The Central Bureau of Statistics reports a 3% increase in nationwide unemployment in September, to 236,400 people applying for state benefits.

**Beginning last week, Israel is permitting 3,000 head of cattle into Hamas ahead of the Eid al-Adha holiday.

**During a private luncheon on Sunday between IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-General Gabi Ashkenazi and Finance Committee Chairman MK R’ Moshe Gafne, the IDF commander called on Gafne to support a NIS 2 billion cut in government spending to free NIS 1.5 billion for defense spending. The remainder of the cut is to cover the cost of H1N1 vaccinations.

**Petach Tikvah Mayor Yitzchak Ochaiyon was questioned by police on Sunday regarding alleged election bribery.

**Disabled IDF veterans held a stormy protest on Monday morning outside the Defense Ministry on Tel Aviv’s Kaplan Street, disrupting the flow of traffic. The protestors accuse the Defense Ministry of failing to address their needs and rights as disabled vets.

**A 48-year-old construction worker, a resident of Rishon L’Tzion, fell to his death from the 9th floor elevator shaft of a Petach Tikvah building.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)