Reuters reports on coalition forming, saying that Israel’s President Isaac Herzog said on Tuesday he will begin consulting all elected parties on Wednesday before tasking a candidate with forming the next government. The meetings, planned over three days, are set to begin after the president receives the official results of Israel’s fifth election in less than four years. Once the president picks a candidate to assemble a new government, the nominee will have 28 days to talk to potential coalition partners, with a possible 14-day extension.

The Guardian publishes a piece on Ghajar in the Golan Heights, saying that as a closed military zone for the past 22 years, Ghajar has only allowed visitors to enter with special permission from the municipal council and the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). But in early September, without any notice, the IDF and Israeli police announced they would no longer look at IDs at the checkpoint at the village entrance. The IDF did not comment when asked why the restrictions had been lifted.

Foreign Policy reports on the Biden administration’s response to Netanyahu, saying Biden’s default position with Netanyahu isn’t inherently or inexorably adversarial. Biden loves Israel, not Netanyahu. But according to Biden biographer Evan Osnos, he also knows that Netanyahu is part of the complex puzzle that is Israel and that Netanyahu is likely to remain a part of it. After Netanyahu’s defeats in 2006 and 2022 as well as three stalemate elections in 2019 and 2020, he still remained Likud’s leader. And now, he is on the brink of returning to the prime minister’s office.

The BBC reports that two British-Iranian journalists for the UK-based Persian-language TV channel Iran International have been warned of a possible risk to their lives. Parent company Volant Media said the Metropolitan Police had notified the pair of a recent increase in “credible” threats from Iranian security forces It denounced the “escalation of a state-sponsored campaign to intimidate Iranian journalists working abroad”.

The BBC also reports that the United Nations human rights chief has called on Egypt to immediately release jailed British-Egyptian pro-democracy activist Alaa Abdel Fattah. Volker Türk said his life was “at acute risk” after he escalated a hunger strike and stopped drinking water. He began the strike in April to protest against the denial of consular visits.

The Financial Times publishes a piece on Iran, saying for 50 days now, internet access has been limited to national government-approved sites in Iran. International pages such as WhatsApp, Gmail and even GoogleMaps are all banned. Thanks to VPN providers the coverage of the recent movement in Iran is communicated and, after the war in Ukraine, the unrest in Iran remains one of the top news stories.
Kan Radio and Yediot Ahronot report that President Yitzhak Herzog will begin consultations with Knesset faction leaders this afternoon ahead of appointing one of them to form a government. Faction leaders will make recommendations as to which party chairperson should be tasked with the job, after which Herzog will make the appointment. National Unity Party Chairman Benny Gantz and Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman Avigdor Liberman will not endorse any candidate.  UTJ reportedly wants to keep negotiations short in order to swear in the new government as quickly as possible. The Likud is demanding an agreement that only addresses Haredi education, housing solutions and the Supreme Court override clause. The Haredi legislators rejected that approach and are demanding “broad strokes” that outline what they consider to be “core” issues without filling in the details at this stage. Apart from the override clause, the Haredim will demand an increase in funding for Haredi education, a consensual military draft bill, housing solutions, cancellation of kashrut reforms, changes to the conversion law, shelving the cellphone reforms and a commitment to maintain the status quo. According to reports, tensions among the members of the outgoing coalition have been running high for some time with the enmity being particularly fierce between Yesh Atid’s chairman, Prime Minister Yair Lapid, and the National Unity Party’s chairman, Defense Minister Benny Gantz. “Yair wants to snuff out any political alternative,” the report quoted Gantz saying.

Maariv reports that senior Likud officials said in closed-door conversations, “The key has to be one ministerial appointment for every three MKs per list. There isn’t going to be an inflated number of ministers. The Likud MKs who already served as ministers are expected to be reappointed to ministerial positions. The people who are expected to join that group by most assessments are Miki Zohar, Danny Danon, Shlomo Karhi, Yoav Kisch and Avi Dichter.” On the override clause senior Likud sources said: “Netanyahu is going to be cautious, even if his partners demand much more. He will only be prepared to pass an override clause into legislation after understandings and a compromise are reached with top justice system officials. He won’t allow a world war against the justice system.” Another issue that the Likud is not prepared to bow on is the composition of the Judges Selection Committee. Likud sources said, “The Likud won’t give in when it comes to making the necessary changes to the composition of the Judges Selection Committee. We will add three politicians to the committee, exactly as the Bennett-Lapid government did with the Dayanim [Religious Judges] Selection Committee. We are ready to wage an uncompromising war on that issue. If the judges threaten to resign—let them resign. We’re going to make that essential change.”

Channel 13 News reports that Religious Zionist Party Chairman Bezalel Smotrich and the Haredi parties are demanding an amendment to the Law of Return as part of the coalition negotiations. They want to abolish the “grandchild clause,” which grants eligibility to immigrate to Israel under the Law of Return to the grandchild of a Jew.

Army Radio reports that Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman Avigdor Liberman slammed Noam Party Chairman MK Avi Maoz and said the latter’s proposal amounts to creating a department for racial purity. Liberman described Maoz’s proposal to amend the Law of Return to exclude descendants of Jews who do not meet Jewish religious definition of being Jews as “a proposal to create a department for racial purity. The meaning of this proposal would be the end of the Law of Return. It would be a bill of divorce to all of diaspora Jewry. These people are leading us to the brink. There are 5,500 IDF soldiers who aren’t Jewish; they are more Jewish than all the yeshiva students at the Ponevezh and Hebron Yeshivas.”

Haaretz reports on comments by Israel’s Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara that the way her office and the prosecution do their work doesn’t depend on which government is in power. “The definition of our jobs and the way we perform them doesn’t depend on the identity of the government or the identity of the heads of the legal system at that time,” she said, speaking at a Justice Ministry conference. “At any given time, our job remains helping the government implement its policies and advancing Israel’s interests within the boundaries of the law.” State Prosecutor Amit Aisman also warned that “weakening the state prosecution and undermining our public legitimacy will inevitably lead in the end to undermining the rule of law, and as a result, to undermining Israeli democracy.”

In other news, Kan Radio reports that the Palestinian Red Crescent Society announced that that one Palestinian man was killed and three were wounded in clashes with IDF troops that entered the Joseph’s Tomb compound in Nablus, as well as areas adjacent to the Balata refugee camp. The IDF Spokesperson’s Office said Palestinians opened fire on Jewish worshippers who had entered the site and threw explosive devices at troops; IDF troops returned fire. A security official said the Palestinian who was killed had been shooting at the Israelis and had tried to throw an explosive device at IDF forces. That is why he was shot, said the official. The official added that the person was likely also to have been hit by shrapnel from the device he was holding when he was shot. No Israeli injuries were reported

Israel Hayom reports on the ‘Lions Den group’ in Nablus. Despite reports about how it has “reached the end of its road after many of its top operatives were killed, the armed struggle in Judea and Samaria does not appear to be on its way out. Two terrorist groups, one in Jenin and the other in Nablus, have emerged as a new headache for Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The first goes by the name of the Jenin Battalion, which is affiliated with Islamic Jihad’s military wing and is based in the Jenin refugee camp. Its ranks have recently been expanded to include a large number of “freelancers” who have no history of Islamic Jihad membership. The second organisation that has begun to operate prominently is the Balata Battalion, which is based in the Balata refugee camp. Some people have suggested that the members of that group intend to supplant the Lion’s Den. Last week operatives from the Balata Battalion held a military parade in the camp. It is comprised mainly of Fatah operatives, some of whom are rogue [PA officials].”