The Election That Will Define Israel’s Future

From The New York Times, [music] I'm. Rachel Abrams and this is The Daily. >> [music]. >> Israelis head to the polls next week and. on the ballot is the future of a country. that's become increasingly isolated. [music] on the world stage both because. of the war in Gaza and a growing outcry. over settler violence in the West. [music] Bank. And so today, our colleague Jerusalem. bureau chief David Halbfinger [music].

explains how Prime Minister Benjamin. Netanyahu differs from his biggest. challenger on the issues that have. divided the country and why Israelis on. both sides view this election as. existential. [music]. >> [music]. >> It's Thursday, October 22nd. David Halbfinger, welcome to The Daily. >> Good to be here. >> So, David, you are now in your second.

stint as Jerusalem bureau chief. How. many Israeli elections have you covered. at this point? >> This will be number four. >> Wow. >> I covered three inconclusive elections. the last time and here I am again. We'll. see what this one is like. >> This one feels different at least from. here in the United States. The election. is on Tuesday and this will be the first. election since October 7th and I wonder, David, if you could just sort of lay out. how Israelis see this moment and how we,

the rest of the world, should see this. moment. >> Yeah, it's really striking. I've covered. a lot of elections. I've never covered. one in which so many people feel like. this election is the most important, the. most fateful, the most consequential election in their. country's history. You know, really there are two blocks. here. There's the Netanyahu led. government block and there's the. opposition block. The numbers the polls. suggest each have roughly half the.

country. The polls vary by a few points. in either direction for both of them. And it's making some people, at least. many people certainly in the opposition. camp, feel like if it doesn't go the way. they're hoping, they might even not see. a future for themselves in this country. It's really quite something. And it's. not just about Netanyahu. Netanyahu. obviously is a symbol to the outside. world of. this Israel, the Israel of the Gaza war, the Israel that's in an ongoing conflict.

where it's extremist settlers are. marauding through much of the West Bank. These are the things that much of the. world sees Netanyahu as symbolizing and. leading and representing. for Israelis. It's about a lot more than the conflict. with the Palestinians. In fact, that is. something that is not discussed as much. on the campaign trail as one might. imagine. For Israelis, it's really about the fate. of their democracy,

about what's going to become of a social. contract that has been really torn in. the past few years. It's about fairness in the sacrifice. that is demanded of people in defending. the country. And it's really about what. kind of Jewish state this will be. And. that's really what's on the ballot. >> I mean, it really sounds like this. election is about a lot of different. issues and none of them are the issues. that it feels like the rest of the world. has been focused on. Namely,

this election is not about whether the. next government of Israel will support. Palestinian statehood. It's just not on. the table. >> I think that's right. I mean, for the. vast majority of Israelis, the idea of a. Palestinian state is something that. could be broached anytime soon. is really a non-starter. And it's true. that it may be like the only thing that. left and right do agree on. I mean, this. is an incredibly. divided country at this moment. And.

part of the issue here is people have. felt this way for a long time. Pretty. much. at least since the very early days of. this government. If I could take you. back even before October 7th, in early 2023, very soon after taking power, the. Netanyahu government proposed a whole. new overhaul of the judicial system. And. it was more than that. It was really a. democratic overhaul, an overhaul of the. Israeli system.

>> Right. That proposal, I'll remind. people, drew enormous protests. >> Hundreds of thousands of people took to. the streets because it was going to. basically neuter the judiciary, which. under Israel's system was the only real. counterweight to the government and the. Knesset. So, the one check and balance. on Netanyahu and his right-wing. government, they were threatening to. basically disempower it. And that sent. people out into the streets. And as that. year went on, there were all kinds of.

warnings about Israel's enemies were. noticing how internally divided it was. And you know, a house divided is in. trouble. And lo and behold, October 7th. happens, and it was devastating. >> Right. October 7th happens in the midst. of this anger over this perceived threat. to democracy, which was driven by the. hard-right faction in Netanyahu's. coalition, which has only gotten more. and more emboldened since October 7th. happened. >> Yeah, that's right. You know, the war. happens, and it's the extremists in the.

