France will not stop trying to promote its initiative to convene an international peace conference by the end of the year despite Israel's negative response to the idea, senior French diplomats told the Haaretz newspaper on Monday evening.

Earlier on Monday, Israeli officials meeting with French envoy Pierre Vimont reiterated Israel’s firm opposition to the peace initiative, aimed at restarting long-stalled peace efforts with the Palestinian Authority (PA).

Maccabi Tel Aviv on Monday defeated Maccabi Ashdod / Be'er Tuvia by a score of 72-66 as part of the fifth round of the basketball league.

Maccabi’s victory gives it a perfect 5-0 record, the best beginning to a season for the club in six years.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump suggested on Monday that FBI Director James Comey was under “tremendous pressure” to clear Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s name.

He was reacting to Comey’s announcement on Sunday that the FBI had not changed its opinion about not pressing charges against Clinton over her use of a private email server, even after reviewing new emails that had surfaced in connection with the probe.

MK Shuli Mualem (Jewish Home) reacted on Monday evening to a television news report which found that grants for medical interns living in the periphery were canceled.

“Great efforts are invested in promoting health benefits for citizens living in the periphery, among other things by providing incentives for interns to come to hospitals in the periphery in order to solve the shortage of medical personnel. The health system in the periphery should receive a significant budget increase,” said Mualem.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has about a 90 percent chance of defeating Republican Donald Trump in Tuesday’s presidential election, the final Reuters/Ipsos States of the Nation project has found.

Clinton’s chances are roughly similar to last week's odds, and any upset by Trump on Tuesday depends on an unlikely combination of turnouts of white, black and Hispanic voters in six or seven states, according to the survey released on Monday afternoon (Eastern Time).

The Liba Center releases a history of partition between men and women at the Western Wall of the Temple in Jerusalem, showing that partition existed 115 years ago.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump continued his attack on Democrat Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama on Monday. At a rally in North Carolina, he spoke about jobs lost to foreign countries and his intent to repeal Obama Care as soon as he takes office. Trump said FBI Director James Comey was under a lot of pressure not to reopen a criminal investigation against Clinton who, Trump said, threatened American security.

Speaking in Michigan, Obama cited Trump as being the first candidate not to have paid taxes in years. The president said that meant Trump did not financially support American defense, veterans or public universities.

Honest Reporting Canada is protesting a pictorial in the October 31st edition of Maclean's Magazine which describes workouts by Gazans "among the concrete and rubble left behind after an Israeli shelling", but "was devoid of any context about what caused the 2014 war between Israel and Hamas and what brought about the ensuing damage of parts of Gaza."

Referring to Hamas's arsenal of rockets and terror tunnels employed against nearby Jewish targets, HRC says, "In the interests of balance, Maclean’s would be well served by publishing photos of these deadly rockets, of Israeli civilians terrified in bomb shelters and being treated in hospitals, and of Hamas terrorists in civilian clothing shooting rockets at Israeli civilians. That would paint a balanced and contextualized picture of the conflict."

Senior Palestinian Authority official Saeb Erekat said, Monday, that France intends to send invitations to its international Middle East summit next month, according to Kol Yisrael government radio.

Doctor Erekat spoke following a visit to Ramallah by Pierre Vimont, a special French envoy involved in preparations for the conference. PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas expressed his support for the French initiative.

Following dangerous incidents of Arabs firing guns in celebration at weddings, the Israel Defense Forces take steps to curb the phenomenon and close a wedding hall.

Electors? It only sounds complicated. Video shows how national elections work in the US and why the candidate with the most popular votes can lose.

Anti-Trump ad takes clip of candidate speaking of ban on Muslims entering US and substitutes "Jewish" for "Muslim".

Syria's presidency dispatched an envoy to Lebanon on Monday to congratulate newly-elected President Michel Aoun, the first such official visit in six years, according to Agence France Presse. Speaking after meeting Aoun, Syria's Minister of Presidential Affairs Mansour Azzam said Assad's message included his hope for a "new era which we hope will bring good things, stability and security for the brotherly nation of Lebanon."

