was hoping that he would have some kind of victory to flout from this war. Unfortunately for him, at this point, there is no good news to report, even though he will attempt to spin the war in various directions to support his bid for another re-election.  Netanyahu would, of course, happily pay the price that Israelis would bear of renewed fighting with Iran, in a bid to bolster his election chances - and with the hope that the U.S. and Israel would be  able to realize some gains from renewed hostilities.  The worst case outcome for Netanyahu would be several Iranian missiles hitting Israel and another "truce" that leaves things in more or less the same state that they are in currently.  Netanyahu's calculation would be that all of this would leave him in a position that is no worse than where he is currently (politically) - so, effectively, "why not?"

Trump's calculation is quite a bit different, especially with upcoming U.S. midterms.  Although Trump is happy to claim victory at every opportunity, he and his advisors are probably quite cognizant that being embroiled in a protracted war with Iran - without the prospect of realizing significant military and political gains from that war - could well be disastrous for the Republicans at the polling booths in November, especially if the price of gasoline continues to rise.

Several International airlines announced that they were cancelling flights to Israel over the weekend - so I don't think we are out of the woods yet in terms of a possible renewal of fighting.  And of course Trump is very unpredictable.  But overall, there seems to be an emerging likelihood that  another major U.S. or U.S./Israeli attack on Iran is not in the cards.  I guess we will have to wait and see.  

On a very  personal note, it is looking more likely that upcoming flights this week will proceed as scheduled and that any decision to renew fighting may be postponed by several days if not weeks.

Preliminary Election News

The "Democrats" (the Israeli version) - which is an amalgamation of the old Labour Party (a party with a traditionally socialist worker bent) and the old Meretz  party (a far left party with a libertarian bent - at least on state vs religion issues) held its "primaries" and assembled a list of candidates based on the voting results of more than 100,000 Israelis.  The slate includes religious and secular candidates, Arab Israeli candidates and many  familiar faces.  The "Democrats" are currently the only Jewish majority party in Israel that  does not describe itself as being "right wing" or "centre-right."  They are currently  polling at an estimate of between 9 and 11 seats - and could play a big role in any future government if it is government that not led by Prime Minister Netanyahu.

The other party that has traditionally held wide-ranging primaries has been the Likud party - which usually winds up with hundreds of thousands of Israelis voting to set the "list" in place - with numbers ranging from 1 to 50 or so for possible positions that Likud party members could be in after voting results.  Prime Minister Netanyahu has been particularly worried this year about these primaries, fearing the possibility that some dissenting voices would wind up in high ranked positions and make life difficult for him.  

So he floated various ideas to address this situation.  First he asked the Likud party (which has a governing body) to cancel the primaries due to "unique circumstances" and allow a panel (that he would hand pick of course) to simply select the full slate of candidates.  After this was rejected, he asked for the right to nominate 20 "hand-picked" candidates that would be strategically placed in the top 40.  Then he went down to asking for 15.  This back and forth continued until he came to a deal with the Likud party that he could nominate 8 candidates, placed in designated positions in the top 30.  However, the Party also agreed that if "security considerations" warrant, Netanyahu could cancel the primaries and use a committee to pick all of the candidates.

Internally, Likud party members challenged this agreement and went to the Likud Court - an internal decision making tribunal - which ruled that the primaries could not cancelled.  The court held that even if there was a serious security situation, there were alternatives including electronic voting etc.,  Overall, this was a significant and embarrassing defeat for Netanyahu, within his own party.  He cannot blame the "deep state," the "leftist Israeli Supreme Court" or some of the other non-Likud candidates.  

The result is that Netanyahu may wind up with a a range of candidates who are prepared to challenge his leadership and/or his decisions - even if they do not do so in a public way initially.   The Likud primaries are scheduled for August 17, 2026 and that should be fascinating.  

Polling results are released almost daily in Israel.  Looking at a range of polls, it seems to be a close race between the Yashar Party (led by Gadi  Eisenkot) and  Likud led by Netanyahu for the highest number of votes with both parties in the range of 20 to 25  predicted seats.  

For  building a coalition the predications are currently that the opposition could get between 57 and 62 seats and Netanyahu's government could get between 48 and 55.  Parties seeking to form a government need  to be able to present a coalition agreement with 61 seats.  So unless there is a shift, we could be facing some type of stalemate.  (We have been there before).  That being said, there is lots of time between now and election day and things could change drastically.

Other Comments

I have no sports news to report - since the only thing going on that interests me currently is baseball and the Toronto Blue Jays are having a terrible season. (Sorry if I offended anyone who is glued to the TV watching some other sports). NFL and NHL will be starting soon and in December 2026, there will be a draw for 2028 Euros - and hopefully Israel will have a chance of making it.

