Day 648 - Dramatic day at Knesset leaves democracy intact - for now

The Times of Israel Daily Briefing

The Times of Israel

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4.4 • 864 Ratings

🗓️ 15 July 2025

⏱️ 28 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.

Political correspondents Tal Schneider and Sam Sokol join host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

We focus on domestic Israeli politics today on the Daily Briefing and start with Sokol, who sets the scene at the Knesset yesterday. We hear about the colorful circus that came to the Israeli parliament.

The United Torah Judaism party announced its dramatic exit from the government last night. Schneider weighs in on the stability of the coalition, which, if the other major ultra-Orthodox party Shas also leaves, will drop to 50-51 seats for a minority government.

Sokol delves into the ongoing debates surrounding the universal conscription bill. We learn about what is objectionable to the Haredi parties, including new sanctions on institutions such as yeshivas who are harboring draft dodgers. Schneider describes how threats to fire the legislator behind the bill -- head of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, MK Yuli Edelstein -- may not be enough to placate the haredi parties this time.

A motion to expel Hadash-Ta’al chair Ayman Odeh from the Knesset failed to pass on Monday, with only 73 out of the required 90 lawmakers voting in favor. Fifteen MKs voted against the motion, while multiple opposition parliamentarians boycotted the vote. We learn why the petition was put into motion and its ripple effect.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara was not present as a controversial ministerial panel convened at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem to hold a hearing on her dismissal Monday afternoon. Schneider explains why Baharav-Miara calls this a "sham" process and shares the outrage the hearing has sparked.

Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

Three IDF troops killed, officer seriously wounded in northern Gaza tank blast

Motion to expel Arab party head Odeh from Knesset fails to pass; coalition MKs heckle him

AG stays away from her dismissal hearing: ‘A sham that harms rule of law, democracy’

The government’s bid to fire Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara: What happens next?

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IMAGE: Israelis protest in support of Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara outside the courthouse in Tel Aviv, July 14, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Times of Israel's daily briefing, today's Tuesday, July 15th, day 648 of the war.
0:11.0	Amanda Borchelle, Donne here with our two political correspondents, Tal Schneider and Sam Sokol.
0:16.4	Thank you both for joining me today.
0:18.2	Hi, Amanda.
0:19.0	Morning.
0:19.6	Yesterday, there was a lot of talk among the chattering classes about the end of
0:24.0	democracy and indeed the constellation of pretty major events made for a lively day to say
0:30.7	the least. So we're going to focus on domestic politics in today's daily briefing.
0:36.4	Sam and Tal will discuss the state of the coalition
0:39.2	after the departure of United Toward Judaism and the failed motion to expel Arab M.K. Iman
0:45.9	O'Day. We'll delve into what's happening or not with the bill pushing for universal
0:51.0	conscription, and we'll hear about part one of the hearing to dismiss the attorney
0:56.4	general. All of this and more when we're back.
1:05.1	Want to help give Israeli children a summer after this war? I'm Naomi Brownstein, co-founder and
1:13.4	voluntary chair of TenGov. TenGov receives requests for help from social services departments around
1:18.7	Israel. We move fast, we stay flexible, and we never duplicate government support. We fill the gaps
1:24.5	others can't. Right now, across Israel, thousands of families are under pressure.
1:29.4	Kids and parents alike are recovering from the trauma of the past weeks and months.
1:33.9	Moms are trying to hold it all together while dads are in the army, and low-income parents are
1:38.2	struggling just to get through the day. That's where TenGov steps in. This summer, we're funding
1:43.3	day camps and pool time for over 1,200 children in 11 cities,
1:47.9	kids who would otherwise be stuck at home, anxious, and alone.
	...

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