The trip is the first by a Syrian official to Lebanon since 2010, when Assad and then-Saudi King Abdullah visited the country in a bid to tamp rising
political tensions. It is also the first since Syria's civil war erupted in March 2011, with protests against Assad's government. Aoun is allied with Hezbollah, which backs Assad, while newly-appointed Prime Minister Saad Hariri is fiercely opposed to the Syrian president.

The opposition leader aims his accusations at associates of the prime minister.

President Reuven Rivlin addressed the Israel-America Chamber of Commerce's annual event in honor of the free trade agreement between Israel and the United States, Monday evening.

Rivlin said, “Tonight is a chance to congratulate all the citizens of the United States, on the occasion of the election.” He stressed, “However harsh the arguments, however severe the disagreements, America is the world’s greatest democracy, and whoever wins the election, the real winner is the people, whose voice is heard, and who play a part in shaping their futures.”

President Reuven Rivlin received the diplomatic credentials of new ambassadors to Israel from Belgium, Finland Greece, Latvia and Switzerland.

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An investigation reveals that at least 20 soldiers in the German army have radical Islamist links, and there may be more.

The Justice Ministry expressed opposition, Monday, to clemency for Yonatan Hilo, who is serving a 12-year sentence for manslaughter in the death of the man who raped him.

65 Knesset members signed a request for President Reuven Rivlin to pardon Hilo, who was originally sentenced to 20 years for murder. The charge and sentence were reduced by the Supreme Court. The Justice Ministry based its opposition to clemency on the lack of new developments since the Supreme Court decision.

Germany charges two men claiming to be refugees as human traffickers responsible for the deaths of actual refugees.

Kretchnif Hassidim, descendants of the Nadvorna Hassidic dynasty are here celebrating an engagement on Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan.

Dan Shapiro, United States Ambassador to Israel said, Monday evening, that his country is interested in more and more Israeli companies investing in the US.

Speaking at an Israel-US Chamber of Commerce event to mark the 30th anniversary of the free-trade agreement between the two countries, Ambassador Shapiro called the chamber an essential partner for widening commercial tied between the countries and a real ally in strengthening economic relations between them.

After meeting fierce resistance, the Kurdish forces fighting to capture the key Syrian city of Raqa from Islamic State terrorists advances toward its goal.

Iraqi media reported, Monday, that security forces have uncovered a mass grave with 100 beheaded bodies on the south side of Mosul.

They are apparently people who were executed by Islamic State terrorists, who held the suburb of Hamam Al-Alil until a few days ago.

A young man suffered moderate wounds, Monday evening, in a shooting next to the Afek Junction of Highway 79 in northern Israel.

Police are investigating.

It's been two weeks since Carmel Shamah-Hacohen, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, was "recalled for consultation" by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in protest of UNESCO resolutions denying non-Muslim links to Jerusalem holy sites.

During that time, Shamah-Hacohen has not been called in for consultation and, as of Monday, none has been scheduled. He is also Israel's representative to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.  The Foreign Ministry responded by saying the ambassador's recall "is and accepted procedure in the diplomatic world." It added, "The decision to end the consultations will be made at the appropriate time."

Democratic Senator accuses Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump of using imagery associated with The Protocols of the Elders of Zion in a TV ad.

The offensive to retake Mosul is in its third week, making slow but steady progress.

The tatoo also had a phrase from the gate of the Buchenwald death camp, “Jedem das Seine” — “to each his own.”

The Knesset approved, Monday evening, a bill to reduce debts from fines to be paid to government agencies and authorities, including police reports, traffic and other court fines and criminal proceedings.

The law stipulates that the state will reduce the arrears on the debt at the Center for Collecting Fines. A memorandum says that the savings will not be less than 40% of the current debt (without affecting the original fine). The campaign will last 120 days, starting November 15th. The last similar campaign was conducted in 2001.