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 correspondent Ariela Karmel joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode. The Knesset is in the midst of a legislative blitz before this government completes its term on July 17. Karmel notes that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing through controversial legislation important to the ultra-Orthodox and nationalist, right-wing parties in his coalition, to ensure he will have a bloc to win the election and form a government. Karmel discusses the various pieces of the highly contentious legislation, including the basic law on Torah study that will shield Haredi men from the army draft; a repeal of the kosher reform that would have weakened the Orthodox rabbinate; the October political probe that would give the coalition unilateral control to appoint a commission to investigate itself; and the attorney general bill that will weaken oversight of the government. The legislation currently up for voting in the plenum is vulnerable to constitutional issues, reports Karmel, and there is no certainty that the coalition will abide by future High Court rulings, raising the question of whether the current government will concede if they lose in the upcoming election. Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates. For further reading: Coalition aims to pass raft of contentious bills in final week before Knesset dissolution Haredi parties give a little ground: Basic Law won’t explicitly put Torah study on par with IDF service Netanyahu said seeking Haredi loyalty after election, but party leaders noncommittal Knesset splits controversial bill to erode attorney general’s powers, easing path for key aspects to become law Knesset advances controversial bill for politically appointed Oct. 7 probe in 1st reading Knesset expected to dissolve July 17, paving way for October 27 election Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Ari Schlacht. IMAGE: Political correspondent Ariela Karmel appears on today's Daily Briefing podcast with host Jessica Steinberg (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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