IJN Editorial Staff

Electioneering, 2026 — how not to run an election

Say what you like about the results of Israel’s election, but the country knows how to run an election. Election day is a public holiday. So . . . no one needs to skip work to vote. No disputes over mail ballots arise, since all voting is in person. No confusion about late counted absentee ballots, since there are virtually none.

Hamas — humanitarian? Steven Witkoff would say so

When Hamas released hostages, no one called the Hamas operatives “humanitarians.”But when Russia released a hostage, President Trump’s envoy Steven Witkoff called Vladimir Putin a humanitarian. The character of Hamas was measured by the fact that it kidnapped hostages to begin with. Putin’s character is measured by the fact that he arrested Stephen Hubbard to begin with.

This isn’t prophecy. Netanyahu will still be PM after Israel’s Oct. 27 election

We don’t know who will win in America’s upcoming midterm elections, Nov. 3. We don’t need to know who will win Israel’s national election, Oct. 27. Benjamin Netanyahu will still be prime minister. It’s not prophecy. It’s how Israel’s parliamentary system works.

Lodestar — Rabbi Israel Meir Kagan, 1933-2026

Denver’s Rabbi Kagan Israel Meir Hakohen Kagan — the dean, rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Toras Chaim, whose soul ascended upward this week —bore the precise name of the Chofetz Chaim. And he was held in that same esteem in our community. Respected and beloved — universally.

The questions Melat Kiros refuses to answer

Melat Kiros, Democratic candidate for Colorado Congressional District 1, told senior Politico reporter Dasha Burns on Oct. 18 that she condemns the Boulder bombing “at every juncture that I have the opportunity to.” Actually, Kiros has avoided a number of opportunities to condemn the attack, because she appears to be refusing to engage with her Jewish constituency.