Daily Briefing Mar. 26: Day 537 – Gazans rise up against Hamas: The end of the beginning?

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.

Senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today’s Daily Briefing.

The 2025 budget bill passed its final reading to become law yesterday afternoon, removing a major threat to the stability of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. Lawmakers voted 66-52 in favor of the NIS 755 billion ($205 billion) spending bill — the largest in Israeli history. We discuss which monies went where and why, plus look into the wide-sweeping political ramifications of the budget’s passage.

Hundreds of Palestinians protested against Hamas rule and the war in at least three locations in Gaza on Tuesday, a relatively rare occurrence in the Strip due to the terror group’s often violent suppression of political dissent. Summing up the seeds of optimism Israelis feel seeing this grassroots uprising, Rettig Gur, quotes a 1942 line from Winston Churchill, “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

This conversation can also be viewed here:

Please see today’s ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

In major success for government, Knesset approves 2025 budget, staving off elections

Hundreds in Gaza join rare protests against Hamas rule, call for an end to the war

Israel intercepts 3 rockets fired from north Gaza; Islamic Jihad takes responsibility

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by the Pod-Waves.

Check out yesterday’s Daily Briefing episode here: