Daily Briefing July 13: Who’s afraid of a US-Israel relationship reassessment?
News editor Amy Spiro, senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur on fallout of NYT op-ed claiming US is reviewing its Israel ties; why coalition and opposition find it hard to woo the center
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleWelcome 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.
Senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur and news editor Amy Spiro join host Jacob Magid for Thursday’s podcast.
Spiro discusses NYT columnist Thomas Friedman’s latest op-ed in which he claimed that the Biden administration has begun reassessing its relationship with the Netanyahu government, given the latter’s “extreme” nature.
The column received a lot of attention in both Israel and the US with officials from both governments quick to downplay the notion that times are a-changin’, and Spiro helps put it all into perspective.
Rettig Gur gives a sneak peek into a piece he is working on about how Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leaders Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz are struggling to gain support for their judicial overhaul stances beyond their respective bases.
Rettig Gur lays out the dilemma: Neither side will succeed unless they cater to the roughly one-third of Israelis who prefer a more measured approach, but moving toward the political center would mean abandoning the more dominant ends of the political spectrum that are less interested in compromise.
To close, Spiro discusses Hollywood superstar Helen Mirren’s appearance Thursday evening at the Jerusalem Film Festival, where she will be receiving a reward for her performance in the biopic “Golda,” which premieres at the event.
Discussed articles include:
NY Times’s Friedman: Netanyahu government making rethink of US-Israel ties ‘inevitable’
American, Israeli officials downplay columnist’s claim US reassessing ties with Israel
‘Not over’: Opposition vows to keep up fight after government advances judicial bill
In reversal, Netanyahu beats Gantz in head-to-head race for premiership in TV poll
Golda Meir biopic starring Helen Mirren to open 40th Jerusalem Film Festival
‘Golda’ director defends casting Helen Mirren: ‘She’s got the Jewish chops’
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