Negotiations and disputed departures
Pakistan and Qatar proposed giving Iran interest earned on $6 billion frozen in Qatari banks in exchange for a confidential, unannounced IAEA inspection of nuclear facilities, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported. The principal would remain frozen. Sources cited by the outlet said Washington approved the proposal and Iran had previously responded positively.
Pakistani Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir delivered it to Tehran on Tuesday. After meeting him, Ghalibaf said Iran had nothing new to say to Washington and restoring trust required implementation of Tehran’s seven conditions.
Munir left Tehran; a Qatari delegation also visited and departed about 30 minutes later. Separately, senior Iranian officials told Reuters that Tehran was prolonging negotiations to deny Trump a political victory before the November 3 midterms.
Reuters reported preparations to evacuate some U.S. embassy personnel and families from Gulf countries. AFP reported departure orders for staff and families in Saudi Arabia; orders were also reported for families in the UAE, Jordan, Qatar and Bahrain.
State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott disputed AFP’s account, saying ordered departure applied only to non-emergency U.S. government employees and their families in Saudi Arabia.
Ultra-Orthodox military service
Fifteen Hasmonean Brigade cadets completed an eight-month officers’ course on October 21, the brigade’s first graduates. Their qualification and rank ceremony was scheduled that evening near the Western Wall.
The course retained the Bahad 1 curriculum with strict kosher standards, prayer and study times, and gender separation. Another course was scheduled for November.
The brigade seeks to address wartime personnel shortages while accommodating ultra-Orthodox observance, despite opposition from leading Haredi rabbis.
Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir told the cadets they could serve in defensive and offensive missions. At the separate Bahad 1 graduation, he emphasized shared responsibility for defense and the importance of military unity.
The IDF said 40 of 42 Chabad draft evaders arrested after landing at Ben Gurion Airport expressed willingness to enlist. Twenty-seven were found fit, received suspended sentences and returned home.
Thirteen initially imprisoned after refusing later signed affidavits expressing willingness to serve; their release status was unspecified. Two others were imprisoned after evading service for more than 540 days. The military said the 40 would enlist through Haredi tracks in the coming period.
Netanyahu criticized the arrests as undermining recruitment. Likud defended his support for enlistment, saying those not studying Torah must serve and outright refusers would face prison.
It claimed its approach would enlist 23,000 men over three years against 5,000 under legislation introduced by the left-wing bloc, and alleged opponents were privately offering a complete exemption to bring down his government.
Military voting
Voting began October 21 and continues through October 27, subject to operational requirements, for regular personnel and active-duty reservists.
Approximately 850 stations, about a quarter mobile, serve Israel and positions in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, including remote outposts. Soldiers were also voting from a missile boat off Eilat.
Soldiers may instead vote at civilian stations on October 27; double envelopes are intended to prevent duplicate voting.
IDF Elections Officer Col. Vered Ben Yehuda said the military would enable secret-ballot voting during combat and operational service and ensure elections proceeded as scheduled.
