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Israel heads into deeply divided election as Oct. 7 reckoning looms: What to know
TEL AVIV, ISRAEL — Campaign banners bearing the faces of Israel's political leaders cover buildings and roadsides, while in homes, coffee shops and family gatherings, the same question dominates conversations: Will Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remain in power?
With Israelis heading to the polls Tuesday, the country is bracing for a closely contested election that could end in another political deadlock. But this vote is unlike any other in Israel's recent history.
For many Israelis, the election has become a referendum on accountability for the failures that allowed Hamas terrorists to carry out the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre — the deadliest attack in Israel's history.
Netanyahu, who has dominated Israeli politics for decades, has resisted calls to accept personal responsibility for the security failures and establish an independent state commission of inquiry. His government instead sought a politically appointed investigation, a proposal fiercely opposed by many bereaved families.
Yet Israel's divisions began long before Oct. 7.
In the months preceding the attacks, hundreds of thousands of Israelis took to the streets to protest Netanyahu's proposed judicial overhaul, which critics argued would undermine the country's democracy. The confrontation spilled into the military, where reservists threatened to suspend volunteer service, raising alarms about Israel's preparedness. Some critics have argued that the turmoil projected weakness to the country's enemies, although the extent to which it influenced Hamas's decision to attack remains disputed.
Three years after the massacre, those divisions have only deepened, transforming Tuesday's vote into something intensely personal. Political allegiances have strained friendships and divided families, with much of the national debate reduced to a single question: Are you for Netanyahu, widely known as "Bibi," or against him?
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For some families who lost loved ones on Oct. 7, the answer is painfully clear.
Shir Shai, whose brother Yaron Shai, an Israeli soldier, was killed battling Hamas terrorists that day, delivered a stark message to those considering another vote for Netanyahu.
"If you nevertheless decide to vote again for the man who brought disaster upon us and his accomplices, I have one personal request: Don't come here anymore," Shai said over her brother's grave in his memorial ceremony on October 7
"You still have 20 days to be part of the process of putting things right. But if you choose to perpetuate the failure rather than honor the fallen, it would be better if you stayed home next year," she added.
Yet other bereaved families have reached the opposite conclusion, crediting Netanyahu with standing firm through years of war on multiple fronts and arguing that Israel's military and intelligence establishment bears the principal responsibility for failing to anticipate the Hamas assault.
The deeply polarized atmosphere has been intensified by an increasingly bitter campaign. Just two days before the election, Netanyahu shared an AI-generated image depicting a nuclear explosion over Tel Aviv, warning of the existential threat posed by Iran if the country elects a leader unable to confront Tehran.
Concerns now extend beyond the election results themselves. Israeli police are preparing for possible unrest after the polls close, while experts have warned about the potential for disputes over the legitimacy of the results — including an extreme scenario resembling the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
With the opposition united in its ambition to replace Netanyahu but divided over how to govern afterward, neither political bloc is assured of a parliamentary majority and the final outcome could take weeks to determine.
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Israelis will vote Tuesday, Oct. 27, with most polling stations opening at 7 a.m. and closing at 10 p.m. local time.
Election Day is a national holiday in Israel, giving voters the opportunity to cast their ballots. Some smaller communities and special polling locations operate on different schedules.
Eligible voters must be Israeli citizens at least 18 years old and generally vote at their assigned polling station. Most Israelis living abroad cannot vote remotely, although exceptions apply to certain official representatives overseas.
Israel has a parliamentary system in which voters select a political party rather than an individual candidate for prime minister.
The country's parliament, known as the Knesset, has 120 seats, distributed through a system of nationwide proportional representation.
Each party submits a ranked list of candidates, and the number of seats it receives depends on its share of the national vote.
To enter parliament, a party must win at least 3.25% of the valid votes. Parties falling below that threshold receive no seats, potentially changing the balance between rival political blocs.
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Israel's major television networks are expected to release exit polls immediately after voting ends at 10 p.m. Tuesday (4 p.m. EST).
Those projections will provide the first indication of how many seats each party may win and whether Netanyahu or his rivals appear better positioned to assemble a coalition.
But exit polls are not official results, and even small differences in the final vote could determine whether parties cross the electoral threshold.
Actual vote counts will emerge as ballots are counted, with preliminary results developing after polls close and over the following days.
Israel's Central Elections Committee has scheduled the publication of official results for Wednesday, Nov. 4 , eight days after the election.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 77, leads the conservative right-wing Likud party and is seeking to extend his record tenure as Israel's longest-serving prime minister.
His main challenger is Gadi Eisenkot, 66, a former chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces who leads the centrist Yashar party and has positioned himself as an alternative to Netanyahu's leadership.
Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, 54, is also seeking a political comeback, running on a joint ticket with former Prime Minister Yair Lapid.
Other significant political figures include former Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Democrats leader Yair Golan, and Netanyahu's right-wing populist allies Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.
Arab political parties, including Ra'am and the Joint List, could also play a crucial role in determining the final parliamentary balance.
The key number in Israeli politics is 61 — a majority of the 120-seat Knesset.
No single Israeli party has ever won enough seats to control parliament alone, meaning parties generally need to form coalitions with other political factions.
This means the party that wins the most seats does not automatically get to lead the government.
Instead, the decisive question is which political leader can secure enough parliamentary support to govern.
Once the official results are published, Israeli President Isaac Herzog will consult representatives of the newly elected parliamentary factions.
Within seven days, the president must assign a member of the Knesset the task of forming a government.
The president generally selects the politician considered most likely to assemble a governing coalition, who is not necessarily the leader of the largest party.
That candidate initially has 28 days to reach agreements with other parties, with the possibility of an extension of up to 14 additional days.
The proposed government must then win a confidence vote in the Knesset before taking office.
If the first candidate fails, the president can ask another lawmaker to attempt to form a government, giving that person 28 days without an extension.
If that effort also fails, a majority of 61 lawmakers can request that another candidate be given 14 days to try.
If no government emerges, Israel could face another national election.
Coalition negotiations can take weeks or months. According to the Israel Democracy Institute, the process of forming an Israeli government has historically taken between 20 and 100 days.
Until a new government is sworn in, the outgoing government remains in office.
Tuesday's vote is the first national election since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks, which triggered the war in Gaza and raised profound questions about Israel's security leadership.
Beyond Netanyahu's political future, the next government will face decisions over Israel's national security, the future of Gaza, military conscription, relations with the United States and the country's regional diplomatic relationships.
With pre-election polling showing no clear path to a parliamentary majority for either major political bloc, the contest could remain unresolved long after Tuesday's votes are counted.
Former Colombian president accused of exploiting dozens of women for presidential parties
Former Colombian President Gustavo Petro has been accused of trapping and exploiting 48 women for presidential parties, with officials alleging they were hired "just to be with President Petro."
Carlos Andrés Ríos, director of Colombia’s Administrative Department of the Presidency (DAPRE), claimed Petro oversaw a system that used service contracts to "systematically" control and weaponize the women, channeling public salaries in exchange for intimate relationships.
"We are going to prove to the Colombian people how the Casa de Nariño was unfortunately set up, organized, and tailored for something completely different — not to govern, but to party there every single day, bring in women," Rios said during a congressional hearing last week.
Petro issued a statement Sunday denying that he had used his public office to obtain sex.
"I have never given out a contract in exchange for sexual relations. I would vomit on myself if I ever did such a thing," Petro said in a post on X.
He argued that while his office provided state-funded aid programs for vulnerable women, he claimed that it is fundamentally different from giving contracts to individuals in exchange for sexual favors.
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"Helping poor women, female heads of households, and those engaged in sex work so that they have different life options — as I have demonstrated in public administration through concrete and funded programs — is something very different from giving out contracts in exchange for sexual relations. No person who has participated in those public programs will ever be able to say that I have done anything of the sort," he said.
Petro also acknowledged in the statement that he had occasionally visited establishments where sex work took place when he was young, saying he regretted the experiences and had stopped visiting such places decades ago.
"When I was very young, I occasionally visited places where sex work was practiced. There, I experienced that paying for sex felt dirty to me, and I perceived the sadness of the men and women who attended those places. That is why I stopped visiting them decades ago," he said.
The accusations come amid broader criticism of Petro over alleged misuse of public funds, depletion of national budgets and drug trafficking.
Petro has dismissed the allegations as politically motivated attacks by figures such as President Donald Trump and Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella.
"After attempting to portray me as corrupt and a drug trafficker — an intention expressed by people like Abelardo de la Espriella and Donald Trump, without being able to present a single piece of evidence of corruption or drug trafficking, because I have never stolen a single peso from the public treasury and I have fought for over two decades against drug traffickers, exposing their political ties," Petro said.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.
Netanyahu fights for political future as Israel heads to polls with Iran threat looming
Ahead of Israel’s Oct. 27 national vote, President Donald Trump issued a sweeping endorsement of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s re-election bid, calling him a "great warrior," an "even greater partner for peace" and an ally in the confrontation with Iran.
The backing could give Israel’s longest-serving prime minister a boost ahead of the country’s first national vote since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre. The election is widely viewed in Israel as a referendum on whether to grant Netanyahu another term to pursue his war objectives, including disarming Hamas and Hezbollah and countering the nuclear threat from the Islamic Republic.
