Today In Issues:
FDD Research & Analysis
The Must-Reads
The billions of dollars in orders complicating an end to U.S. aid to Israel JPost Editorial: As Trump eyes ending $4b. aid in 2026, Israel must ask: Is it ready for independence? US slaps sanctions on Indian, Turkish firms and people for aiding Iran Zelenskiy hopes US election outcome will generate more help for Ukraine Saudi Arabia has no easy choices as it weighs how to combat Houthi threat South Korea to expand anti-piracy unit operations closer to Strait of Hormuz Hong Kong extends jailed activist Joshua Wong’s prison term by 10 years France’s riots were fueled by an ‘ultra left’ faction that lives off-the-grid Auroris AI’s Emir Kremic: Beware a Balkan Chinese-Russian cyber danger Vance’s break with Trump on Iran follows weeks of handwringing over war WSJ Editorial: JD Vance’s theory of election defeat French blood banks hit alongside cyberattack on European supermarketsIn The News
Israel
Israel has ordered billions of dollars worth of American military hardware beyond what the U.S. has committed to paying for, illustrating how hard it would be to phase out Washington’s funding for the country. – Wall Street Journal
President Isaac Herzog of Israel began meeting with party leaders and officials on Wednesday to decide who would get the first chance at trying to form a government after last week’s inconclusive election. – New York Times
For many Israelis, the results of the U.S. midterm elections showed how far their country’s relationship with the United States had deteriorated and underscored the limits of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s reliance on his long friendship with President Trump. – New York Times
Benjamin Netanyahu’s political rivals seized on Democrats’ capture of the US Congress as proof that he had squandered generations of bipartisan American support for Israel, as they seek a chance to form a government without him. – Reuters
A veteran Arab lawmaker in Israel says his bloc is willing to break with decades of precedent and join forces with Jewish-led parties in a shared bid to end Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ‘s long rule. – Associated Press
For decades, Israel has been able to rely on rock-solid bipartisan American support for its every move, including diplomatic cover on the international stage and hundreds of billions of dollars in aid. Tuesday’s sweeping Democratic victories call all of that into question. – Bloomberg
The Degel HaTorah faction of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party confirmed speculation on Wednesday that it would not endorse any candidate for prime minister, as President Isaac Herzog started consultations in Jerusalem on who shall be granted the mandate to form the next government. – Times of Israel
In November 2023, the Health Ministry asked administrators at Holon’s Edith Wolfson Medical Center to admit and treat 10 elderly female hostages about to be freed from Hamas captivity in Gaza. The request was unprecedented. – Times of Israel
Seven Palestinian terror operatives, including a top Hamas commander who held an Israeli hostage, were killed in Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip earlier this week, the military and Shin Bet security agency announced on Wednesday. – Times of Israel
One person was killed and another wounded in a rare Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon on Wednesday afternoon, health authorities in the country said, as the Israeli military said it had targeted two suspects who were “observing” troops. – Times of Israel
On the eve of Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught, the Israeli military identified the chief of the terror group’s military wing, Muhammad Deif, and other top commanders heading underground into tunnels, according to information from the IDF’s investigations, now cleared for publication. – Times of Israel
President Isaac Herzog sent a warning letter last month to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials, warning of a “highly explosive and dangerous reality” in the West Bank, and lamenting the ongoing “moral disgrace” of settler violence. – Times of Israel
Former Joint List leader Ayman Odeh is among the Arab party Knesset members suspected of receiving hundreds of thousands of shekels in foreign funding amid the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) investigation into alleged election interference, a Joint List spokesperson confirmed to The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday. – Jerusalem Post
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir on Wednesday visited the Northern Command and the 91st Division to highlight the use of robots in warfare against Hezbollah. – Jerusalem Post
