Day 537 - Gazans rise up against Hamas: The end of the beginning?

The Times of Israel Daily Briefing

The Times of Israel

News

4.4 • 864 Ratings

🗓️ 26 March 2025

⏱️ 27 minutes

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Summary

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 against the war in at least three locations in Gaza on Tuesday, in 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."

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.

IMAGE: A slogan in Arabic reading (R): 'Enough killing and destruction' and another reading (L): 'The children of Palestine: We want to live' are displayed during a rally calling for an end to the war where hundreds chanted anti-Hamas slogans, in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on March 25, 2025. (AFP)

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Times of Israel's daily briefing.
0:09.0	Today's Wednesday, March 26, day 537 of the war.
0:14.0	Amanda Borchelle, Don, here with our senior analyst, Chaviv Rittigur.
0:18.0	Hi, Chaviv, thanks for joining me today.
0:20.0	Hi, Amanda. The 2025 budget bill passed
0:24.0	yesterday just days before the March 31st deadline to pass it before general elections
0:31.0	would have automatically being called. The total budget was $756 billion shekels, which is $203.5 billion, and it's the largest in Israeli history.
0:45.5	So we're going to discuss its ramifications, including the increased stability that this now gives the Nanyahu government, what it may mean for that moving forward on all
0:56.7	fronts. In the second half of our program, we're going to discuss initial reports of hundreds
1:03.1	of Gazans who are protesting the Hamas regime yesterday and what this may mean in terms of the war moving forward. All this and more when we're back.
1:18.6	A single call can mean the difference between life and death.
1:24.2	Maghendavidadom, Israel's emergency medical service, is there every time, everywhere, for anyone in need.
1:33.7	Megen de Vida Dome is first on the scene treating victims of terror attacks, providing critical care in remote communities, and managing Israel's national blood supply, ensuring a vital lifeline for soldiers and civilians in need.
1:47.8	But most people don't realize that Israel's government doesn't fund Maguendavita Dome.
1:52.8	Our life-saving work depends on compassionate individuals like you.
1:57.0	Your generous donation to American friends of Magen de Vida- Adom ensures that Israel remains prepared for whatever comes next.
2:05.6	Visit Magendavid adom.org.
2:08.5	That's M-A-G-E-N-D-A-V-I-D-O-M.org.
2:20.0	The 2020 org.org. The 2025 budget bill passed its final and third reading to become law yesterday afternoon,
2:27.1	removing really a major threat to the stability of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's
2:32.5	government.
2:33.8	Lawmakers voted 66 to 52 in favor of the
	...

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