Europe Today: Israel faces deadlock after vote, Nordic leaders hold rare Putin call

Name: Europe Today: Israel faces deadlock after vote, Nordic leaders hold rare Putin call
Uploaded: 2026-11-02T08:14:52+00:00
Duration: 20 min 11 s
Channel: euronews (in English)

00:14Good morning, it's Wednesday, October 28th. You're watching Euronews and this is Europe Today.

00:22Our top stories. Israel's election ended in an apparent deadlock yesterday. Exit polls by

00:28major television networks showed, with neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor his main

00:34rival Gadi Eisenkott on track for a majority in the Knesset. The stalemate could work in Netanyahu's

00:40favor, allowing the long-serving Prime Minister to remain in power in a caretaker capacity,

00:46while parties try to forge a governing coalition. Final results could take days.

00:51Finnish President Stub and Norwegian Prime Minister Störe held a surprise phone call with Russian

00:57President Putin, signaling Europe's increasing willingness to engage directly with Moscow to

01:03end the war in Ukraine. The two leaders urged Putin to commit to meaningful negotiations to reach a

01:09stable, peaceful settlement. The call was made at the initiative of the two Nordic leaders.

01:14Afterwards, they exchanged with Ukrainian President Zelensky. And French football superstar Kylian

01:22Mbappé has lost several of his biggest sponsorship deals in China after a video circulated online in

01:29which he appears to joke about Mao Zedong, the founder of the People's Republic. His comments

01:34led to a backlash that the Real Madrid forward has now apologized for. In China, jokes about Mao,

01:41who died in 1976, are seen as disrespectful and touched on a sensitive political and national

01:48issue. Welcome to the program. I'm Stefan Krober. But first, to the election in Israel, where no

01:55alliance of parties has secured the necessary majority. That is not unusual, as no single party

02:01has ever won 61 seats outright in the 120-member parliament, making coalitions the norm. In their first

02:08reactions, Netanyahu and Eisenkot attacked each other for playing with Israel's security. Take a

02:14listen.

02:17It is forbidden, simply forbidden, to endanger Israel by forming a government that relies on

02:23anti-Zionist Arab parties.

02:29Netanyahu, do not dare to use Israel's security for your political needs. To all the citizens of Israel,

02:35I say already now, I can assure you, the era of evasion has ended.

02:42Joining me now is Elan Levy, a former spokesman of the Israeli government. Good morning, Elan.

02:48Good morning.

02:50So, simple question. What just happened and what happens next?

02:55That is not a simple question. It's an excellent question. Israelis are waking up this morning,

02:59scratching their heads and asking what happened. I mean, let's bring you an update now from the

03:03partial votes that have been counted, with about 52% of the votes counted. Netanyahu's bloc has 55 seats

03:12in the 120-seat Knesset. The change bloc has 49 seats, and the Arab parties have surged to a historic

03:2116 seats. It means now there are really three options, a unity government, a minority government,

03:29or fresh elections. And all of those are going to require someone to surrender on some very serious

03:36coalition promises. The prospect of a minority government headed by Eisencott with the tacit

03:43support of the Arab parties is looking a lot less likely now that it seems they have dramatically

03:49underperformed. There is still a risk that Netanyahu's bloc could pull off that magic number

03:55of 61 seats. The votes are still being counted. But until we have a clearer picture, it would be

04:01pointless to speculate.

04:02Yeah, obviously a very complex situation. Is this the beginning of the end of the Netanyahu era,

04:08or are we underestimating his extraordinary ability to cling to power?

04:15Oh no, this is an extraordinary comeback for Netanyahu. Despite the October 7th massacre that happened on

04:20his watch, despite three years of war since then, despite huge public unrest and dissatisfaction

04:28over his alliance with the ultra-Orthodox parties and their demand for an exemption from military

04:34service, Netanyahu is the leader of the largest party by a wide margin. His bloc has a commanding

04:42lead over the change bloc. If we put the Arab parties to one side and we can talk about why

04:48those are

04:48considered somewhat problematic. Netanyahu has lost his majority. It seems it's unlikely that he will

04:55hold on to a majority. But unless someone else manages to form a government, he remains the

05:00caretaker prime minister. Either we go back to elections or someone folds and sues for peace and

05:06joins his coalition.