This is probably all for the best as we can all get outside and enjoy the summer weather, as long as it is not 40c plus.

I updated my index for this blog (Index is hyperlinked).  Over the years, I have now written about 350 blog articles.  You can use the index to go back and read all of the articles that you missed....

As usual, you can feel free to send this to anyone who you think might be interested - and they can email me at rananareveller@gmail.com if they would like to be added to the list.  Or you can email me and just say "remove" if you want to be removed from the current list.

You can also feel free to write back with your comments, preferably constructive, though I am happy to engage with a wide variety of viewpoints. 

Enjoy the summer weather. Hope to see many of you soon!

On the Edge of Another Major War with Iran? And Tisha B'Av 5786 (2026)

I am writing this on Friday afternoon, June 24, 2026.  According to many different indicators, there is a strong likelihood that Trump will make a decision to have U.S. forces launch a massive attack on Iran at any time.

Although no one knows for sure what will take place and Trump could be bluffing to try and get the Iranians to agree to some kind of deal - reports from the Israeli press have indicated that the Iranians have rejected any kind of deal proposed by the U.S. or the mediators at this point in time - and the gap between the U.S. and Iran is simply too wide to close.

In Israel, various news commentators have been speculating that an attack could come at any time, with many almost predicting that it will be tonight or tomorrow sometime.  

Iran has threatened to retaliate against Israel if the U.S. crosses certain Iranian "red lines."  Just as it is unclear whether Trump will actually commence broad attacks against Iran, it is equally unclear whether Iran will decide to bring Israel into the conflict now.  However, if Iran does attack Israel, it is almost certain that Israel will respond with significant force.

Another possibility is that Trump will ask Israel to participate in some type of massive attack that he would like to carry out against Iran.  Israel would almost certainly say yes to any such request by Trump.  However, I think it is more likely that Trump would like to show that the U.S. can carry out these attacks on its own without Israel and will only involve Israel if Iran draws Israel into the conflict.

One report indicated that Israeli hospitals across the country have been told to be on their highest alert levels and to be prepared to move all operations underground on short notice. Some Israeli officials denied that this order was given.

I guess we will find out soon enough. We are scheduled to leave Israel on July 28th (completely unrelated to anything going on) for a few weeks.  I guess we will see soon enough if we are actually able to leave.  In short, we have had to prepare the "safe room" in our home and we are definitely facing the possibility of a stressful period of time.

Tisha B'Av 5786  תשפ"ו

We had a very meaningful Tisha B'Av.  We joined the Masorti Israel movement (affiliated with the Conservative Jewish movement) for a program along with more than 100 participants from across Israel.  We travelled from Ra'anana to Jerusalem and began the program with a tour of the tunnels behind the Kotel (the Western Wall).  The available tours are constantly changing as different sections open up and new finds are discovered or developed.

If you have never been to these tunnels, I would say that it is one of the most interesting things to do in Israel.  The tours give you access to a picture of how the two great Temples were when they were active in Jerusalem and the vibrancy of Jewish life at the time centred around these Temples.

The tours also provide a great deal of information about what happened to Jerusalem after the destruction of the second Temple in the year 70 CE.  There is even a full model of the Temple area that can be changed with the press of a button to show how it looked at different periods of time.  It helped that we had a terrific tour guide who was knowledgeable, energetic and engaging.  (No, it wasn't our family member, though I suppose it could have been...)

After the tunnel tours, we had tefillah (Minhah) and then a pre-fast dinner of "deconstructed Sabich" - which is basically hard boiled eggs, fried eggplant, salad, humus, tehina and "amba" (pickled mango sauce - slightly spicy). The deconstructed means that you can decide if you want to make it in a pita (the way it is usually served) or if you would rather go with the low carb option and skip the pita.  Sabich is sometimes called the "poor person's falafel" in Israel - since it is often about half the cost of a falafel and is a less substantial meal.

Our meal was followed by Maariv, the reading of Eichah (the book of Lamentations), and a lecture from Professor Doron Bar, author of a book about the history of the Western Wall. These events were interspersed with the group singing and reading some modern Kinot and  singing songs about Jerusalem, as the sun set and the stars emerged, overlooking the golden beauty of Jerusalem.  We were joined in time for the start of Eichah by several hundred Ramah seminar students, some of  whom read parts of Eichah.  Our evening concluded with three panelists discussing different visions of unity and challenges to modern day Israel.  Overall, it was a terrific program.

Tisha B'Av is a fast day in Israel (no food or water for about 24.5 hours).  At the same time, work and travel are permitted unlike other "Holy Days" - like Yom Kippur for example.  Everything is closed on Erev Tisha B'Av in most parts of Israel - but many shops, including many restaurants, actually open up on Tisha B'Av during the day.  

In any case, the fast ended at about 8:30 p.m. (I went with bagels, cream cheese and lox - one of our usual fast-break options).  And we are now ready for Shabbat Nachamu - the Shabbat that is intended to comfort us after Tisha B'Av.

Tehran

We are a bit late in getting to Season 3 of Tehran - we still had not finished watching Season 2 - but recently we had the chance to sit down and watch several episodes - even if that meant keeping really crazy hours.  We thought it was riveting. We still have one episode left - the final episode of season 3 - and we understand that a fourth season is being filmed.  

Tehran is a spy thriller about an Israeli agent, operating in Iran, working to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.  At times, it seems somewhat unrealistic, I suppose, but considering what we have heard about Israeli operations, it is probably not too far off from reality.

For us, it was highly compelling and worth seeing. I would say that Season 3 was probably better than season 1 - and a close call with Season 2 as to which was better.  

Once we finish - we will have to start watching the newest season of Fauda (season 5 I think) - so don't spoil anything if you have watched these shows.

Election News

As you know the Israeli election is scheduled for October 27, 2026.

Party slates are still not absolutely finalized and there may still be some surprises.

The news this week was an attack ad that Netanyahu used.  The ad showed Gadi Eisenkot (leader of the Yashar party - right now Likud's strongest opposition) running towards a soldier in a uniform. The ad was generated by AI. At the last minute, the ad shows Eisenkot turning away from the soldier and embracing the Arab party (Ra'am) leader Monsour Abbas.  

One of the big criticisms was that Eisenkot had lost his son in the recent  Gaza war. Many viewers felt that the soldier depicted looked very much like Eisenkot's son and that this ad was therefore very inappropriate.

Likud did not apologize for or withdraw the ad.  However, they published a second version one day later, using a female soldier instead of a male soldier -  but with the same content.

Public reaction to the ad was apparently very swift and polls taken after the release of the ad, showed Netanyahu's party losing between 1 and 2 seats to Eisenkot (though that amount may be statistically insignificant).

In any case, still lots of time until the election, lots of ads to be released - and lots of animosity I suspect  - despite the message of Tisha B'Av that urges the people of Israel to find a way to avoid "baseless hatred."

I am sure that I will have lots more to say about the coming elections over the coming three month period.  

I wish everyone a shabbat shalom - and look forward to seeing many of you in Toronto or elsewhere in the coming weeks.

Government's Legislative Term Ends in Israel - Let the Cheering for Messi Begin!

Messi at the Kotel in 2013

The government of Israel officially concluded its last parliamentary session on Friday July 17, 2026 - and it can only be described as a debacle.  The governing coalition spent its last two weeks of legislative session pushing through, at lightning speed, several pieces of outrageous legislation - in an effort to shore up ultra-orthodox support for the coming election.

The first bill was the Bill to enshrine "Torah Study"  as a fundamental value in Israel's basic law.  Now of course, I have nothing against Torah Study, nor do most Israelis, many of whom engage in Torah study in all different ways.  But the goal here, was to define Torah Study as type of right - that allows a person to use it to reject other obligations or laws.  The Ultra-Orthodox in Israel plan to use the law, essentially - to say "we can't serve in the army because we are engaging in "Torah Study" and that is a supreme right of ours that trumps other obligations and duties. Of  course, it is also unclear what constitutes "Torah Study" and who might be able to use this - and for what purposes.  But this was the "easy" bill - the first one.

Next came the bill to suspend all sanctions against ultra-Orthodox draft evaders.  Not "all draft evaders" - just "Ultra Orthodox draft evaders" -  until November 30, 2026, one month  after the election, presumably giving Netanyahu and his coalition the time to win the election and enact a permanent draft evasion bill.  Based on an urgent injunction brought by Yesh Atid, the Supreme Court of Israel immediately froze this bill, as an interim measure, given that it was likely to be found unconstitutional in a full Supreme Court hearing.  The bill is simply indefensible other than as an effort by Netanyahu to buy the support of the ultra-religious parties  in the coming election.  