In response, Netanyahu thanked Trump for his "extraordinary endorsement." "Together we will never let Iran’s regime get nuclear weapons," he said.
Addressing the endorsement, Doron Spielman, international spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, told Fox News Digital that no personal or professional bond in the history of U.S.-Israel relations compares with the current partnership.
"Israel and the U.S. have stood together as the two countries bearing the torch for the West, and that is a direct result of the incredible relationship between President Trump and Netanyahu," he said.
He reiterated Netanyahu’s long-standing foreign-policy priority and central campaign promise: ensuring that Iran does not acquire atomic bombs under his watch.
"Israel prefers to do this with the U.S., which has been our greatest ally and friend, and who has already entered the front with us twice. But already at the time of Operation Rising Lion, Israel showed that it was willing to act alone. Israel acted for over a week before the U.S. joined," he said, in reference to the June 2025 military mission against Iran.
Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, with roughly 20 years in office, Netanyahu began his diplomatic career in 1982 as deputy chief of mission at Israel’s embassy in Washington, D.C. He served as Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations from 1984 to 1988 before entering politics with Likud. He became the party’s chairman in 1993 and was first elected premier in 1996.
After losing the 1999 election, Netanyahu returned to government in 2002 as foreign minister and later served as finance minister. He returned to the premiership in 2009, serving until 2021 and again from late 2022. He is widely credited with liberalizing Israel’s economy and helping transform the country into a global high-tech hub.
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Netanyahu’s current political allies include Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit, Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism-Zehut, and the ultra-Orthodox parties Shas and United Torah Judaism. The newcomer Amcha Yisrael, led by Ofer Winter, could also join the bloc, although Winter is currently feuding with Likud over concerns that his party, which is hovering near the electoral threshold, could split the right-wing vote and potentially "waste" tens of thousands of ballots.
According to most Hebrew-language media polls, neither Netanyahu’s bloc nor the opposition led by Gadi Eisenkot currently has a clear path to securing the 61 Knesset seats needed to form a government.
If no candidate can assemble a governing coalition, Israel could head to another election, repeating the cycle of political instability that saw the country hold four national votes between April 2019 and March 2021.
Dan Diker, president of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, told Fox News Digital that any incoming government will face the same formidable security challenges as the current one, with few prospects for quick victories.
"The major challenge in this election will be what Netanyahu discussed in terms of adjusting the national security concept to prioritize prevention. That means taking very serious, assertive and aggressive military counterterrorism and nonmilitary actions against our enemies," Diker said.
The Israeli left, center and even far-right believe Netanyahu has failed to meet the expectations associated with his image as "Mr. Security," according to professor Tamar Hermann, a senior researcher at the Israel Democracy Institute.
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"He promised to topple the Iranian regime, he promised to dismantle Hamas, he promised to crush Hezbollah. None of it was achieved," Hermann told Fox News Digital. "He gave a green light to not punishing vigilantes in the settlements who act against Palestinians. He also gave too much to the ultra-Orthodox parties, giving up on the idea of universal conscription."
Hermann said that Netanyahu’s current term has been his least successful, beginning with the judicial reform push, which triggered mass protests in 2023, and followed by the Palestinian terror attacks on Oct. 7. Netanyahu subsequently faced public anger over his handling of the hostage crisis, although, in coordination with Trump and his envoys, he ultimately secured the return of all the captives.
"In the eyes of some, his legacy will be that he inflicted a huge disaster upon Israel in terms of what happened to civilians on Oct. 7 and the deterioration of Israel’s international image," she said.
Michael Oren, a former Israeli ambassador to the United States, framed the upcoming election in terms of legacy and how Netanyahu will be remembered 50 years from now.
"There are two types of leaders: leaders in history and leaders of history," he told Fox News Digital. "There are leaders who go into office and perform as best they can, and there are leaders who go into office and see themselves as transformative, as having a historical role like Abraham Lincoln, Roosevelt or Churchill. Benjamin Netanyahu belongs to this category."
Oren said Netanyahu sees his mission as saving Israel from existential threats, foremost among them Iran, a goal he has yet to achieve.
"He is willing to endure virtually limitless criticism and condemnation around the world, as well as mass demonstrations against him, to fulfill this one role," he said. "To understand that is to understand Benjamin Netanyahu: He is a leader of history."
Former Israeli PM emerges as wild card in high-stakes election with Middle East's future at stake
Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is seeking a political comeback with an ambitious vision for the Middle East: expanding the Abraham Accords, building economic partnerships with Arab nations and rebuilding Israel's strained international relationships, particularly with the United States.
For Bennett, whose American parents moved to Israel from San Francisco, the U.S. connection is both personal and political. The 54-year-old former technology entrepreneur, a familiar face on American television, believes his business background could help him work with President Donald Trump to advance regional diplomacy.
"He was a businessman, not a career politician, same as me," Bennett told The Times of Israel in June, referring to Trump. "His worldview is, let's get stuff done. Let's look at results, not process. And that's precisely my view."
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Bennett said he would aggressively pursue regional agreements through economic cooperation, seeking to build on the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords. But while his ambitions overlap with Trump's regional agenda, the president endorsed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for re-election on Oct. 18.
Bennett also faces an unusual political challenge at home. His joint Beyachad, or Together, party with former Prime Minister Yair Lapid is polling behind both Netanyahu's Likud and former military chief Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party.
A Channel 12 poll published Oct. 23 projected 23 Knesset seats for Eisenkot, 21 for Netanyahu and 15 for Bennett and Lapid.
Yet Bennett knows better than most Israeli politicians that leading the largest party is not necessary to become prime minister. In 2021, he took office despite his Yamina party winning just seven of the Knesset's 120 seats, demonstrating the power of coalition negotiations in Israel's parliamentary system.
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Born in Haifa to American immigrants, Bennett served in Israel's elite Sayeret Matkal and Maglan military units before co-founding cybersecurity company Cyota, which was sold for $145 million in 2005.
He entered politics as Netanyahu's chief of staff, later led the Yesha Council representing West Bank settlements and served as economy, education and defense minister.
A religious Zionist and longtime opponent of Palestinian statehood, Bennett stunned Israel's political establishment in 2021 when he formed a coalition spanning right-wing, centrist, left-wing and Arab parties, ending Netanyahu's 12 consecutive years in power.
The coalition collapsed in 2022, leaving many former supporters accusing him of betraying his electoral promises.
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Einat Halevy Levin, a strategic advisor who has known Bennett for years, described a politician who has spent his time outside office preparing for a second opportunity.
"In 2021, he wasn't prepared. He hadn't built a governing party; he had built another election campaign," Halevy Levin told Fox News Digital.
She said she met Bennett at his home in November 2023, following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, when he had decided to return to politics.
This time, according to Halevy Levin, Bennett spent years building a political organization, carefully screening candidates and developing the infrastructure needed to govern.
"I've known him since he was economy minister. He was always daring and full of creative ideas, but was more inclined to stick to his own views," she said. "He has undergone a transformation."
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Bennett's regional ambitions reflect an approach to diplomacy shaped by his business experience, according to Halevy Levin.
She recalled attending a meeting with a senior official from a neighboring country who appeared astonished by Bennett's detailed knowledge of its economy and priorities.
"He wasn't looking at the country through a military lens," she said, describing Bennett's focus on identifying shared economic interests rather than approaching every regional relationship primarily as a security challenge.
In an interview with Israel's Channel 13 on Sunday, two days before the election, Bennett pointed to his meetings as prime minister with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Jordan's King Abdullah II and UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed as examples of the diplomacy he hopes to revive.
He argued that Israel needs to present a new vision of a Middle Eastern renaissance and identified extremist settler violence in the West Bank as a major source of damage to its international standing.
"We need to eliminate Jewish terrorism in Judea and Samaria, and I say this precisely as a supporter of the settlement movement," Bennett said. "They do not represent the overwhelming majority of settlers, but right now this is the problem causing us the greatest damage internationally."
Bennett said he would direct Israel's senior police, military and intelligence officials to produce a plan within three days to crack down on extremist violence.
His foreign policy, however, remains firmly on the Israeli right.
On Iran, Bennett has promoted his "Octopus Doctrine," advocating direct action against Tehran rather than focusing exclusively on Iranian-backed groups.
"If Hezbollah fires at us, we strike Iran," he declared at an Aug. 19 policy conference.
On Gaza, Bennett opposes Palestinian statehood and supports maintaining Israeli security control until Hamas is disarmed. He has also proposed excluding Qatar and Turkey from Gaza's future arrangements while involving Egypt.
Those positions raise questions about how significantly his government would depart from Netanyahu's policies.
Danny Citrinowicz, a senior researcher at Israel's Institute for National Security Studies and former head of the Iran branch in Israeli military intelligence, argued that restoring Israel's diplomatic standing requires more than a change in leadership.
"If Bennett thinks he can support annexing E1 (an area east of Jerusalem where planned Israeli settlement construction could further fragment the West Bank), oppose a Palestinian state, continue the occupation of Gaza and simultaneously meet with Sisi and Abdullah and attract investment to Israel, he simply doesn't understand the depth of the international crisis," Citrinowicz said.
