The Times of Israel Daily Briefing

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.

US bureau chief Jacob Magid joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's Daily Briefing, which is followed by a full episode of The Times of Israel's newest podcast series, Friday Focus with Lazar Berman.

Magid focuses on some of the major developments in the hostage release-ceasefire negotiations, including Wednesday's revelation that the US has been conducting direct talks with Hamas to get hostages out. The US designated Hamas as a terrorist organization in 1997. Does speaking directly with Hamas contravene some kind of protocol for dealing with terrorist entities?

US envoy to the Mideast Steve Witkoff is pressing Hamas for an act of "goodwill" to release the final living US-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander. How has Israel reacted to this?

We learn how Magid believes the new direct negotiations with Hamas will reshape the contours of the mediated ceasefire deal and whether they will help them transition into phase two.

Please see today's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

Trump defends direct US-Hamas talks as Israel seethes, attempts to sabotage them

US talks with Hamas said to hit snag after media leak; PM unhappy they’re taking place

Analysts: Direct US-Hamas talks reflect ‘dysfunction’ in ceasefire negotiations

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: President Donald Trump poses for photos with family members of Edan Alexander, a hostage held by Hamas, after visiting the gravesite of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, October 7, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

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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.

Legal reporter Jeremy Sharon joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today’s Daily Briefing.

Justice Minister Yariv Levin initiated proceedings to remove Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara from office. He has accused her of having politicized her office to thwart the will of the government and has long threatened to take action against her. We learn what steps were taken.

A law dramatically changing how the state ombudsman for judges is chosen passed its third and final reading in the Knesset plenum early on Tuesday morning, following a full night of debate. We hear why this is such a potential game-changer.

A new report by the Palestinian human rights organization Physicians for Human Rights Israel has alleged that Gazan medical personnel detained by Israeli forces and held in Israeli detention facilities during the war with Hamas were subjected to widespread and severe abuse, including beatings, various forms of torture, psychological abuse, medical neglect and the provision of insufficient rations. Sharon weighs in on how credible the report is.

The UK Lawyers for Israel organization recently reviewed the allegations against Israel regarding widespread famine in the Gaza Strip during the war. In a report published last week, the group found that there was no famine in Gaza during the war, as defined by IPC standards — a UN-developed scale — and that even levels of acute malnutrition were only marginally higher than prewar figures. 

Please see today's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

Levin initiates process of firing AG; opposition says he’s destroying democracy, unity

Coalition passes judicial overhaul law taking over appointment of judges’ ombudsman

Gazan medical worker detainees ‘subjected to torture, beatings, medical neglect’ – report

New study: There was no famine in Gaza… according to famine review groups’ own data

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: Israeli Attorney-General Gali Baharav Miara and Justice Minister Yariv Levin at a farewell ceremony for retiring acting Supreme Court President Uzi Vogelman, at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem on October 1, 2024. (Oren Ben Hakoon/POOL)

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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.

US bureau chief Jacob Magid joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's Daily Briefing.

Following US President Donald Trump's State of the Union address on Tuesday, in the presence of several recently released Hamas hostages, Magid discusses that Trump did not mention any of the former Israeli hostages by name, although some were in the audience.

Magid speaks about his interview with a senior Qatari official who emphasized the need to stick to the current hostage deal and that any new ideas won't work, noting that Hamas won't accept releasing hostages en masse as suggested by the US, unless there's an end to the war.

He reviews the much-anticipated summit of Arab states, which gathered to discuss alternatives to reconstructing Gaza, not aligning with Trump's plan of relocating Gazans. The current plan, led by Egypt, will have technocrats ruling Gaza for an interim period and dividing the area into zones before handing it over to the Palestinian Authority.

Magid also discusses the positioning of the Palestinian Authority on the Gaza plans and the frustration of Arab countries with PA President Mahmoud Abbas, as they try to get him to be more flexible, or at least not be an obstacle to the planning in Gaza.

Finally, Magid briefly looks at prisoner payment reform after an interview with a senior Palestinian Authority official, who spoke of a threat to cut ties with the Trump administration if the US president advances with his plan to take over Gaza.