The third bill was the bill to weaken the powers of the office of the Attorney General, who is generally appointed to be an independent watchdog of the government.  The bill gives the government the legal authority to disregard the advice and recommendations of the AG.  Until now, these opinions had been treated as binding on the Executive Branch.  In other words, if the government obtains the opinion of the AG about a potential law - and the AG advises that it is likely to be illegal, Israeli law has normally required the government to follow that advice.  Under the current  legislation, the Government can  simply ignore the AG. It is noteworthy - that the sitting AG has made certain recommendations with respect to Netanyahu's current criminal charges.  With this bill, the government could potentially ignore those recommendations and cut a deal with Netanyahu to let him off the hook from his criminal charges.

The fourth bill was the bill to grant the government extensive additional control over the Israeli broadcasting industry - including certain content control.  The government would have the power to appoint the "oversight committee." This is a dangerous step towards state control over a large chunk of the media. The Supreme Court today (Sunday July 19, 2026) froze parts of this bill on an interim basis pending a full hearing.

The Israeli government also enacted a bill extending mandatory military service from 30 to 32 months for Israelis who report to duty under Israel's mandatory draft laws, even while making it easier for the ultra-orthodox to avoid the draft altogether.

The government also passed a bill strengthening the monopoly of the ultra-orthodox over Kashrut - which was intended to undo legislation enacted by the previous Bennett government.  This would affect organizations like Tzohar -  an Orthodox institution which has been trying to demonopolize Kashrut in Israel - even while continuing to adhere to all recognized standards of Kashrut. The difference is that the monopolization -  gives the  ultra-orthodox and their political parties - the right to appoint Mashgichim (Kashrut supervisors) and exert financial control over the Kashrut industry.  

On Friday, the government passed a bill allowing for gender segregated classes in Israel's state funded universities. This was their final bill - the "piece de resistance."  

Aside from these measures, the government also hurried through spending bills to be able to immediately transfer hundreds of millions of shekels - primarily to the  ultra-orthodox and to new developments in Judea and  Samaria (the disputed territories).  At the same time, the government sent a bill to assist wounded military veterans "to a committee for study" and turned down other measures proposed by opposition.

Certainly, the ultra-orthodox coalition partners are happy with these laws but I can't believe that even most Likud supporters are prepared to support this agenda.  In fact, the early polls are already suggesting that Likud is losing polling momentum as a result of passing these laws.  This legislative blitz may well wind up costing Netanyahu the election - if enough people are sufficiently upset about these laws.

Polls suggest that the opposition party led by Gadi Eisenkot - Yashar - has made significant inroads and may well be in a position to form a government.  Of course, there are still three months of campaigning remaining and these are only polling results.

The Israeli Supreme Court has already frozen some of this legislation on an interim basis and may well strike down more  of these enactments but the message has been sent by Netanyahu loud and clear - if he and his coalition partners are elected again, this country will begin to look more and more like Turkiye - or perhaps even Iran.  

Netanyahu and his coalition partners are also running against the Israeli Supreme Court.  In the past, Netanyahu campaigned on the promise that the Supreme Court was untouchable and he would always support and abide by its judgments as the ultimate arbiter of law in Israel.  Since his criminal trial began, he has switched tactics and has campaigned actively using the argument that Supreme Court has too much power, is part of the deep state, is too liberal etc.,  This government was the first in Israel's history to snub the chief justice of the Supreme Court and to state openly that it would refuse to abide by decisions of the Court.  If this coalition is able to form another government, the Israeli Supreme Court will face new and unprecedented challenges.

Israel is at a major crossroads.  After what can probably be described as one of the most, if not the most, extreme and anti-egalitarian weeks of legislation in Israel's 78 years history, it is clear that there is a great urgency for the anti-Bibi side  of the electorate to get out, mobilize votes and try to convince other Israelis that Israel would be better off as a democratic, more pro-egalitarian state.  Hopefully it is not too late.

Another four years of a government with this type of make up - including ultra-orthodox and right wing extremist politicians would have a disastrous effect on the country - and would almost certainly result in a significant exodus of educated and more liberal voters and perhaps many corporations.

Fortunately, from early polls - that are still three months away from the  election - the anti-government coalition bloc appears to be picking up steam.  If elected, it could have the ability to reverse much of the damage that has been done - and make changes that would benefit all segments of Israeli society.

War Drums

The war between the U.S. and Iran has really heated up over the past few days.  The U.S. has been ramping up its attacks and the Iranians have shown no sign of seeking any kind of deal (at least not publicly). It almost seems like the U.S. put the war on a low burner until the FIFA World Cup could end (it ends today) and then go full throttle to try and wring some concessions out of Iran.

Iran has responded by attacking a wide range of countries around it - including the UAE, Jordan, Bahrain and others.  So far, Iran has not attacked Israel in this around, though the country is certainly on high alert.