Citrinowicz argued that without a fundamental change in Israeli policy toward the Palestinians, replacing Netanyahu would not be sufficient to restore the country's international standing.
His warning comes amid changing American public attitudes toward Israel. A February 2026 Gallup survey found 36% of Americans sympathized more with Israelis, compared with 41% who sympathized more with Palestinians, a statistically insignificant five-point difference but a significant shift from the long-standing pro-Israel advantage.
Beyond foreign policy, Bennett is promising a sweeping domestic overhaul.
In an Oct. 25 manifesto, he pledged to redirect 30 billion shekels in government benefits toward families who work and serve in the military, reduce food prices by 30%, establish a state commission of inquiry into Oct. 7 and introduce an eight-year term limit for prime ministers.
His alliance with Lapid gives him an established political organization, but he faces competition from Eisenkot and continuing attacks from Netanyahu, who has warned that a future opposition coalition could depend on left-wing and Arab parties.
With Israel's fragmented parliamentary system requiring at least 61 seats to govern, coalition negotiations could prove as consequential as the election results themselves.
Bennett has already demonstrated that political reality once.
Now, four years after his first government collapsed, he is seeking to convince Israelis that the unconventional politician who became prime minister with seven seats has returned better prepared — and with a vision that could reshape Israel's place in the Middle East.
Israel drills for surprise attack with massive military exercise as expert invokes 1973 war
The Israeli military launched large-scale domestic military exercises on Sunday to counter surprise border infiltrations and ground raids across northern and central Israel, mobilizing multiple divisions and air assets amid rising regional tensions.
The drills, set to continue over 48 hours, came as an Israeli security expert invoked the 1973 Yom Kippur War, when Egypt and Syria used exercises to disguise preparations for a surprise attack, warning that escalating tensions in the region could in fact trigger what he described as a "dangerous miscalculation."
The large-scale maneuvers, the IDF said, involve the Northern Command’s 210th Division, the West Bank Division, and the Central Command’s 98th and 96th divisions, alongside the Israeli Air Force.
The exercise, scheduled just ahead of Israel's elections Oct. 27, aims to "maintain the forces’ alertness and readiness, strengthen the ability to defend communities, and make full use of aerial capabilities for defense in the area," according to the IDF.
On Friday, the IDF said troops would practice "a variety of scenarios, including a surprise attack and infiltration into Israeli territory by air and land," incorporating lessons learned from the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks on Israel.
"This exercise is mostly about non-state actors with or without Iranian support," Israeli national security analyst Dr. Ehud Eilam told Fox News Digital.
"It's aimed at those in Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan who might try to infiltrate into Israel or send ground raids. Some are supported by Iran; others are not. It could be planned by Iran or be a local initiative."
"This is a massive exercise, the biggest one in recent years, aimed at protecting the borders," the former Israeli Ministry of Defense researcher added.
"It's all about making sure that the election day on October 27 will run smoothly. It's also a message to Iran and others: don't try to provoke us during election day, so nothing will be disrupted."
The Israeli drills followed a show of force by Tehran days earlier, during which the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) fired roughly 30 ballistic missiles across two distinct weapon classes, according to reports.
That live-fire display highlighted Iranian strike capabilities and sparked renewed alerts about commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and prompted the Israeli military to heighten its alert level while maintaining maximum readiness for a targeted strike against Iran.
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During a visit to the IDF's Central Command on Wednesday, Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir warned that the risk of escalation was growing.
"Given the numerous warnings across all fronts and the sensitivity of the current period, the potential for escalation has increased," Zamir said.
"To ensure better operational control on the ground, we have reinforced our troop deployments across all sectors, including moving the 98th Division into the area to strengthen security and stability."
"Part of mutual deterrence: a few days ago, Iran had their own pretty big exercise, and that was actually more intimidating as far as Israel is concerned because they launched missiles and prepared for a war with Israel," Eilam said.
"This exercise on Sunday and Monday is against Iran's proxies and allies at the border of Israel."
Sunday’s Israeli drill also followed an Oct. 19 mission in which Israeli fighter jets and aerial refueling tankers flew 800 miles across Syrian and Iraqi airspace to Iran’s border.
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Washington was notified in advance and viewed the maneuver as a non-kinetic show of force following the postponement of a broader strike package earlier in the month.
Despite the deterrence signals, Eilam warned that large-scale military exercises carry the "risk of miscalculation" and particularly when troop movements could be mistaken for preparations for an attack.
"During the Cold War, every time the Soviet Union or NATO carried out a major drill, having so many troops in the field meant they might attack if that was the intention," Eilam said.
He pointed to the 1973 Yom Kippur War, when Egypt and Syria used military exercises to help conceal troop buildups along Israel's borders.
Israeli intelligence largely dismissed the movements as routine drills, allowing the two countries to achieve strategic surprise when they launched a coordinated, two-front attack on Yom Kippur.
"The classic example in Israel is 1973, when Egypt and Syria conducted a major exercise just before the war that turned into the actual attack," the analyst said.
"Israel and Iran are now watching each other very closely and both sides suspect the other might strike first," Eilam added before stating that there is the chance of what they call "miscalculation — that each side suspects the other and strikes first by mistake."
"It's all about sending messages to each other."
"It remains uncertain whether there will eventually be an Israeli attack on Iran because it depends on U.S. authorization," Eilam concluded.
"Right now, both sides are signaling: 'We are ready, don't mess with us, but we don't want to start a war right now.'"
Conservative wave hits roadblock in Brazil as Lula holds off Bolsonaro challenge
Incumbent leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva narrowly defeated conservative Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro in Sunday's presidential runoff, according to The Associated Press. The deeply polarized nation returned to the polls for a second round runoff on Sunday.
Bolsonaro narrowly won the first round on Oct. 4, with 47% of the vote, to Lula's 45%, but fell short of the 50% majority required to win the election outright.
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The victory marks an unprecedented fourth presidential term for Lula, and a remarkable comeback victory. The result is even more surprising given that Bolsonaro had led, albeit by tight margins, in recent polling, and Brazil had recently elected a conservative congress aligned with the Bolsonaro agenda.
Earlier in the day, Lula voted in Sao Bernardo do Campo, Sao Paulo, while Bolsonaro voted in the north of Rio de Janeiro, the state he represents in the Senate.
The first vote tallies came in from Brazilians living overseas, where Lula won a decisive victory in Germany, and Bolsonaro won an overwhelming victory in Japan.
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While Bolsonaro performed well in his southern electoral strongholds, winning by comfortable margins in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Paraná, and Rio Grande do Sul, he won those states by smaller margins than in the first round.
His turnout in the south was not enough to overcome Lula's famed Northeastern firewall; a reflection of the Workers Party dominance in the country's populous "Nordeste" region.
Bolsonaro also turned in a disappointing performance in Minas Gerais, which geographically and politically straddles the Brazilian north/south divide. Often referred to as the nation's quintessential bellwether state, it is fair to say that as goes Minas Gerais, so goes the nation.
While Bolsonaro won Minas Gerais by 5% in the first round, in the second round it was essentially tied.
Bolsonaro had received endorsements from other first round candidates: best-selling author Augusto Cury, former Minas Gerais Governor Romeu Zema, and former Goiás Governor Ronaldo Caiado.
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However, they were not enough to overcome the much-respected electoral machinery of the Workers Party. Lula has now appeared on the presidential ballot 7 times, winning 4 of those elections.
Heading into the first round, Flavio Bolsonaro was effectively able to make the case to working-class and middle-class voters that the Lula's economic approach was driving up their cost of living.
He painted the Lula administration as bloated, tax-heavy, and given to racking up debt and tied this to inflation and kitchen table economics.
Additionally, his message of hardline law and order appealed to a Brazilian public where voters routinely suggest that violence is the most pressing issue.
Nonetheless, these economic and security concerns were not enough to overcome a generation of loyalty to the Workers Party and its social programs, particularly in the North and Northeast of the country, where Lula won by wide margins.
While Lula will be riding high heading into a historic fourth term in office, he will face a Congress with a center-right and right-wing majority that has been described as one of the most conservative in history.
While Flavio Bolsonaro lost the 2026 election by a narrow margin, the Bolsonaro movement is certainly not going away, and arguably remains an influential force in modern Brazilian politics.
The Lula victory also brings to an end a long string of victories for Trump-backed right-wing candidates across the region. While Trump had not officially endorsed Flavio Bolsonaro, he made no secret of his preference, and enjoyed a close relationship with the Bolsonaro family.
Looking forward to 2030, all eyes will turn to Bolsonaro clan ally Tarcisio de Freitas, who stepped aside this election cycle, in order to clear the way for Flavio Bolsonaro's run. Will the Brazilian right back another Bolsonaro in four years time, or will the popular São Paulo governor also mount a bid?
In addition to the presidential election, voters in five states, as well as the federal district of Brasília, were also selecting governors in runoff elections. Bolsonaro-aligned candidates appeared poised to win most of those races.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Zelenskyy can leverage Moscow ties from comedy days to make peace deal, says former key aide
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's former spokesperson urged him Sunday to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin face-to-face in Moscow, arguing that his past business and political connections in the Russian capital from years back could help him negotiate a peace deal there.
Iuliia Mendel, who served as Zelenskyy's spokesperson from 2019 to 2021, told Fox News Digital that the former comedian had also made his first millions in Russia and should perhaps leverage those ties to pursue lasting peace.
"When Zelenskyy was an entertainer, he often performed in Moscow," Mendel said, adding that the Ukrainian president "knows a lot of people from Putin's elite."
"He actually professionally grew in Moscow and earned his first millions in Moscow, and today he pretends that he has nothing in common with them," Mendel said.
"He needs to go to Moscow and needs to agree on compromises that are acceptable," she said, before adding that Zelenskyy "doesn't need to play his maximalist games and to play this noble actor."
Mendel's criticism came as Ukraine, Russia and the United States prepared for another round of technical-level peace talks, potentially in Abu Dhabi or Switzerland, in November.
U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have helped lay the groundwork for renewed negotiations that officials hope could finally lead to direct talks between the two leaders.
Before entering politics, Zelenskyy had built a successful entertainment career. Beginning in the late 1990s, he performed with the comedy troupe Kvartal 95, competed on the Russian-language comedy program KVN and later worked as an actor, writer and producer in television and movies.
From the late 1990s, he performed on Russian stages and at private parties and appeared in movies shown across former Soviet republics, Mendel claimed.
She said that after Russia annexed Crimea and launched its war in Donbas in early 2014, Zelenskyy traveled to Russia to work on the comedy film "Eight New Dates" which was released in Russian theaters in 2015.
According to a report by Business Insider, many of Zelenskyy's movies were also in Russian and were marketed to a Russian audience, David Dodson, an American movie editor who worked with Zelenskyy told the outlet.
"He was a well-loved comic, actor and performer in Russia, but after [the 2013-14] Maidan [Revolution], everything changed," Dodson said.
"People need to realize that Volodya’s movies were very big in Russia. Most of his market was in Russia. He’s always been a popular comedy star in Russia," Dobson also clarified to GQ when asked if he directed the former actor in "Eight First Dates" in Russia, released in 2012.
In 2013, the movie received the Russian National Movie Awards as the Best Russian Comedy of the Year.
In 2019, Zelenskyy also promised to relinquish ownership of a Cyprus-registered company operating a film studio in Russia after investigative journalists revealed that he and his business partners still owned three Russian companies, according to the Kyiv Post.
Zelenskyy's entertainment career made him a household name in Ukraine and other former Soviet republics before he entered politics and won Ukraine's 2019 presidential election with roughly 73% of the runoff vote on promises to fight corruption and pursue peace in eastern Ukraine.
Mendel argued that Zelenskyy's promise to bring peace at the time stands in stark contrast to the devastating war that has crippled the country and defined much of his presidency.
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"Zelenskyy became the president with 73% record support," Mendel said. "Because he promised to bring peace to Ukraine."
"And now he has been presiding for almost five years (over) the largest war in Europe since World War II. This shows a lot."
"When his country is bleeding, he needs to make a peace deal for his people," she said before adding that the leader "needs to put the interests of his people first, just for Ukraine to exist as an independent state."
Whether Zelenskyy should travel to Moscow has, in fact, become a flashpoint in efforts to arrange direct peace talks.
In 2025, Putin offered to host Zelenskyy for talks in Moscow, but the Ukrainian president rejected the invitation as Russian forces continued attacking Ukraine.
"He can come to Kyiv," Zelenskyy told ABC News at the time, saying he could not visit Moscow while Ukraine remained under Russian missile attacks.
In September, on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, Russian journalists pressed Zelenskyy on when he would visit Moscow. He replied, "On a missile."
Mendel, however, argued that personal animosity between the two leaders has become the main obstacle to diplomacy.
"Today there are diplomatic efforts to try to stop this brutal and bloody war that Russia started," she said.
"But what we see now is a personal opposition between Zelenskyy and Putin that continues to grow into constant escalation in which people suffer tremendously, Ukraine's infrastructure, energy grid, and businesses are in ruins, and refugees are fleeing."
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. More than four years later, peace negotiations are deadlocked over territory, security guarantees and the terms of a lasting ceasefire.
Moscow has demanded territorial concessions from Ukraine, including areas Russian forces do not fully control.
Kyiv has rejected ceding sovereign territory and insists that any agreement include enforceable security guarantees against another Russian attack.
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Mendel went on to praise President Donald Trump's efforts to break the diplomatic deadlock, calling him the first Western leader to "challenge the status quo" and consistently push for an end to the war.
"For this reason, many Ukrainians place great hope in his ability to bring peace," she said.
"A sustainable peace deal cannot be reached solely between Zelensky and Putin; it requires the involvement and initiative of a strong third party to halt the ongoing devastation."
On Friday, the White House announced that first lady Melania Trump had helped broker a temporary ceasefire in Oleshky, a Russian-occupied town in southern Ukraine's Kherson region, to allow humanitarian aid deliveries, demining operations and civilian evacuations.
An estimated 1,700 to 2,000 people remain in the devastated front-line town, many of them facing severe shortages of food, medicine and other essentials.
The White House said the ceasefire would begin Oct. 29, although Ukrainian and Russian officials have indicated that operations could begin Oct. 27.
Pope Leo also reportedly spoke with Zelenskyy and Putin about the humanitarian crisis, according to Vatican News.
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"Melania Trump has become synonymous with the words of a saver and a hero, since she has brokered the deal for Oleshky," Mendel said. "This is something that is going to save around 2,000 people and that neither Ukraine nor Russia could have solved for months and months."
"That is why, you know, what Melania Trump has done is actually a case to show that where two men are fighting, a woman can actually save lives," she added.
"And this is the new approach that would show that peace really should focus on human lives, not on maps and territories."
Mendel also criticized the influence of Zelenskyy's longtime ally Andriy Yermak on his diplomatic approach, arguing that the Ukrainian president has favored confrontation over compromise.
"Mr. Yermak was teaching Zelenskiy to be a strong man in diplomacy. And what today we see is actually diplomacy that doesn't exist," she said.
"It's a diplomacy of humiliation, diplomacy of constant threats, diplomacy of demands," Mendel added.
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado makes surprise return home after nearly a year abroad
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado made returned to her home country on Sunday after nearly a year abroad, re-entering a political landscape transformed by the U.S. ouster of Nicolás Maduro.
"I'm here. With you all," Machado wrote on social media, announcing her return for the first time since December. Her homecoming comes as Venezuela remains under the leadership of acting President Delcy Rodríguez, a longtime Maduro ally backed by the Trump administration, with no presidential election scheduled.
President Donald Trump, asked about Machado's return by reporters in Port Huron, Michigan, said he was unaware of the development but expressed hope for her safety.
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"I don't know anything about it, but I think she's a very nice woman," Trump said. "She gave me her Nobel Prize. So how can I say anything else? And I hope she's safe. She's a very nice woman. But we're doing really well in Venezuela."
Machado, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2025 for her peaceful opposition to Maduro's government, did not disclose her exact location or provide details about how she returned.
Fellow opposition leader Edmundo González, who ran for president in 2024 after Machado was barred from seeking office, confirmed her arrival on social media and said he would join her "very soon."
"Today is a very important day for Venezuelans. Our sovereign voice returns with her to lead and guide this process!" González wrote on X. "You know it, this is until the end."
Machado's return comes nearly 10 months after U.S. forces captured Maduro in January, removing the longtime leader from power.
Rodríguez, Maduro's former vice president, has remained in power with the Trump administration's support, despite exceeding the period she was initially authorized to serve as acting president.
Trump has repeatedly praised his administration's relationship with Rodríguez, highlighting agreements involving Venezuelan oil production and other business ventures with American companies.
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In September, Trump said it was too soon to consider holding democratic elections in Venezuela, with U.S. officials prioritizing economic stabilization. Machado and her allies, meanwhile, have pushed for an election date, arguing that democratic governance is essential to the country's long-term stability.
Her return could complicate relations between the Venezuelan opposition, the interim government and Washington. Reuters reported in June that U.S. officials had asked Machado to delay her return.
Machado spent much of 2025 in hiding after being briefly detained following an opposition protest that January. She later secretly left Venezuela and resurfaced in Norway in December to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
Meanwhile, a faction of the Venezuelan opposition and Rodríguez's government held another round of talks this month focused on reforms to the country's Supreme Court and electoral authorities ahead of eventual elections, Reuters reported.
Machado's political movement has not participated in those negotiations.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Who is Itamar Ben-Gvir, the Israeli firebrand rising with the populist right across the globe?
Polling ahead of Israel’s Oct. 27 election projects that National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit Party will win between seven and ten seats in the 120-member Knesset, potentially making any future government led by Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party contingent on his support and positioning him to secure senior ministerial portfolios.
His political rise mirrors a broader trend across Europe and the West, where parties such as Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella's National Rally in France, Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom in the Netherlands, Australia's One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson, Italy’s Matteo Salvini and Germany's Alice Weidel of the AfD have all gained ground on traditional conservative political parties.
