Daily Briefing Feb. 20: Fateful day at Knesset as judicial overhaul set for 1st vote

Editor David Horovitz speaks ahead of landmark reading of bill that shifts judicial appointments; environment reporter Sue Surkes on stinky garbage grab by Interior Ministry

Welcome to The Times of Israel’s Daily Briefing, your 15-minute audio update on what’s happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, from Sunday through Thursday.

Editor David Horovitz and environment reporter Sue Surkes join host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today’s episode.

Potentially tens of thousands of Israelis are converging on Jerusalem for another mass demonstration outside the Knesset today. Some protestors have taken the step of blocking main roads and select MKs’ homes to prevent them from voting on the pivotal legislation, which would give the governing majority control of the appointment of judges. We hear whether Horovitz thinks this is a legit form of protest.

Yesterday, President Isaac Herzog said he believed a compromise agreement for judicial reform based on the five-step proposals he made last Sunday could be achieved in a matter of days. Realistic?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly asked Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara to narrow her interpretation of his conflict of interest clause — which lets him be prime minister during his active trials — and be allowed to directly deal with the judicial overhaul. Horovitz explains why this would be a severe conflict of interest.

Surkes explains how the Knesset chaos has led to a power struggle between the Interior and Environment Ministries over who gets to control Israel’s garbage.

Also in the halls of the parliament, a new infrastructure bill has activists stating it is “a declaration of war on environmental and climate governance in Israel.” What is so objectionable?

Finally, Surkes tells us about Grace Breeding’s NFT Bio-Fertilizer, which seeks to boost crop yields sustainably and strengthen the resilience of plants to climate change.