Overnight editors led with an unannounced visit by U.S. Defense Secretary Hegseth, who met Netanyahu at Ovda air base eight days before the election. Coverage tied the silence around the talks to preparations for a renewed strike on Iran, with reports of Emirati officials present and a third U.S. carrier en route.
By morning focus shifted to Ben-Gurion Airport, where some 50 Chabad students returning from New York were detained as suspected draft evaders. Netanyahu called the arrests unacceptable and promised a fast exemption law, then clarified evaders would face jail, as police said dozens were released after military police failed to arrive.
Afternoon coverage turned to polls showing Eisenkot at 23 seats ahead of Likud at 19 with Netanyahu's bloc at 48, alongside competing claims of a Qatari-brokered understanding to unfreeze billions for supervision, which Tehran denied while Netanyahu said he urged Trump to eliminate Iran's regime.