The highly controversial Ben-Gvir, as national security minister, oversees the ministry responsible for internal security, including the Israel Police, Israel Prison Service and civilian firearms licensing.
"I always say that Minister Ben-Gvir, if he were in America, he would just be called a Texan," Yishai Fleisher, international spokesman for the Jewish community of Hebron and a candidate ranked No. 12 on the Otzma Yehudit list, told Fox News Digital.
In a video interview with Fox News Digital, Fleisher continued, "Meaning law and order, the death penalty for murderers, tough conditions for jihadists in our prisons and gun rights for the average Jewish person to be able to defend themselves in our national state. That’s what Itamar Ben-Gvir stands for," he added.
Fleisher said that mass immigration had fueled Islamist extremism and unrest in parts of Europe, saying Israelis want to avoid similar developments.
"There is a jihadist takeover that has come in through immigration, and now the streets of Paris are burning, and the people of Belgium and the U.K. want their countries back," Fleisher said. "In Israel, we don’t want to see Tel Aviv burning," prompting politicians to embrace what are known in the United States as "law-and-order" and "tough-on-crime" candidates.
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Former Israeli Ambassador to Washington Danny Ayalon said that Ben-Gvir had missed an opportunity to change course despite his lack of military service and past conviction, arguing that his tenure had instead had a damaging impact, including on Israel’s diplomatic standing.
"Ben-Gvir spoke in a way that turned the entire world against Israel, portraying it as a racist country by making statements that made Israel a pariah state," Ayalon said.
Fleisher praised Ben-Gvir, who he said has cracked down on protection rackets in southern Israel and made significant progress toward what he described as greater equality for Jews on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, Judaism’s holiest site.
"Minister Ben-Gvir was an activist from a very young age. He saw the dangers and evils of the Oslo process with the Palestinians and tried to stop it. He was arrested and stopped many times because of that, and he faced the court many times. It was then-Chief Justice Aharon Barak who once told him, ‘Why don’t you go study to be a lawyer?’" Fleisher said.
Ben-Gvir, who studied law, became active in public and political affairs and was first elected to the Knesset in 2021. Following the 2022 elections, he was appointed minister of national security by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
His many critics have taken issue with his firebrand style and what many view as a lack of political correctness. Ambassador Ayalon, a former deputy foreign minister, told Fox News Digital that he also viewed Ben-Gvir’s performance as national security minister negatively.
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"During his tenure, Israel has become less secure internally because crime is rising. Many young people believed in the last election that he would bring governability and authority to areas such as the Negev and the Galilee, on the outskirts of the country, where there is almost no law," Ayalon said.
In 2007, Ben-Gvir was convicted of supporting a terrorist organization and inciting racism.
His campaign told Fox News Digital that the conviction stemmed from displaying a sticker of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane, whose Kach party was outlawed in 1994, and reflected his support for a Jewish nationalist movement.
"As a young man, Minister Ben-Gvir was an intense Jewish nationalist. He has said many times, publicly, that he has matured since then and moved on from those positions."
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Recent posts on Ben-Gvir’s social media accounts, along with statements issued through Netanyahu’s and Likud’s official channels, have raised questions about whether the two remain fully aligned.
On Oct. 15, Ben-Gvir shared a Hebrew-language media report quoting Netanyahu as saying that he would not serve again as national security minister. In response, Ben-Gvir wrote: "Dear Prime Minister, only the people will decide. Ben Gvir is strong, Israel is strong!"
Last Wednesday, Netanyahu's Likud party appeared to reverse course, posting a message on its official WhatsApp channel stating: "Ben-Gvir is a senior minister in our government, and he will remain so in the next government — provided that the bloc consisting of the Left and Arab parties does not win."
Despite the public statements, Ayalon said Netanyahu could opt not to include Ben-Gvir in the next government, even if it meant forming an alliance with opposition parties such as Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar.
"Netanyahu is brilliant. He kept Ben-Gvir because it suited him. If he could, he would get rid of him in a minute. Bibi is capable of changing his mind on a dime," Ayalon said.
Fleisher credited Ben-Gvir with tripling the number of personal firearms and firearms licenses issued to Israelis over four years, establishing 1,000 rapid-response teams, overhauling the prison system and demolishing 9,000 illegally built homes, particularly in the Negev.
In March, the Knesset approved a death-penalty law sponsored by Otzma Yehudit and other lawmakers, a measure Ben-Gvir has strongly championed.
"No more hotel-like conditions in our prisons. You’ll know you are being punished for your crime, and these simple policies ultimately deter jihadism," Fleisher told Fox News Digital.
"They understand that he represents a full-throated pushback against the jihadist takeover of our land. Ben-Gvir also represents a strong Jewish identity, strong policies and strong laws to ensure that we don’t lose control of our country," he said.
The latest polls show Netanyahu’s bloc slightly behind the opposition, led by Yashar party chief Gadi Eisenkot, but neither side has a clear path to the 61 seats needed for a governing majority.
From arrests to crackdowns, how Europe’s leaders are responding as protests rock the continent
From mass arrests in France to troop deployments in Italy, European leaders are taking varied approaches to protests and clashes across the continent. The unrest began in France in mid-September with student demonstrations over school conditions, then spread to other countries, where protests have centered on local grievances.
President Donald Trump has used the unrest to press his hard-line immigration message, blaming France’s protests on immigration and urging the country to close its borders.
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French President Emmanuel Macron pushed back, calling foreign leaders' comments "unacceptable and even stupid" and accusing them of exploiting France’s crisis for political gain.
Here’s how leaders across Europe are responding.
Macron has vowed that those who loot or destroy property will be held accountable and made to pay for the damage. French authorities deployed 70,000 police officers nationwide Saturday as demonstrations took place in Paris and other cities.
Some clashes broke out in several cities, including Paris, Lyon, Lille, Toulouse and Nantes. Police used tear gas, sound grenades and water cannons, and the Interior Ministry reported more than 1,300 arrests.
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Most union-organized marches were peaceful, though clashes broke out later in Paris and several other cities. Separately, a French intelligence assessment reportedly identified Antifa and other far-left groups as instigators of some of the violence, according to a French outlet.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned what she called "gangs of thugs" who used demonstrations to "sow chaos," and voiced support for police facing violence in several Italian cities.
Meloni moved quickly after the previous weekend’s looting and clashes, sending 500 additional soldiers to Milan and approving tougher penalties for minors involved in vandalism. She said destroying and stealing was a crime and that the state's response would be firm.
The measures put Meloni among the European leaders taking the most visible steps to deter further violence.
While Greece has seen less unrest than France and other European countries, officials have been monitoring the risk of clashes as student and teacher demonstrations spread.
Government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis said the right to protest must be respected as long as demonstrations remain lawful, while condemning violence, looting and occupations.
Police still kept a visible presence at demonstrations earlier in the week, which largely passed without major violence.
Belgium's demonstrations began over education reforms and budget cuts, with young protesters taking to the streets in Brussels and Liège. Earlier clashes injured police, damaged public areas and blocked roads. Nearly 200 people were arrested, according to Belgian officials.
Interior Minister Bernard Quintin accused far-left activists, including people linked to Antifa, of infiltrating demonstrations and encouraging young people to commit violence.
In Albania’s capital, Tirana, student-led protests have grown into a broader challenge to Prime Minister Edi Rama, with demonstrators demanding his resignation and accusing his government of corruption and neglecting schools and public services.
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Police used tear gas and water cannons as more than 2,500 officers were deployed. Rama placed chairs outside his government headquarters and invited protesters to talk, but they rejected the gesture.
He said his government would address their concerns and warned that people responsible for violence could face criminal and financial consequences.
In Spain, the unrest was largely concentrated in Barcelona, unlike France, where protests and clashes spread across multiple cities.
Police arrested 128 people in Barcelona after fires, vandalism and looting. Catalonia, the northeastern Spanish region that includes Barcelona, saw its regional president, Salvador Illa, condemn the violence and back the police response.
Meanwhile, Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni said the city would take legal action against those responsible and warned that parents or guardians could face consequences for damage caused by their children.
Brazil becomes next test for Latin America’s surging conservative movement
Brazil's estimated 158 million voters could advance Latin America's conservative wave in Sunday's election as the continent's most populous nation could elect conservative Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro as its next president.
The first round election three weeks ago saw a strong performance by Bolsonaro, proving the polls wrong. While incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (Lula) had been predicted to take the first round by single digits, Bolsonaro ended up winning 47% to Lula's 45%. As neither candidate won a majority, the election went to a second round.
Brazil's election follows a long string of victories for the Latin American right across Central and South America that started with the election of Libertarian outsider Javier Milei in Argentina in 2023.
2025 saw a right-wing sweep across the region, as Ecuador, Bolivia, Honduras and Chile all voted for conservative heads of state.
In 2026, Keiko Fujimori narrowly defeated a left-wing candidate to win the Peruvian presidency, while most recently, in Colombia, conservative attorney Abelardo de la Espriella bested left-wing Senator Ivan Cepeda.
