The President's Daily Brief - June 10th, 2024: Hostage Rescue, Israeli Government Fractures, & Poland-Belarus Tensions

Episode Date: June 10, 2024

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief:   We’ll begin today’s show with the big news out of Israel, where a daring IDF operation saw the rescue of four Israeli hostages being held in central Gaza this weekend. We’ll have the details on how that operation came together.   Later, two more major developments out of Israel: Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government fractures as moderate Israeli minister Benny Gantz announces he’s departing the ruling coalition—and Arab nations reportedly turn up the heat on Hamas amidst hostage negotiations.   Plus, we’ll have the latest from the border between Poland and Belarus, where tensions are at a new high after a Polish border guard was killed during clashes with migrants.   Lastly, in today’s Back of the Brief, we’ll take a look at the anti-Israel protests held in Washington DC this weekend, where pro-Hamas demonstrators held up a bloody face mask depicting President Biden and assaulted a National Park Service ranger.   To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. Email: [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Start your day off with a delicious hot cup of blackout coffee. It's a proud American-made product, family-owned, premium coffee, fresh-roasted, and shipped out within 48 hours of roasting. It's like they're taking the beans right out of the roaster and putting them straight into your cup. Go to blackout coffee.com, promo code PDB for 20% off your first-time purchase. It's Monday, 10 June. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. We'll begin today's show with the latest news out of Israel, where a daring IDF operation

saw the rescue of four Israeli hostages being held in central Gaza this weekend. We'll have the details on how that operation came together. And two other major developments out of Israel, Prime Minister Netanyahu's government fractures as moderate Israeli minister Benny Gantz announces he's departing the ruling coalition, and Arab nations reportedly turn up the heat on Hamas amidst hostage negotiations. Plus, we'll have the latest from the border between Poland and Belarus, where tensions are at a new high after a Polish border guard was killed during clashes with migrants. And finally, in today's back of the brief, we'll take a look at the anti-Israel protests held in Washington, D.C. this weekend where pro-Hamas demonstrators held up a bloody face mask depicting President Biden

and assaulted a National Park Service Ranger because nothing says your pack a complete douchebags like assaulting a park ranger. But first, today's PDB spotlight. Israelis celebrated this weekend with the news that four hostages who spent eight months in captivity were rescued during a daytime raid in central Gaza, included among the rescued hostages with three men, as well as 26-year-old Noah Argomani. Now, if you're not familiar with this young woman, for many people, she became the face of the 7 October attacks. You may remember seeing the viral video of her shouting and pleading from the seat of a motorcycle as a group of Fomass terrorists carted her off into Gaza after kidnapping her from the Nova Music Festival.

The Israeli military has released some details about just how the operation was carried out. First off, the rescues took place in the Al-Nusarat refugee camp, which is located in central Gaza and is heavily populated with civilians because, well, that's what Hamas does. They embed themselves with the civilians because they don't care about dead civilians. The hostages were stashed away in two separate apartment buildings with a little over 200 yards away from each other. According to IDF spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, the military had been planning this operation for several weeks, going so far as to create replicas of the apartment buildings in which the hostages were being held in order to conduct training exercises.

The timing of the raid was reportedly very important. The two buildings where the hostages were being held were targeted simultaneously because there was a risk that, of course, the captors would kill the hostages once they realized that a rescue operation was underway. The raid began with Israeli special forces entering. the Nusurat camp in disguise. According to interviews with local residents by Arab media outlets, they were posing as displaced gossens or as Hamas fighters, including some who were dressed as women. Once the operation was underway, the rescue of Argomani, who was being held in a child's bedroom, reportedly went smoothly. However, during efforts to rescue the remaining three hostages,

Israeli soldiers were met with fire from the guards, including at least one gunman who opened fire. with rocket-propelled grenades. Once they were clear, the freed hostages were then rushed to a waiting helicopter where they were evacuated from the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces took at least one casualty during the operation, and Israeli Police Special Forces officer was critically injured during the firefight and later died in the hospital. According to a report in the New York Times, U.S. intelligence had a hand in helping Israelis carry out the mission. Two Israeli intelligence officials told the Times that U.S. military officials in Israel provided some of the specific information about where the hostages were being held. The report went on to say that the Pentagon and the CIA