Netanyahu government, people like. Ben-Gvir and Smotrich, who are pushing. basically to raise. Gaza. They say the most inflammatory. things about how to deal with the. Palestinians. When there's debate over. whether to try to strike a deal to get. the hostages out or to just keep going. with the military campaign, they're the. voices to keep going, always to keep. going. It tears apart the government to. some degree, but it really tears apart. the society. And heading into this. election, they are looking for a mandate to really.

go ahead and complete what they had. started in changing the way Israel's. government functions. >> Okay, so let's turn to the campaign. itself because I want to understand how. each of the leading candidates are. basically distinguishing themselves. Let's start with Benjamin Netanyahu, obviously the incumbent. What does his. campaign stand for and where does he. stand on some of these key issues that. you've described? >> So, the most important issue to. Israelis, really like the number 1 2 3 4. and 5 on the list, is always security.

just because of the nature of the state. and its surroundings in the Middle East. and its history of warfare. >> I've devoted my life to protect the. security of the state of Israel and. nothing will change that. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. >> Netanyahu has always passed himself off. as Mr. Security, as the guy who can keep. Israelis safe. >> We initiate, we attack, we surprise and. we attack those enemies that seek our. destruction, that seek to kill us, we.

attack. >> Obviously, it's a harder sell now. because October 7th happened on his. watch. >> Yeah, I was going to say it seems sort. of hard for the guy who was in charge on. October 7th to make a compelling claim. that he's the one to keep the country. safe, especially considering that we now. know. that there were all sorts of warnings. about an impending attack to the. Netanyahu government. >> Right. Well, you know, there's a lot of. blame casting and finger pointing and. the sort of heart of it is Netanyahu.

basically says that he didn't get the. phone call early enough on October 7th. to actually do anything about it and if. he had, everything would have been. different. >> He's really not taking any. responsibility, basically. >> No, no. And that is one of the biggest. issues in this entire campaign, which is. Israel has a thing called a national. commission of inquiry when things really. go wrong in a big, big way. They set up. It's like the 9/11 commission. >> Mhm. >> in the United States. They do this sort. of thing. Almost every prime minister. has had one of these, I think. Netanyahu. never has, and he's absolutely refusing.

to go along with such a commission, and. the opposition is like, that's the first. thing we're going to do is appoint a. commission to see what really went. wrong. >> So, when he says like, I'm the security. guy, I'm the one that's going to keep. you safe, what does he actually point to. as evidence of that? >> Well, he points to everything that. happened since October 7th. >> Do you know any other country the size. of New Jersey. capable of fighting a seven-front war. and for 3 years? Seven fronts.

Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, Iran, militias in Iraq, militias in Syria, Palestinian terrorists in Judea Samaria. >> Israel has killed the leader of. Hezbollah. They killed all those Hamas. leaders, including Yahya Sinwar. In. Lebanon, they had that pager stunt, you. know, exploding pagers. >> Remotely, right. >> Yeah, in the pockets of all these. Hezbollah operatives. They had the wars. with Iran, in which Netanyahu was able.

to get the United States to help out. You be the judge how successful those. were, but he has certainly been able to. get the United States on his side to do. all of these things. >> Yeah, I wonder how all of that plays. with Israelis who have suffered losses. since the Gaza war. I'm thinking about. people who have lost loved ones or. families that include reservists who. have been called up to serve for months. at a time and maybe even multiple times. And that is a lot of Israel. >> That's a really important point, and I.

would also note that while Israel has. fought a lot of wars, they've all been. short. You know, there was that six-day. one back in 1967. >> Right. longest I can remember was a. matter of weeks in the 2010s. This one, it's arguably still going, and that has. placed an inordinate demand on the. soldiers and the reservists who have. been going in and out of battle and. combat all this time. I mean, lots of. people have died, families have been.

really tested. It's difficult to hold. down a job when you're going off and. serving for 100 days at a time. And. compounding that, and really. exacerbating the tensions in the. society, is the fact that. a lot of Israelis just don't serve. Ultra-Orthodox, who are growing as a. percentage of the population, rapidly, they have a large families, and they. start having families young. They have an exemption for years from. serving, but that was formally.

overturned in 2024. So, it's no longer. legal, but really they are resisting. serving. They're now being openly called. draft dodgers, and some are starting to. be arrested for it, but their leaders. are defiant, they're refusing to do. this. And their political parties are an. essential part of the current. Netanyahu-led government. He relies on. them for support, they rely on him for. protection from, among other things, the. draft, as well as for really huge.

subsidies for those growing families. And so, you have the half of the. country, more or less, who serves and. holds jobs and pays taxes, protecting and subsidizing people who do. none of those things. >> Right. This issue of whether the. ultra-Orthodox serve in the military, that has been a long-standing issue for. years now. You said, David, that this exemption is. illegal. What has Netanyahu said about. this more recently, though, as this is. becoming increasingly urgent? >> So, it was interesting that just the.

