Israel: weekly briefing
3 Nov – 10 Nov 2026
Top stories
- Trump says US to end $4bn annual military aid to Israel (The Guardian, 3 Nov) — Trump said on election day that the US will end about $4 billion a year in military aid to Israel this year, which he claimed Netanyahu proposed. Israeli officials reportedly were surprised; opposition leaders criticised the move.
- Herzog gives Gadi Eisenkot first chance to form government (Reuters, 7 Nov) — Israel's president tasked Gadi Eisenkot, Netanyahu's main rival, with trying to form a new government after the inconclusive October election. The Joint List said it would back him, Al Jazeera reported.
- Trump links GOP midterm losses to Israel and Iran war (CNN, 9 Nov) — Trump told CBS's 60 Minutes that a 'great dislike' for Israel, along with the Iran war and higher petrol prices, contributed to Republican defeats. Pro-Israel conservatives criticised Vance for similar remarks.
- Reports say Iran interim deal via Qatar nears Trump's desk (Israel Hayom, 9 Nov) — Israel Hayom, citing diplomatic sources, reported a Qatari proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for lifting the US blockade and unfreezing $8 billion. Several cabinet officials reportedly oppose it.
- Floods and mudslide deepen Gaza shelter crisis, killing five (Al Jazeera, 9 Nov) — A landslide in Deir el-Balah killed four children and a woman sheltering in tents after winter storms, according to Gaza's Government Media Office. Save the Children said Israel has repeatedly blocked entry of caravans.
Trends
The election aftermath remains the thread running through this week's coverage, but its focus has widened to Washington. Trump's aid announcement, his claim that Republican midterm losses owed partly to a 'great dislike' for Israel, and Vance's similar remarks point to a shifting US posture, which Israeli commentators linked to Netanyahu's standing. Herzog's choice of Eisenkot moved the domestic process forward, with the Joint List backing him. The Iran question, flagged last week, has become a possible Qatari-brokered interim deal, which Israel Hayom says faces opposition inside the administration. Shin Bet's reported finding of no evidence of foreign interference stands apart from these threads, as does the Gaza flood crisis, though the latter continues last week's pattern of blocked aid and civilian deaths.
What it means (opinion)
Opinion: This week suggests Israel's relationship with Washington is being contested in public as well as in private. If the aid cut proceeds and, as commentator Amir Tibon warned, Congress begins holding up arms sales, Eisenkot's coalition task will carry a foreign policy dimension as well as a domestic one. Building a majority will depend on support from Arab-led parties, a dependence that critics on the right are already exploiting in the fraud dispute. Watch next week for whether Eisenkot secures firm commitments, whether Washington formally sets out the aid end date and replacement arms-sales arrangements, and whether the administration confirms or rejects any Qatari-brokered Iran arrangement. Netanyahu's response to the reported Shin Bet findings will also show whether the fraud dispute fades or hardens.
AI-assisted summary of public reporting; the analysis is opinion. Sources are linked above.