Election Season Collides with Gaza Policy
Gamliel promises Tehran strolls, Bennett attacks Netanyahu, and the PMO ignores Knesset requests.
Election Season Collides with Gaza Policy — Minister Gila Gamliel promised this morning on 103FM that "we will yet stroll in the streets of Tehran," while assessing that unrest in Iran will renew due to inflation and unemployment over 50%.[^1] She also reiterated her voluntary migration plan, citing a poll where 4,000 of 5,000 Gazans surveyed want to leave.[^1] The interview came hours after Naftali Bennett, chairman of the Yashar party, visited Netiv HaAsara near the Gaza border and sharply attacked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.[^2] Bennett claimed Hamas has restored its command structure and rearmed, with more armed terrorists than on October 7.[^2] The contrast between Gamliel's Tehran boast and Bennett's Gaza warning frames the election's central tension: who owns the security narrative. Meanwhile, Netanyahu appeared yesterday on the 'Shomer Saf' podcast, sharing how his sons pay a heavy price—Yair hid under a table in kindergarten for a week after a parody.[^3] The personal plea lands as new data shows the Prime Minister's Office responded to only 18 of 82 Knesset member requests during the 25th Knesset, leaving 64 unanswered, including four related to QatarGate.[^4] The 22% response rate over 44 months suggests a government too busy campaigning to answer its legislature—or one that prefers silence on sensitive affairs. Ben Gvir added his own provocation, planting trees in the Negev's Wadi Anim area, which faces ownership claims. Council head Atia Al-A'sam called it an "election campaign provocation" aimed at stirring conflict between Arabs and Jews.[^5] Meanwhile, war hero Avidar Bachar refused a Likud list spot, calling it "a place that stank on October 7," and attacked the Gaza deal as "the last nail in Israel's coffin."[^6] As the campaign heats up, each party reaches for Gaza or Tehran—but the PMO's unanswered requests suggest a government that would rather talk than respond. Tel Aviv Raids and Courtroom Fury: Crime Beat — Outside Jerusalem Magistrate's Court today, family members of Binyahu Razi shouted at Avior Sasson, the main suspect in his murder, calling for him to "rot in prison until your last day" [^1]. Razi's mother, speaking in an in