Bolsonaro's slate of congressional candidates also fared well, ensuring that Brazil will have one of the most conservative congresses in years, and a legislative branch aligned with Bolsonaro's goals, or ready to thwart Lula's agenda.
The two candidates met Friday night for the final debate in Rio de Janeiro, which featured a series of questions organized around Brazil's five geographic regions. While the debate featured some heated personal exchanges, it appears unlikely to have moved the needle in either direction heading into a close race.
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President Donald Trump has heralded these electoral results as vindication for his hardline approach to security, crime, and migration policies, as well as a stamp of approval for the new Shield of the Americas initiative.
The Trump administration counts on considerably more close allies now than it did at the beginning of Trump's second term.
Yet, the question remains: why is the region resoundingly rejecting the left and progressivism?
Many of the elections have been won by narrow margins, with Brazil being a case in point: Lula bested Jair Bolsonaro in 2022 by just 1.8%. While many Latin American nations remain deeply polarized, there is no denying a right-wing resurgence.
Commentators appear to be expressing a rejection of progressive movements amid growing concerns over safety and security, giving approval to proposals to dramatically ramp up police and military presence to combat crime and drug trafficking.
Meanwhile, leftist parties seem unable to capitalize on recurring concerns over inflation and kitchen table economics, which have played into the hands of the Latin American right, as working class and middle class voters have felt the pinch of rising food, housing and energy costs.
In addition to social and economic concerns, the specter of Jair Bolsonaro also looms over the election. Flavio Bolsonaro has pledged to free his father, who is currently serving a 27-year sentence on house arrest for allegedly plotting a coup in the wake of the 2022 election.
Lula was also sentenced to a 12-year prison sentence on corruption charges stemming from the infamous Operation Car Wash, until he was freed on a technicality by the Brazilian Supreme Court, and rose from the ashes to win the 2022 presidential election.
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Bolsonaro has narrowly led in recent polls, and enters the second round with some structural advantages. Most importantly, he enjoys the backing of three of the four other major candidates in the race, who failed to advance to the second round.
Self-help author Augusto Cury, former Goias Governor Ronaldo Caiado, and former Minas Gerais Governor Romeu Zema all officially backed Bolsonaro in the second round.
Entrepreneur Renan Santos, candidate for the Mission Party, declined to endorse either candidate. However, as his political movement is characterized as free-market and libertarian, these voters are also more likely to trend to Bolsonaro.
Thus, Lula needs to win a significant majority of first round voters who backed right-wing or center-right candidates. It's a daunting, but not impossible, proposition.
The entire election may hinge on voters who are voting against a candidate, as much as for a candidate.
Another question looming over the election: has Lula finally worn out his welcome with the Brazilian electorate?
This will be Lula's seventh time in 40 years appearing on a presidential ballot: he lost elections in 1989, 1994, 1998, won in 2002, 2006, and 2022.
Lula famously promised to serve only one term when he ran to oust Jair Bolsonaro in 2022.
On October 25, 2022, just five days before the last second round presidential election, he posted on his official X account: "If elected, I will be a single-term president."
It was a promise that he did not keep.
Various polls have shown that voters are not happy with the course of Lula's third term, and even a sizable percentage of Lula backers in 2022 responded with pessimism on the prospect of an unprecedented fourth term.
However, a large percentage of the Brazilian electorate also consistently rejects the prospect of voting for another Bolsonaro for president.
Lula is unquestionably the dominant figure in Brazilian politics over the past half-century. But will his magnetism and charisma be enough to overcome the right-wing resurgence sweeping the continent?
Former IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot emerges as Netanyahu’s leading election challenger
JERUSALEM — Israel’s high-stakes election on Oct. 27 pits the longest serving prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, against the highly decorated retired Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot. While fairly new to politics, Eisenkot has an impressive resume that could help him become the Jewish state's next leader.
According to a number of polls, Eisenkot's centrist political party, Yashar, has a narrow lead over Netanyahu's Likud. To form a government, Yashar or Likud will need to cobble together a 61-seat majority of parties to be able to form a new coalition government.
He was born in Tiberias in Israel’s north to a Jewish-Moroccan family who relocated to Israel’s southernmost city, Eilat, on the Red Sea when he was a toddler.
A career soldier, he opted to serve in the infantry. He was part of the elite Golani Brigade and reached the zenith of the military with his 2015 appointment to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) chief of staff in 2015 until 2019.
Yossi Melman, one of Israel’s most respected journalists on intelligence and defense reporting, told Fox News Digital that Eisenkot, "Is 100% a soldier. He is very brave and humble. He is an officer and gentleman."
Melman noted that when Eisenkot was chosen to be the next IDF chief of staff, he declined because he felt that then General Benny Gantz should receive the appointment. Melman asked, "How many people would do that? He was selected after Gantz. It shows his traits of modesty, honesty and not arrogant."
Melman said, "It is a miracle he is leading in the polls. He is the antithesis of a what a politician should be. He is not a great orator when you compare him to Netanyahu. He radiates honesty."
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Eisenkot’s Mizrahi background — Jews who originate from North Africa and the Middle East — would mean, if he prevails, that he would be the first Israeli Prime Minister of Moroccan origin. The Prime Minister’s office has been held by Israelis of Eastern European descent (Ashkenazi) since the rebirth of the Jewish state in 1948.
After Hamas invaded Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 and slaughtered over 1,200 people, including more than 40 Americans, Eisenkot joined Netanyahu’s war cabinet as a minister without portfolio.
Melman said Eisenkot "did not set any political conditions" and "his presence in the cabinet saved Netanyahu." After eight months of serving in the war cabinet, Eisenkot resigned, blaming the prime minister for failing to implement a comprehensive strategy.
The war against the Iran-backed terrorist movement Hamas took an enormous toll on the battle-hardened General Eisenkot and his family. Hamas killed his son, 25-year-old Master Sergeant Gal Eisenkot, in Dec. 2023. The terrorist organization also killed two nephews of Eisenkot. Netanyahu and his wife Sara said at the time that they were devastated by Gal’s death and Eisenkot was a "true hero."
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Danny Orbach, a military historian from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, gave his take on the leading contender to replace Netanyahu. "I think his military record and his prospects as a national leader have both significant strengths and serious weaknesses. He bears considerable responsibility for shaping the IDF that existed on Oct. 7, 2023. And that was, paradoxically, both the army that proved capable of defeating Hezbollah, striking Iran and achieving unprecedented military successes in the extraordinarily difficult, tunnel-ridden battlefield of Gaza and the army that failed so miserably on Oct. 7."
He continued that, "Like other chiefs of staff, Eisenkot bears responsibility for the decisions that reduced the army's size and for the infamous ‘conceptzia’ [Hebrew word for concept] regarding Hamas. In that respect, I consider him just as culpable as Netanyahu."
Israel’s military, intelligence and political establishments bought into the ‘conceptzia’ that Hamas could be housebroken with massive infusions of economic aid. Hamas, however, was wedded to its radical Islamist ideology —the destruction of the Jewish state — and used the funds to advance its war aims.
Orbach noted that "I don't think most of Eisenkot's support stems from his energy, enthusiasm or even his political platform. My impression is that Eisenkot has emerged as the default ‘non-Bibi’ candidate, the politician who currently channels much of the camp's hopes and expectations."
Orbach added that "I also doubt that Eisenkot would have had the political determination to stand up to the Biden administration on such matters."
Netanyahu and former President Biden repeatedly clashed over Biden’s attempts to rope in Israel’s efforts to defeat Iran’s seven-front war against the Jewish state.
The military historian, however, noted that "I believe an Eisenkot government could address several of Israel's most urgent problems. It would remove Ben Gvir from power, confront the growing problem of Jewish extremist violence and terrorism in the West Bank, and begin repairing Israel's severely damaged international legitimacy."
Itamar Ben-Gvir is a controversial right-wing firebrand politician and the current minister of national security since 2022, who has outraged many Western European and foreign leaders with his heated rhetoric against the Palestinians.
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Eisenkot’s wife, Hannah, comes from an American Jewish family. U.S. General Joseph Dunford awarded Eisenkot the Commander of the Legion of Merit because of his "exceptionally meritorious service as chief of the General Staff of the IDF" and his "contribution to the strategic cooperation between the United States and Israel [that] will have a lasting effect on both countries," according to the Washington Institute, where Eisenkot served as a military fellow in 2019.
Nadav Eyal, an Israeli analyst and journalist for the mass circulation Israeli paper Yedioth Aharonoth, told Fox News Digital, Gadi Eisenkot is widely considered one of the most successful Chiefs of Staff that Israel has had in the last thirty years."
He continued that "Chiefs of Staff in Israel, unlike in other countries, are really extremely capable, in general, to be prime minister. They are leading the country’s biggest organization, the IDF."
Eyal, who writes extensively about the IDF, credited Eisenkot’s military planning against the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist organization in Lebanon and the significant defeats the Lebanese Shiite entity experienced, including the "discovery of tunnels that Hezbollah built" to enter Israel. Hezbollah immediately joined Hamas’s war against Israel in Oct. 2023.
Given the nature of Israel’s electoral system, an outright winner won’t likely be known for several days, since the leading party will need to form a coalition to get to the 61-seat mandate to run the country.