Netanyahu seems poised and ready to have the Israeli army jump in and begin another round with Iran.  He has already floated the idea that because of the security situation, he may have to cancel the Likud Primaries (the Likud party uses a primary voting system to determine the ranking of its different candidates in the election.  Since Israel uses a proportionate representation system - parties get one set for approximately each .833 % of the vote (roughly 35-40,000 votes) though there is a minimum  of 3.5% - i.e. a 4 seat minimum).  The Likud primaries are scheduled for August 17, 2026.

Netanyahu would rather skip these primaries and simply appoint Likud candidates in order which would give him greater control over the party.  He is concerned that some dissonant voices within his party will win high rankings in the primaries and he will have to work with a group of less pliable party members. But Netanyahu has claimed that this could be necessary - because of the security situation with Iran. I note that Netanyahu spent the last two weeks fighting over how many reserved prerogative seats he should be able to appoint in the top 40.  Initially, he was demanding the right to appoint 15 of the top 40 but eventually came to a deal with the party to be able to appoint 8 of the top 30 - with 6 of them in the first 20.  He has not yet announced who will be on his list.

Israelis are also concerned that if Netanyahu can successfully cancel the primaries - he may then move to finding a way to "postpone" the coming elections scheduled for October 27, 2026.  So far, he has not floated anything like that - and I think it is unlikely that he will even try it.  But the prospects of a full on war with Iran - and the security problems that will create for Israel - may well lead to Netanyahu exploring options.

Meanwhile, as the attacks from Iran get closer and closer to Israel (and Jordan, is after all, a neighbour of ours, and is being attacked by Iran), it is become increasingly likely that Israel will be directly involved in this round of war with Iran very soon.

Flying in and Out of Israel

As I have mentioned in just about every recent blog, it is extremely difficult to find decent flights in and out of Israel these days.  For our next flight, we will be flying to Toronto via Lisbon - with a stop on the way  in Athens.  

El Al is the most reliable way to leave Israel currently, but if you haven't booked a flight months in advance the prices are outrageous.

Air France, Aegean, Lot Polish, Emirates are among the foreign carriers flying currently, along with some smaller Israeli carriers like Arkia, Israir, Tus Airways and Blue Bird.  Many of the smaller airlines have baggage restrictions are like flying North American budget airlines. 

One of the issues now is that the U.S. government has asked Israel for permission to use a significant amount of Ben Gurion's capacity for refuelling planes and other aircraft.  Israel has tried offering the U.S. other military airports but the U.S. has been insistent on using Ben Gurion. This has been another reason for the lack of available commercial flights.

As for Air Canada - while it is scheduled to start flying again to Israel on October 25, 2026, this seems unlikely to me.  I certainly would not recommend booking an Air Canada flight between Toronto and  Israel any time soon.

Sports

Of course the only sport to write about on July 19, 2026 is football (soccer) - and the FIFA World  Cup.  In Israel - I think this is probably as big as the Super Bowl - Israelis are all talking about watching parties, bars and pubs are expected to be overflowing across the country and there is a palpable sense of excitement. Football is definitely the most popular spectator sport in Israel - basketball is a distant second.

The vast majority of Israelis (as far as I can tell anecdotally) seem to be cheering for Argentina to beat Spain. One reason is that Israel's relationship with Argentina is so much better than its relationship with Spain. Spain has become one of the world's loudest anti-Israel voices - joined by Ireland, Slovenia, the Netherlands and unfortunately, the current Canadian government. (As well, of course, as many of the Arab countries). By way of contrast, the current Argentinian government, led by President Javier Milei, has been a vocal supporter of Israel. That has not been lost on Israeli football fans.

The other reason - is that Israelis love watching Messi (who doesn't?) and are hoping he can, with a World Cup win, secure his place as the GOAT.  He needs two goals tonight to win the Golden Boot award for most goals in the tournament. That will not be easy against the strong Spanish defence - but even if he does not score any goals - it should be a fun game.

Tisha B'Av

I am planning to be at the Kotel this week on Wednesday night to mark the commemoration of the destruction of Israel's two great temples (the first in 586 bcc, the second in 70 cc). I think it might be the first time I will have been in Jerusalem on Erev Tisha B'Av.  When the kids were younger, we would generally go to Yad Vashem (the Holocaust Memorial Museum) during the day of Tisha B'Av.  We may wind up doing that this year as well.

Many observant Jews mark the nine days leading up to Tisha B'Av as a period of mourning in which they do not eat meat, though they do eat fish.  Generally, Sephardic Jewish and other Jews of eastern origins  - including Yemenite Jews do not observe this period as rigorously - particularly the food  restrictions. Since Israel has a mixture of Jews from countries all over the world, it is definitely less common here to see Kosher restaurants using a no-meat menu. Some restaurants will offer specials, including fish deals.

