Top of Mind Thursday – October 29, 2026: It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over

Mid-term elections in the US—expected to bring major changes in the political landscape—are less than a week away.

This week, Israel had its own major election, with sitting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expected to face strong opposition from a slew of opposition candidates, headed up by former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot.

Exit polling showed strong momentum for the opposition, and Eisenkot actually made a victory speech Tuesday evening. But then the actual results started coming in and it became apparent that Eisenkot’s group does not have the votes necessary to create a ruling majority. As it turns out, neither does Netanyahu, though he does have a bigger number of Knesset seats and is closer to a majority than Eisenkot.

The surprise in all this was the strong showing by two Arab parties, some of whom don’t even believe Jews should even live in Israel.

Take a moment to process that last sentence. Not only does Israel—the country regularly accused of discrimination, genocide and apartheid—allow those who don’t disagree with the government to run for office, but it is the only place in the Middle East where Arab citizens can actually vote in a democratic election.

It’s not clear what happens next. One of the two leading blocs can agree to work with the Arab parties to gain a majority. Some of the groups in one of the two large blocs can decide to switch sides to give either Netanyahu or Eisenkot a majority. Or the whole thing may be.a stalemate, which would force another election in the Spring.

While many people feel it’s past time for Netanyahu’s reign to be ended, close to half of Israelis voted otherwise. Until this sorts itself out, it’s not clear who will be on top.

Which brings us back to the US election next week. Listening to the media, Tuesday promises to be a big blue rout for the Democrats. But we’ve had surprises before: 2016, 2020, and 2024, most recently. It would be unwise for either side to start making plans for January quite yet.

It ain’t over, till it’s over.

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