have been supplying Israel with intelligence gleaned from drone flights over Gaza, intercepted communications, and other sources. The four freed hostages were examined by doctors when they returned home. They were found to be in severe nutritional deficiency, but were otherwise in good medical condition and are expected to be discharged later this week. It's worth noting that these rescues have, of course, been incredibly rare. Of the hundreds of hostages who were taken by Hamas on October 7th, Israeli forces have only managed to rescue seven in total. Now, for their part, Palestinians are declaring their outrage over the number of casualties sustained during the raid. according to Gaza's health ministry, 274 Palestinians were killed during the rescue operation,

a number that, of course, remains unconfirmed. The Gaza health ministry is, of course, run by Hamas, which, ever since they started this conflict, has had a tendency to inflate or outright fabricate numbers. That, however, has not, of course, stopped much of the media from just simply reporting whatever Hamas states as fact. All right, coming up after the break, a shake-up in the Israeli War Cabinet, and Arab mediators are reportedly increasing pressure on Hamas, threatening to expel the group's leadership if they reject the latest ceasefire deal.

Plus, a Polish border guard has died following clashes with migrants at the Belarus border. Poland's government claims this incident as part of an ongoing campaign by Russia to weaponize the country's border. I'll be right back. Some follow the noise. Bloomberg follows the money. Because behind every headline is a bottom line. Whether it's the funds fueling AI or crypto's trillion dollar swings,

there's a money side to every story. And when you see the money side, you understand what others miss. Get the money side of the story. Subscribe now at Bloomberg.com. There's been a major shakeup in the Israeli government. moderate Israeli minister Betty Gantz, a longtime political adversary of Prime Minister Netanyahu, has officially announced that he and his party are withdrawing from the emergency government formed after the 7 October attacks. Gans's departure from the coalition comes after months of

criticism of Netanyahu's handling of the war and his failure to secure a deal for the release of the remaining hostages. In a televised statement on Israeli television yesterday, Gantz called his decision complex and painful, saying that Netanyahu was standing in the way of real victory in Gaza. He also accused the Prime Minister of putting his political survival over the return of Israel's hostages. Now, one could also argue that Gantz, who sees himself as the next prime minister, is putting his political ambitions over the importance of showing a unified front. Gantz doesn't want to be seen as being too close to Netanyahu during the next election, creating the separation benefits his political position.

Last month, Gantz threatened to step down from the unity government by June 8th if Netanyahu didn't adopt a new plan, giving him a three-week deadline to do so. In response to the announcement, the Prime Minister pled with Gantz to remain in the government. In the statement posted to telegram, he said, quote, We must remain unified within ourselves in the face of the great tasks before us. I call on Betty Gantz, do not leave the emergency government. Don't give up. on unity, end quote. Now, there's one more interesting story out of Israel that I wanted to focus on. As Israelis celebrated the rescue of four hostages this weekend, negotiations for the release of

their remaining hostages seem to have hidden impasse, with Hamas leaders indicating they would reject the proposal outlined by President Biden late last month. According to a Wall Street Journal report, which cited sources close to the negotiations, Arab mediators reported, turned up the heat on Hamas leadership in order to try and secure the deal. Qatar and Egypt warned Hamas leaders that they could face arrest, asset freezes, sanctions and expulsion from their headquarters in Doha if they didn't agree to a ceasefire with Israel. The journal reports of the threats were made at the request of the Biden administration, which has been looking for a way to pressure Hamas into accepting the deal.

However, the threats appear to have had the opposite effect. Late last week, the head of Hamas' political bureau, Ishmael Hanyi, who's based in Qatar and living the high life, stated that he wouldn't agree to any deal that didn't meet the group's conditions. Relaying a message from the Hamas official Yaya Sinwar, Hanyei declared that the current proposal was unacceptable to Hamas because it didn't ensure an end to the war. Okay, now turning our focus to the European Union, where a Polish soldier has died from a stabbing sustained during border clashes with migrants at the nation's border with Belarus.

Against the backdrop of ongoing political debates on immigration and the European rights surging in the EU elections, this incident has garnered significant attention. According to officials, an unknown migrant last month managed to reach across the bars of the over 16-foot-high metal wall dividing Poland and Belarus. Do you mean they use walls there for the border? And stabbed a soldier in the ribs amid unrest at the border. Polish security forces couldn't apprehend the attacker as he was on the Belarusian side of the barrier.