Even among Jews who do observe, many agree that it is still permissible, even desirable to eat meat on Shabbat.  For many people these days, who tend to minimize meat meals during the week, for health reasons and not religious ones - and eat meat only once or twice a week - the observance of the nine days leading up to Tisha B'av, with the Shabbat exception, may not even change their eating patterns.

Tisha B'Av, like other Jewish fast days, means about 24.5 hours of no food, water or anything else. This year the fast starts at 745 p.m. Wednesday night and ends at 8:17 p.m. on Thursday night. Unlike many other Jewish holydays, observant Jews can travel, do necessary work and use electricity.  But it is still a long day...even if you are fasting in an air conditioned place while it is in the mid-30s outside.

Weather

It is hot in Israel, for sure, and will only get hotter over the next two months.  But this year, it sounds like it has been even hotter in the U.S. and Canada -  with temperatures reportedly reaching 41c in Toronto last week.   I can't remember when Israelis were last told to "stay in the house and not go outside" (other than during a war or an epidemic) but that was apparently the case last week in Toronto.  Here we were able to go for a walk along the beach, near sundown when it had cooled down somewhat. The humidity was a lot lower than the humidity levels during Toronto summers. I guess I will be able to compare shortly.

We take it for granted being only 10-15 minutes' drive from the beach though we really don't wind up going that often.  My office in Toronto is right near an outdoor skating facility - and every year - I say that I will skate more often at lunch - but somehow it just doesn't seem to happen.  Perhaps its the same thing with the beach here.

Wishing everyone peaceful times - and if you are fasting this week - a meaningful fast.  

Israeli Elections Are Coming - October 27, 2026

Israeli Elections Are Coming - October 27, 2026

The official date has been set for the next Israeli elections.  The voting will be conducted on October 27, 2026, which is a full four years from the date of the last Israeli elections - a complete term.  As you probably know, Israel's parliamentary system is a parliamentary democracy - similar to Canada or the UK  Unlike Canada and UK, there are no ridings or districts - all of the Knesset seats are based on the results of the popular vote.  The party that can patch together a majority of the Knesset (61 out of 120 seats) gets to govern for as long as they can keep their coalition together up to a maximum of exactly four years. Unlike Canada, they actually have to have formal coalition agreements in place to be able to exercise the powers of a government.  

Many Israeli governments have dissolved well before the end of their maximum terms.  Mostly, it is because the  coalition system requires back and forth compromises.  Usually, in Israeli politics, some of the parties in the coalition become upset with the deals that they made at some point - or claim that the government is not living up to the terms - and they pull the plug on the coalition and cause an election to take place earlier. Very few Israeli governments have actually lasted the full term.

This particular government was made up of the Likud (Netanyahu's party), two ultra-religious parties, and two far right nationalist parties.  Quite simply, if any of the constituent parties had pulled the plug earlier, they may have found themselves in a much worse position politically. Essentially, this meant that the coalition in power wanted to keep the government together as long as possible to be able to enact whatever legislation they could while still being able to do so.

Now that the election has been set for October 27, 2026, the governing coalition is in a frenzy.  They are running out of time to pass all of the wonderful legislation that they had hoped to pass - so they are desperately throwing around new bills and hoping that they can somehow get them through the Knesset before dissolution - which is this coming Thursday - July 16, 2026.

What  kinds of laws?  The law declaring the "Study of Torah" to be part of the Basic Law (the closest thing Israel has to a constitution) of the State of Israel, which the ultra-religious are hoping they can use to avoid the military draft.  The "Draft Dodger Immunity Bill" to grant a period of immunity of 90 days for those who are arrested for avoiding military draft.  The Kosher Protection Law seeking to bolster  the monopoly of the ultra-religious over the Kosher certification process in Israel and reverse the previous partial de-monopolization enacted by the Bennett government. The "Media Overhaul bill" - to give the government greater control over broadcast media and news sites.  The "AG Power Reduction Bill" - to limit the power of Israel's Attorney General and state that the opinions of the AG will no longer be binding.  The "Oct 7th Inquiry Bill"  - to set up a "political" state inquiry rather than an objective national inquiry into the events of October 7, 2023. Some of the names of these bills maybe be packaged up and given more palatable names - but this is a partial list of the collection of dangerous legislation that this government is seeking to enshrine on its way out the  door.  I guess it remains to be seen how much of it will actually pass. Some of these bills are likely to be viewed as unacceptable even by Likud stalwarts - which might mean that the governing coalition may not be able to pass them - even  with a majority.  Netanyahu is likely to pull out all of the stops for those bills that he views as important - and pressure his MKs in every which way - but he is unlikely to do that for the whole panoply of legislative initiatives.

