Israel news today: Herzog hands Gadi Eisenkot the mandate to form the next government after 67 MKs recommend him, Katz says the mission against Iran is not complete, and the IDF reveals Hezbollah weapons caches near UN posts in southern Lebanon. Also in this week's VFI News Midweek: the Rafah tunnel where Hamas held Hadar Goldin's remains, Danon's confrontation with Iran's UN envoy, and a proposed multinational force for Gaza.

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President Isaac Herzog formally tasked Yashar! Chairman Gadi Eisenkot with forming Israel's next government at a ceremony at the President's Residence in Jerusalem on Sunday, November 8. Herzog said that after receiving the official election results, he consulted representatives of every faction elected to the Knesset, as required by Section 7 of Basic Law: The Government, in talks "conducted with openness, candor, and transparency." The consultations surfaced disputes and painful points alongside the many voices of Israeli society, he said, adding that "every citizen of Israel has an equal voice."

Factions totaling 67 MKs recommended Eisenkot, factions totaling 46 MKs recommended Prime Minister and Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu, and one faction of seven MKs recommended no candidate, Herzog said. He concluded that Eisenkot, a lieutenant general in the reserves, had the "clear and unequivocal support of a majority of Members of Knesset" as the candidate with the better chance of forming a government that can win the Knesset's confidence. Herzog acknowledged that Likud is the largest faction in the incoming Knesset but cited "clear precedents set by my predecessors," who at times tasked the leaders of smaller parties.

Herzog set out the challenges awaiting the next government, beginning with Iran, which he said "does not pause for a moment in its schemes and threats." He pointed to regional diplomacy, the Board of Peace, President Trump's Gaza plan, and the talks with Lebanon, and called for a "determined and resolute fight against terror and the empire of evil on every front." He also cited sanctions, the new political situation in the United States, and the need to confront crime, the economy, and the wound of October 7th.

(INN/VFI News)

Defense Minister Israel Katz warned on Sunday, November 8, that Israel's campaign against Iran is unfinished and that Tehran is once again working to acquire nuclear weapons. Speaking at the state memorial ceremony for the fallen of Operation Kadesh at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, Katz said the campaign "is not complete." He described Iran's renewed nuclear push as one of several grave activities that endanger Israel. "We cannot tolerate these threats," he said.

Katz used the ceremony to call for national unity in the face of the security challenges ahead. Israel must remain united as it prepares for the missions to come, he said, calling the moment "a time for unity, responsibility, and mutual solidarity." Meeting future threats, he stressed, will demand both military strength and national resilience. Carrying out those missions, he concluded, will require "the full strength of the IDF and the full resilience of our people."

The defense minister's appeal followed a video released by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday night, November 7. In it, Netanyahu warned that an alternative government could be formed as early as the week of November 9 and urged the national camp and the Zionist parties to join a unity government. Israel "simply will not survive" under such a government, Netanyahu said, referring to a coalition that would rely on parties he accuses of supporting terrorism.

(INN/VFI News)

Troops of the IDF's 91st Division operating in the Security Zone of southern Lebanon have uncovered Hezbollah weapons stockpiles and a military apartment sitting within a few hundred meters of United Nations positions, the IDF announced on Sunday, November 8. In the Meiss El Jabal area, the Oded (9th) Brigade Combat Team found two stockpiles of weapons and equipment. One was hidden in a civilian home roughly 200 meters from a UN post; the other was in a storage facility about 100 meters from a UN post.

The caches held Kalashnikov rifles, RPG launchers and rockets, a PK machine gun, fragmentation grenades, an explosive device, ammunition, and communications and surveillance equipment. The items were stored alongside humanitarian aid boxes and emblems of the Amal and Hezbollah terrorist organizations. In the Et Tiri area, the Kfir Brigade Combat Team located an apartment Hezbollah used for military purposes about 250 meters from a UN post, containing surveillance equipment, combat gear, living supplies, and Hezbollah emblems.

"This is further evidence that the UNIFIL force has failed in its mission," the IDF said, adding that terrorist groups are exploiting UNIFIL's inaction. The military said it will not allow Hezbollah to harm Israeli civilians or IDF troops and will continue operating to remove threats. It also said it remains committed to the ceasefire agreement.

(INN/VFI News)

The IDF released new details on Monday, November 9, about the operations that brought Lt. Hadar Goldin's remains back to Israel, one year after his return and more than 11 years after Hamas killed and abducted him. The disclosure covers the 10-kilometer tunnel in which Hamas kept Goldin's remains and the efforts to retrieve him. Goldin was killed in battle in Rafah on August 1, 2014, during Operation Protective Edge, when Hamas violated a ceasefire and seized his body. He left behind his parents, a sister, two brothers, and his fiancée.

Goldin's remains were returned on November 9, 2025, and he was laid to rest two days later. The long recovery effort contributed significantly to the defeat of Hamas's Rafah Brigade and to the military's achievements in the area, the IDF said. In July 2025, a special operation by Southern Command forces and the Shin Bet, guided by Military Intelligence, led to the arrest of Hamas operative Marwan al-Hams, suspected of knowing where Goldin was buried in Rafah's "Dror Lavan" tunnel. That arrest was one of dozens of covert operations the IDF and Shin Bet carried out over the years to bring Goldin home for burial.

In a separate Southern Command operation, soldiers of the Commando Brigade, the Yahalom combat engineering unit, and the Shayetet 13 naval commandos uncovered the underground route in southern Rafah where Goldin was held in the final years before his return. The route stretches more than 10 kilometers across three levels, the deepest 30 meters underground. It runs beneath a densely populated residential neighborhood near the Philadelphi Corridor and passes beneath sensitive civilian sites, including an UNRWA compound, mosques, clinics, kindergartens, and schools.

