Israel's election, C of E slavery 'reparations', modern day witches

On Tuesday Israelis go to the polls, in the first general election since the Hamas attacks of October 7th 2023 and the war in Gaza that followed. It's looking like a tight race between Benjamin Netanyahu and the former army chief Gadi Eisenkot. There’s no postal voting, so many living abroad are flying home to take part, in what some see as the most pivotal vote in the country’s history. Issues of political accountability, religion, and the future character of the world's only constitutionally Jewish state have dominated the campaign.

Three years ago, the Church of England pledged a hundred million pounds to address its historic links to the transatlantic slave trade. Now a churchwarden and a rector have asked the Charity Commission for permission to challenge the plan, known as "Project Spire", in the High Court. They say the money is supposed to be supporting parish ministry, and that the Church's part in slavery has been overstated. We turn to two historians with very different takes on the moral case for reparations.

With Hallowe'en - and the Celtic festival of Samhain - only days away, what does it mean to call yourself a witch in 2026? For four years the filmmaker Rosie Reed Hillman has been documenting the lives of 17 women in mid-life who do just that. We take a trip to her exhibition "Witches & Healers: Something that was ours" and speak to a modern day witch.

Presenter: William Crawley
Producers: James Graham and Jay Unger
Studio Managers: Joe Stickler and Matthew Dempsey
Editor: Dan Tierney