If Netanyahu is actually defeated at some point, the likely first order of business of just about any new alternate  government would be to overturn all of these pieces of legislation immediately.

The Political Landscape

As of the time of writing this blog, a new Israeli party is gathering support  - and showing up in the polls as tied with or ahead of Netanyahu's party - the Likud Party. Gadi Eisenkot's party "Yashar" (Straightforward/ honest) is gaining significant momentum. Eisenkot is a former Chief of Staff of the  Israeli army. One of his sons was killed in the recent Gaza war.  Eisenkot is viewed as much more of a centrist than Netanyahu and is likely to build a coalition with the various opposition parties if he winds up with enough seats to do so.

Naftali Bennett is leading the next most popular opposition party, which is a combination of Bennett's party and Yair Lapid's party and is called "Together."  Bennett served as Israel's Prime Minister from 2021 to 2022 - with a diverse coalition of parties from across the political spectrum including an Arab party. Bennett himself is perceived as centre-right - if  not hard right - and many of his voters seem unhappy that he has joined an official coalition with Lapid, who is viewed as further to the left - though still quite a centrist.

Based on current polls, the opposition parties are expected to win somewhere between 55 and 58 seats, though quite a lot could change between now and October 27, 2026.  That would still put them 3 to 6 seats short of a government.

On the other hand, Netanyahu's coalition seems to be running at between 50 and 55 seats, which put them at between 6 and 11 seats short. 

So we could have a stalemate, as we did on a number of occasions before the 2022 election, which could lead to a few elections in a row - until one side or the other can form a government.

Stay tuned - lots of fascinating political news is likely to come out of Israel in the coming months.

Sports

I know some of you skip over my sports updates - but I like to include them anyways.

Israel's Under 20 women's basketball team made it to the finals in Europe for the first time ever.  They lost last night - 79-66 to France but still secured a silver medal - which was the first medal that an Israeli national women's team has ever won in basketball.  

As you know, the FIFA World Cup is into its last week - with the finals scheduled for Sunday July 19th.  Although I am not normally a huge football/soccer fan, I have been watching the World Cup for many years.  In 1986, I travelled through Europe with a friend of mine - and there were TVs set up everywhere - in train stations, restaurants, all kind of public places.  We watched a fair bit then - and really since that time - I have always enjoyed the World Cup.

FIFA is plagued with anti-Semitism and anti-Israel sentiments.  After Argentina beat Egypt on July 7th, the Egyptian coach had a tantrum, claiming that it was a conspiracy against Egypt.  Supporters went further blaming the world wide Jewish conspiracy (whatever that is) for their loss.  They claimed that since Messi has actually visited Israel and the Kotel (the Western Wall), Argentina is being "helped" by FIFA which is being controlled by the Jews. Does it get any more far fetched? 

The Swiss also lost to Argentina and were also unhappy with the officiating.  So far, I haven't heard them blame the Jews though they have claimed that there is a bias towards Argentina and Messi (who happens to bring in billions of viewers).  I guess we will see what happens on Wednesday when England plays Argentina.  Given that many consider Messi the GOAT, it is quite conceivable that he will carry Argentina to victory over England - with or without the help of the "worldwide Jewish conspiracy."

Irrespective, Israelis are definitely glued to their TVs across the country when World Cup soccer matches are on.  I can only imagine how crazy it would be if Israel were to make it to the World Cup again.  It is very difficult for Israel to do so, since Israel has to compete against European teams. The Asian and  Middle Eastern teams - who should be Israel's competition - refuse to play against Israel.  This includes many teams that made it this year - Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Qatar, Jordan and others. If Israel had been able to compete in this group for its chance at a berth, it is likely that Israel would have been in the World Cup. Maybe one day.

Travel to Israel

Travel to Israel is still quite difficult, especially during high season in summer.

El Al is still flying direct from the U.S. and many places in Europe but tickets are hard to find and the prices are insane. Some budget airlines like Wizz Air, Blue Bird, Israir, Arkia and others are also flying but, let's just say, it is not very much fun to fly on those airlines.  We wound up taking EasyJet from London to Crete - and then Aegean from Crete to Tel-Aviv.  That was not ideal but there was simply nothing available.

