Erev Shabbos 5 Cheshvan – Degel Calls Rare Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah Kinus – Labour Gives Greens a Week to Drop ‘Zionism is Racism’ Policy – Two Killed in Intel Kiryat Gat Blast & more…

The Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Degel HaTorah will convene on Motzei Shabbos in Bnei Brak, the first such gathering in nearly four years, as the Knesset elections draw near.

Invitations were delivered to Gedolei Yisroel on Wednesday. Roshei Yeshivah and mashgichim from yeshivos across Eretz Yisroel are expected to join the members of the Moetzes.

The kinus, held some week and a half before the vote, is intended to project unity behind the leadership of Gedolei Yisroel and to rally the tzibbur to turn out in full for Yahadus HaTorah.

It is the first time the Moetzes has assembled in roughly four years, lending the gathering unusual weight at a time when the Chareidi community faces mounting pressure from the government.

In the latest measure of the draft decree against lomdei Torah, Israel’s State Civil Service Commission has ruled that candidates liable for army service who have not regularised their status with the IDF may no longer be hired into the civil service.

Under the directive, an applicant’s military status will be checked automatically against IDF data as part of the digital intake process. “From now on, the intake system will allow completing intake only for candidates who regularised their status with the IDF,” the Commission stated.

A candidate found not to have done so will be summoned to a written hearing and given five days to resolve the matter or present documentation, failing which the appointment may be cancelled.

The instruction, signed by senior official Nisim Mizrahi and sent to government ministries this week, follows guidance from Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara on imposing sanctions on bnei yeshivah. Mizrahi framed it as enforcement of an existing provision that, the report noted, “was not enforced in practice.”

The move lays bare once again that the true aim of the decree is to drive bnei yeshivah from the beis medrash.

Harav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, Rosh Yeshivas Slabodka, has warned that the government’s campaign against the Chareidi tzibbur reaches far beyond the army into chinuch, chadarim and seminaries, and called for maximum turnout at the coming elections.

Speaking to Rabbanim and representatives from Rechasim who visited for brachos and guidance ahead of the vote, Harav Hirsch said: “I don’t know if you are aware of the policies of the current government. Everyone knows about the problems with the army, but there are problems in every single area.”

“Today they are taking action in every area, putting everything in danger,” he said. “They are openly afraid of what will happen in 20 years, when they will become a minority.”

Harav Hirsch urged that no vote be lost. “This coming term is something very, very unusual, and the Siyata Dishmaya required must also be extraordinary,” he said. “One hundred percent of those who are eligible to vote for us must vote.”

Former US president Barack Obama has drawn sharp criticism after claiming that the Jewish People “took land” in Eretz Yisroel, in remarks made during a speaking tour of Britain.

Speaking in Belfast, Obama said it was “undeniable that they took land from people and acted excessively.” While acknowledging that Jewish efforts to find refuge were understandable after persecution in Europe, he urged Israel to act in a way that is “just, ethical and moral” rather than “walling itself off.”

Outlets including the Daily Wire and HonestReporting accused him of “historical revisionism,” arguing that he presented Israel’s founding merely as a response to the Holocaust while ignoring the Jewish People’s millennia-old connection to the Land and the extensive land purchases made before the State was established.

The remarks are the latest from the former president to provoke anger among supporters of Israel.

A court in Hamburg has sentenced two men to lengthy prison terms for their part in an Iranian-directed plot to attack Jewish community leaders in Germany.

A Danish national received eight years and six months for preparing an assassination and for aggravated arson, while an Afghan national was given four years and six months for his role.

The court found that the Danish national had been “recruited by the Iranian secret service and integrated into it to carry out state-sponsored terrorist activities” in Germany “under Iran’s direction.” In early 2025 he was tasked with gathering information on Dr Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, and on Volker Beck, chairman of the German-Israeli Society, as well as spying on two Jewish-owned grocery shops in Berlin.

German federal prosecutors had filed the charges in May, and the verdicts may be appealed. The ruling is the latest to expose Tehran’s campaign of terror against Jewish communities on European soil.

