Israel Considers New Flight Tax to Fund Environmental Mitigation

Good Morning, Israel · Monday, November 9, 2026 · 7:47

Good Morning, Israel · Episode 43

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1. Israel Considers New Flight Tax to Fund Environmental Mitigation
2. Israeli Attorney General: No Evidence Foreign Election Interference Changed Results
3. Lod Mayor Warns of Escalation After Jewish-Arab Clashes
4. President Taps Eisenkot to Form Government Amid Political Maneuvering
5. Shas Leader Arie Deri Resigns from Knesset, Remains Party Chairman
6. Eisenkot Tapped to Form Israel's Next Government Amid Democracy Concerns

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Maya

The clock is officially running. Gadi Eisenkot has twenty-eight days to build Israel's next government.

Daniel

And his plan is a government that doesn't have a majority, at least not on paper.

Maya

This is Good Morning, Israel from baba News. It's Monday, November ninth. I'm Maya.

Daniel

And I'm Daniel.

Maya

Yesterday we told you President Isaac Herzog was handing Eisenkot the mandate. That's now done. So what's new?

Daniel

The details. Eisenkot, the former I D F Chief of Staff who leads the Yashar party, has twenty-eight days, plus a possible fourteen-day extension.

Maya

And the line everyone's repeating?

Daniel

He warned that Israeli democracy faces a dangerous crossroads. That set the tone for what he's attempting.

Maya

Which is a minority government. Explain how that even works.

Daniel

A minority government has fewer than sixty-one seats inside the coalition. It survives because a party outside it votes with it on key questions.

Maya

And that outside party would be?

Daniel

Raam, the United Arab List. According to the reports, it's offering external support. Not ministers, not seats at the cabinet table, just votes.

Maya

Wait, that's exactly what Avigdor Lieberman said he wouldn't accept.

Daniel

Right. Lieberman, who heads the secular right-wing party Yisrael Beytenu, still refuses to support a government that depends on Arab parties. So Eisenkot's plan runs straight into one of his own partners.

Maya

So the bridge we talked about yesterday now has a toll booth, and Lieberman won't pay.

Daniel

Something like that. And then there's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's unity offer from the weekend.

Maya

Any takers?

Daniel

Not from Yashar. Eisenkot's party rejected it, and said Netanyahu would first have to distance himself from his far-right allies.

Maya

So a door opens, and the reply is, clear the room first.

Daniel

Exactly. And it's worth remembering the math. Sixty-seven lawmakers recommended Eisenkot, forty-six recommended Netanyahu.

Maya

And if Eisenkot runs out of time?

Daniel

Then Netanyahu could get his own chance. If that fails too, the Knesset, Israel's parliament, dissolves, and new elections are held within ninety days.

Maya

A new Knesset that hasn't even been sworn in yet.

Daniel

That happens Tuesday. The twenty-sixth Knesset takes its oath tomorrow.

Maya

Staying with politics, a big departure. Arie Deri, the leader of Shas, is leaving the Knesset.

Daniel

Shas is one of the two ultra-Orthodox, or Haredi, parties. Deri announced his resignation Sunday evening, after the party won only six seats in the election.

Maya

Six. That's a blow for a party used to being kingmaker.

Daniel

It is. But he's not leaving politics. Deri remains chairman of the Shas movement.

Maya

Who decided that?

Daniel

The Council of Torah Sages, the rabbinical body that guides Shas. They met and instructed him to stay on as chairman.

Maya

And he's not going alone.

Daniel

No. Two other Shas list members, Dror Amos and Moshe Abutbul, also resigned from the Knesset.

Maya

Yesterday Deri said he wouldn't break up the right-wing bloc. Does this change that?

Daniel

Nothing in his announcement suggests it does. But he'll now be steering the party from outside parliament, in the middle of coalition talks.

Maya

Now to the election interference story we've been following. Attorney General Gali Baharav Miara weighed in on Sunday.

