Episode description

On Monday, after protests swept the country and trade unions threatened major strikes, Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, announced that he was delaying his controversial judicial reforms package. Netanyahu said he was doing this “to avoid civil war”.

Ido Vock in Berlin and Megan Gibson and Alona Ferber in London discuss the response to Netanyahu’s announcement in Israel and abroad, as well as how far the crisis could go.

Next, the team turn to Russia, where Vladimir Putin has announced that tactical nuclear weapons will be stationed in Belarus as early as this summer. They discuss why Putin wants these weapons in Belarus, how likely this is to happen and the possible consequences.

Then in You Ask Us, a listener asks whether the Finnish prime minister, Sanna Marin, will lose the next election.

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Read more:

Alona on why this could be the end of Benjamin Netanyahu.

Alona on how we are watching Israel build an authoritarian government in real time.

Ido on Belarus and Vladimir Putin’s continued use of nuclear blackmail.

Lawrence Freedman on why a “strategic nuclear exchange” would offer Putin zero gains.

Megan on Magdalena Andersson and Sanna Marin’s fight against far-right misogyny.

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