(JPost/VFI News)

Kristallnacht (‘Crystal Night’), which occurred the night of November 9th-10th, 1938, will forever be a dark stain in history. The name Kristallnacht comes from the broken glass that covered the streets after pogroms against Jews were ruthlessly carried out by the Nazi Party. Jewish-owned stores, homes, buildings, and synagogues were severely vandalized, windows were smashed, and buildings were set aflame. An estimated 91 Jews were murdered, and 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and incarcerated in concentration camps. Modern analysis of German scholarly sources estimates 638 deaths by suicide as a result of post-arrest maltreatment. Let us remember Kristallnacht.

Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, delivered a blistering rebuke to Iran's UN representative after Tehran tried to stop Israel from coordinating a draft resolution in the UN Sixth Committee. Danon warned that the Iranian regime threatens not only Israel but European countries and the entire free world. He listed the regime's actions, including funding terrorist proxies, rebuilding its nuclear and ballistic-missile capabilities, and blocking the Strait of Hormuz, and said the regime "murders 50,000 innocent Iranians."

Iran first threatened Israel, then the United States and the Gulf states, and now Europe, Danon said, pointing to a map of "dozens of targets" published in Tehran. Turning to the Iranian envoy directly, he dismissed any notion that Israel could be intimidated. He called the envoy a coward and said Iran's leaders are cowards "hiding underground." He told the representative to sit quietly and be grateful for his seat, adding that the price for Iran's terrorism "has only begun to be exacted."

Danon closed with a message to the Iranian people. He predicted that they would soon reclaim their country and bring the regime to justice. The confrontation unfolded as Israel worked to advance its draft resolution in the committee over Tehran's objections.

(JPost/VFI News)

The Israeli government has approved a United States request to deploy an initial multinational force of about 250 foreign troops in Gaza. Security officials said on Monday, November 9, that foreign military officers escorted by US troops had been seen near the Gaza border over the preceding two weeks. The sightings came as work continued on moving the multinational force further into the Strip.

Six countries—Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Uganda, and Albania—have so far signaled that they are willing to join the force. Kazakhstan has offered medical and logistical assistance. Kosovo has proposed support for security and policing work.

One factor slowing the force's formation is pressure from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Washington to let Turkey take part in Gaza operations. The push is part of Ankara's wider effort to expand its regional influence. Officials in Jerusalem and Israel's defense establishment strongly oppose any Turkish involvement, pointing to Ankara's policies toward Israel, Erdogan's statements, and Turkey's hosting of Hamas's terrorist headquarters.

(JPost/VFI News)

More than 1,000 synagogues and Jewish institutions worldwide are expected to keep their lights burning overnight on Monday, November 9, to mark the 88th anniversary of Kristallnacht, as part of an ongoing Israeli initiative. The annual "Spread the Light" campaign commemorates the Nazi pogrom of November 9–10, 1938, when Jewish homes, businesses, and institutions across Germany and Austria were attacked, hundreds of Jews were killed, and thousands were sent to concentration camps. Historians regard the pogrom as a precursor to the Holocaust. Participants are encouraged to photograph their illuminated buildings and share the images on social media with the hashtag #SpreadtheLight.

At least 1,000 institutions took part in 2025, said Dalia Yohanan, who coordinates the project through her organization, Or Dolek; the Religious Kibbutz Movement and Yad Vashem jointly lead it. Yohanan called the night of Kristallnacht "a clear turning point for the Nazis in their quest to destroy the Jews," the moment they concluded they could do as they pleased while the world stayed silent. The initiative was launched in 2008, for the 70th anniversary, by Rabbi Yechiel Wasserman, head of the World Zionist Organization's Center for Religious Affairs in the Diaspora. When its originators did not plan to continue it, Yohanan said, "I took it on myself to continue."

Yohanan's father, Naftali (Kurt) Wertheim, survived Kristallnacht as a boy by hiding under a table while neighbors hurled stones through the family's windows. His parents sent him to Britain on a Kindertransport, where he survived; the Nazis murdered his parents. He later settled in Israel and joined the kibbutz movement. On the night the project began, Yohanan said, her father was overcome with emotion, calling it "such a beautiful sight" to see the synagogue lights burning all night.

(TOI/VFI News

Thousands of Chabad emissaries gathered outside the movement's world headquarters at 770 in Brooklyn, New York, on Sunday, November 8, for the traditional group photograph of the annual International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries. The emissaries serve in 111 countries and more than 4,000 Jewish communities. Standing shoulder to shoulder, they posed for a picture that has become one of the conference's best-known traditions. Chabad officials said this year's photo carries added meaning given the challenges facing Jewish communities worldwide, conveying unity, Jewish pride, and resilience.

The conference coincides with the end of the year of Kaddish for the 16 people murdered in the attack on the Chabad Hanukkah celebration at Sydney's Bondi Beach in December 2025, among them Chabad emissary Rabbi Eli Schlanger. "Less than a year ago, we lost 16 precious souls in the horrific attack during the Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach," said Rabbi Mendy Kotlarsky. The very next evening, he noted, menorahs were lit in public squares around the world in greater numbers than ever before. Throughout Jewish history, Kotlarsky said, the response to tragedy has been to increase activity and spread more light.

The gathering matters, Kotlarsky said, because emissaries keep working worldwide even as Jewish communities endure hard times. "This photograph sends a clear message: The Jewish people are alive, strong and proud, and we are going nowhere," he said. Chabad reports significant growth in its emissary network, with hundreds of new families joining over the past year, including about 70 in Israel.

(INN/VFI News)