The soldier underwent initial treatment at a local hospital before being transferred to a military hospital in Warsaw where he recently succumbed to his injuries. Prime Minister Donald Tusk, in response to the deadly attack said, we're not dealing with any asylum seekers here. We're dealing with a coordinated, very careful operation on many levels to break the Polish border and try to destabilize the country, end quote. Poland's border has been a political flashpoint since migrants started flocking there in 2021 after Belarus, a close Russian ally, reportedly opened travel agencies in the Middle

to offer a new unofficial route into Europe. This has largely been seen by Polish officials as part of Russia's ongoing asymmetrical warfare against the NATO nation. Now, the death of this Polish soldier has to be seen in light of the ongoing EU elections, as the news was leveraged by the country's right-wing parties who have long campaigned on anti-immigration sentiment. The number of attempted illegal border crossings from Belarus into Poland has surged. to nearly 400 a day up from just a handful earlier this year. That's according to Polish officials. Polish authorities note that migrant groups now predominantly consist of young men, and that's a shift from the previous trend of families with women and children. There have been over 13,000 attempted

illegal crossings recorded so far this year, marking a major increase from the same period last year, and you have to ask yourself, 13,000 so far this year, At the U.S. southern border, they hit that number in maybe three or four days at most. In response to the escalating situation, Prime Minister Tusk announced plans to further fortify the border with Belarus using all available means. This includes a $2.5 billion investment to construct a 660-foot-wide buffer zone along the border, complementing the existing 120-mile-long metal barrier to better to deter, migrant crossings and potential aggressive acts. So apparently what they're saying is a wall might work. Poland's defense minister added that Poland is also ready to increase the number of troops at

the border from the current 5,500 in the wake of the soldier's death. All right, coming up in the back of the brief, it was a weekend of anti-Israel protests in Washington, D.C., with demonstrators shouting pro-Hamas slogans, burning flags, and assaulting lawn. enforcement. I'll be right back. This is Euphoria Calvin Klein, the new elixir collection, featuring three perfume intense scents, inspired by a unique orchid accord, paired with vanilla, each with its own distinct attitude, each with its own universe, bold elixir, sensual, woody, addictive, magnetic elixir, sweet and romantic like a lingering touch, solar elixir, a radiant expression of joy, ultra

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It's a powerful clean you can feel good about. So go on. Pick up a bottle of All Free Clear for your next laundry day. In today's back of the brief, I wanted to look at the protests that went down in D.C. this weekend. Now, a mix of demonstrators, some angry at the Biden administration's support for Israel, some fancying themselves supporters of Hamas and Hezbollah, some who just enjoy angry protests no matter what the cause, and some who are, frankly, too gormless to know why they were there,

gathered near the White House for an anti-Israel protest organized by the so-called act now to stop war and end racism coalition. I'm sure that many intrepid journalists, even as we speak from numerous outlets, will be curious enough to investigate who is behind and funding the act now to stop war and end racism coalition. Hmm. Expecting folks from as far away as Maine in Florida, the White House upped its security with an extra anti-scale perimeter fence. Turns out, well, that was a smart move, as the demonstration quickly turned hostile. Hmm, who could have seen that coming? Protesters expressed dissatisfaction with President Biden's management of Israel's conflict with Hamas.

And what we touched on earlier, Israeli forces rescuing four hostages from a Gaza refugee camp. Social media exploded with posts of masked demonstrators, chanting for Hamas to kill Israeli soldiers and calling on Hezbollah to kill another Zionist now. Well, that seems like a mostly peaceful protest. protest. Posts online showed statues being defaced, American and Israeli flags set on fire, and a mask depicting President Biden smeared with fake blood held like a trophy by one protester wearing a Hamas headband. How trendy. The mask group waived signs calling for an intifada, and it's not clear whether the masks were for social distancing and hygiene were because the midwits

simply didn't want to be identified as midwits. Some protesters, decided to encircle the White House in a human chain. They were calling it the People's Red Line, mocking the White House's comment about Israel not crossing a red line during the airstrikes in Rafah last month that killed two senior Hamas officials. Protesters outside the White House even assaulted a lone park ranger hurling bottles at the officer as he stood guard over a statue of Jean-Baptiste-O-Chambeau. Now look, one of the terrific aspects of America is the freedom of expression. You want to get out there and show the world that you're an anti-Semite and you support Iranian-backed terrorists as they work towards their genocidal goal of the destruction of

Israel. Well, you've got that right. But assaulting a park ranger while showing the world how much of an anti-Semite you are, well, now you're just a complete dick. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Monday 10 June. And just a reminder, if you want to listen to the show ad-free, be sure to check out our premium membership at PDB premium.com. I'm Mike Baker. I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool. Ablas Spanish? Spriste to Deutsch. If you used Babel, you would.

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