Speaker 1: Already and this is this is the Daily Oh, this
Speaker 1: is the Daily OS.
Speaker 2: Oh, now it makes sense.
Speaker 1: Good morning and welcome to the Daily OS. It's Thursday,
Speaker 1: twentieth of June.
Speaker 2: I'm Sam, I'm billy.
Speaker 1: As The war and guards are between Israel and Hamas
Speaker 1: continues now two hundred and fifty eight days after the
Speaker 1: seventh of October attack by Hamas on Israel. Israeli Prime
Speaker 1: Minister Benjamin Naanier, who has pulled the plug on his
Speaker 1: war cabinet. That's a special body formed days after the
Speaker 1: attack and charged with the responsibility of directing Israel's response.
Speaker 1: It's yet another destabilizing blow to the leader, who is
Speaker 1: now staring at the prospect of having to call a
Speaker 1: national election, all while trying to appease influential members of
Speaker 1: his own coalition. It's a messy, complex situation, and in
Speaker 1: today's deep Dive, we're gonna try and break it all down.
Speaker 1: The first Billy. What is making headlines.
Speaker 2: A man has been arrested after Victoria Police's bomb Response
Speaker 2: Unit responded to an emergency in Melbourne, CBD on Wednesday afternoon.
Speaker 2: Police confirmed the incident near Collin Street was not terror
Speaker 2: related and said there was no ongoing threat to the public.
Speaker 2: A thirty three year old was detained and questioned as
Speaker 2: part of ongoing investigations by Victoria Police's Arsons and Explosive Squad.
Speaker 1: New South Wales has recorded a bird flu case following
Speaker 1: a recent outbreak in parts of Victoria. The strain detected
Speaker 1: on a poultry and egg farm in the New South
Speaker 1: Wales Hawksbury region, is difference to the Victorian strain. Authorities
Speaker 1: believe it may have spread to the property northwest of
Speaker 1: Sydney via wild birds. The farm was placed into an
Speaker 1: immediate lockdown as biosecurity and decontamination efforts continue in the
Speaker 1: surrounding area. The state government said supermarket eggs and poultry
Speaker 1: will not be impacted.
Speaker 2: Protesters have been accused of trying to sabotage a queer
Speaker 2: youth event in Melbourne. Organizers of the Minus eighteen Queer
Speaker 2: Formal say anti LGBTQ plus group have been registering for
Speaker 2: free tickets on the event on the sixth of July
Speaker 2: in an attempt to shut it down. Charity organization Minus
Speaker 2: eighteen hosts annual inclusive school formals for LGBTQ plus thirteen
Speaker 2: to nineteen year old in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide.
Speaker 1: And today's good news, seventy seven global charities and organizations
Speaker 1: will share in the inheritance of an Austrian German heiress.
Speaker 1: Earlier this year, thirty two year old Marlene Engelhorn announced
Speaker 1: plans to donate a forty million dollar fortune inherited from
Speaker 1: her grandmother. She set up a wealthy distribution body to
Speaker 1: help her decide where to donate the money. That group
Speaker 1: has now allocated funds towards environmental conservation, education, health, and
Speaker 1: ending poverty and homelessness.
Speaker 2: So Sam, Earlier this week, there was one of the
Speaker 2: most significant changes to domestic Israeli politics since the beginning
Speaker 2: of this current war between Israel and Hamas in October,
Speaker 2: and that was the dissolution of Israel's Prime Minister Benji
Speaker 2: minute Enya, whose war Cabinet, which we will explain what
Speaker 2: that is in a minute. So that happened on Monday,
Speaker 2: and then in the days since, the mounting pressure on Yenya,
Speaker 2: who to resign and call a new election, has only
Speaker 2: grown amongst citizens in Israel. Can you start by just
Speaker 2: giving us some background on why this war cabinet was
Speaker 2: established in the first place.
Speaker 1: Sure, so this war cabinet was set up in response
Speaker 1: to the attack by Hamas on the seventh of October.
Speaker 1: I think he was about five days after that attack,
Speaker 1: so relatively quickly, so just a reminder. On that day,
Speaker 1: Hamas launched a significant assault on Israel, resulting in roughly
Speaker 1: twelve hundred deaths, that's according to YUEN data. They also
Speaker 1: captured about two hundred and forty hostages, with around one
Speaker 1: hundred and twenty still held in Gaza. Israel responded with
Speaker 1: a declaration of war on Jamas and a bombardment of Gaza.
