Israel's political establishment is grappling with fresh fallout from the October 7 reckoning, even as security forces continue operations against Hezbollah remnants in Lebanon and a suspected terrorist was shot dead near the Old City. Coalition politics remain in flux ahead of expected elections, with mergers collapsing and new alliances forming on the right.

Security

A suspected terrorist was shot dead by Border Police near Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City hours after the Yom Kippur-eve Selichot prayers concluded, after he drew a knife and attempted to stab officers who had identified him entering the area. Separately, the IDF has confirmed weeks of operations by the Yahalom special forces unit to clear a Hezbollah facility on the Ali Taher ridge in southern Lebanon, trapping and in some cases killing militants who had been attempting to move equipment through tunnel networks, though reports suggest one access point may remain outside Israeli control. Military planners are reportedly examining a proposal to extend the 'Lebanon model' of international forces clearing terror infrastructure to Gaza, coordinated with Washington and beginning in areas outside the so-called yellow line, following a pilot approved roughly a month ago in Rafah. An Israeli man has been indicted on security offences after allegedly being recruited by foreign intelligence operatives to conduct influence operations, though a court gag order has restricted most details of the case, which reportedly began with an arrest at Ben Gurion Airport.

Politics

Yisrael Beiteinu leader Gadi Eisenkot repeated his account that Prime Minister Netanyahu was unreachable following the 2018 downing of an F-16, insisting he was surrounded by at least ten witnesses and challenging Netanyahu to publish his schedule from that day. Separately, a new report claims the IDF offered Netanyahu the chance to review findings from the October 7 inquiries while they were still being compiled, well before the public disclosures, but he showed no interest; after his chief of staff complained, the Chief of Staff's office arranged a briefing that ultimately went nowhere. Merger talks between Gideon Sa'ar's Hatikva and Benny Gantz's Blue and White have collapsed, with both parties struggling to clear the electoral threshold even combined. Itamar Ben Gvir's Otzma Yehudit confirmed the defection of Likud MK Tali Gottlieb, who will take the number two slot after Zvika Fogel agreed to step aside; Ben Gvir also hinted that fellow Likud MK May Golan, who placed a non-realistic 23rd in Likud's primaries, could follow suit. A new ynet-Yedioth poll finds religious-Zionist voters, estimated at 12-13 seats, remain broadly loyal to coalition parties despite frustration over Haredi draft exemptions, with Bezalel Smotrich drawing 30 percent support while Naftali Bennett trails on just 3 percent. In the settlements, the Binyamin Regional Council's development company has purchased land at the site of the former Amona outpost, evacuated in 2017, with officials stating an explicit aim to re-establish settlement there.

International

A delegation of six ambassadors from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Pacific visited the Nova festival site near the Gaza border and other affected locations, with several expressing shock at the scale of the October 7 atrocities; Fiji's ambassador offered to send engineers to help rebuild affected kibbutzim. In Paris, an 80-year-old Israeli woman was severely beaten in her hotel room, suffering facial fractures and heavy bleeding; her family is arranging medical evacuation to Israel. Consular checks suggested the attacker was intoxicated rather than motivated by antisemitism, though French authorities continue to investigate.

Other Developments

Tensions over religious-secular boundaries have escalated in several mixed cities, with reports from Bnei Brak of a shift from partial road closures to full entry bans in a mixed neighbourhood, accompanied by posters declaring it forbidden to rent to secular residents. Similar friction has been reported in Safed and Jerusalem, reflecting a broader pattern of hardening territorial claims along religious lines in urban areas.

Sources: Ynet