Crete is a very nice place to visit but very little remains of any kind of Jewish life or history there.  There is a Chabad in Chania that will provide Kosher meals on order and hosts a Friday night dinner.  We did not make it there. But so many restaurants in Crete have vegetarian and pescetarian options that it was quite easy for us to eat there.

Air Canada is scheduled to restart its flights in late October - but I will believe it when I see it. Apparently, Lufthansa, Austrian and Swiss all restarted service effective July 1, 2026 but I can't verify that. Air France is apparently also flying  several times a week now, as are Etihad and Emirates.

If you are planning a visit to Israel - you are probably best off to book El Al from somewhere in Europe - Rome, Athens or Frankfurt - and to connect to that place on another airline.  If you buy El Al tickets far enough in advance, the prices can be moderate to reasonable and you are almost assured that you will get here.  With any of the other airlines - it is really up in the air as to whether they will actually fly on any particular date in the future.

War Resumption?

As you probably know, the U.S. and Iran are still fighting, primarily over the Hormuz Strait at this point. I think the pattern goes like this - Iran attacks commercial boats in the Hormuz, the U.S. responds by attacking targets in Iran, particularly around port cities - and Iran then responds by sending  drone attacks to neighbouring gulf states.  So far, Iran has not attacked Israel directly, though Israel is certainly on high alert.  Although most Israelis seem to be going about their business, there is unquestionably some concern that this whole thing could ignite at any time.

Israel is still involved in ongoing hostilities with Hezbollah even while trying to negotiate a peace deal with Lebanon (which would include  ensuring that the Lebanese army controls its borders and disarms Hezbollah) and is still involved in fighting in Gaza.

It is hard to see how or when these various conflicts will come to a close.

Qatar

We watched a riveting Israeli documentary on Qatar called "Enemies" produced by Israel's channel 11, somewhat equivalent to a PBS in the U.S., though channel 11 receives state funding.  The program traced Qatar's funding of Hamas since 2018 - pursuant to an agreement with Netanyahu - whereby Qatar would send money, briefcases full of cash, to Gaza under the guise of "humanitarian assistance."  The program claimed that Netanyahu knew that Hamas was using the money to build tunnels under Gaza.

The program documented how Qatar's leadership, led by Sheikhah Hormoza (Moza bint Nasser), has paid off lawmakers in the U.S. and Israel to allow Qatar to develop its agenda. This has also included donating enormous amounts of money to U.S. colleges in exchange for influence as well as outright bribes of government officials.  

The donation of an airplane by Qatar to the U.S. to be used as the new Air Force One plane is only one example of outright bribery - out in the open.  How could the U.S. government accept this type of gift from anyone?  What did the U.S.  give Qatar in exchange? 

Ultimately, the documentary claimed that it was clear that Qatar knew about and helped Hamas to plan the October 7, 2023 attacks and massacres in Israel.  The day after the attacks, on October 8, 2023, Netanyahu sent Yossi Cohen  (former head of the Israeli Mossad) to Qatar. Rather than threaten the Qataris and  demand the immediate release of all of the hostages - or risk an attack on Qatar - Cohen transferred a warm note of greetings to Sheikah Hermoza. In fact, pro-Hamas demonstrations began at campuses all across the U.S. on October 8, 2023, just after the attacks - and before Israel had responded in any way.

The program suggested that Qatar was acting as both the arsonists and the firefighters at the same time. Only when Israel conducted an assassination attempt in Doha on the leadership of Hamas, Qatar showed a willingness to trade some of its support for Hamas for better security arrangements with the United States.

All in all, this was a frightening program. It is even more frightening  knowing that Netanyahu had some of his close confidants working for the Qatari government, some of whom have now become the focus of a police investigation and  charges.  The conclusion of the program was that Qatar has been willing to pay so much money to support its goals - that it can buy off just about anyone. 

Conclusion

Despite all of the "heavy" political news, the weather is beautiful in Israel and Israelis are flocking to the beach.  

It will be Tisha B'Av next week on July 22nd (at night) and  July 23, which is one of the saddest days of the year, where we commemorate the destruction of the great Temples in Jerusalem.  I am planning to attend an evening program in Jerusalem including lectures, prayer and singing with the Masorti movement at the Kotel (I assume the Davidson Centre section).

On August 20, 2026, the Jerusalem wine festival is scheduled to start at the Israel Museum. This is a wonderful event with the opportunity to taste many different Israeli wines - while enjoying a view of the city and some amazing Jerusalem summer weather - it cools down nicely in the evening.

I hope that we will be back from Toronto in time to attend - for one of the nights.

There is lots more to write - but I think this is about it for now.  I will wish everyone the best and hope to add more shortly - hopefully with more humour next time. Best regards.