Howard Eissenstat

As I watch the Israeli election results from the outside, I am struck by two realities. The elections are, indeed, very high stakes. At the same time, on the key issues that are at the center of external concerns about Israel: apartheid and genocide, there is perhaps less here than meets the eye

On the specific question of what the Israeli elections mean for Palestinians... well, I'll leave that to the inimitable @danaelkurd.bsky.social open.spotify.com/episode/6XSV...

My comments on what the Israeli elections might mean for Turkish-Israeli relations included in @amberinzaman.bsky.social's latest for @almonitor.bsky.social www.al-monitor.com/originals/20...

Voter turnout in Israel's elections as of 12פm: 31.5% Highest turnout since 1977 - the historic mahapach victory of Menachem Begin

A 2025 Nobel Prize winner in chemistry, Omar Yaghi is the son of Palestinian refugees who grew up in Jordan. He just left the US to move to China after raising concerns about rising anti-immigrant sentiment, like the kind shown here. donmoynihan.substack.com/p/china-than...

Great thread

"Balance" And the GOP has been playing the mainstream media since the Nixon era.

Because I occasionally like to torture myself, I was wondering what Shadi was up to this electoral season. And... yup.

The attention economy, or the Shadification of the Public Sphere

In case anyone thought Israel's preference for far-right authoritarian leaders like Orban, Bolsonaro, Modi and Milei would end if Netanyahu gets voted out, think again. It's baked in now for a variety of reasons. The only illiberal authoritarian they don't like is Erdogan.

Here is the Israeli Minister of Diaspora Affairs, spreading the antisemitic conspiracy theory that the Soros family are the puppet masters behind the election in Brazil yesterday. The Israeli Minister of Diaspora Affairs seems to see it as his job to make the Diaspora less safe.

My comments on what the Israeli elections might mean for Turkish-Israeli relations included in @amberinzaman.bsky.social's latest for @almonitor.bsky.social www.al-monitor.com/originals/20...

Israeli media, apparently unencumbered by the usual military censorship on matters of national security, reports that IDF CoS Eyal Zamir is trying to block Netanyahu from launching “some kind of military action relating to Iran just before Tuesday’s election”. www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_ent...

Elon Musk has spent more money on American elections in the last two years than George Soros has in his entire life.

we're going to need a long-term plan, with broad political appeal, for ending impunity & holding the trump administration accountable for its crimes, malfeasance & cruelties. not 'tit-for-tat' but an american version of transitional justice. my take in @slate.com 👇

Aside from everything else, I am puzzling over what Trump means by "transgender for everybody."

Iran hosts delegations from Mecca Pact members (Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan) The meeting will discuss “de-escalation” between parties involved in the “ongoing crisis,” a Saudi Foreign Ministry official, Rayed Krimly, said www.cnn.com/2026/10/26/m...

There is a lot going on here.

Detailed FT report on rise in deadly strikes on commercial ships in Black Sea by both Ukraine and Russia. Turkish crew members have been killed and volume of shipping through Bosphorus has sharply declined, but Ankara has been very cautious in responding so far. www.ft.com/content/8c87...

Breaking with decades of official non-interventionism, Algeria’s parliament authorizes troop deployments to Niger. @reuters.com: www.reuters.com/world/africa...

This is excellent

I just want to name that people overcame this. Even against a stacked deck, the good fight is worth it. Win or lose, it's worth it. And sometimes the good guys win.

Reuters Brazil election live: Lula wins election after final votes tallied - www.reuters.com/live/brazil-...

I mean, I think it is pretty clear at this point that they are just attention whores who really don't care about much of anything beyond "engagement"

The news coming out of Serbia and Brazil couldn't be more different tonight.

First you pause to contemplate if you are entering this territory. Then you ship it anyway.

if you ever happen to see someone post a joke you don't understand or discuss a subject you aren't familiar with, you are well within your right to complain, and perhaps even scold them if necessary. you are their customer and you have rights

Excellent thread

The ultimate example of this is that pro-Trump PACs literally ran ads in 2024 directed at American Muslims, telling them Harris would be more pro-Israel, and ALSO ran ads directed at American Jews, telling them Harris would be more anti-Israel. www.aaiusa.org/library/disi...

NEW: Ingram, Texas, was just rebuilding from a devastating flood when its tiny police department enrolled in ICE’s 287(g) deportation program. Within a year, cops would hand over the equivalent of 10% of the town. with @nytimes.com

From "The Guardian": A Hebron civil rights activist, Issa Amro, said. “Our suffering is being turned into political material for Israel’s elections, while innocent families pay the price.” Amro said his sister’s family was one of the hundreds driven out of their homes.

The alarm in Israel's business community over Netanyahu's comments is palpable. Suddenly centrist pundits are saying how important it is to end the war. Another proof that sanctions have to be on the table.

Saw the new documentary Who Killed Alex Odeh? tonight at the Philly Film Festival. Excellent doc that shows how today’s rabid ultranationalism in Israel is a descendant of the Kahanist movement responsible for terror attacks here in the US. www.whokilledalexodeh.com/screenings

The Israeli government is now ethnically cleansing Hebron, as part of a larger push to expel every Palestinian from the land. www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_ent...

250 families ordered to leave their homes.

JUST POSTED: A Russian energy giant has secretly moved to acquire a position in a massive Alaska gas project. Its part of talks between Witkoff/Kushner & Putin. But CEO of US company resigns after learning of Russian money in the project. A wowzer of a story. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/23/u...

A fellow at the London Centre for the study of Contemporary Antisemitism. I guess voicing disapproval about settlers who literally tried to kill you is a form of antisemitism