Speaker 1: This military response has led to a severe humanitarian crisis,
Speaker 1: with over thirty seven thou two hundred Palestinians reported killed
Speaker 1: since the conflict began. That's again according to UN data.
Speaker 1: And just to give you a sense of how severe
Speaker 1: this humanitarian crisis really is, the Yuan rights chief recently
Speaker 1: said there has been unconscionable death and suffering. More than
Speaker 1: one hundred and twenty thousand people in Gaza, overwhelmingly women
Speaker 1: and children have been killed or injured since the seventh
Speaker 1: of October as the result of the intensive Israeli offensives.
Speaker 2: So that kind of gives the background of why Israel
Speaker 2: set up this war cabinet, But can you tell me
Speaker 2: more about what happens once it is set up?
Speaker 1: So this seventh of October attack happens in Israel five
Speaker 1: days later. Benjamin Natner, who deemed the circumstances so serious
Speaker 1: that it required the establishment of this unique body called
Speaker 1: a war Cabinet. The special body was meant to be
Speaker 1: this small, high level decision making group within the Israeli government,
Speaker 1: purely established to oversee its conduct in the war. And
Speaker 1: it included senior ministers and officials who were charged with
Speaker 1: making crucial decisions regarding military activities and strategies. And I
Speaker 1: think part of the reason why they kept it so
Speaker 1: small was to make them quickly and importantly, it included
Speaker 1: people from major parties across the Israeli parliament, which is
Speaker 1: called the Knesset. So in an Australian context, almost imagine
Speaker 1: a smaller committee made up with people from both the
Speaker 1: Labor Party and the Liberal Party. Now, at this early
Speaker 1: stage of the war, public support in Israel behind a
Speaker 1: war cabinet launching a full scale attack on Gaza was high,
Speaker 1: So seventy four percent of people, according to one poll,
Speaker 1: said they do not expect permanent peace in the region,
Speaker 1: and there was record high levels of sadness and stress
Speaker 1: according to this poll in the general population.
Speaker 2: So this war cabinet had politicians from across the Israeli
Speaker 2: parliament who were the key figures in it though.
Speaker 1: So the war Cabinet included obviously the Prime Minister Benjamin Nanna,
Speaker 1: who Defense Minister Joav Galant, and Benny Gantz, who is
Speaker 1: a prominent centrist politician, and Benjamin Naanna whose main political
Speaker 1: rival obviously in times where the country is not in
Speaker 1: war and they need to come together. So Ganz is
Speaker 1: a former military chief and defense minister. The cabinet was
Speaker 1: set up at the beginning to meet at a minimum
Speaker 1: once every forty eight hours, so that's quite a remarkable
Speaker 1: cadence for this group to be meeting. There were also
Speaker 1: three observer members who participated in discussions, but they didn't
Speaker 1: have the power to make or override decisions, so in
Speaker 1: many ways they were kind of more there to consult.
Speaker 2: So that kind of gives us the context of the
Speaker 2: last eight months and how this war Cabinet has operated.
Speaker 2: But then this week there have been two resignations, So
Speaker 2: what prompted.
Speaker 1: That, Well, Benny Ganz and Guddy Eisencott, who's a close
Speaker 1: ally of his, resigned ultimately due to dissatisfaction with netna
Speaker 1: Who's handling of the war. It wasn't a particularly surprising move.
Speaker 1: Gantz had foreshadowed this exit a couple of weeks ago,
Speaker 1: essentially presenting Nenna Who with an ultimatum to accept his
Speaker 1: plan for the war and for Gaza or he would quit.
Speaker 1: When Nenya who didn't meet that deadline, Gans did indeed
Speaker 1: do what he said he would do, and he did quit.
Speaker 1: In a press conference, Gance criticized the ongoing milit ty
Speaker 1: strategy in Gaza. He described it as causing a quote
Speaker 1: painful and ongoing price for Israel. Gans also said, Nenya
Speaker 1: who prevents us from moving forward to a real victory.
Speaker 1: Fateful strategic decisions are met with hesitancy and procrastination due
Speaker 1: to political considerations.
Speaker 2: I was doing some reading before we came in here.