Forty-seven bnei yeshivah held as alleged deserters will spend this Shabbos behind bars in a military prison, according to the Notnim Gav organisation, which supports bachurim caught up in the draft decree.

The figure was reported on Thursday through the Kore news service, citing the organisation; it was not independently confirmed by other outlets.

The detentions come amid a widening campaign against lomdei Torah, as the authorities press ahead with arrests and sanctions against those who refuse to abandon their limud haTorah for army service. Askanim have repeatedly warned of bnei yeshivah being seized and held far from their yeshivos.

Gedolei Yisroel have ruled unequivocally that bnei yeshivah must continue their limud haTorah.

Pressure intensified on the Green Party on Thursday as Labour moved to break local power-sharing arrangements with the Greens and Jewish former members prepared legal action over the party’s “Zionism is Racism” policy.

Labour has told its local groups to demand that their Green counterparts publicly reject the motion, passed at the Greens’ Brighton conference, and to urge leader Zack Polanski to reconsider. Local Greens have been given one week to respond; where they do not, existing coalitions in councils such as Sheffield, Lewes and Warwick will end.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham told the Commons on Wednesday that the motion was “wrong” and “antisemitic,” adding: “this side of the House will have nothing to do with it.”

Separately, Jewish former Green members are to sue the party for discrimination, backed by the Campaign Against Antisemitism, arguing the policy breaches the Equality Act 2010. “The Green Party has acted appallingly and we fully intend to ensure that it faces the consequences of its actions,” said CAA chief executive Gideon Falter.

European leaders are scrambling to respond after US President Donald Trump announced a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to buy large volumes of Russian diesel, despite Western sanctions on Moscow.

Trump, who unveiled the agreement on social media, said Russia would supply more than 300,000 tonnes immediately, rising to millions of tonnes, and defended the move as a way to lower prices “for the American People.” The US Treasury issued a temporary licence allowing the fuel onto the world market.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the arrangement a “gift” to Putin, warning that “gifts to Putin will not bring peace or any benefit to the civilised world.”

EU foreign-policy chief Kaja Kallas said now was “not the time to ease pressure on Russia,” insisting the only way to end the war was “by putting more pressure on Russia.”

Prime Minister Andy Burnham spoke with Zelensky and reiterated the UK’s “complete solidarity” with Ukraine, with Downing Street pledging to keep strengthening sanctions on Moscow.

Voting for Israel’s Knesset elections opened abroad on Thursday, as Israeli diplomatic missions around the world began casting the first ballots ahead of the main vote on 27 October.

The Central Elections Committee has set up 101 polling stations at 99 diplomatic missions, with some 4,800 people eligible to vote — diplomats, government representatives and eligible family members stationed overseas. The stations remain open for around 30 hours, opening in turn according to local time zones.

The first polling station opened at Israel’s embassy in Wellington, New Zealand, followed by the embassy in Fiji. The largest overseas station is at the Israeli Consulate in New York, where more than 700 people are eligible.

Under Israeli law, most citizens abroad may not vote overseas and must return to Israel to cast their ballots. The IDF is separately preparing early voting for soldiers at bases and on deployment. The overseas ballots will be flown to Israel for counting.

Two workers have been killed and a third seriously injured following an explosion and fire at Intel’s chip plant in Kiryat Gat, in southern Israel.

The blast struck the plant on Wednesday. One worker died shortly afterwards, and a second, aged 49, succumbed to his wounds on Thursday, bringing the death toll to two. The third worker, a man in his 20s, remains hospitalised in serious condition at Soroka Medical Center, sedated and intubated with severe burns.

A preliminary assessment suggests that a gas cylinder exploded as it was being unloaded from a truck. There is no suspicion of a hostile act. The Fire and Rescue Service reported a possible leak of nitrogen trifluoride, a toxic gas used in chip manufacturing, and residents were urged to keep away.

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of two workers following the tragic incident at our Kiryat Gat site,” Intel said, adding that it was cooperating fully with the investigation and hoped for the third worker’s full recovery.