Welcome to The Times of Israel’s Daily Briefing, your 15-minute audio update on what’s happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, from Sunday through Thursday.

Senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur and environmental reporter Sue Surkes join host Jessica Steinberg for today's podcast.

Rettig Gur unpacks the latest line of protests from IDF reservists, from pilots to rank-and-file reservists and what that means in terms of national defense and further separations in Israeli society.

Surkes discusses Israel's stretch of Mediterranean Sea after the tar spill two years ago and the budgets necessary now to continue to protect the shoreline.

She also looks at a popular urban nature spot in Jerusalem, dubbed Lupine Hill for its stretch of blue lupine flowers in the spring, currently under threat of development from an expanded police complex.

Steinberg talks about the slow local growth of pickleball, the game that combines badminton, squash and table tennis, being played mostly by retirees, along with walking soccer, for those who love team sports but don't want to run around as much.

Discussed articles include:

IDF chief warns Netanyahu that reservist protest refusals could spread in military

Tarred and shuttered: Anatomy of the oil disaster that closed Israel’s beaches

Court halts major Jerusalem Hills urban plan, orders environmental assessment

Kibbutz pickleballers have a ball while courting more team members

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IMAGE: FILE: People visit at a field of blooming lupine flowers, in Jerusalem on March 1, 2022. (Photo by Gershon Elinson/Flash90)

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