Please see today's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

‘We are bringing back our hostages from Gaza,’ Trump says in address to Congress

As Israel, US align on new hostage proposal, Qatar urges sticking to existing framework

Aiming to stymie Trump’s ‘Riviera’ vision, Arab leaders endorse $53 billion Gaza plan

Seeking funds abroad, Abbas ally touts prisoner payment reform that’s ‘unpopular’ at home

Feeling heat from Trump to ‘solve’ Gaza, Arab states losing patience with PA’s Abbas

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: A tent camp for displaced Palestinians is set up amid destroyed buildings in the west of Al-Shati camp, west of Gaza City, on Monday, March 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

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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.

Military reporter Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's Daily Briefing.

Israel carried out an airstrike in Syria on Monday evening, targeting a military facility near the city of Tartous, in the country’s northwestern coastal region. And today, the Defense Ministry says it is carrying out activities to clear explosives from an area of the Golan Heights near the Syrian border. Fabian updates on IDF activities inside Syria.

We spend the rest of the episode on the series of IDF probes into the failures on October 7, 2023. We learn about the immediate failures, including that the attack was a surprise with no intelligence warning. Hamas had numerous forces and was attacking several areas simultaneously. And the IDF had far fewer forces and minimal capabilities available: When the attack began, involving over 5,000 terrorists, just 767 IDF troops were stationed on the border.

And then we turn to specific investigations into the air force, the navy and the intelligence wing, and we learn about the series of disasters that led to the tragedies at the Nahal Oz IDF base and Kibbutz Kfar Aza.

And finally, we zoom into one of the many tales of heroism that were highlighted in the reports, the story of Kfar Aza resident Brig. Gen. Yisrael Shomer, who fought off terrorists with a kitchen knife before securing a weapon and eventually killing 20.

Please see today's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

Israel attacks military site in northwestern Syria; no casualties reported

Entire Gaza Division was overrun for hours, and IDF didn’t know it; 767 troops faced 5,000 terrorists

IDF identified but ignored 5 warning signs of Hamas attack on eve of Oct. 7, its probe shows

The intel on Hamas attack plan was there, but IDF simply refused to believe it, probe finds

Before Oct. 7, IDF probe shows, Hamas duped Israel into thinking it did not pose a major threat

IDF’s Oct. 7 probes show it misread Hamas for years, left southern Israel utterly vulnerable

Terrorists took Kfar Aza in an hour. Recapturing it took the IDF days, probe finds

‘Systemic failure’: How Nahal Oz base, 850 meters from Gaza yet utterly vulnerable, fell to Hamas

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: Members of Zaka walk through the destruction caused by Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, as they collect the dead bodies, near the Israeli-Gaza border, in southern Israel, October 15, 2023. (Edi Israel/Flash90)

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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.

Zman Yisrael founding editor Biranit Goren joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's Daily Briefing.

Early this morning, a terror attack was carried out in Haifa's bus station, killing one man and injuring four others before the terrorist was neutralized by security forces. Goren discusses some of the known details of the attack, noting that it bore some resemblance to the terror attacks of the second intifada, targeting public transportation and carried out by lone attackers.

Freed hostage Eli Sharabi spoke to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this morning, as he heads to the US to push on the hostage negotiations with US President Donald Trump. Goren notes that Sharabi, despite recently returning from captivity in skeletal condition to hear that his entire family was killed on October 7, appears to be a person of great emotional strength, focused on getting the remaining hostages home and telling the prime minister that in their conversation.

She also discusses the Best Documentary win at the Oscars on Sunday night, when the Palestinian-Israeli film "No Other Land" took home the Academy Award. Goren notes that the film's win wasn't a surprise, and takes Culture Minister Miki Zohar to task for calling the film's win "a sad moment" for the film industry, saying that public funding should be for Israeli films about any subject, regardless of politics.

Please see today's ongoing live blog for more updates.

For further reading:

Man stabbed to death in suspected terror attack at Haifa bus terminal

Netanyahu apologizes to recently released hostage Eli Sharabi: ‘Sorry that it took us so long’

Freed hostage Eli Sharabi to meet Trump this week, brother says

‘No Other Land,’ about Israel razing Palestinian village, wins best documentary Oscar

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: Eli Sharabi is interviewed on Channel 12's 'Uvda' program, in a segment aired on February 27, 2025. (Screenshot: Channel 12, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

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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.

Diplomatic reporter Lazar Berman joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's Daily Briefing.

Late last night, following a four-hour security consultation with top officials, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office declared that it was endorsing what it described as a proposal by US President Donald Trump’s special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, which would see the ceasefire with Hamas extended through Passover, which ends on April 19. What is this plan and how is it being received?

Israel is not allowing any more goods to enter Gaza, says the Prime Minister’s Office, citing Hamas’s refusal to accept what it says is an American proposal to extend phase one of the ceasefire through Passover and Ramadan alongside more hostage releases. Berman explains what else Israel is currently withholding, which is counter to the mediated phase one deal.

Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz instructed the Israel Defense Forces on Saturday to “prepare to defend” the Druze-majority city of Jaramana on the outskirts of Damascus in Syria. We hear why Israel sees itself as a defender of Druze and other minorities -- and what type of defense this may be.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said yesterday that he had signed a declaration to expedite the delivery of approximately $4 billion in military assistance to Israel after the Trump administration approved nearly $12 billion in major foreign military sales to the Jewish state. But after seeing the “good television” of a brush-up between Trump and Zelensky this weekend, should Israel be wary of such promises?

Please see today's ongoing live blog for more updates.

For further reading:

As truce enters limbo, Israel agrees to extend talks with Hamas before resuming war

Netanyahu and Katz direct IDF to ‘prepare to defend’ Syrian Druze suburb of Damascus

US moves to expedite delivery of $4 billion in military aid to Israel

After shouting match, Zelensky says Trump’s support for Ukraine still ‘crucial’

Trump berates Zelensky in shocking Oval Office scene: ‘Either make a deal or we’re out’

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.

Illustrative: Palestinian Hamas fighters and people gather in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip, as preparations take place for the release of three Israeli hostages as part of the seventh hostage-prisoner swap on February 22, 2025. (Bashar Taleb / AFP)

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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.

Film critic Jordan Hoffman joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's Daily Briefing, a bonus episode of our weekly What Matters Now podcast series. 

Ahead of the 2025 Academy Awards on Sunday night, The Times of Israel’s film critic gives his predictions on which of the five films related to Israel or the Jews will have any chance of taking home a statue.

We hear about how the ongoing war in Gaza is creating off-screen drama for a film, “September 5,” that has nothing to do with the current conflict but dares to show Israel as a victim after the country’s athletes were massacred in the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Hoffman weighs in on the merits of “A Real Pain” and pronounces it an excellent addition to the pantheon of Jewish film. About “The Brutalist,” he has some reservations, although he applauds the film overall.

We learn how the Bob Dylan biopic may not have anything really overtly Jewish about it, but that it’s not a slam to Members of the Tribe.

And finally, Hoffman discusses the Palestinian/Jewish Israeli co-production that is hardly a coexistence project, but rather a “From the River to the Sea” production.

And so this week, we ask Jordan Hoffman what matters now.

Please see today's ongoing live blog for more updates.

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: Adrien Brody, left, and Guy Pearce in a scene from 'The Brutalist.' (Lol Crawley/A24 via AP)

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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.

Diplomatic reporter Lazar Berman joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's Daily Briefing updates, followed by the weekly Friday Focus, The Times of Israel's newest podcast series. Each Friday, catch Berman and Borschel-Dan for a deep dive into what's behind the news that spins the globe.

A Palestinian man steered his car into a crowd of people waiting at a bus stop in northern Israel in what is considered a terror spree that left 13 people injured, including a 17-year-old girl who is fighting for her life. We learn what we know about the perpetrator so far.

Last night, the Israel Defense Forces presented its top-level investigations into the military’s failures during the lead-up to the Hamas terror group’s October 7, 2023, onslaught, and on the day itself. Berman shares quick takeaways and whether the IDF has begun a course correction already.

