With summer over, Israel's election campaign begins in earnest. What are the main issues - and which should be but are not?

The Kremlin and the mullahs of Tehran, despite their disparate backgrounds and political agendas, have formed a working alliance against the West. Iranian media even trumpeted a "new world order" when Putin visited Tehran last month. What are their current areas of tension and cooperation? What does their cooperation mean for the United States and its allies? How can it best be countered?

How do the electoral map and the issues look in advance of Israeli elections on Nov. 1, as party lists take shape in the Knesset and as party unions form and dissolve?

Hamtramck, surrounded by Detroit, is perhaps the only U.S. town with a Muslim majority population, as well as the first one governed entirely by Muslims. It's newly-minted mayor, Amer Ghalib, has endorsed comments calling African Americans "animal[s]," Jews "monkeys," and been accused of corruption and voter fraud. Yet the media insists on ignoring the Ghalib story. Why so? What does this augur for Hamtramck? Should Americans care?

What is it like to be a Coptic Christian in Egypt; a Chaldean Catholic in Iraq; an atheist in Saudi Arabia; a Jew in Turkey; a Maronite in Lebanon; or a Sunni Muslim in Iran? What is the current state of religious liberty in the Middle East? What direction is it going? Why does it matter, beyond humanitarian concerns?

With a renewed nuclear deal with Iran looming, how are Israeli officials reacting? What are Israel's options?

Assorted governments, leftists, do-gooders and internationals NGOS have, for decades, encouraged the Palestinians to defy the reality of their situation and persist in an obsessive anti-Zionism, even when this goes against their own interests. How successful is this effort in harming Israel? Is the trend increasing or decreasing? What are Israel's options in response?

No matter how justified Israel's position in wartime, or how carefully the IDF avoids harming civilians, critics demonize the Jewish state, hating what it is, rather than what it does. What does it mean that Muslim-majority governments at peace with Israel still join in its demonization? What lessons can be drawn?

With primaries behind us and former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot joining the Gantz-Sa’ar party, the elections are taking shape; is there a realistic chance that Israel’s Nov. 1 elections will lead to a stable outcome?

Yasmine Mohammed, born of privileged Egyptian immigrant parents, grew up in a suffocating Islamist household isolated from the surrounding Canada and had to marry an Al Qaeda operative. She recounts her escape from this environment, her leaving Islam, and her success in developing a new life, then draws lessons for others in her situation.