Daily Briefing Mar. 19: Day 165 – How resettling Gaza is not a quixotic passing fancy
Zman Yisrael editor Biranit Goren on the much-awaited Biden-Netanyahu phone call, how new elections could come about; settlements reporter Jeremy Sharon on new US sanctions
Welcome to The Times of Israel’s Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what’s happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world.
Today is day 165 of the war with Hamas. Zman Yisrael editor Biranit Goren and settlements reporter Jeremy Sharon join host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today’s episode.
US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on the phone yesterday. It was their 20th phone call since the outbreak of war following Hamas’s October 7 attack, but their first since February 15. Goren fills us in on the broad-strokes points addressed in the conversation, according to both leaders’ readouts.
The phone call came four days after a scorching speech from longtime pro-Israel stalwart Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer — the most senior Jewish lawmaker in Congress — calling for early elections in Israel to replace Netanyahu. What are the scenarios that could lead to new elections?
The United States imposed sanctions on three more Israeli settlers — and, for the first time, two illegal outposts — implicated in West Bank violence. What does it mean to sanction an outpost?
Six Israeli settler activists were arrested Friday night during a Shabbat dinner next to the Erez Crossing into Gaza, where they were spending a Shabbat dedicated to calling for the resettlement by Israel of the Gaza Strip. Sharon takes a step back and delivers the big picture.
More than half of the evacuees from Israel’s south — 32,000 out of the 60,000 people whom the government evacuated from locales within a 7-kilometer radius (4.3 miles) of the border with Gaza — are back in their communities. The question remains, how are they going to be protected?
For the latest updates, please see The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.
Discussed articles include:
Biden rules out support for major Rafah op, in first call with PM in over a month
US targets three settlers, two illegal outposts in second round of sanctions
Six settler activists arrested at Erez Crossing after 50 people stage Shabbat event
Over half of southern evacuees back home as officials prep massive rehabilitation push
THOSE WE HAVE LOST: Civilians and soldiers killed in Hamas’s onslaught on Israel
THOSE WE ARE MISSING: The hostages and victims whose fate is still unknown
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