05:08Right. Aylan, I have to ask you this. You mentioned the Arab-led parties. They could hold the balance of

05:14power. But how conceivable is it really that they will decide who becomes Israel next prime minister?

05:20I mean, despite the refusal of several opposition leaders to govern with them.

05:25The possibility of a minority government headed by Eisenkot, at least temporarily, with the support of

05:32some of the Arab parties was floated as an option. Leaders within the change bloc are warning that would

05:39be extremely unpopular and would backlash and end up giving Netanyahu an even bigger majority in the

05:45next election. As much as anyone wants to see the integration of Arabs into Israeli life, I think most

05:50European listeners would not want to have an Islamist party or an Arab communist party sitting in their own

05:57government. Mansour Abbas made big steps to come towards the change bloc and yet still refuses to call

06:03Hamas a terrorist organization. The Joint List, one of its newly elected candidates, dedicated their

06:10victory to the people of Gaza and occupied Jerusalem. So they are still kryptonite for most of the

06:16mainstream parties. It's possible that Eisenkot could rely on them to try to form a minority

06:22government. It would be very unpopular and definitely unstable.

06:26All right. Aylan Levy, former Israeli government spokesman. Thank you so much for your analysis this

06:31morning. Now, America is heading for a political showdown and the stakes could hardly be higher.

06:37In just one week, voters will decide who controls Congress in what is widely seen as a referendum on

06:42Donald Trump's presidency. With Republicans fighting to hold on to power and Democrats hoping for a

06:48comeback, the outcome could reshape Washington and Trump's last two years in the White House.

06:54For more on this, I'm now joined by Keith Branham, senior advisor on U.S. politics at consulting firm

06:59Green Lane with more than a decade of experience as a Democratic strategist and campaign manager.

07:05Good morning and thanks for coming on.

07:07Good morning.

07:08So right now, Democrats have a huge polling advantage. On the generic ballot, likely voters prefer

07:15Democratic candidates over Republicans by 11 points in their congressional districts.

07:20But when it comes to Senate races, the Democrats' lead narrows to just five points.

07:25Is there still some nail-biting or do Democrats have it in the bag?

07:32There's definitely some nail-biting, but this is far more nail-biting than Republicans would have

07:37wanted. When we came into 2026, it was understood that the House, because of history, was probably in

07:45play for Democrats. Democrats probably had a really good chance of winning it. And the Senate was out of

07:51reach. The map was just not in their favor. That is how much the politics has changed between January

07:57and now. And there's a few reasons for that. One, Democrats have recruited really fantastic

08:03candidates across some really difficult states that Republicans are used to winning. And Donald Trump

08:09in 2024 won by high single digits, sometimes double digits. And for example, you had a great candidate

08:17candidate in Tallarico in Texas who won a really competitive primary and is going up against a

08:26Republican candidate who is belated by scandal. And this has put... Keith, if I may, I have to ask you

08:32this. Over the past decade, pollsters understated Trump's and Republican strength. Are the polls

08:38overestimating Democrats yet again? I would say the polls are not overestimating. In fact,

08:45most polls are within the margin of error. So it is a coin talk across so many of these districts.

08:52Again, where we started in January, that is just how much this landscape changed. So just like in 2024,

08:59where you had a bunch of states that you could have said one way or another would have gone for

09:04Kamala

09:05Harris or for Donald Trump in the presidential election, now you have the same situation here.

09:10Again, that's just how much the map has shifted against Republicans.

09:13Briefly, Keith, to what extent would the Democratic Congress have the ability to roll back Trump's

09:18policies?

09:20That is a really good question, because right now, this Congress has been very, I would say,

09:26very subservient to the president. And the president has shown little interest in governing with

09:31Congress. Now, with Democratic majorities, Democrats will certainly, and they have been very vocal

09:36about holding the president accountable and using their powers of oversight and investigation to try

09:42to do so. I think we are in uncertain times because the president normally in these next two years would

09:48go into what we call the lame duck status. And we're probably not get a lot done because, again,

09:53we're looking forward to the next presidential administration because we have another presidential

09:57election coming up next year. All right. All right. Thank you so much, Keith Branham,

10:03U.S. election campaign insider. Thank you for your time this morning. In a major diplomatic

10:08development, two of Ukraine's closest European allies have opened a direct line to Vladimir Putin

10:13as efforts to end Russia's war gather pace. The leaders of Finland and Norway initiated the call,

10:20which could pave the way for peace talks in Abu Dhabi next month, with Europe seeking a seat at the

10:26negotiating table. But the move has also raised the politically sensitive question in Brussels,

10:31who speaks for Europe in negotiations with Moscow? Joining me now is our correspondent,

10:37Sasha Bakulina. Good morning, Sasha. So what came out of this phone conversation with Putin? And does that

10:43bring peace talks any closer? It does, actually. It was a huge diplomatic step. But at the same time,

10:49it was as delicate and as sensitive, diplomatically speaking, as it gets, Stefan, because both leaders say

10:54that they do represent only their national governments and they do not speak for the European

10:59Union. But still, the question is there and the tension is here. What about the EU? Do they represent

11:03the European Union? Do they represent Europe? They say no, but they did insist that they consulted both

11:07Ukraine and the European Union before going into those negotiations. Let's take a listen to what

11:12Alexander Stubb had to say commenting on it. The discussion with President Putin was professional

11:19and direct. And we, of course, as Norway and Finland continue to support Ukraine and work towards a

11:29lasting and just peace. Now, the road towards a meeting with the United States, Ukraine, Russia and Europeans

11:42have been paved for Abu Dhabi sometime in November.

11:48President Zelensky has also spoken about the next round of negotiations. What is he expecting and what

11:56conditions is he setting?

11:58Kyiv wants two things. Kyiv wants a ceasefire in any shape or form of it. And Kyiv wants to have

12:03direct

12:03talks with Russia. Both of those things Moscow has been rejecting for a very long time. Also,

12:08Moscow has been rejecting any possibility of direct talks with Europe as well, Stefan. So this is

12:13major. If the first time they allow the possibility of having European negotiators. At the same time,

12:18it's not clear whether Europe will be or the European Union will be represented at the talks in Abu Dhabi.

12:23So far, it is trilateral format still that is on the agenda. This is what Volodymyr Zelenskyy said about it.

12:31It is important that Europe is involved in all diplomatic efforts. Ukraine has always insisted

12:37that Europe must be present and must be involved in decision-making. And this applies to everyone

12:43in Europe. No one should be left out of the process. I would like to thank everyone who is actively

12:49involved and who is helping us.

12:53Our correspondent Sasha Vakulina, thank you very much. A political earthquake in Serbia and potentially

13:00the end of an era. After years of protests, mounting anger over corruption and growing opposition to

13:07President Aleksandar Vucic, last Sunday's parliamentary elections have delivered a stunning upset,

13:13with the student-led opposition emerging victorious. But bringing down an entrenched political

13:18establishment is one thing. Governing a deeply divided country is quite another. So, is Serbia

13:25finally turning a page? Joining me now is Marco Prelek, Senior Western Balkans Analyst with the

13:31International Crisis Group. Good morning and thanks for being with us.

13:36Good morning. It's a pleasure to be here.

13:38So, the student movement united people from very different political backgrounds. Now that their

13:43common enemy is gone, what is holding them together?

13:48That really remains to be seen. I mean, I think the most important thing to keep in mind about the

13:54student movement is that it is not a political party in any sense. This is really a totally

14:01unprecedented thing. The people that won, none of them are professional politicians. That was one of the

14:09criteria for being listed on the student movement's campaign lists. There's no single leader. There's

14:17no charismatic figure. They really won the elections purely on the strength of their promise to turn the

14:24page after 14 years of the government of President Vucic.

14:30Serbians voted for change, obviously, particularly an end to corruption. How quickly can the new

14:36leadership deliver and what happens if it fails?

14:39I think this will take a long time. I mean, there's a lot, you know, it is 14 years of

14:44an

14:44entrenched system to, first of all, understand and investigate and then dismantle and replace with

14:50something else. I think there's, I think it's maybe premature to start worrying about what happens if

14:59they fail. They haven't even taken office yet. I think it's also likely that we overstate the extent

15:06to which the society is divided. A lot of people clung to the President Vucic's party because

15:15of the patronage system. So as that is dismantled, quite a few of them will fall away, leaving a

15:20smaller ideologically committed core, as happened with other parties in similar positions in the past.

15:27Brussels has welcomed the result, but is the EU celebrating too soon? I mean,

15:31do we actually know whether Serbia's new leaders want to bring the country closer to Europe?

15:37Well, they've said they do. They have been somewhat ambivalent about whether they

15:42mean that to mean eventual membership in the European Union, something which is

15:47really under a question mark for a variety of reasons. But they clearly do seek better relations

15:56with the member states of the European Union and with the EU itself, and with and constructive

16:01relations with their neighbors, which is also very important. All right, Marco Preleg from the

16:06International Crisis Group. Thank you for your insights. Now, if you're a football fan, you might have

16:12heard about it. Kylian Mappé, the captain of the French national team and one of the sport's global

16:17superstars, is in hot water. What got him there is his unfortunate nickname on social media,

16:24The Dictator, over his huge influence on and off the pitch. While he was on a French talk show,

16:30the Real Madrid forward was asked about the funny online memes about him. He then said,

16:35the one that makes him laugh most is this picture of a man he thinks is a Chinese dictator. Those

16:42who

16:42didn't laugh were Chinese officials. Mbappé found himself quickly at the center of a diplomatic storm

16:48and a fierce backlash. Sensing that something was wrong, Mbappé then issued the following apology.

16:55My comment was ill-judged, and I now understand that it hurt many people in China and in Chinese

17:01communities around the world. I apologize to everyone. My words have upset. I'm sincerely

17:07sorry. Is that the end of it? Let's bring in Irish sports journalist and football expert,

17:14Ken Early. Good morning and good to see you, Ken. Good morning. Good to see you too.

17:19So, is the lesson learned here that when you're a football star, never joke about leaders who died

17:25half a century ago? Well, it's not a rule that many players have actually broken before now.

17:35And I'm sure Kylian Mbappé was as surprised as anybody to discover that his comments made some

17:40six months ago had caused such offence in China. But it's not the first time that something along

17:48these lines has happened. The German player Mesut Ozil, who played for Arsenal at the time in 2019,

17:55posted on social media about the plight of the Uyghur people in China. And unlike what Mbappé has done,

18:03his was actually direct political criticism of China over what's happening with the Uyghur people there.

18:10And in that instance, well, they said, okay, Arsenal won't be on Chinese television anymore,

18:16and Mesut Ozil will not be mentioned on Chinese social media. And Arsenal, his club,

18:21quickly issued a response distancing themselves, saying this is his opinion, not ours. And Ozil was

18:26in fact sold not long after that, although I don't think it was for that reason. But these types of

18:31things have happened before. And Ken, at least three Chinese companies have already cut ties with

18:36Mbappé. How much money could this controversy cost him? And how serious is the damage to his global

18:41brand? I don't think it's going to cause serious economic problems for Kylian Mbappé. Obviously,

18:49nobody wants to lose sponsors. I did see that Javier Tebas, who is the head of La Liga in Spain,

18:56went to visit the Spanish, the rather Chinese ambassador in Spain to apologize, which suggests

19:02that he at least sees it as potentially a problem if, you know, Real Madrid games aren't going to be

19:07shown on Chinese television. Now, I'm sure they will be. What usually happens is there's an angry,

19:13you know, response from China, and then there's an institutional apology, and then things get

19:18smoothed over. But it sort of shows this situation, sports clubs, sports leagues want to market to a

19:25global marketplace. But that global marketplace is divided into different political regimes. And

19:31increasingly, political statements of any kind, and Mbappé's wasn't even a political statement,

19:36he was simply laughing at a meme someone had presented to him, which had some political,

19:42satirical political content, that any political statement is going to cause commercial issues.

19:48Okay, Ken Early, Irish sports journalist, thank you very much for your thoughts on this,

19:52this morning. And that does it for us today. Thank you for watching. I'm Stefan Grobe,

19:58and I'll see you tomorrow.

Europe Today: Israel faces deadlock after vote, Nordic leaders hold rare Putin call

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