Netanyahu's Ex-Lawyer Withdraws State Comptroller Bid After Election

In this episode

The stories Maya and Daniel cover, in order. Each one opens the full story.

1. Netanyahu's Ex-Lawyer Withdraws State Comptroller Bid After Election
2. IDF Criticizes Unapproved Jewish Family Move Into West Bank Homes
3. Israel's President Consults Parties on New Government Formation
4. Vance Links Republican Losses to US-Israel Relations Shift
5. Shin Bet Chief's Election Probe Request Stuns Officials, Fuels Conspiracy Claims
6. Major Terror Attack Foiled at Jerusalem's Temple Mount; Suspect Arrested

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Transcript

Maya

Israeli security forces say they stopped a bomb and shooting attack planned for the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

Daniel

The suspect is nineteen years old, and he's under arrest.

Maya

This is Good Morning, Israel from baba News. It's Thursday, November fifth. I'm Maya.

Daniel

And I'm Daniel.

Maya

Let's start with the plot itself. What do the police and the Shin Bet say he was planning?

Daniel

According to their joint investigation, a nineteen-year-old from East Jerusalem planned to detonate a bomb at the Lions' Gate. Then he planned to open fire on people at the Temple Mount.

Maya

For listeners who've never been, paint the picture.

Daniel

The Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism, in the heart of Jerusalem's Old City, and it's also home to the Al Aqsa Mosque. The Lions' Gate is one of the entrances to the Old City, right near the compound.

Maya

So a bomb first, then a shooting. Built to kill as many people as possible.

Daniel

That's how investigators describe it. A two-stage terror attack, in one of the most crowded and sensitive places in the country.

Maya

And the motive?

Daniel

Investigators say he was driven by content from the October seventh massacre, and that he saw the attack as a religious duty.

Maya

So the massacre is still being used to inspire new attacks.

Daniel

Which is exactly what security officials keep warning about. The footage and the propaganda outlive the day itself.

Maya

How was he caught?

Daniel

Through that joint work by the police and the Shin Bet, Israel's internal security service. They haven't released details on how they first found him.

Maya

Which is often the point. The successes are the ones nobody hears about until afterward.

Daniel

Right. Nobody was hurt, because they got there first.

Maya

Staying with the Shin Bet, but a very different story. Yesterday we told you the Attorney General had refused to let its chief question four Arab politicians. Now we know more.

Daniel

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara said there wasn't reasonable suspicion to justify it. And she warned against steps that could harm democracy.

Maya

And we have names.

Daniel

Shin Bet chief David Zini wanted to question Ahmed Tibi, Mansour Abbas and Sami Abu Shehadeh. The fourth, Ayman Odeh, faces a separate judicial review.

Maya

Abbas is the one who said he'd cooperate.

Daniel

Exactly, he heads the United Arab List. The others are familiar names in Arab politics in Israel too.

Maya

What else is new?

Daniel

A meeting with Noam Sohlberg, chairman of the Central Elections Committee. According to the reports, Zini classified the probe as a broad security offense, and that shocked people in the room.

Maya

Why does that label matter so much?

Daniel

Because it frames the case as a matter of national security, not just election rules. That's a much bigger claim.

Maya

And Sohlberg's position?

Daniel

Unchanged. He's said that even if suspicions are confirmed, they wouldn't invalidate the election results. A video promoted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seemed to suggest otherwise.

Maya

So the man running the election says the result stands, and the Prime Minister's camp is still questioning it.

Daniel

And that tension runs straight into the next story.

Maya

President Isaac Herzog's consultations with the parties. Who's backing whom?

Daniel

The two leading contenders are Netanyahu and Gadi Eisenkot, the former I D F Chief of Staff. Shas, the ultra-Orthodox party, and Religious Zionism are backing Netanyahu.

Maya

And Eisenkot?

Daniel

He may get support from Yashar, from Be-ahad, the Democrats, and from Yisrael Beytenu, Avigdor Lieberman's party, which we told you on Tuesday was leaning his way.

