Monday 29 Cheshvan – Deri Remains Shas Chairman – Kinus Hashluchim – Eisenkot Gets Mandate & more…

Aryeh Deri has withdrawn from the Shas list for the incoming Knesset while continuing to lead the party, following approval from the Moetzes Chachmei HaTorah.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Deri said he had asked the council to allow him to make way for younger representatives who had already demonstrated their parliamentary abilities. He said he would remain party chairman in accordance with the council’s instructions.

Deri plans extensive visits around the country to strengthen contact with Shas representatives, activists and the public. He will continue convening the party’s weekly parliamentary meetings, directing its members and supervising their work on legislation and Knesset committees.

Moshe Abutbul and Dror Amos have also withdrawn from the list. Uriel Buso and Yossi Taieb will take places in the incoming parliamentary delegation.

The announcement follows an election in which Shas won six seats, compared with 11 previously. Last week, the party’s spiritual leadership instructed Deri to continue as chairman after discussions about his future at its head.

Thousands of Chabad-Lubavitch shluchim from more than 100 countries assembled outside 770 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn on Sunday morning for the annual group photograph at their international conference.

The 43rd Kinus Hashluchim, which began on 4 November and continues through Monday, brings together representatives of a worldwide network of more than 6,500 couples serving Jewish communities across every American state and more than 100 countries.

The programme includes Torah learning, workshops, talks and tefillos. On Erev Shabbos, participants visited the Ohel of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, zy”a, in Queens, to daven and renew their commitment to their work.

Sunday’s gala banquet brought participants to the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Centre in Edison. The gathering was also being broadcast to viewers around the world.

Organisers said the programme would include personal accounts of Jewish life and resilience, alongside the international roll call in which delegates stand as their countries are named. The annual event gives shluchim serving widely separated communities an opportunity to meet and discuss their work.

Police are investigating whether antisemitism motivated an attack on a Chassidic man walking to shul in Williamsburg on Shabbos morning. A suspect was taken into custody after Shomrim volunteers and police responded.

Details published on Sunday placed the incident near Bedford Avenue and Heyward Street at about 8.40am the previous morning. The man was on his way to davening during his son’s sheva brachos.

Reports described an assailant approaching him and throwing an unidentified liquid before the encounter became physical. The victim fought back. Hatzalah attended and provided medical assistance; he was reported to have suffered minor injuries.

Officers from the NYPD’s 90th Precinct were among those who responded. The possible antisemitic motive remains under investigation, and no confirmed charge or official finding establishing a hate crime was available.

The attack follows the discovery on 2 November of swastikas and anti-Jewish and anti-Israel graffiti on four school buses serving Jewish institutions in Williamsburg. That earlier vandalism prompted a separate investigation by the NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force.

Motorists and air passengers face possible disruption on Monday morning as dense fog returns across large parts of England and Wales. A Met Office yellow warning runs until 11am, covering areas including London, the South East, eastern England and the Midlands.

Visibility could fall to 50 metres or less in places, with slower road journeys, delays to bus and rail services, and possible flight cancellations. Travellers have been advised to check conditions and allow extra time.

Met Office meteorologist Niamh Murray said long nights, clear skies and light winds had combined to create conditions favourable for fog. In some rural areas, temperatures close to freezing could make it particularly slow to clear.

The warning follows another foggy start on Sunday. The Met Office’s updated West Midlands forecast said fog would redevelop overnight, becoming locally dense in prone spots, before gradually lifting on Monday. Elsewhere, some patches may linger into the morning even outside the warning area.

President Donald Trump said on Sunday that fresh American attacks on Iran were highly unlikely if negotiations towards an agreement continued to make progress. His remarks came as Washington maintained pressure on Tehran’s trade routes.

In a telephone interview, Trump said the decision depended on Iran signing a strong agreement. He also said the United States had identified possible infrastructure targets, including bridges, while indicating that further military action might not be necessary.

Separately, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said the US Treasury had asked Baghdad to close every border crossing with Iran except two, including one in the Kurdistan region. He said discussions with Washington were continuing.

Hussein warned that closing the crossings would be difficult and would affect Iraq’s economy. Iraq last month closed the busy Sheeb crossing to review security and install equipment intended to stop smuggling. His account of the wider American request was given in a television interview; no separate US confirmation was cited.

President Isaac Herzog formally tasked Gadi Eisenkot with forming Israel’s next government on Sunday, handing the Yashar leader the first opportunity to assemble a coalition after last month’s election.

Eisenkot received the mandate at a ceremony at the President’s Residence in Yerushalayim. He has 28 days to negotiate a government, with Herzog authorised to grant an extension of up to 14 days if needed.

During consultations, parties representing 67 members of the Knesset recommended Eisenkot, while 46 lawmakers backed Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. United Torah Judaism, with seven seats, made no recommendation. Those figures reflect recommendations to the president, rather than a completed coalition agreement.

Eisenkot called for a national emergency government and said unusual steps would be needed to establish it. His backing included recommendations from Ra’am and the Joint List, although these do not commit either party to joining a government. The mandate begins a period of coalition negotiations; it does not itself make Eisenkot prime minister.

A 16-year-old resident of eastern Yerushalayim has been arrested on suspicion of tearing a mezuzah from a Jewish home’s doorframe and spraying graffiti on its entrance door in Kfar Hateimanim, in Silwan.

The suspect appeared before the Yerushalayim Magistrate’s Court on Sunday. The court extended his detention until Tuesday, 10 November, following an investigation by officers from the Shalem police station and Border Police.

Police received a complaint on Thursday after the resident returned home late at night and discovered that the mezuzah had been removed. He also found graffiti on the door. Officers began investigating the incident and worked to identify those responsible.

Investigators subsequently identified and located the teenage suspect, who was arrested and taken to the Shalem station for questioning. Sunday’s remand hearing was the latest development in the case. The allegations concern damage at the entrance to the resident’s home; the teenager remains a suspect, and no finding of guilt was reported.