Daily Briefing Mar. 27: Special edition -- Israel on strike after PM fires Gallant

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, political correspondent Tal Schneider, senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur and Tech Israel editor Sharon Wrobel join host Amanda Borschel-Dan on this special extended episode.

Mass spontaneous protests erupted throughout the country last night with hundreds of thousands estimated to have taken to the streets after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who asked for a pause in the judicial overhaul on Saturday night. Today, unions and manufacturing heads have joined together in an unprecedented mass general strike, including hospitals and the airport — which one analyst has called “deploying the nuclear option” — even as the judicial overhaul marches ahead in the Knesset.

Horovitz starts us off by weighing in on whether the firing of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant could be the tipping point in changing the course of the judicial overhaul.

Schneider updates us on what has been happening inside the Knesset last night and this morning, including the passage in committee of key legislation.

Head of the Histadrut workers union Arnon Bar-David announced a nationwide strike aimed at stopping “the country’s descent into the abyss.” Wrobel updates us on the status of the market leading into the massive strike and what it may do to the economy.

This widespread mercantile unity is unprecedented. Rettig Gur explains what it may signify.

Our analysts speculate on what could be some of Netanyahu’s options now, as the country waits for an official announcement.