other day the military arrested a bunch. of ultra-Orthodox men for draft evasion. And Netanyahu came out against these. arrests. He called it an attempt to harm. the process of drafting the. ultra-Orthodox without coercion. And. basically he's saying, "We're going to. get to this. You know, our coalition. will It was on the verge of passing a. real meaningful draft law. Reelect us. and we'll do that." But the criticism. here is that it's just going to keep. going cuz Netanyahu needs the.

ultra-Orthodox to preserve his hold on. power and it's just not important enough. to him to risk that for the sake of. getting ultra-Orthodox men into the. military. >> This is the story of Netanyahu that I. think a lot of people are familiar with. This idea that he is willing to put up. with a lot in order to keep his. coalition together and stay in power. You have just described the. ultra-Orthodox, but there's a whole. other contingent, this right-wing. contingent represented by Ben-Gvir and. Smotrich, that gets a lot of the blame, I think, or responsibility for creating.

an environment that has enabled an. increase in settler violence toward. Palestinians in the West Bank. And I. think that that, on top of the casualty. numbers in Gaza that we have been. hearing about since October 7th, all of. this feels like it has led Israel to. becoming increasingly isolated on the. world stage. That is the image I think. that a lot of people have. And I wonder. what, if anything, has Netanyahu said. about this? >> So, first of all, he explains it away,

you know, attributing it to. anti-Semitism in many cases. He talks about the Muslim immigration in. Europe. He talks about Qatari money in. the United States funding anti-Israel. and anti-Semitic professors, basically. You know, it's a very conspiratorial and. it has everything to do with anything. except Israel's policies. And Israel has. always seen itself as kind of a country. on the defensive and a defensive crouch. and now he's talking about Israel as a. Sparta as a kind of nation that's going.

to have to produce its own weapons if. other countries place embargoes on arms. dealing to Israel like it's going to. have to live on its own you know live. off the land kind of thing but I think. there's to some degree Netanyahu's. followers his supporters already think. that the world hates Israel and the. world's always going to hate Israel and. so like they're happy to be sort of. given the permission to think that way. >> Well also though I mean it strikes me. that it's easier for Netanyahu to double. down on this kind of a stance when he. does have such huge amounts of support.

from. the United States hugely powerful ally. which is still supplying Israel with. tons of military aid that has allowed it. to continue its campaign in Gaza and it. and of course is is the United States. joined Israel in its attack on Iran. >> So you know that's exactly right and I. think Netanyahu's actions and what he. says all indicate that he has put all. his eggs in the United States basket and. particularly in the Trump. administration's basket. What his. critics and opponents will say is that.

Donald Trump is not going to be. president forever and what comes. thereafter maybe the deluge. >> [music]. >> David you just explained where Netanyahu. stands on a bunch of these different. issues that have made a lot of people. angry at him. whether it's not taking responsibility. for October 7th or not resolving the. issue of the ultra-orthodox draft or. moves that have basically made Israel. more of a pariah state and yet [snorts]. he is still neck and neck in the polls. which I think highlights just how deeply.

divided the country is as you said in. this moment. >> Yeah that's true and nothing better. encapsulates that division than the fact. that the number one candidate to replace. him and the leading party in the. opposition camp [music]. is a guy who could not be more unlike. Benjamin Netanyahu. [music]. >> [music].

[music]. >> We'll be right back. So David, on the other side of the race, the leading opposition candidate is Gadi. Eisenkot. So tell us what his pitch is. and and what his appeal is to the. broader Israeli public. >> So Eisenkot is basically offering to. heal a sorely divided country. Netanyahu has been stoking divisions,

pitting one swath of the public against. another, and Eisenkot is talking about. trying to pull things back together. But also, to talk about his appeal, this. is a guy who has been around for a long. long time, including as the chief of. staff of the Israeli military for 4. years very recently. He was very. well-liked. He had a very, kind of, I. would say, firm but kindly public.

persona. And he has really made the transition to. a politician very very quickly. When he. formed his party a year ago, he was tiny. in the polls, so that's quite a meteoric. rise. >> Can you tell us a little bit about his. backstory, David? Like, where is he from. and sort of how did he get to this. point? >> It's really interesting, and again, it. couldn't be more different from the guy. he's trying to defeat. So Eisenkot. was born in the north, in the city of.

Tiberias, to Moroccan immigrant parents. That makes him a Mizrahi Jew, Jews from. the Middle East and North Africa. I. should say that Mizrahi Jews are roughly. half the Jews of Israel, and no Mizrahi. Jew has ever been prime minister. So. this is not just who he is, it's kind of. a an important political advantage. And. he grew up and went to high school in. Eilat in the very south of Israel. That's a really working class town. Most. Israelis get drafted and serve. He did.

when he got out of high school at 18. and went into a brigade called Golani. This is a very gritty infantry unit. It's not the paratroopers or the. commandos. >> These are the grunt workers, basically. >> They're the grunts and and it's also. kind of a point of pride that it's. really a cross-section and he had a very. rapid rise. He became the commander of. the Golani Brigade. and a number of years later when there's. a shake-up in the military, they need to. name a new chief of staff and Ehud.

Barak, then the defense secretary under. Netanyahu, recommends that Eisenkot be. named chief of staff, which would. leapfrog him over. somebody else who's kind of next in. line. Amazingly, he turned down the job. He. felt that the deputy, the guy who was. next in line, it was Benny Gantz, it should go to him. >> Wow, that feels like kind of an unusual. move for a politician. >> That's right. But then in 2015, he's. offered the top job again and this time. he says yes. Fast forward to October.

7th, 2023. and it's this experienced military man. who comes into the government of. Netanyahu to really buck up a government. that is dealing with something Israel. has never faced. Then December of 2023, Eisenkot's own son, his youngest of five. children, a 25-year-old reservist, [music] is killed in a tunnel explosion. >> Mhm. >> And everybody saw that funeral, like.

thousands [music] came to it including. Netanyahu, because of who Eisenkot was. Many more. watched on television live. >> Yeah, it was. >> Eizenkot gives this heart-rending, very. personal eulogy for his son.

And now he's like the picture of. bereavement in addition to being who he. is in the government. [music]. >> It was also an an image I would imagine. that many Israelis could relate to cuz. many Israelis have also lost somebody in. the Gaza war. >> That's right. >> [music]. >> So many people have lost someone or had. somebody injured. You know, you can't. avoid knowing people [music] in this. country who have experienced a lot of. loss. >> Mhm. >> And the day of the funeral, Eizenkot's. nephew is killed in Gaza.

>> [music]. >> He loses another nephew almost a year. later. So now add that emotional factor to what. Eizenkot is experiencing as he. participates in this government. Now, it seems to have gone fairly well. at first, but it didn't go well for very. long. Both Netanyahu and Eizenkot are. basically trash talking one another. about, you know, what went on behind the. scenes. Eizenkot describes the Prime. Minister as shaking like a leaf in that.

period and that he had to kind of. really, you know, almost like take the. wheel. >> Wow. >> But really what causes Netanyahu and. Eizenkot to clash is what to do about. the hostages. Netanyahu is under. pressure from Smotrich and Ben-Gvir to. really just full steam ahead, keep. destroying Gaza, keep killing Hamas, eliminating them. But Israelis are. crying out to do a deal to get the. hostages out. In January of 2024, he. goes public with his frustrations. By. June, he's out.

>> He quits. >> He quits the government. Yeah. And, you. know, a year later, he forms a political. party of his own. >> So, Eisenkot quits the Netanyahu. government in disgust, it sounds like. He forms this new party. What does he. say about what his platform is and what. he stands for? >> The biggest thing of all, I think, is. accountability and responsibility. That's both something that Israelis. crave, and it's an implicit rebuke and. criticism of Netanyahu. As we said, Netanyahu is avoiding.

the national commission that could. deliver accountability wherever it may. lead. So, he's promising responsible. leadership. And he's calling Bibi an. anti-leader. You know, he's saying that. the way I was trained, when there's. credit, you share it. When there's. failure, you step forward and own it. And he's talking about sharing the. burden of service and spreading it. around and making sure that the. ultra-Orthodox. do their fair share of military service.