Editorial: Israel should negotiate a gradual transition toward greater self-reliance, investing in domestic production while expanding joint research and defense cooperation with Washington. A credible timetable should identify which capabilities Israel can develop independently and which will continue to require American cooperation. That requires planning and consultation. Netanyahu must explain what has been decided and present a credible strategy for financing Israel’s future defense needs. Israel should welcome the day when it no longer requires American military aid. It should not confuse reaching that destination with announcing that it has already arrived. – Jerusalem Post
Emmanuel Fabian writes: Whether Trump follows through on cutting the aid immediately, or the transition happens somewhat more gradually, Israelis already dealing with ballooning defense costs seem to have little choice but to make peace with US military aid becoming a thing of the past sooner rather than later […]The question now isn’t whether the aid is still coming, but what acquisitions Israel can afford to pay for itself by belt-tightening elsewhere, and what weapons it thinks it can survive without. – Times of Israel
Eric R. Mandel writes: Israel needs sustained American cooperation, including diplomatic support at a time when it faces growing international isolation. Both countries benefit when their relationship is understood as a durable strategic partnership rather than an extension of partisan politics. Israel’s leaders need not agree on everything. But on the threat from Iran and the importance of the American alliance, they should demonstrate that national security comes before political rivalry. – Jerusalem Post
Lt. Col. Sarit Zehavi writes: Some argue that time is working against the Iranian regime due to its severe economic crisis and international sanctions. However, as we have seen in North Korea, authoritarian regimes can let their citizens starve for decades and still remain in power. Furthermore, the notion that Iran is under an airtight siege is contradicted by a recent Reuters investigation revealing that Iran’s Ministry of Defense operates a secret network of over 5,000 front agencies to import at least $2 billion in military hardware, explosives, weapons components, and heavy trucks from China, Russia, Germany, and other sources to evade sanctions and rebuild its missile and drone arsenals. Just as we see that Iran is actively working to rehabilitate its military capabilities, we must assume Hezbollah is doing the exact same thing in Lebanon. – Arutz Sheva
Iran
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Thursday that two oil tankers and a tugboat had caught fire in separate incidents after attempting to use unauthorised routes through the Strait of Hormuz. – Reuters
The US Treasury issued fresh sanctions on Wednesday against companies and individuals based in India and Turkey for their support of Iran, warning that it would continue to go after anyone who supported the Iranian government. – Reuters
Washington’s hostility towards Tehran will not change through partisan shifts or any concessions to the US, and those who believe otherwise are “greatly mistaken”, Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said on Wednesday, following the Republican Party’s defeats in the US midterm elections. – Reuters
Iran’s government savoured the stinging rebuke delivered to Donald Trump in the midterm elections, declaring voters had rejected the war launched by the US president even as Tehran remained on high alert for the possibility of renewed strikes. – Reuters
Scores of university students around Iran are facing hearings for joining protests, according to Iranian student unions and outside rights monitors. It’s another side of authorities’ campaign to silence dissent as the war and a monthslong U.S. naval blockade worsen Iran’s economic crisis. – Associated Press
Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer on Wednesday rejected Vice President JD Vance’s claim that the war with Iran was responsible for the Republican Party’s defeat in the midterm elections, arguing that the decision to halt military operations before achieving victory was the real mistake. – Arutz Sheva
Russia and Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in an interview on Wednesday, said he hoped gains by Democrats in the US midterm elections would generate more help for Ukraine in its 4-1/2-year-long war with Russia. – Reuters
Ukrainian anti-corruption investigators accused senior security officials on Wednesday of shielding a network of illegal businesses ranging from scam centres to drugs, part of an expanding probe that could stoke tensions between key law enforcement agencies. – Reuters
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has awarded US first lady Melania Trump a state honour for her role in helping to organise a humanitarian evacuation from a frontline town last week, according to a decree published on Wednesday. – Reuters
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrived in Spain on Wednesday for talks on boosting Kyiv’s air defences and top-level meetings during the Ibero-American summit, the Ukrainian president said on the Telegram messaging app. – Reuters
