Welcome to today’s daily update for Wednesday, October 28, 2026. Here’s everything you need to know.
The Breakdown
Israel’s general election has taken place, but it remains too close to call as the final ballots are counted across the country.
The leading candidates were incumbent far-right Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alongside his opposition, Gadi Eisenkot. Eisenkot takes a relatively centrist-right stance on major issues and leads a coalition of several parties.
Thousands of Israelis abroad flew back to their home country to vote over the weekend, resulting in the largest voter turnout since 1999 – 77.7% of eligible voters stopped by the polls.
Now, after more than a day of ballot-counting, the election remains undecided. Despite both candidates making claims of a clear win for their side, Eisenkot and Netanyahu appear to be equal in votes. However, for many Israelis, the ongoing stalemate shows a drastic change from Netanyahu’s clear majority in the 2022 elections, where he won 64 of the 120 seats in the nation’s parliament, known as the Knesset.
This lack of majority introduces two other key players into the mix – a pair of Arab parties are projected to win around 17 to 18 seats, meaning that Eisenkot and Netanyahu’s respective parties may need to form a larger coalition to secure a parliamentary majority.
Eisenkot and Netanyahu have both denied any possibility of forming a coalition with these Arab parties, but the only other option for the two would be to secure a coalition with each other. This would form what is known as a unity government, but it is highly unlikely due to the extreme nature of Netanyahu’s supporters and how greatly their ideologies differ from those of Eisenkot. Furthermore, a unity government would force the two to decide who would take on the role of prime minister – a position that neither candidate is likely to give up.
As the final ballots are counted, the Israeli elections are likely to end in a stalemate, and negotiations will need to be conducted before a government can be formed. Initial polls are showing Netanyahu’s bloc with 51 to 52 seats, while his opposition has secured around 49 to 51 others. Netanyahu is advocating for a “right-wing, nationalist government” that would continue operations in Lebanon, Gaza, Iran, and the West Bank, while his opposition is an amalgamation of supporters for one cause: change.
These negotiations could take days or even weeks and will likely see shifts between parties. Parts of coalitions could switch sides, or the opposition bloc could form a minority government. If none of this is possible, the nation could even hold elections again. There are still a lot of complexities that are yet to play out, and their result will not just decide who leads Israel for the next four years – it could also decide the fate of thousands of people in the Middle East.
The Global Snapshot
Flávio Bolsonaro has left for the United States after being tracked down by officials in Brazil, claiming he is part of an ongoing investigation. Bolsonaro recently lost to Luiz Inácio Lula de Silva in the nation’s presidential elections, with a handful of percentage points deciding the winner. However, according to the New York Times, the Brazilian government has opened an investigation into Bolsonaro’s ties to a lawyer who has been accused of laundering more than $1 billion through gambling and illegal online trading. He is also being investigated for raising millions of dollars from a corrupt banker to pay for a biopic of his father, Jair Bolsonaro, who was convicted of attempting to stage a coup against Lula’s government after losing the 2022 election.
The European Union has announced that they will give Frontex, their united border agency, the ability to transfer migrants between non-EU countries as well as €12 billion in funding across the next seven years. Currently, Frontex uses its position in national security to deport migrants as they arrive and patrol coastlines and borders, but the new rules would allow the agency to work with North African governments to prevent illegal migration before it even happens. However, the reforms are likely to spark backlash from European states, particularly a youth that is already brimming with anger amid mass protests in France, Spain, Italy, and the Czech Republic. Other organizations have raised concerns that the agency must implement new safeguards to protect migrant rights, which they claim have already been violated by Frontex.
Fact of the Day (The Fact Site): Spacesuits take 5,000 hours to make, cost $12 million, weigh about 300 pounds on Earth, and have 11-16 layers of material.
Quote of the Day (Gracious Quotes): Violence is weakness. True strength comes not through brutality and savagery, but through tenderness, mercy and grace. (Mango Wodzak)
Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster): Milieu (noun, meel-YOO) - Milieu is a formal word that refers to the physical or social setting in which people live or in which something happens or develops.
In a Sentence: Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and Jean Toomer were among the many writers who flourished in the intellectual milieu of the Harlem Renaissance.
Image: Rawpixel / Public Domain
Enjoyed this breakdown? Subscribe to help support our publication!
Arab parties are key