Highest voter turnout in over two decades
More than 5.69 million voters, or 77.7 per cent of the eligible voters, cast their ballots on Tuesday, according to Israel’s Central Elections Committee.
The turnout marks the highest in more than two decades and around 7 percentage points higher than in 2022.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar28 October 2026 07:20
Minor shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ attacks guard outside Israeli embassy in Serbia
Serbian police said this morning an unidentified assailant attacked a guard with knives outside the Israeli Embassy in Belgrade and was killed just after midnight.
Interior minister Ivica Dacic said that police were treating the incident as a “terrorist attack” and had raised the terror threat to the highest level and stepped up police presence at key locations.
Dacic said that “a minor, so far unidentified … shouting Allahu Akbar, attacked the member of Gendarmerie and attacked him with two knives”.He added that the police officer “liquidated” the assailant in “self-defence” and was lightly wounded.
Dacic said that Serbia’s security agencies had been monitoring the attacker, who he said was a supporter of the Islamic State group. Dacic said that “he kept the black flag in support of the Islamic State on his Instagram” account.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar28 October 2026 06:58
A reckoning is coming for Netanyahu – October 7 is why
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar28 October 2026 06:50
Politicians face harassment on election day
Politicians faced harassment or attacks on election day as millions of people cast their ballots for the pivotal election in Israel.
Knesset candidate Yair Golan was accosted by a man with a knife, the leader of the main left-wing party said.
“Incitement and violence will not intimidate us,” Golan said in a statement and blamed the incident on the “poison machine” of Benjamin Netanyahu.
Two activists of his party were reportedly punched in the face.
Haredi group politician Moti Leitner said he was jeered by a crowd of men at a bus stop and another group approached his home and threatened his children.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar28 October 2026 06:30
Netanyahu’s bloc leads with 55 seats after more than 50% of votes counted
Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc is currently leading on 55 out of the 120 seats in the Knesset after more than half of the ballots cast were counted.
The anti-Netanyahu bloc was trailing with 49 seats at 7.40am local time, according to the Central Elections Committee.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar28 October 2026 06:20
Netanyahu addresses party workers
(Getty)
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar28 October 2026 06:15
Highest voter turnout in over two decades
More than 5.69 million voters, or 77.7 per cent of the eligible voters, cast their ballots on Tuesday, according to Israel’s Central Elections Committee.
The turnout marks the highest in more than two decades and around 7 percentage points higher than in 2022.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar28 October 2026 06:10
How former army chief who lost son in Gaza became Bibi’s biggest threat
Benjamin Netanyahu has dominated Israeli politics for much of the last 30 years, but as the country goes to the polls in a pivotal election, the prime minister faces a challenger who in many ways could not be more different.
Former army chief Gadi Eisenkot is a straight talker, media-shy and a relative newcomer to Israeli politics. Yet opinion polls show his Yashar party leading Netanyahu’s Likud as millions cast their vote to determine the country’s future.
Bibi is facing a reckoning in the first general election since the October 7 terror attacks and the years of devastating war that followed in Gaza.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar28 October 2026 06:00
Netanyahu’s bloc takes lead after 42% of ballots counted
Partial results with nearly 42 per cent of ballots counted have put Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc in the lead with 57 seats.
The anti-Netanyahu bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot is trailing with 47 seats as of 5.58am local time, according to Times of Israel.
The Arab Joint List and Ra’am factions are holding the other 16 seats.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar28 October 2026 05:40
Trump credits himself for boosting Netanyahu’s electoral chances
Donald Trump this morning shared a statement attributed to a man named Irving C Schwartz, which credits the US president with boosting Benjamin Netanyahu’s election prospects.
“When President Trump endorsed Bibi Netanyahu, the whole tide turned, and now, rather than a decisive defeat for a great prime minister, it looks like a big come-from-behind stalemate, or even a WIN for Netanyahu,” Trump’s post on Truth Social read, attributing the words to Schwartz.
“It all took place AFTER the endorsement by President Trump, who only wants what is good for the Middle East, Israel, and the United States of America!”
It’s unclear who Schwartz is, with searches for that name producing no obvious results for political commentators.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar28 October 2026 05:20