The Russian military said on Thursday it hit logistics and transport targets in various regions of Ukraine overnight. – Reuters
A Russian military satellite that approached a Western commercial one last month could have been rehearsing an attack, a military space specialist said, with two related Russian craft now heading in the direction of another Western satellite. – Reuters
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev will attend a White House event hosted by US first lady Melania Trump on Thursday, and also meet with US administration officials, two people familiar with his plans said. – Reuters
Russian attacks triggered power and water outages for hours Wednesday across Kyiv and surrounding regions while President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the death toll in a stricken village in southern Ukraine rose to 40 in one of the deadliest strikes there in nearly five years of war. – Associated Press
Ukraine and its European allies discussed the country’s economic recovery and funding requirements for its war effort during talks with US officials, hours after President Donald Trump’s Republican Party suffered a drubbing in the midterm elections. – Bloomberg
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday said he spoke with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law, ahead of trilateral talks with his country, the U.S. and Russia. – The Hill
Russia is working to increase the range of some ballistic and anti-ship missiles, giving the latter a more powerful warhead, according to a new assessment from Ukraine’s military intelligence agency. – Business Insider
Gulf States
After Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels attacked Saudi Arabian oil tankers in the Red Sea and seized territory commanding the strategic Bab al-Mandeb chokepoint, the kingdom reached out to the group to see what it would take to arrive at a negotiated halt to the hostilities. The answer it got back: $51 billion. – Wall Street Journal
The Red Cross said on Wednesday it had delivered four truckloads of essential medical supplies to the besieged Yemeni city of Taiz after renewed fighting cut off access for weeks. – Reuters
Emirates airline reported a 66% drop in first-half net profit on Thursday as airspace closures and disruptions caused by the US-Israeli war with Iran hit travel across the Middle East and sent jet fuel prices soaring. – Reuters
Middle East & North Africa
Morocco will stay committed to the ceasefire in Western Sahara despite the end of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the territory, the Royal Palace said on Wednesday. – Reuters
Saudi Arabia and Syria signed a cooperation agreement between the two countries’ defense ministries on Wednesday, Saudi state news agency SPA reported, as Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group continues its missile and drone attacks on the kingdom. – Reuters
Prominent Egyptians hailed the election of Abdul El-Sayed as the first Muslim member of the US Senate on Wednesday, though state media paid little notice to the rise of a liberal American who has called his parents’ native country a military dictatorship. – Reuters
Ankara rejected on Wednesday what it called the “prejudiced and unfair” stance of the European Union towards fundamental rights and the judiciary in Turkey, and regarding Cyprus, contained in the bloc’s report on EU membership candidates. – Reuters
Two explosive-laden drones attacked the Iranian Kurdish opposition in Iraq’s Sulaymaniyah and east Erbil on Wednesday, security sources said. – Reuters
Egyptian prosecutors are pursuing the “maximum penalty,” either execution or 25 years in prison, for Christian convert Said Mansour Rezk Abdelrazek, his lawyers announced in a statement on Tuesday following a hearing in his case. – Jerusalem Post
Korean Peninsula
South Korea plans to expand the operations of its anti-piracy Cheonghae unit to waters closer to the Strait of Hormuz, the Defence Ministry said, following pressure from US President Donald Trump to provide support for the war in Iran. – Reuters
North Korea test-fired a newly designed air-defence missile system and staged a cruise missile strike drill on Wednesday, state media KCNA reported on Thursday. – Reuters
Twelve South Korean industry groups warned on Wednesday that the country’s television drama production base was at risk and called on the government to set up a 1 trillion won ($746 million) investment fund to support production of Korean dramas, known as K-dramas. – Reuters
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has come under fire from the opposition over his management of the US alliance following revelations of strains in ties during a month-long parliamentary audit that ended last week. – Reuters
China
Joshua Wong, the imprisoned Hong Kong activist who was once the young face of the city’s pro-democracy movement, was sentenced Thursday to a new, 10-year prison term for violating the city’s National Security Law. – Wall Street Journal