Daniel

The Attorney General is Israel's top legal official. She said there's no evidence that the suspected foreign interference changed the election results.

Maya

Suspected interference, but no change to the outcome.

Daniel

That's her finding. She also stressed that investigations are based only on evidence and professional considerations, not politics.

Maya

Why say that out loud?

Daniel

Because there are disagreements inside the Shin Bet, Israel's internal security service, over corruption probes in the Arab community.

Maya

What kind of disagreements?

Daniel

Some sources claim Shin Bet head David Zini hasn't provided enough evidence for some of his statements. Others say he faces limitations, but has enough material for indictments.

Maya

So it's not settled whether there's a case, only that the election result stands.

Daniel

That's where things are.

Maya

To Lod, a mixed Jewish and Arab city in central Israel, where clashes broke out Sunday evening.

Daniel

Violent clashes between Jewish and Arab residents. Eleven people were arrested, and several were injured.

Maya

What's the mayor saying?

Daniel

Lod Mayor Yair Revivo condemned the violence, and blamed extremist outsiders for inciting local youths. He warned it could escalate further.

Maya

Did he call anyone in?

Daniel

He contacted the Shin Bet to prevent things from deteriorating. And he said Lod is a shared home, condemning violence and vigilantism from any side.

Maya

So the message is, let the state handle this.

Daniel

Exactly. He wants law and order led by the state, and he's appealing to community leaders on both sides to step in.

Maya

Now to money. Flying out of Israel could soon cost more.

Daniel

The Tax Authority has proposed a new flight tax. It would be charged on departures, based on the aircraft's weight and the distance flown.

Maya

How much?

Daniel

Anywhere from twelve to two hundred and seventy-four shekels per passenger. Altogether, it's expected to raise one point one billion shekels a year.

Maya

And the reasoning?

Daniel

To offset the environmental and health costs of air travel. Similar taxes already exist in Europe.

Maya

Who's unhappy?

Daniel

Air Haifa, an Israeli airline, says it could push up ticket prices for Israelis.

Maya

Which matters more than usual, because so much of Israel's travel abroad happens by plane.

Daniel

Right, it's the main way out for most people.

Maya

Some better news on prices, if you like cheese.

Daniel

The Ministry of Economy is issuing import quotas for five thousand nine hundred tons of hard cheese in twenty twenty-seven.

Maya

More imports, more competition.

Daniel

That's the idea. It's meant to counter rising global cheese prices, and follows earlier steps that already brought prices down.

Maya

A rare bit of relief.

Daniel

Rare, because other essential goods and fuel are expected to get more expensive in Israel later this year.

Maya

Abroad now, and Krakow, in southern Poland.

Daniel

Six people were killed and fifteen wounded in a mass shooting. Polish authorities have opened a terrorism investigation into a suspect with extreme nationalist views.

Maya

How is Krakow's Jewish community reacting?

Daniel

With striking calm. Bookstore owner Lucy Les and others say they still feel safe in Poland, pointing to the country's general security, and lower antisemitism than in other Western European countries.

Maya

And Israelis who were there?

Daniel

They also played it down, noting gun violence is rare in Poland. Some compared the fear to what they know from Israel.

Maya

So, an isolated event, not a trend.

Daniel

That's how the community sees it.

Maya

One quick warning before we go. Something called Gat Drops.

Daniel

They're sold for weight loss and marketed as natural. The Health Ministry and Police say they contain methamphetamine.

Maya

Natural, apart from the meth.

Daniel

Apart from that. They can cost up to eight hundred shekels. Chewing the khat plant is legal in Israel, but extracts are banned, with severe penalties for distribution.

Maya

And anyone who's taken them?

Daniel

Authorities say stop, and seek medical help.

Maya

The thing to watch tomorrow is the swearing-in of the twenty-sixth Knesset, the first time all one hundred and twenty members meet while Eisenkot hunts for a government.

Daniel

Follow Good Morning, Israel so tomorrow's episode is waiting for you.

Maya

See you tomorrow morning.