"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven a time of war, and a time of peace." (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 8) November 3, 2026 10:55 AM EDT Three clocks are running against Israel this week. The first is the one in Washington, where Americans voted today. The second is in Tehran, where a war that began on February 28 has never really ended. The third is in Jerusalem, where an election has produced a deadlock and a 28 day countdown. Each clock affects the other two. Anyone who wants to understand where Israel goes from here has to watch all three together. Clock One: Iran, and the Question of "What Now?" The war began with joint US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28. Nine months on there is no formal peace. Iran is still firing at American assets around the Strait of Hormuz, and Washington is still answering with limited "defensive" strikes, the latest on Qeshm Island on Tuesday. Qatari mediators are shuttling a draft deal through Tehran, reportedly the reopening of Hormuz in exchange for sanctions relief. Here is what is being reported. Axios says Netanyahu pressed Trump on a "tough" Saturday call to resume strikes immediately after the midterms. The Atlantic reports that a new operation could follow soon after. Trump told reporters "no" on Monday, said a deal "could happen," and said the US still needs to deal with "one or two" remaining sites, including the suspected nuclear facility at Pickaxe Mountain. Netanyahu's office declined to comment, and other reports say Israel denies pressing for strikes. Treat the details of that call as contested. The analysis is this. Whatever the private conversations, the strategic question is the same. Does the deal leave Iran with the capacity to rebuild, or not? Sanctions relief is Tehran's most valuable currency. If it flows before the nuclear sites are verifiably dealt with, Iran has not been defeated. It has been refinanced. Israel's longstanding red line is that Iran must never get a nuclear weapon, and Trump has repeated that line publicly. The test of any deal is whether it holds to it.

November 3, 2026 12:00 AM EDT Four Jewish school buses were vandalized with anti-Semitic and anti-Israel graffiti in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, on Monday, sparking outrage and a police hate crime investigation. The buses, serving Hasidic Jewish children, were defaced with slogans including “F* Israel” and “Free Palestine.”** The NYPD Hate Crime Task Force and Jewish neighborhood patrol Shomrim are searching for those responsible. Mayor Zohran Mamdani condemned the attack as “abhorrent,” while Governor Kathy Hochul warned: “No Jewish child or family should have to endure this kind of fear and intimidation.”

November 3, 2026 8:45 AM EDT President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to end approximately $4 billion in annual US aid to Israel, arguing that Israel has become a successful country that no longer needs the financial support.