Speaker 2: Just again an understanding of how important Gance was for
Speaker 2: the war cabinet. The New York Times described him as
Speaker 2: one of ntenya Who's most moderate partners, and that he
Speaker 2: helped boost the Israel government's international credibility as well. The
Speaker 2: article also said that he's also been quote one of
Speaker 2: the most prominent voices pushing for a ceasefire, which we
Speaker 2: know the international community is really pushing for a ceasefire
Speaker 2: between Israel and Hamas, especially in these recent weeks where
Speaker 2: it's kind of seemed like we're close but possibly not.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, US President Joe Biden's come out with a
Speaker 1: clear plan and he's kind of trying to bring everyone
Speaker 1: to the table to get it in action exactly.
Speaker 2: And within Israel's war cabinet, this person, Gance was one
Speaker 2: of the key people pushing for Israel to sign it. However,
Speaker 2: Gance had ruled out agreeing to establish an independent Palestinian state,
Speaker 2: so he did agree with Netienna, who in some areas,
Speaker 2: but protest is feared that the Israeli government's coalition will
Speaker 2: move even further to the right without Gance there, because
Speaker 2: like we said, he was more moderate exactly.
Speaker 1: And to really get your head around what all of
Speaker 1: that means and what those implications could be, you have
Speaker 1: to understand that Benjamin Nana, whose coalition government has far
Speaker 1: right members in it that are also in Benjamin Nanya,
Speaker 1: Who's ear and so Benny Gance got up after his
Speaker 1: resignation and said that Nenya who must reject what he
Speaker 1: described as the fanatics within his government, and he warned
Speaker 1: that failing to do so could lead israel quotes to
Speaker 1: the abyss so to Israelis, especially those who were already
Speaker 1: opposed to Benjamin Nana who. This really did provide a
Speaker 1: moment for their opposition to have a strong anchor points
Speaker 1: to it, and that kind of gave israel protests another
Speaker 1: opportunity to express their anger towards the current trajectory of
Speaker 1: the government's war strategy.
Speaker 2: I'm interested in that point about Israeli's current views towards
Speaker 2: Nenna Who, not just the people around the table in
Speaker 2: the war cabinet, but the entire population. What do we
Speaker 2: know about how the country feels about PM Nenya who?
Speaker 1: Well, I think it's important to first acknowledge that there's
Speaker 1: really been growing anger and opposition towards Nenya who for
Speaker 1: many years before the seventh of October. This is not
Speaker 1: a news sentiment. Nenya who has been under investigation for
Speaker 1: several years over allegations of bribery, fraud, and breach of
Speaker 1: trust in multiple cases, and these investigations have significantly impacted
Speaker 1: his political career and also his public perception. Now. Opinion
Speaker 1: polls published in Israel towards the end of last year
Speaker 1: in the Mahriv newspaper shows that eighty percent of Israelis
Speaker 1: believe Nenya Who should publicly accept responsibility for the catastrophic
Speaker 1: security failures on October seven, and his approval numbers add
Speaker 1: the preferred Prime minister of Israel have continued to drop
Speaker 1: sharply since that day. But there's also a more sinister
Speaker 1: sentiment amongst those who protest against Nnya Who, and that
Speaker 1: sentiment is that he actually doesn't want to reach a
Speaker 1: ceasefire because while Israel is in war mode, his own
Speaker 1: legal troubles are not the focus of the conversation, right, I.
Speaker 2: Just want to recap exactly where we are. So there's
Speaker 2: growing opposition to Niya Who, particularly amongst those who are
Speaker 2: pushing for him to take a more moderate approach to
Speaker 2: the war in Gaza. And then his key political opponent,
Speaker 2: Benny Ganz, who have spoken about a lot who he
Speaker 2: formed this war cabinet with, quit So what happened after that?
Speaker 1: So basically Nenya who was left with a smaller war cabinet,
Speaker 1: and he then decided just to dissolve the body altogether. Now,
Speaker 1: according to a government spokesperson, there was quote no longer
Speaker 1: a need for the War Cabinet after Ganz's resignation. He
Speaker 1: mentioned that major decisions regarding the war in Gaza would
Speaker 1: now be made by Israel's main fourteen person security Cabinet,
Speaker 1: which has always been there, and that includes a broader
Speaker 1: group of senior government figures, so the Foreign Affairs Minister,
Speaker 1: the Justice Minister, and two far right members of Netna
Speaker 1: whose coalition, amongst others.