Maya

Is Herzog just counting recommendations?

Daniel

No. He's also raising ultra-Orthodox conscription, and the possibility of military escalation.

Maya

Which is basically the inbox of the next Prime Minister.

Daniel

Exactly. The draft fight, Iran, all of it on day one.

Maya

When does somebody actually get the mandate?

Daniel

It's expected between November sixth and tenth. So possibly as soon as tomorrow.

Maya

Another empty chair. The State Comptroller.

Daniel

That's Israel's official watchdog. The office audits government ministries and public bodies, and it's been vacant for months.

Maya

And the frontrunner just stepped aside.

Daniel

Michael Rabello, Netanyahu's former personal lawyer, withdrew his candidacy after the recent election results.

Maya

Remind us why he wasn't already in the job.

Daniel

Israel's Supreme Court halted his appointment over voting irregularities, and ordered a new vote. The Knesset, Israel's parliament, is expected to hold it soon.

Maya

So who's in the running now?

Daniel

His withdrawal may open a broader search. One name mentioned is retired Justice Yosef Elron.

Maya

A watchdog picked by the people it watches. That's never simple.

Daniel

No, which is why the court's intervention got so much attention.

Maya

To the West Bank, and a rare rebuke from the I D F.

Daniel

Jewish families moved into eight homes near Jericho without I D F approval. The initiative was led by the Nachala settlement movement.

Maya

And the army wasn't pleased.

Daniel

It criticized the move, and troops had to be redeployed because of it.

Maya

Why does coordination matter so much to the I D F?

Daniel

Because soldiers are finite. Every unplanned move pulls them away from security missions that were already planned.

Maya

And there's a wider backdrop.

Daniel

Separately, President Herzog warned Netanyahu about rising violence in the West Bank. And the I D F's ninety-eighth Division is preparing to withdraw from the Judea and Etzion sectors after a recent deployment.

Maya

So fewer forces, and more friction to manage.

Daniel

That's the challenge facing commanders right now.

Maya

In Washington, Vice President J D Vance has an explanation for the Republicans' midterm losses, and Israel is part of it.

Daniel

He pointed to policies like the war in Iran, and to what he described as voters wanting a change in the relationship between the U S and Israel.

Maya

Based on what?

Daniel

A poll he cited showing angry voters with four demands. One of them was altering the relationship with Israel.

Maya

From a Republican Vice President. That's a shift.

Daniel

It's unusual for a party that's been firmly pro-Israel. And it comes amid internal debates over foreign policy and over who leads the party next.

Maya

Something Jerusalem will be watching closely.

Daniel

Very closely, given how much of Israel's diplomacy runs through Washington.

Maya

Quick round. If you drive in Israel, fill up today.

Daniel

Starting tonight, ninety-five octane gasoline rises by fifty agorot per liter. Agorot are the shekel's cents. That brings it to seven point eight five shekels a liter.

Maya

Why?

Daniel

The tax discount on fuel is being cut in half. The new price holds until the end of November.

Maya

Any relief at the pump?

Daniel

For electric cars, sort of. Regulations have been eased to make it easier to put fast chargers at gas stations, including extra building rights.

Maya

And paper bank letters may be on their way out.

Daniel

Israel's Supervisor of Banks is proposing digital mail as the default for bank communications.

Maya

For everyone?

Daniel

Not quite. Customers seventy and older, and anyone who hasn't used their bank's website recently, would be excluded.

Maya

So ignore online banking long enough, and you get to keep your envelopes.

Daniel

Pretty much. The idea reflects twenty-five years of technological progress. The mailbox is just catching up.

Maya

One thing to watch: the window for President Herzog to hand out the mandate opens tomorrow and runs until Tuesday.

Daniel

Netanyahu or Eisenkot. We may know who gets the first shot very soon.

Maya

Follow Good Morning, Israel so tomorrow's episode is waiting for you.

Daniel

See you tomorrow morning.