Day 599 - PM, AG and High Court edge closer to crisis

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.

Legal correspondent Jeremy Sharon and health editor Diana Bletter join host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

The controversy over the appointment of a Shin Bet chief continues, says Sharon, discussing the implications of Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara's instructions to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he continues to disregard the instructions about appointing a new Shin Bet chief. Sharon reviews the potential for a constitutional crisis as the situation comes to a head.

Sharon also reviews some of the statements made by the attorney general and President of the Supreme Court Isaac Amit during Monday's Bar Association conference, as they both accused the government of quietly advancing far-reaching changes to Israel’s form of government.

Bletter speaks about several Israeli medical centers and how hospitals prepared for and responded to the needs of returning hostages in the earlier stages of the war and more recently. She discusses the particular care given to children and the expectation that hospitals will care for released hostages and their families for months and years to come.

The Druze community in Israel is in touch with and actively supports relatives in Syria, reports Bletter, with concerns over the future of Druze in Syria, given the new government in place. They're also questioning the strength of their own  Druze identity in Israel.

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

For further reading:

AG tells Netanyahu that choosing Zini to head Shin Bet ‘invalid and unlawful’

AG: ‘Not a warning, but reality – under cover of war, regime change has sped up greatly’

Netanyahu’s appointment of David Zini as Shin Bet chief is fraught with obstacles

Facing a hostage situation without precedent, Israeli hospitals innovate to rehabilitate

‘Maybe God put Druze in Israel to save the Druze there’: Minority fights for Syrian cousins

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 and video edited by Thomas Girsch.

IMAGE: A billboard showing Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, 'The judicial seamstress to the government! in Tel Aviv on December 6, 2024 (Photo by Miriam Alster/Flash90)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.