Nearly 1,000 arrested across France as police find potential weapons on protestors: officials
Nearly 1,000 people were arrested Saturday as nationwide protests resumed, France's Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez told reporters.
Earlier in the day, police officers preemptively searched protesters, and arrested people suspected of carrying potential weapons, including fireworks and ball bearings, Reuters reported.
Nuñez did not specify where the arrests were made.
In Paris, where police estimated 110,000 people marched, officers conducted more than 3,000 checks and arrested 65 people, the BBC reported.
The French Interior Ministry said about 410,000 people participated in protests nationwide, while union organizers estimated attendance at 800,000. In Paris, union organizers put turnout at 250,000, compared with the police estimate of 110,000, according to CBS News.
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"Violent individuals have no place in the marches," the Paris Police Department said in a social media post. "The objective is clear: to prevent troublemakers from joining the procession, and to ensure the safety of the demonstrators."
Central Paris resembled a city under lockdown, as shopkeepers boarded up storefronts, museums closed and more than 20 metro stations suspended service.
In other cities — including Clermont-Ferrand, Grenoble, Lille and Nice — police have resorted to firing tear gas to break up unruly crowds, Reuters reported.
Also in Nice, police used a water cannon to disperse a group of demonstrators who refused to pull back. And in Marseille and Lyon, there have been clashes between police officers and hooded youths.
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Some 70,000 police officers have been deployed across France to clamp down on agitators and prevent the kind of unrest seen during recent demonstrations, when cars were torched and the city hall building in Limoges was set on fire.
Last weekend, more than 2,700 people were arrested during protests that later turned into riots and looting sprees.
The nationwide marches were meant to reflect broader dissatisfaction with the French government, with protesters taking to the streets to air a range of different grievances.
The protests began weeks earlier and were led by high school and university students. They were frustrated with teacher shortages and poor conditions at schools, including overcrowded classrooms and dilapidated buildings.
The movement gained momentum when major labor unions joined the demonstrations, broadening the protests to include opposition to the government's austerity policies and concerns over wages, pensions and the overall cost of living.
135 people arrested across France as police find potential weapons on protestors, official says
French authorities have so far arrested 135 people Saturday as nationwide protests resumed, France's Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez told reporters.
Most of the arrests were prompted after police officers preemptively searched protesters, Reuters reported. Those taken into custody allegedly had items that could be used as weapons, including fireworks and ball bearings.
Nuñez did not specify where the arrests were made. In Paris, where tens of thousands of people are marching, police said they have conducted more than 3,000 checks and arrested 65 people, the BBC reported.
"Violent individuals have no place in the marches," the Paris Police Department said in a social media post. "The objective is clear: to prevent troublemakers from joining the procession, and to ensure the safety of the demonstrators."
AMERICANS WARNED ABOUT PARIS TRAVEL AFTER VIOLENCE, LOOTING AND TEAR GAS-FILLED STREETS
Central Paris resembled a city under lockdown, as shopkeepers boarded up storefronts, museums closed and more than 20 metro stations suspended service.
In other cities — including Clermont-Ferrand, Grenoble, Lille and Nice — police have resorted to firing tear gas to break up unruly crowds, Reuters reported.
Also in Nice, police used a water cannon to disperse a group of demonstrators who refused to pull back. And in Marseille and Lyon, there have been clashes between police officers and hooded youths.
FRANCE’S TEEN RIOTS TAKE EXPLOSIVE NEW TURN AS GOVERNMENT POINTS FINGER AT HARD LEFT
Some 70,000 police officers have been deployed across France to clamp down on agitators and prevent the kind of unrest seen during recent demonstrations, when cars were torched and the city hall building in Limoges was set on fire.
Last weekend, more than 2,700 people were arrested during protests that later turned into riots and looting sprees.
The nationwide marches were meant to reflect broader dissatisfaction with the French government, with protesters taking to the streets to air a range of different grievances.
The protests began weeks earlier and were led by high school and university students. They were frustrated with teacher shortages and poor conditions at schools, including overcrowded classrooms and dilapidated buildings.
The movement gained momentum when major labor unions joined the demonstrations, broadening the protests to include opposition to the government's austerity policies and concerns over wages, pensions and the overall cost of living.
Death toll rises to 9 in church attack as officials blame 'extremist' Islamist ideology
A group of gunmen stormed a Christian church in Jordan during a funeral on Friday, killing nine people and injuring more than two dozen, according to authorities.
The shooting took place at a Greek Orthodox church in Karak, about 55 miles south of the capital, Amman.
Jordanian Health Minister Ibrahim al-Budour said Saturday that one critically injured patient remained hospitalized at Prince Ali Military Hospital in unstable condition.
Government spokesperson Mohammad Momani said Saturday that the attackers subscribed to "extremist takfiri ideology," which brands people who reject a strict interpretation of Islam as apostates or nonbelievers. Terrorist groups such as ISIS have invoked takfiri beliefs to justify killing Muslims, Christians and Jews.
BISHOP ROBERT BARRON: THE WAR ON CHRISTIANS IS REAL AND THE WORLD CAN NO LONGER STAY SILENT
Karak is home to a sizable Christian minority, and Momani sought to emphasize that Christians are "part of Jordan's national fabric."
It remains unclear whether the gunmen were affiliated with any terror group, and Jordanian authorities have not announced any arrests in connection with the attack.
Footage shown on Jordanian state television showed two gunmen armed with what appeared to be pistols approaching the church and opening fire, The Associated Press reported.
A third man carrying what appeared to be a semiautomatic rifle joined them moments later, before all three rushed toward the church.
TWO SUSPECTED GUNMEN DEAD, TWO IDF SOLDIERS KILLED IN WEST BANK SHOOTING
Photos and videos from witnesses show broken glass and pools of blood inside the church. After the location was secured by police, two bodies covered with blankets were seen outside the church.
Dorgham Halasa told the AP that intense gunfire erupted in the church some 15 minutes after the funeral service began. People began running, he said.
Halasa said he didn't see the gunmen, but said others he spoke with reported seeing at least four of them. Jordanian authorities had not confirmed the number of attackers as of Saturday.
On Friday, King Abdullah II said Jordan will "confront the terrorist act that targeted Karak with the harshest penalties."
"Whoever imagines that the bullets of treachery can divide the ranks of Jordanians will fail in his endeavor before our steadfastness and unity," he added. "Our deepest condolences to the families of the martyrs, and our wishes for recovery to the wounded."
Jordan announced three days of national mourning following the attack, according to the state-run Petra News Agency.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Rubio urges Cubans to work with CIA to bring political change to communist-run island
Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged Cubans seeking political change Friday to discreetly cooperate with the CIA as President Donald Trump separately floated sending Rubio to the communist-run island to negotiate a deal.
"To those who seek to create positive change in Cuba - now is the time," Rubio wrote in a post on X.
"The disappointment of failed promises, corruption, and the privileged lives of only a few; seize this opportunity to create the change you desire through a discrete partnership with the CIA."
RUBIO WARNS CUBA HAS INFILTRATED US WITH SPIES, CALLS COMMUNIST REGIME AN 'ESPIONAGE SUPERPOWER'
Rubio's message explicitly encouraged Cubans to work with the U.S. intelligence agency but did not identify a specific operation or explain what such cooperation would involve.
Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, has long advocated for a tougher U.S. approach toward the Cuban government.
The former Florida senator has been a prominent critic of the communist leadership in Havana and opposed efforts to normalize relations without political reforms.
Trump, meanwhile, raised the possibility of U.S. ships stopping near Cuba while discussing Iran during a midterm rally in Fort Myers, Florida, Friday.
TRUMP EXPANDS CUBA SANCTIONS BEYOND US COMPANIES IN MAJOR CRACKDOWN ON FOREIGN ENABLERS
"Don't worry. We'll take care of Cuba on our way back from Iran with it. We'll do a little stopover now. We'll do a little stopover," Trump told the crowd.
"Actually, what we're going to do with Cuba is we're going to come back from Iran. Those beautiful ships will pass Cuba. We'll have one of them stop about 50 yards off the coast. They'll raise up their hands."
Trump then suggested Rubio could handle negotiations with the communist-run island.
"And then we're going to send Marco Rubio in to finish up the deal. We'll have Marco. Marco. We don't even have to stop. We could just put him in there and he'll figure it out. He's a great guy."
Trump did not provide details about any proposed agreement with Cuba or indicate whether his remarks reflected an actual military or diplomatic plan.
Fox News Digital reached out to the CIA, State Department, White House and Cuban Embassy in Washington, D.C., for comment.
France on edge with 70,000 police deployed for unrest as authorities probe suspected terror attack near Paris
A suspected terrorist attack near Paris Friday added to tensions across France as the nation prepares for more potential violence Saturday.
Seventy thousand law enforcement officers, along with helicopters, armored vehicles and water cannons, will be deployed across France as President Emmanuel Macron’s government tries to ward off another weekend of violent protests.
"The strategy adopted for the coming days is to ban protests requested by individuals or groups with no legitimate authority," Macron said ahead of the weekend after canceling his planned trip to Nigeria and Senegal originally scheduled for next week.