Speaker 2: So that prediction earlier that without Gance there would be
Speaker 2: more far right members within the cabinet has proven right.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and whilst the cabinet has changed its name, it
Speaker 1: really still does have the key responsibility. I do just
Speaker 1: want to mention that we've talked a lot about the
Speaker 1: differences between Bennigance and Benjamin Natna who, but there was also,
Speaker 1: as you alluded to, a lot of similarities. Both of
Speaker 1: them wanted to see the full eradication of Hamas from Gaza,
Speaker 1: and that's the phrase they kept using. The difference was
Speaker 1: really in how they went about achieving that mission.
Speaker 2: Okay, So there was this War Cabinet that has now
Speaker 2: been dismantled. And then there's the Security Cabinet, which has
Speaker 2: always existed, but it's now been empowered to make the
Speaker 2: war strategy decisions. What is the difference between those.
Speaker 1: Two Well, I think to really answer that question properly,
Speaker 1: we need to see what happens and if there's a
Speaker 1: change of strategy from the IDF in the coming weeks.
Speaker 1: So I think the really important difference between the two cabinets,
Speaker 1: besides their name, is that one was positioned to be
Speaker 1: compromised of members across the political spectrum, and the message
Speaker 1: to the Israeli people in the establishment of that body
Speaker 1: was that this was such an important time in their history,
Speaker 1: it was such a time of existential threat that politicians
Speaker 1: on all ends of the political spectrum would come together
Speaker 1: in the name of a unified mission. But now in
Speaker 1: the Security Cabinet, that's not the case. The Security Cabinet's
Speaker 1: core decision making group has five members from three parties,
Speaker 1: and all those parties are on the right of politics.
Speaker 1: And what that means in reality is that Nenyahu and
Speaker 1: his right wing coalition, who includes some far right members,
Speaker 1: will have more influence over the decision making process because
Speaker 1: there is simply a different mix of people around the table,
Speaker 1: there's less diverse voices, and like you alluded to before,
Speaker 1: some experts do say that this could lead to a
Speaker 1: continuation or even an intensification of the current military strategy
Speaker 1: in Gaza, as the more moderate voices in Israeli politics
Speaker 1: like Gance have exited the scene. Now, it's really hard
Speaker 1: to imagine what an intensification of the current military strategy
Speaker 1: would really look like, considering the state of affairs and
Speaker 1: how much destruction there's been in the past couple of months.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think unimaginable doesn't even begin to describe what
Speaker 2: a more aggressive strategy from Israel could look like. Now.
Speaker 2: In the days since, thousands of protests have gathered across
Speaker 2: Israel demanding an election, could we see an election in
Speaker 2: the coming months.
Speaker 1: Yeah, These protests in the last couple of days have
Speaker 1: been really intense. It also included protesters in Jerusalem actually
Speaker 1: attending Benjamin Nanya, Who's private residence, to call for him
Speaker 1: to resign and to hold an election. Israeli police had
Speaker 1: to use water cannons to disperse the crowds that gathered
Speaker 1: near his home, and they arrested at least nine people.
Speaker 1: Now amongst the protesters. This is really interesting are the
Speaker 1: families of some of the Israeli hostages, and they say
Speaker 1: that they're fed up with the lack of leadership and
Speaker 1: that a deal should have been struck months ago. There
Speaker 1: are still some supporters of Nenya who in Israeli society.
Speaker 1: Recent political polling puts that number at about ten percent
Speaker 1: of the population.
Speaker 2: So far from a majority.
Speaker 1: Though. Yeah, he would probably lose the election if there
Speaker 1: was one held tomorrow, and that's what two major polls,
Speaker 1: one from a left wing Israeli newspaper and one from
Speaker 1: a right wing Israeli newspaper showed us. So both of
Speaker 1: those polls said that Benny Gantz would be the preferred
Speaker 1: prime minister in a race between the two of them.
Speaker 2: Is there any world in which you think that nehnya
Speaker 2: who would actually step down?
Speaker 1: Look, I think what we do know about Nenya Who
Speaker 1: is that he's had extreme challenges in the past with
Speaker 1: various legal cases. He's lost elections before and somehow managed
Speaker 1: to return. So he's certainly not going to step aside
Speaker 1: without a fight.
Speaker 2: We'll keep an eye on the public protests and of
Speaker 2: course on the ongoing humanitarian crisis. In Gaza. Thank you
Speaker 2: so much for listening to this episode of The Daily
Speaker 2: os and we'll see you again tomorrow.
Speaker 1: My name is Lily Madden and I'm a proud Arunda
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