Who Will Govern Israel? Plus. . .

It’s Wednesday, October 14. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: Aaron MacLean on why Trump’s diesel deal is an embarrassment. A neuropsychologist explains why all the kids have extra time on tests these days. And much more.

But first: Who will govern Israel?

In two weeks, Israelis will vote for the first time since October 7, 2023, and the multifront war that followed. The country that goes to the polls has buried thousands since it last elected Benjamin Netanyahu. His main challenger, Gadi Eisenkot, is a former army chief of staff who served in Netanyahu’s war cabinet and lost a son in Gaza. The polls are tight and the stakes are enormous. The vote will be read as a verdict not just on Netanyahu’s current government but on the 19 years he has led Israel. It will also be a fork in the road for the Jewish state at a crucial moment in its history. Today, we bring you three offerings on the election and the two key protagonists.

Up first: Bibi. It is hard to find an Israeli without an opinion on their longest-serving prime minister. Meanwhile, outside of the country, opinions on Netanyahu and opinions on Israel often blur into one another, and the cacophony of bad-faith arguments about his time in office can make it hard to think straight about the man and his legacy. To cut through that noise we asked a range of contributors who have followed Netanyahu’s career closely, and read his record in different ways, to weigh in. Read Michael Oren, Yossi Klein Halevi, Bassem Eid, Sohrab Ahmari, Peter Berkowitz, and others on how Israelis—and history—will judge Netanyahu. You’ll find plenty of disagreement in this package, but it’s the kind that generates more light than heat.

But what about the man who is favored to unseat Netanyahu? Today, Yonah Jeremy Bob, a Jerusalem Post reporter and a chronicler of Israel’s halls of power, examines the life and worldview of Gadi Eisenkot, the former military chief whose young opposition party is leading the polls. Yonah tells the unlikely story of Eisenkot’s rise, and describes where the breakout challenger may lead his country.

Last but not least, our trusted Middle East analyst Haviv Rettig Gur joins Maya Sulkin in the Free Press studio to break down what is on the ballot, and what he thinks is going to happen.

Aaron MacLean • International

The midterms are three weeks away, and diesel prices are sky-high. That’s bad news for most everyday Americans, but it’s also frightening for President Trump, who ran on a promise to “cut your energy costs in half” shortly before he was reelected. That bleak picture has led the president to cut a lousy deal with Moscow, says Aaron MacLean, and leaves our allies in Ukraine high and dry. Read Aaron on “one of the most embarrassing weeks of Trump’s second term.”

Not so long ago, when New York neuropsychologist Katie Davis told parents that their child had a learning disability, they would react with dread. Now, as she writes in her piece for us today, they welcome the news—and are disappointed if she tells them there is nothing wrong with their child. Katie says the number of parents seeking accommodations is out of control, thanks to private schools egging them on—and fellow neuropsychologists all too happy to hand out phony diagnoses. Read Katie’s piece on the schools gaming the system, and what to do about it.

MORE FROM THE FREE PRESS

THE NEWS

Kimberly Guilfoyle appears at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 16, 2024. (Andrew Harnik via Getty Images)

• Kimberly Guilfoyle resigned from her position as U.S. ambassador to Greece on Tuesday. The Trump administration had previously requested she step down, after evidence surfaced of her past financial misconduct.

• Cornell University announced Tuesday that they are suspending all fraternity parties for the remainder of the academic year. The decision comes as school administrators reevaluate the safety of the school’s Greek life in the aftermath of Jane Doe’s sexual assault allegations.

• The Supreme Court agreed to review a case evaluating a government watchdog group’s authority to review DOGE’s records. The case comes after the Trump administration blocked the group’s Freedom of Information Act request in early 2025, and will test the reach of free inquiry.

• Federal and state regulators asked a federal judge to hold Martin Shkreli in contempt of court on Tuesday. Shkreli was convicted of fraud for inflating drug prices in 2017, and permanently banned from the industry. Authorities allege he’s been violating that ban by trading pharmaceutical stocks on YouTube for years.

• British intelligence chief Ken McCallum warned that last month’s attack on an English air base was the beginning of a much larger security risk. In a speech on Tuesday, he called the strike part of a “major shift” in “Iranian ambitions to come at harder targets,” and urged the world to stay vigilant in the weeks ahead.

• The Houthis threatened a “swift and painful” response if the U.S. decides to join Saudi Arabia’s recent attacks against them. The remarks come after a week of extreme violence from the group, which killed at least 20 people at an airport in Riyadh.

• The Vatican announced that Pope Leo has been diagnosed with lung cancer. The 71-year-old Catholic leader had developed a small pulmonary nodule, which doctors identified as cancer and successfully removed during Tuesday’s surgery.