Yesterday, an Israeli delegation arrived in Cairo for “intensive” talks on the next stages of the Gaza hostage-ceasefire deal, joining mediators from the US and Qatar. Berman weighs in on the disparate goals of all bodies involved.

In today’s in-depth Friday Focus conversation, we are reminded that the most effective way to get out as many hostages as possible has been through a pair of negotiated hostage release-ceasefire deals. Among the questions asked and answered are: Who are the major players behind these negotiations? What have been the obstacles? Is paying ransom a Jewish value? Finally, we hear which of Israel’s allies does not traditionally negotiate with terrorists.

Please see today's ongoing live blog for more updates.

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.

For further reading:

Teen in critical condition after terror suspect plows car into bus stop, injuring 13

IDF’s Oct. 7 probes show it misread Hamas for years, left southern Israel utterly vulnerable

Israel sends delegation to Cairo for Gaza talks as ceasefire’s future put in doubt

IMAGE: Demonstrators raise placards and chant slogans during a protest calling for the release of hostages held captive in Gaza since the October 7, 2023, attack by Palestinian terrorists, in front of the Israeli Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv on February 22, 2025. (Jack Guez / AFP)

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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.

ToI founding editor David Horovitz joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's Daily Briefing.

Following the heartbreaking Wednesday afternoon burial of Shiri Bibas, Ariel Bibas and Kfir Bibas, Israel receives the bodies of four more hostage bodies, Itzik Elgarat, Tsahi Idan, Ohad Yahalomi and Shlomo Mantzour, received in the middle of the night on Wednesday.

Horovitz discusses the ongoing national mourning for the hostages, including the outpouring of sorrow for the Bibas family, who became a symbol of the October 7 tragedy, highlighting the emotional toll on the mourning families and the nation as a whole.

The return of the four hostage bodies marks the end of the first phase of the hostage deal, and Horovitz reviews Israel's military strategy and political dynamics that are closely intertwined in the negotiations.

Horovitz also examines how Hamas is perceived by the US, and the role of Qatar in the conflict, reflecting on the need for a comprehensive approach to tackle the ideology behind Hamas and reeducate the region.

Please see today's ongoing live blog for more updates.

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.

For further reading:

‘Bitter news’: Israel confirms identities of 4 bodies of hostages returned from Gaza

Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas buried in a single casket: ‘They will remain together’

With orange balloons and cries of ‘sorry,’ masses line route of Bibas funeral procession

What Israel’s leaders, Donald Trump, and the rest of the free world owe Yarden Bibas

IMAGE: People pay their respects along the convoy carrying the bodies of hostages Shiri Bibas, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, in Rishon LeZion, February 26, 2025. (Photo by Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

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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.

Diplomatic reporter Lazar Berman, political reporter Tal Schneider and reporter Sue Surkes join host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's Daily Briefing.

Hamas and Israel reportedly reached an agreement for the release of four Israeli hostages’ bodies and 602 Palestinian security prisoners, the terror group and an Israeli official said late Tuesday, which would an end to an impasse that risked collapsing the multiphase ceasefire agreement before its first stage was even completed. Berman weighs in whether this means that talks are now on track for phase two.

Speaking in Washington DC, yesterday Opposition Leader Yair Lapid presented a “day after” plan for Gaza, envisioning an extended Egyptian guardianship of the war-torn Strip. The plan would have Egypt take responsibility for managing Gaza for eight years, with the option to extend it to 15 years. Schneider describes some of the potential obstacles.

The budget is meant to pass by the end of March, but this morning we’re hearing threats from the head of United Torah Judaism that he'll hold it up until haredi young men are fully exempt from military conscription. But is this a real threat?

Family, friends and the president on Tuesday eulogized Oded Lifshitz, the 83-year-old peace activist who was taken hostage on October 7, 2023, from Kibbutz Nir Oz and slain in captivity, with his wife lamenting that he was killed by those he sought to help. Today, Israel accompanies Shiri Bibas and her sons Ariel and Kfir on their way to burial. We describe the mood in the country.