China has indicted Ma Xingrui, a former member of the ruling Communist Party’s Politburo, on charges of taking bribes, official news agency Xinhua said on Thursday, as President Xi Jinping steps up his campaign to root out graft. – Reuters
The midterm drubbing of Donald Trump’s Republicans may strengthen China’s hand in trade talks with Washington, but Beijing is unlikely to revel in the misfortunes of a US president whose successor could prove less accommodating. – Reuters
China is open to buying US farm goods, but only on the condition that the two sides reach an agreement on reciprocal tariff cuts, the commerce ministry said on Thursday. – Reuters
Canada and China extended a deal to lower Beijing’s agricultural tariffs through the end of 2028, while pledging to continue discussions on boosting Canadian exports to the Asian superpower. – Bloomberg
South Asia
India will soon issue regulations for having mandatory energy storage for all licensed entities buying power, including state utilities, India’s power secretary Pankaj Agarwal said on Thursday. – Reuters
Two of India’s most prominent digital rights and free speech groups said police in New Delhi have asked X to remove their accounts, accusing them of defaming a Hindu nationalist group linked to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. – Reuters
India is in final-stage talks to expand its sale of supersonic cruise missiles to the Philippines, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters, as New Delhi nears completion of deliveries under a 2022 deal. – Reuters
Sadanand Dhume writes: For India, a lot rides on this bet. The semiconductor industry is capital-intensive and highly globalized, and it values a level of policy predictability that is the opposite of India’s reputation for capriciousness. If Messrs. Modi and Vaishnaw can change this reputation, they will do India a favor that goes far beyond semiconductors. – Wall Street Journal
Asia
Several Indonesian political parties are considering a parliamentary inquiry into the validity of Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka’s diploma as a rift intensifies between President Prabowo Subianto and his predecessor Joko Widodo, Gibran’s father. – Reuters
New Zealand votes in a general election on November 7 with opinion polls pointing to another close contest between the ruling centre-right National-led coalition and opposition parties, the largest of which is the centre-left Labour Party. – Reuters
Australia will join Indonesia’s waterbombing operations to help put out fires that have been raging for months, a government agency said on Thursday, days after a helicopter crashed during a firefighting mission on Borneo island, killing one person and injuring several others. – Reuters
Taiwan has always enjoyed cross-party US support and Congress will continue to help in strengthening Taipei’s defence capabilities, Defence Minister Wellington Koo said on Thursday when asked about arms sales following the US midterm elections. – Reuters
Japan’s Ministry of Finance has denied pushing for Myanmar to be removed from a global financial watchdog’s blacklist after Reuters reported last week that it was among countries supporting the removal. – Reuters
Thailand will allow five Uyghur men to challenge a Chinese extradition request in court before approving their deportation, a Thai government spokesman said, with human rights groups warning they face the risk of torture if sent back. – Reuters
Europe
French police describe the ultra left as a loose collection of activists with a range of causes, including radical environmentalists, self-styled antifascists and anti-Israel militants. They are united by a willingness to use violence—or at least condone it—against the authority of the state. – Wall Street Journal
Hundreds of thousands of protesters are expected to march through French cities and public workers to strike on Thursday, in a fresh test for President Emmanuel Macron after weeks of unrest that have rattled his government and dominated the agenda five months ahead of a presidential election. – Reuters
Serbian authorities detained nine active police officers and one former officer on Wednesday for allegedly using excessive force against detainees during anti-corruption protests last year in Belgrade, the country’s Interior Ministry said. – Reuters
German police said they were investigating the sudden death of Hubert Aiwanger, deputy premier of the state of Bavaria and leader of a small conservative party, whose body was found in a Berlin hotel room on Wednesday evening. – Reuters
Hungary released tens of thousands of Communist-era secret police files in an online public database on Wednesday, opening a window onto the vast informer network used to spy on citizens during decades of one-party rule. – Reuters
Europe’s far-right politicians on Wednesday began to distance themselves from Donald Trump following the Democrats’ victory in the US midterm elections – but mostly avoided directly criticising the president himself. – Reuters