>> Which would seem like a pretty powerful. message coming from somebody who lost a. son and two nephews in this war. >> Very much so. And that's also a contrast. that he has begun drawing himself. In. one interview, he talked about how. Netanyahu's two sons did really minor or. insignificant service when they served. in the military. And one of his sons, who's basically known as a right-wing. troll in support of his father on social. media, spent much of the last 3 years.

kind of hanging out in Miami with. security to some degree on the. taxpayer's dime. So, for Eisenkot, it's. not beneath him to make that contrast as. well. >> It's really interesting because it. sounds like Eisenkot is very much. focused on sharing the responsibility. for the war, but he's not really talking. a lot from your description of the war. itself in terms of how it has isolated. Israel on the world stage. So, I just. sort of wonder what we know about how. much he cares about that and what he has.

said about that, if anything. >> Let me just deal with Gaza really. quickly, cuz he doesn't talk about Gaza. much. On Gaza, he basically says. that he wants to work with the Trump. administration on its plan to bring a. solution in Gaza, to get to. reconstruction, and so on, to really end. the war, to have a settlement that gets. Hamas out of government there. This is. not a guy whose heart is bleeding for. all the Palestinians killed in Gaza. This is a guy who wants to finish the. job against Hamas one way or the other,

whether it's politically or if need be, militarily. And in the West Bank, he's much more. valuable. I mean, he basically treats. what's going on in the West Bank with. extremist violence by Jewish settlers. against Palestinians. as Israel in a hole of its own making. and just continuing to dig. And he says. the first thing you got to do is stop. digging. So, what does that mean? So, the first thing he would. re-establish. the security regime that used to.

basically prevent this kind of thing, or. at least prevent it a lot more than it. does now. That means taking the military. in the West Bank and its civil. administration for the West Bank out. from under the control of Smotrich. And. it means taking the Israeli police, who. have to come in and arrest those. settlers, out from under the control of Itamar. Ben-Gvir. He would go a lot farther, though. He's talked about, you know, the first thing he would do in.

the West Bank is to uproot and evacuate. the settlements, the illegal Israeli. settlements that have been set up in. areas that are really supposed to be. reserved for the Palestinians under the. old Oslo Accords. >> So, he's not talking about Palestinian. sovereignty, which Netanyahu might want. voters to believe he is or interested. in. He's just talking about restoring a. certain stability that Israelis were. used to just a few years ago, before the. attacks on October 7th and before the. war. >> That's right. He says that if there will. be a final status, you know, permanent.

solution to the conflict, it is a long. way off, beyond the horizon and the. curvature of the earth. But he does. think that it's better to give the. Palestinians reason for hope than to. tell them there is no hope. >> You said, David, that the race is neck. and neck, but obviously Israeli. elections work differently than they do. here in the United States. Can you just. walk us through a little bit about what. is likely to happen next? >> Yeah, this is incredibly difficult to. understand if you come from a two-party.

system. But basically, it's coalition politics. It's you don't. vote for a prime minister like you do. for a president in the United States. You vote for a party. You go into the. ballot box and you choose a slip of. paper that has the symbol and name of. the party that you prefer. And then, you. know, the parties with the most votes. get the most seats in the parliament, and the [snorts] party that has the most. seats. gets offered the chance to form a. government by the president. Now, the. polls are all over the place. We say.

that Eisenkot and Netanyahu are neck and. neck cuz Eisenkot is a little bit ahead. of Netanyahu in the polls. The same goes. for their coalitions. There could be a. clear outcome to this election, but it. is perhaps even more likely that, given. how tight things are, we could have an. inconclusive election, and that could. lead to another election. We've had. several of them in 2019, 2020, 2021. Or it also could lead to something we.

haven't seen before. One thing that. Eisenkot and his allies are talking. about doing is if they do come out. ahead, they can start to pass some laws. even if they can't form a government. So, imagine a new parliament with a new. speaker passing laws like maybe one that. bans a candidate from running for prime. minister if he's facing criminal trial. >> Which would include Netanyahu. >> Yeah, or that imposes term limits on. somebody who's served for 19 out of the. last 30 years. >> Also Netanyahu. >> Yeah, there's a lot of things they could.

do if they wanted to and really play. political hardball in a way that that. nobody has in this country before. >> But the message I'm getting from you. David is that this is likely to be quite. messy. We don't know what's going to. happen yet and the outcome does not. necessarily mean that there will be a. clear prime minister in the immediate. future. >> That's right. If you think it's. confusing now, just wait until next. Wednesday. >> Terrific. Well, we might end up calling. you back on the show, David. Besides the fact that it's very messy. and confusing to a lot of people, as we mentioned, we know that this.

election feels very existential to. people and I just want to end our. conversation by talking about something. that's going to feel sort of familiar to. folks in the United States, which is. also a deeply divided country where. major events have served as sort of. Rorschach tests, which is how it sort of sounds like in. Israel where people see Netanyahu as a. success or failure and the things that. he's done since October 7th, depending. on kind of the perspective they were. coming from to begin with. And I just sort of wonder where you. think an election like this that is so.

existential leaves voters when the. results are in, if the results are not. the ones that they wanted. >> Yeah, people here, certainly those who. are unhappy with this current. government, there's a lot of talk about. despair, about the idea that the. country's headed over a cliff. >> Mhm. >> A lot of people have left Israel. There's a huge trend to get a second. passport for another country. The net. migration, which has always been into.

