💻 TECH THURSDAY: HOW ISRAEL BUILT A MISSILE THAT CAN INTERCEPT BALLISTIC MISSILES IN SPACE Born out of Cold War-era cooperation between Israel and the United States, the Arrow missile defense system has evolved over nearly four decades from an experimental concept into one of the highest layers of Israel’s missile-defense network. This deep dive traces the story from Arrow 1 and the lessons of Saddam Hussein’s Scud attacks, through Arrow 2, to Arrow 3, designed to destroy incoming ballistic missiles through direct collision beyond Earth’s atmosphere. Full credit to Past Unpacked — subscribe to their YouTube channel, link in the first comment.

🚨 BREAKING: STRIKE REPORTED IN GAZA CITY A strike in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City has killed at least one Hamas terrorist, according to initial reports. More details as they emerge.

Iran’s currency plunged to a new record low of 2.73 million rials per US dollar, following 3 weeks of relative stability between 2.6 million and 2.7 million rials.

Netanyahu election ad recreates in AI the elimination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Senior Israeli officials: "There is intelligence that Iran and its proxies are considering attacking ahead of the elections"

🚨 BIBI’S CAMPAIGN SLOGAN? “We’ve done it before, and we’ll do it now, and bring the final blow. Either we destroy them (Iran), or they destroy us. That’s what the voters have to decide.”

🚨 THIS TURKEY–LIBYA STORY IS MUCH BIGGER THAN IT IS BEING TREATED Libya’s parliament has now ratified the controversial Turkey–Libya maritime agreement, drawing an asserted maritime corridor across the Eastern Mediterranean that Greece, Cyprus and the EU say violates the sovereign rights of other states. But look at the bigger strategic picture. Hormuz. Bab el-Mandeb. Now the Eastern Mediterranean. Three of the waterways and maritime approaches most critical to the movement of energy, commerce and military power are increasingly becoming arenas of confrontation involving Islamist or Iranian-aligned powers. And this time, one of the principal actors is Turkey — a NATO member. The Turkey–Libya agreement does not itself give Ankara the legal right to stop ships crossing the Mediterranean. But it dramatically strengthens Turkey’s claim to maritime jurisdiction across an area connecting the Turkish and Libyan coasts — directly challenging Greece and Cyprus and potentially affecting energy exploration, pipelines, undersea infrastructure and future naval freedom of action. For Israel, this should be a strategic warning. To our south, access through the Red Sea already depends on an increasingly contested Bab el-Mandeb. To our west, Turkey possesses one of the strongest navies and air forces in the region and is steadily expanding its military reach in Libya. Israel, Greece and Cyprus therefore need to think about the Eastern Mediterranean not simply as an energy partnership — but increasingly as a shared maritime-security theater. The question is no longer only who owns the gas. It is who will guarantee freedom of movement in the Eastern Mediterranean when the regional balance of power is tested.

🚨 5 DAYS UNTIL ISRAEL VOTES Gadi Eisenkot visited the Western Wall today. But as he arrived, worshippers had a message of their own: “BIBI! BIBI!” Israel’s election is Tuesday, October 27.

🚨 NETANYAHU: I WILL BRIEF TRUMP — BUT I WON’T ASK FOR PERMISSION TO STRIKE IRAN Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “I will brief President Trump on what we intend to do, but I will not ask him for a green light to strike Iran.”

🚨 ERDOGAN WANTS TURKEY AT THE CENTER OF EVERYTHING Ankara is hosting a new R4+E3 meeting in Istanbul, bringing together Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt, Britain, France and Germany to discuss Gaza, Yemen, Hormuz and even the Russia-Ukraine war. The message is pretty clear: Erdogan is trying to position Turkey as the indispensable regional mediator and diplomatic hub between Europe and the Middle East. He also plans to use the meeting to push for increased international pressure on Israel. Mediator. Power broker. Regional leader. Good luck with that.

🚨 IRGC NAVY THREATENS ATTACKS ON U.S. BASES Iran’s IRGC Navy accused the U.S. of encouraging ships to cross what it called an “illegal, mined passage” and warned that continued activity could trigger attacks on American bases across the region. “This is a serious warning,” the IRGC Navy said. Source: Iran International

❓ HOW DID ISRAEL LET OCTOBER 7 HAPPEN? One of our lead contributors, Dr. Eric Mandel of @MepinOrg, is in Israel tackling the question he says he hears more than any other in the United States: How did Israel let October 7 happen? After speaking with IDF officers, intelligence experts, policymakers and think tanks, he shares what he believes helps explain the catastrophic intelligence and strategic failure, and what Israel says it has learned since. WATCH 👇

🚨 NETANYAHU: REPORT THAT TRUMP BLOCKED ISRAEL FROM ATTACKING IRAN IS “BIASED AND UNTRUE” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is rejecting reports that Israel was preparing to strike Iran earlier this month but was stopped by President Trump. Netanyahu called the report “biased and inaccurate,” adding: “It’s an incorrect report. One day, the truth will come out.” The Financial Times had reported that Israel was readying a major strike package for around October 10, while Trump opposed restarting the fighting before the U.S. midterms. Israeli sources have separately told the Jerusalem Post that Israel was not actually on the verge of launching such an attack.

🚨 ISRAEL WARNS U.S.: HAMAS HAS NO INTENTION OF DISARMING — AND IS PREPARING FOR ANOTHER WAR Israeli intelligence reportedly assesses that Hamas is not planning to surrender its weapons and is instead working to rebuild its military capabilities and prepare renewed attacks. A senior Israeli security official said bluntly: “Hamas is supposed to hand over its weapons. I don’t see that happening. And there is no intention to do so.” Israel has also conveyed serious concerns to Washington that withdrawing before genuine disarmament would allow Hamas to rapidly rebuild its terrorist infrastructure and once again threaten Israeli communities. The question increasingly appears to be not whether Hamas says it will disarm — but what happens when it refuses.