A co-founder of Palestine Action challenged Britain’s decision to ban the campaign group as a terrorist organisation at the UK Supreme Court on Wednesday, arguing that the move was disproportionate and undermined counter-terrorism laws. – Reuters
The European Union could conclude accession negotiations with Montenegro by the end of this year and could sign an accession treaty with the country as soon as June 2027, the European Commission said on Wednesday. – Reuters
Switzerland said on Wednesday it will pay medical costs of Italian victims of the Crans-Montana fire, backing down after its initial demand for reimbursement from Rome was described by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni as “disgraceful”. – Reuters
A Finnish court said on Thursday it has found the captain and a crew member of the cargo ship Fitburg guilty of damaging two subsea telecommunications cables in the Gulf of Finland last year. – Reuters
Storms, high winds, fire hazards and equipment failure are many of the typical risks involved with the solar power industry. For the Dagda solar farm in rural Latvia, there’s now another one: drones. – Bloomberg
David Axe writes: But the Ukrainians have learned the hard way to layer their communications. Every connection has a back-up, and a back-up for that back-up. SATCOM is a reliable backstop for other communications. If, in the current war or some future war, Musk decides to align against Europe and throttles or yanks Starlink and Starshield, countries will be left scrambling. Unless they spend big, now. – Center for European Policy Analysis
Emir Kremic writes: The new political moment creates an opening. Serbia’s incoming government has promised transparency and the rule of law while keeping military neutrality. Cyber cooperation is one area where it can work closely with EU and NATO partners without changing that stance. Bosnia’s successful use of election technology shows what is possible, and also creates a new duty to protect biometric data. Western Balkan citizens want accountable institutions. Protecting that legitimacy means protecting their networks. – Center for European Policy Analysis
Africa
South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC) led in early results from municipal elections on Thursday but with a sharply reduced share of the vote, although counting was still at a preliminary stage and the picture could change significantly. – Reuters
A British healthcare worker infected with Ebola is being medically evacuated from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Britain for specialist treatment, according to an official document seen by Reuters. – Reuters
Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote launched a $2.5 billion fuel storage and regional pipeline project in Namibia’s Walvis Bay on Wednesday that could reshape the fuel supply architecture in Southern Africa. – Reuters
When Kenyan starvation cult leader Paul Mackenzie is sentenced on Friday for the murders of 190 children and an adult, Stephen Mwiti and other relatives of the victims will be worrying he may continue spreading his deadly messages. – Reuters
Latin America
Paraguay’s political crisis deepened on Wednesday as opposition lawmakers pressed ahead with efforts to impeach President Santiago Pena, whom they blame for the crisis triggered by the collapse of digital lender ueno that left millions of customers unable to access their accounts. – Reuters
Colombia’s Congress toughened the terms offered to members of illegal armed groups who hand themselves in by passing a bill proposed by President Abelardo De La Espriella that breaks with the “total peace” policy of former president Gustavo Petro. – Reuters
Bolivia’s Supreme Court President Romer Saucedo said he fled abroad after receiving threats, while prosecutors say he faces at least two criminal investigations and are seeking an international alert for his capture. – Bloomberg
North America
A senior Canadian cabinet minister said on Wednesday the US midterm results would not change Ottawa’s stance towards trade talks with the US, adding he would speak soon to his American counterparts. – Reuters
The International Ice Hockey Federation said on Wednesday it maintains its disagreement with a Court of Arbitration for Sport decision to reinstate Russian teams, warning of “significant practical and sporting challenges”. – Reuters
Haiti’s National Police agency says it has found the charred remains of a vehicle that four Salvadoran aviation technicians were traveling in when they were attacked more than two weeks ago deep in gang-controlled territory, but no sign of the missing men. – Associated Press
United States
By Wednesday morning, the Marine veteran made his simmering frustrations public, blaming the war for the Republicans’ stunning losses and issuing a rare public rebuke of the ongoing military campaign his boss still supports. – Wall Street Journal