Israel, it's been growing with. immigration of Jews from around the. world, the last couple of years more. Jews have left than have arrived and. it's really striking. Some people say. they want to stay and fight. Others are. really talking about getting on a plane. and never looking back and I think. there's a lot of fear about what could. happen given that things are so divided. and so heatedly divided, even if there. is a new government. Could that. government really heal? Will Netanyahu.

and his allies go quietly from power? There's been political violence in this. country before. Will it whip up? What happens next? It. It could be entering a dark time. Now, having said that, on the other side of. the aisle and within Netanyahu's. supporters, there's a feeling of. triumphalism, the chance to really This. is a right-wing country, and this is the. chance to cement and to really complete. the takeover of the institutions of. power that were for so long still held.

by, you know, holdouts from the left or. from, you know, the liberal world or. from the the old Ashkenazi elite. >> It's really interesting because Israel. is such a small country. I mean, it does. actually feel existential. Like, when we. have said existential in this. conversation, we are talking about a. reshaping of the demographics of the. country and potentially creating a. country that is maybe smaller, but much. more hardline. >> Yeah, we are. And there's just one other.

thing to bear in mind about, you know, all these people in Israel who are. contemplating or talking about leaving. depending on how the election goes, it's not clear where they would go that. things would necessarily be better. As. they are reading in their newspapers. every day, anti-Semitism is on the rise. around the world. It's not easy to be an. Israeli, even if you're not living in. Israel anymore. And, you know, I'm just. reminded of this great skit on Israel's. version of Saturday Night Live a while.

back where, you know, it's at the. airport, >> Ali. >> Jennifer. I can't believe this is where we meet. >> And two people, old friends, run into. each other. and they compare notes about how things. have just gotten terrible. >> You know us Jews, if history has taught. us anything. >> when it's time to leave. >> It's dangerous. Like I had to get out of. there. I couldn't take it anymore. >> Yeah, it's no longer safe for us to live. here.

>> You mean there. >> Where? >> New York. >> Wait a second. You're telling me you're. coming to Israel now? Are you crazy? >> Wait, you're moving to New York? Now, are you crazy? >> Turns out one is heading back to Israel. and one is leaving Israel. So, you know, pick them. Which is worse? >> Okay, enjoy Israel. It's hell. >> Uh, enjoy New York. It's a nightmare. >> Uh. >> Good luck. >> So, that's the dilemma, basically. >> Yeah, for a lot of Israelis, it's if not.

here, where? >> [music]. >> David Halbfinger, thank you so much. >> Thank you, Rachel. >> [music]. >> We'll be right back. Here's what else you need to know today. >> You talk so much about my my president.

President Trump being humanitarian. You. are you are are you humanitarian also, sir? And I salute that. I commend you. and I thank you again. >> Lavishing praise on President Vladimir. Putin, President Trump's special envoy. Steve Witkoff. >> [music]. >> thanked the Russian leader in St. Petersburg for releasing an American. hostage held for more than 4 years on. what the State Department called. fabricated charges. [music]. The release came after Trump made a. direct appeal last week to Putin to let. the 74-year-old teacher Stephen James.

Hubbard return to the United States. [music]. Russia had accused Hubbard of being a. Ukrainian mercenary and sentenced him to. more than 6 years in a penal colony. And. the US and Israel have developed plans. to strike Iran again after [music] the. midterm elections, according to US. officials and other people briefed on. the deliberations. The targets would likely include Iran's. energy infrastructure, nuclear. facilities, and missile and drone.

arsenal. >> [music]. >> Today's episode was produced by Ricky. Novetsky and Stella Tan with help from. Michelle Bondja. It was edited by MJ. Davis Lynn [music] and Paige Cowett. It. contains music by Dan Powell, Rowan. Nemirow, and Diane Wong. It was engineered [music] by Chris Wood. and our theme music is by Wonderly. Special thanks to Yara Bayoumi. >> [music].

[music]. >> That's it for The Daily. I'm Rachel. Abrams. See you tomorrow.