"The rules are simple, and I think they're just common sense," Macron added. "The general recommendation is that there should be no demonstrations in the coming days."
FRANCE'S MACRON BLAMES PROTESTS ON 'ULTRA-LEFT GROUPS WHOSE AIM IS TO BRING DOWN THE REPUBLIC'
"Where trade unions submit requests to hold demonstrations, prefects will examine them in accordance with the law," he added, "but alternative routes will be proposed" to protect city centers, businesses and public buildings.
Adding to security concerns, a suspected terrorist attack occurred in the city of Trappes, west of Paris. A 39-year-old man was arrested by police after one person was killed and four others, including a 12-year-old girl, were wounded in what was originally said to be a "relatively random" shooting.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez has since told local media, "The motive may be racist. The investigation is ongoing, but this is clearly a terrorist crime."
The AFP reported the suspect appeared to fire randomly from a vehicle, and the mayor told reporters the dead victim and at least one of the wounded were "of African origin."
Macron said "the nation is standing with" the victims of this "terrible ordeal."
FRANCE COULD FACE EVEN WORSE DESTRUCTION WITH SECOND WEEKEND OF PLANNED RIOTS, STATE DEPT WARNS
Ahead of Saturday's protests and after acknowledging that police had "lost control" during last weekend's unrest, Nuñez, the interior minister, said his ministry is "ready for tomorrow. We will be extremely vigilant, extremely firm, and we will let absolutely nothing pass."
Reuters reports that the Union Nationale des Étudiants de France, or UNEF, one of the nation’s oldest student unions, has said its planned rallies will go on as scheduled despite police rejecting their permit requests. Police have so far only approved a union demonstration in Paris, Reuters reported, while denying requests from UNEF and the "Yellow Vest" movement, an anti-establishment force that first emerged in 2018.
Macron also took aim at those he says are behind the violence, saying, "Last Saturday, we had political and seditious acts by ultra-left groups whose aim is to bring down the Republic."
Earlier this week, Fabian Vanhemelryck, secretary general of the Alliance Police Nationale union, said political figures deserved blame because of "those who excuse the inexcusable, justify violence and prefer to overwrite police officers rather than condemn those who attack them."
He also said the "state that abandons its police officers in the face of increasingly uninhibited violence, while demanding that they accept, remain(s) silent and continue(s) to hold the line."
Major French institutions, like the Louvre and the Musée d'Orsay, will be closed in anticipation of Saturday’s planned protests, and 24 Metro stations across Paris will be closed. A Ligue 1 soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique Lyonnais, scheduled for Sunday night at Parc des Princes in the capital, has also been postponed to Monday evening.
The NFL game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New Orleans Saints, scheduled for Sunday afternoon at Stade de France just north of central Paris, is still set to be played as scheduled, yet some weekend events around the game have been canceled.
The Stade de France is the same stadium that hosted an international soccer match between France and neighboring Germany during the Nov. 13, 2015 terror attacks.
Explosions were heard outside the stadium during the game that night, with then-French President François Hollande in attendance. Fans were held inside the stadium for hours while authorities dealt with the attacks unfolding around Paris that night.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
CHAOS INC.: Communists, Antifa, agitators in the red-green alliance
Fox News Digital's "Who's Who in Chaos Inc." is a living database mapping the organizations, local chapters, international networks and funders organizing or amplifying major protest movements.
The directory identifies each group's mission, ideology, organizational role and documented protest activity, distinguishing direct organizers and participants from supporters and amplifiers.
The database will be continuously updated and organized by country as new organizations, chapters, coalitions and connections emerge, providing a running picture of how local protest movements connect to broader national and transnational networks.
Brazil’s rapid election count puts spotlight on voting security ahead of US midterms
SAO PAULO, Brazil— About 125 million Brazilians voted Oct. 4 on machines that print no paper ballots. Less than four hours after polls closed, the country knew its presidential election was headed to a runoff between conservative challenger Flavio Bolsonaro and leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
That process has been in place for over three decades, and Brazilians have become accustomed to its speed, simplicity, accuracy and routine. The system is robustly audited, completely disconnected from the Internet, and is the largest digital voting system deployed on the planet.
Eleven days before the U.S. midterms, Brazil’s system, analysts say, could offer Americans a more secure way to vote.
The system has been widely praised and was also mentioned in President Donald Trump’s 2025 executive order on elections, where he cited Brazil’s biometric voter identification as an example. Yet Brazil’s count runs partially on the kind of paperless machines that the president has vowed to scrap.
STATE DEPARTMENT CONSIDERS SHARING PASSPORT RECORDS FOR VOTER CITIZENSHIP CHECKS
Over the years, Brazil merged federal, state and municipal databases into a digital voting record, whereby voter identity, eligibility and single ability to vote can (and usually must) be verified biometrically. Nearly 9 in 10 voters unlock the machines with a fingerprint.
Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court, or TSE, which designs the machines and oversees elections, says there has been no proven fraud since their 1996 debut. The 499,248 machines used on Oct. 4 never connected to the internet. Their software was open to inspection by parties, universities and watchdogs for 11 months before being digitally signed and sealed in public. Last December, the Brazilian government invited a record 149 outsiders to try to break the system; evaluators concluded nothing they found could alter results or reveal how anyone voted.
On election day, randomly drawn machines are fed paper ballots on camera as federal auditors and foreign observers watch and specifically track results.
Meanwhile, at closing, every machine used at every polling station prints its tally, which is then posted in front of the polling place with a QR code, so anyone can check it against the national count. In an email to Fox News Digital, TSE said each file’s digital signature "confirms that the result was produced by the electronic voting machine registered for that polling station."
Karina Stange Calandrin, a political scientist and professor at Instituto Brasileiro de Mercado de Capitais (IBMEC), says the system combines three traits rarely found together: voting is electronic, votes hashed to voter eligibility are stored locally in the machine and tallying is automated.
"It is an extremely secure and safe system. The machines never connect to the Internet and even the central database system used to transmit tallied votes to TSE must match results issued physically and locally by each individual machine without human interference," she said. Corrupting it, she added, would require breaking the seal of each machine and installing software that wouldn’t match the TSE’s version, automatically disqualifying its tally — a scale of collusion so large that it "simply could not pass undetected."
COLOMBIA'S 'EL TIGRE' SECURES PRESIDENCY AS LEFTIST RIVAL FINALLY CONCEDES DEFEAT
The machines passed their toughest political test in 2022, when former President Jair Bolsonaro, now serving a 27-year sentence for plotting to overturn his 2022 defeat, spent years attacking their credibility without evidence. Bolsonaro is presently serving time under house arrest.
This year, for the first time, a Bolsonaro appointee ran the TSE: Justice Kassio Nunes Marques. Bolsonaro’s eldest son, Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, finished first with 47% to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s 45%. The machines at the center of the senior Bolsonaro’s controversy may yet hand victory to his son.
Florencia Ferrer, CEO of e-stategiapublica, which has audited elections in 17 countries, has no doubt the Brazilian system is the most modern and secure in the world. "In India votes are electronic, but each voter gets a printed version of their vote to take home, which weakens voter safety and augments coercion rates," she says, adding that Estonia’s internet voting and the Philippines’ electronically tallied paper ballots carry their own risks.
An engineer from the University of São Paulo’s Polytechnic School who audited the machines in 2014, and declined to be named due to the sensitive nature of his work, agreed. "While no system is completely infallible... we have found no traces of tampering, wrong-doing or malicious intent," he told Fox News Digital.
Still, some defend higher scrutiny. Security researchers say a clean record is not proof enough, and the Carter Center said voters should at least see a printed version of their ballot deposited into a separate area of the machine; otherwise, results integrity rests on software alone. Germany’s top court ruled in 2009 that voters must be able to check their ballot without expert help, effectively barring a Brazilian-like system.
Brazil’s machine has traveled mostly on loan to countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Paraguay adopted it permanently in 2006, with machines that now print each individual vote.
"It’s obvious Washington and the remainder of the U.S. are way behind both technology as well as security when it comes to polling on voting day," Ferrer said. U.S. elections are run in thousands of local jurisdictions under 50 sets of state rules and about 30% of 2024 ballots came by mail, which is slower to process. Brazil has one national election authority, compulsory voting and no mail-in ballots.
Brazilians will vote this coming Sunday on Oct. 25. The winner is expected to be known and certified in under five hours.
"The question is not whether Brazil has invented a perfect voting machine. No voting system is perfect. It is whether democracies can combine the speed and consistency of digital tabulation with independent verification, public scrutiny and rules that citizens across the political spectrum have reason to trust," Ferrer said.
CHAOS INC.: Who's who in the global mayhem network? Communists, Antifa, agitators in the red-green alliance.
Fox News Digital's "Who's Who in Chaos Inc." is a living database mapping the organizations, local chapters, international networks and funders organizing or amplifying major protest movements.
The directory identifies each group's mission, ideology, organizational role and documented protest activity, distinguishing direct organizers and participants from supporters and amplifiers.
The database will be continuously updated and organized by country as new organizations, chapters, coalitions and connections emerge, providing a running picture of how local protest movements connect to broader national and transnational networks.
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