The mother of a Ghanaian teenager who was fatally shot in New York departed for the United States on Wednesday after President Donald Trump intervened to grant her a visa to travel to attend her son’s funeral. – Reuters
Editorial: While the Vice President abandons ship, positioning himself to run for President, Mr. Trump has a decision to make. The U.S. is now winning in Hormuz and the blockade is working. But having paid such a high political price, will he take Mr. Vance’s advice to end the war now on terms that look to the world like an Iranian victory? – Wall Street Journal
Peter Cordi writes: As much as it sucks, it’s not the end of the world when your party loses. However, if Iran obtained a nuclear weapon, we’d be looking at a crisis of truly apocalyptic proportions. So yes, Vance, preventing Iran from obtaining a nuke was absolutely worth losing the midterms. And if Republicans don’t do a good enough job selling this argument to the general public, they’ll deserve to lose in 2028 as well. – Washington Examiner
Hugh Hewitt writes: If Trump walks away now, it would be as if FDR ordered Ike to stop at the borders of Germany in 1945 and Stalin agreed to do the same on the Eastern Front. Both FDR and then Harry Truman committed to and carried on until complete victory was achieved over Hitler and Imperial Japan. Trump’s eight years will be the subject of endless books, eventual reappraisal, and then more reappraisal […]But the battle with Iran will define him and his presidency more than anything else. – Washington Examiner
Cybersecurity
Americans’ vote for candidates and ballot measures to ban or slow data center development could rein in AI’s rapid growth and become a big business problem for the companies on the edge of technological progress. It also threatens to hobble an AI boom powering the U.S. economy. – Wall Street Journal
The refrigerators at three regional blood banks in France were hit by a cyberattack overnight between Sunday and Monday, at the same time hackers struck supermarkets from Sweden to Belgium. – Reuters
India’s cybercrime agency has warned banks, non-bank lenders and other financial firms of cyberattacks carried out with the help of artificial intelligence agents, amid a surge in incidents targeting the sector. – Reuters
The US federal government will lay out all the laws and regulations that apply to domestic AI labs later this month, Pentagon Chief Technology Officer Emil Michael said on Wednesday. – Reuters
Two Canadian men broke into the networks of multiple U.S. universities, stole credentials and implanted malware on compromised computers to commandeer processing power for a cryptocurrency mining operation, the Justice Department said. – CyberScoop
Multiple airlines in Asia are reporting data breaches after a cyberattack on a Spanish IT provider exposed customer details. – The Record
A major French banking firm confirmed it experienced a “sophisticated attack” following reports that hackers stole an estimated $133 million from the firm. – The Record
A major Russian web hosting provider is struggling to restore its services after a cyberattack destroyed data across its cloud infrastructure and disrupted hundreds of websites. – The Record
Defense
A U.S. Marine died Tuesday after an incident during training at Camp Schwab in Okinawa, Japan, military officials said.Hernandez was participating in fast-rope training at Camp Schwab when he sustained injuries during the training, the 3rd Marine Division said in a later statement to FOX News Digital. He was transported to a hospital and later succumbed to his injuries. – Fox News
The US Space Force has activated a new command dedicated to supporting special operations forces. It’s the military’s first new service component for US Special Operations Command since the Marines joined with Marine Special Operations Command in 2006. – Business Insider
U.S.-based naval drone maker Saildrone has picked Norwegian naval builder Umoe Mandal to produce the Surveyor multipurpose surveillance craft locally, with an eye on new sales in Northern Europe, company executives said. – Defense News
Two unidentified U.S. airmen died last week in “non-hostile” incidents amid the war in Iran, raising the number of American fatalities since the war began to 23. – Defense News
With many U.S. bases in the Middle East damaged by Iranian bombardment, the U.S. Air Force wants to develop mobile 3D concrete printers to erect buildings quickly. – Defense News
President Trump has been asking advisers around him and on the phone whether Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth should stay in his job, following Republicans’ catastrophic losses Tuesday night. – CBS News
As the midterm election results rolled in on Tuesday night and the Democrats’ victories mounted seemingly every hour, the aftermath shined a spotlight on how the next Congress might investigate or even impeach certain members of the Trump administration—notably Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. – Military.com