In a heart-rending address during a rally of relocated Kibbutz Nir Oz residents held in Kiryat Gat on Saturday, the mother of Yoav Avital, a friend of murdered hostage Ariel Bibas, described his loss from the perspective of her 5-year-old son. Surkes describes his ineffable pain.

An interim report issued Monday by the State Comptroller on the rehabilitation of Gaza border communities following the October 7, 2023, Hamas invasion found that communities badly hit on that day but located more than 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) from the Gaza border — thus making them ineligible for special state support — were suffering and in need of aid. Surkes reports how these include the southern city of Ofakim, where 53 people were murdered.

Please see today's ongoing live blog for more updates.

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.

For further reading:

Hamas: Deal reached for ‘simultaneous’ release of 4 slain hostages, Palestinian prisoners

Lapid presents Gaza ‘day after’ plan in DC, urges extended Egyptian takeover

‘We fought for peace, were attacked by those we helped’: Yocheved Lifshitz parts from Oded

Bibas family tells Netanyahu to ‘shut up,’ as he details the murders of Shiri, Ariel and Kfir

‘He isn’t dead, he’s in his room’: Ariel Bibas’s 5-year-old friend struggles with his loss

State comptroller urges PM to finish review of southern communities eligible for aid

IMAGE: A makeshift memorial in front of portraits of murdered Israeli hostages Shiri (L), Ariel (CL), and Kfir (CR) Bibas, as well as Oded Lifshitz (R) at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv on February 25, 2025. (Jack Guez / AFP)

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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.

US bureau chief Jacob Magid joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's Daily Briefing.

The negotiations for extending phase one of the hostage deal will begin Wednesday, says Magid, with US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff's arrival first in Israel, as Israel is currently seen as the toughest partner. Any extension of the first phase of the ceasefire would include only a trickle of additional hostages, adds Magid.

Israel has also demanded that Hamas stop the ceremonies held upon each hostage release, arranged to show that the terrorist group is still in power in Gaza. However, says Magid, the grotesque ceremonies have pushed the Trump administration, making them more unwilling to accept a Hamas presence in Gaza.

There's more heat from the Arab world about the Hamas presence in Gaza, says Magid, with leading comments from senior Hamas politburo member Moussa Abu Marzouk in The New York Times. Magid remarks that it's worth taking those comments at face value, as they are also indicative of the entry of President Trump into the equation.

Magid also looks at a United Nations vote that brought the US, Russia and Israel together against a Ukrainian UN resolution intended to condemn Russia. Magid comments that the vote signifies a shift in US intentions, with the US joining Russia and Israel taking a position because it doesn't want to antagonize President Trump.

This conversation can also be viewed here:

Please see today's ongoing live blog for more updates.

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Ben Wallick.

For further reading:

In first, Witkoff says US looking to extend hostage deal’s current phase

Hamas ceremonies spurring Trump pressure for Arab plan to push group out — diplomats

Senior Hamas official: I wouldn’t have backed Oct. 7 if I’d known outcome for Gaza

US backs Israel’s decision to push off release of 602 Palestinian security prisoners

Joining US, Israel votes against UN motion condemning Russian invasion of Ukraine

IMAGE: People pay their respects as the coffin of hostage Oded Lifshitz, killed in Hamas captivity, makes its way from Rishon Lezion, February 25, 2025. (Photo by Miriam Alster/Flash90)

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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.

Diplomatic reporter Lazar Berman joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's Daily Briefing.

The White House says that it supports Israel’s decision to delay releasing 600 Palestinian prisoners, citing the “barbaric treatment” of Israeli hostages by Hamas. At the same time, we’re hearing for the first time from US President Donald Trump’s Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff that he will come to the region this week to try and negotiate an extension of the first phase of the ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas, which is supposed to conclude at the end of the week with the return of four additional bodies of hostages. Berman updates us on the current status of the talks.

Yesterday, Israeli tanks deployed to the West Bank for the first time in over 20 years and Defense Minister Israel Katz said he had instructed the IDF to stay for at least the next year in West Bank refugee camps that have been cleared of terror operatives and civilians, and not allow some 40,000 displaced Palestinians to return. Does the IDF have the manpower for such an operation?

