Daily Briefing Jun 27: Israel’s current COVID wave may be much worse than we know

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.

Political correspondent Tal Schneider and health reporter Nathan Jeffay join host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today’s episode.

Israel’s tit-for-tat parliamentary politics are running in high gear today in the Knesset. We have bills to dissolve the government and a proposed bill to effectively block former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu from heading a new coalition. Schneider tells us about the two pieces of legislation’s chances in today’s tumultuous sessions.

The US Supreme Court released a decision on Friday to repeal the federal right of abortion and to send it back to each state to decide. Schneider wrote a piece on our Zman Yisrael Hebrew sister site giving four cases in which the decision could affect Israel. She brings highlights.

Jeffay spoke with epidemiologist Prof. Ran Balicer, chair of Israel’s National Expert Advisory Team on the country’s COVID-19 response. We hear what is actually happening here with the coronavirus pandemic.

Jeffay also brings us news about an Israeli company that is set to test if fecal bacteria pills could boost cancer immunotherapy. What’s the science behind this?

Discussed articles include:

Battle lines drawn as coalition and opposition resume clash over Knesset’s fate

Government advances ‘problematic’ bill that would block defendant Netanyahu’s return

‘My country changed her face’: Pelosi responds to abortion ruling with Israeli poem

Science of uncertainty: Gov’t adviser on why this COVID wave is so hard to predict

Israeli company to test if fecal bacteria pills boost cancer immunotherapy

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Check out yesterday’s Daily Briefing episode: