Day 223 - Gallant (again) delivers an explosive speech. Now what?

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.

It is day 223 of the war with Hamas. Editor David Horovitz joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan in our Jerusalem offices for today's episode.

Five Israeli soldiers were killed and another seven were wounded, including three seriously, in an incident of so-called friendly fire in northern Gaza’s Jabaliya on Wednesday evening, the military announced today. Prior to the official announcement of the soldiers' deaths, last night Defense Minister Yoav Gallant sounded the alarm to force the hand of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take steps and promote a reasonable option for governance of the strip -- in part to prevent more soldiers’ and civilians’ deaths. Horovitz puts the speech into perspective.

Yesterday, Netanyahu revived a 2022 proposal by cabinet minister Benny Gantz to lower yeshiva students’ age of exemption from military service from 26 to 21. Today, the Attorney General weighed in and stated the Gantz bill is based on outdated data and therefore opposes it because it doesn’t reflect today’s reality. The bill has since been approved by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation this morning. But are there really any winners if this bill moves forward?

The official date for the next elections are October 2026. Horovitz explains why Netanyahu must move the date forward and call for a new democratically validated mandate of his leadership -- or cede the throne.

For the latest updates, please see The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

5 soldiers killed, 7 hurt in ‘friendly fire’ incident in northern Gaza’s Jabaliya

Gallant to PM: Reject Israeli military, civil rule of Gaza after Hamas; I won’t allow it

Full text: Gallant demands PM rule out Israeli military, civil control of post-Hamas Gaza

Netanyahu says he’ll advance Haredi IDF enlistment bill that lowers exemption age

To save and heal Israel, Netanyahu must quit or at least face the electorate

ICJ’s urgent hearings over IDF’s Rafah operation spell more trouble for Israel

THOSE WE HAVE LOST: Civilians and soldiers killed in Hamas's onslaught on Israel

THOSE WE ARE MISSING: The hostages and victims whose fate is still unknown

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: This handout picture released by the Israeli army on May 7, 2024 shows Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant standing with soldiers by a self-propelled artillery howitzer during a visit to a position along the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel near Rafah. (Israeli Army / AFP) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.