Tens of thousands of black-clad mourners vowed support for the Hezbollah terror group Sunday at the Beirut funeral of slain leader Hassan Nasrallah, after the group was dealt major blows in its last round of hostilities with Israel. As the funeral began at the Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, Lebanon’s biggest sports arena, Israeli warplanes flew at a low altitude over Beirut. What was Israel's message with this fly over?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a “warm conversation” last night with Friedrich Merz, the presumptive German chancellor after his CDU/CSU came first in the German elections yesterday. But the standout saga from these elections is the surge in support for far-right anti-immigration party AfD, which took a historic second place among the electorate. Berman weighs in.

On the eve of the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky has faced fierce criticism from the new US administration, leading Zelensky to offer to quit his post if it would mean that Ukraine could join NATO. Publicity stunt or authentic plea?

Please see today's ongoing live blog for more updates.

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Ben Wallick.

For further reading:

In first, Witkoff says US looking to extend hostage deal’s current phase

In visit to Tulkarem, Netanyahu calls to expand West Bank counterterror operation

Holding up photo of Bibas family, PM says Israel must ‘remember what we’re fighting for’

IDF deploys tanks in West Bank for first time since 2002, sending 3 to Jenin as it expands op

Tens of thousands shout ‘Death to Israel’ at Nasrallah funeral, as Israeli jets fly overhead

Germany’s rising far-right AfD is split over Israel. Jews call party ‘a danger’ either way

Responding to Trump, Zelensky says he’d resign if it meant Ukraine could join NATO

IMAGE: An Israeli tank drives towards the Jenin camp in the West Bank, February 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

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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.

Editor David Horovitz joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's Daily Briefing.

Six Israelis held hostage by Hamas were released yesterday -- four whom were taken on October 7, 2023, and two who were in the Strip for about a decade. Horovitz relates what we're beginning to learn about the horrific conditions of their captivities.

Hamas published a video Saturday showing Israeli hostages Evyatar David and Guy Gilboa Dalal being forced to watch as other captives were freed and begging to be saved as well. Also with this in mind, Israel said early Sunday that it was delaying the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners who had been slated to go free Saturday until Jerusalem receives assurances regarding the end of “humiliating ceremonies” staged by Hamas when hostages are handed over. Hamas claims this is a pretext. Is it?

Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer reportedly met US Mideast special envoy Steve Witkoff in Washington on Thursday to kick off talks on phase two of the hostage release and ceasefire deal with Hamas, as mixed messaging emerges on the likelihood of a next stage. Horovitz delves into the uncertainty of the negotiations, even as Israel has apparent US backing for whatever decision it makes about a second phase or a return to war.

Tens of thousands gathered in Beirut for the funeral of Hezbollah’s former leader Hassan Nasrallah, nearly five months after he was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a southern suburb of the Lebanese capital. We discuss who may be in attendance and what this funeral aims to accomplish.

Please see today's ongoing live blog for more updates.

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.

For further reading:

Hostages were chained, starved, kept in pitch black; some return almost unresponsive

Hamas propaganda clip shows hostages forced to watch as others are freed

Israel halts release of Palestinian prisoners over ‘humiliating’ hostage handovers

Dermer in US to meet Witkoff on ‘difficult’ phase two of hostage-ceasefire deal

Trump: I really am fine with any decision Israel makes — continue truce or resume war

Iran’s parliament speaker, foreign minister to attend funeral of Hezbollah’s Nasrallah

IMAGE: Freed hostage Hisham al-Sayed arrives at Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv, after being released by Hamas following 10 years in Gaza captivity, February 22, 2025. (Maayan Toaf/GPO)

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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.

Military reporter Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's Daily Briefing.

Kibbutz Nir Oz said early Saturday morning that resident Shiri Bibas was murdered while held captive in Gaza, after Hamas handed over her body overnight and it was brought to Israel for identification. Fabian updates us on what we know of her and her children's fate.

Hostages Tal Shoham, Omer Shem Tov, Omer Wenkert, Eliya Cohen, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed were released from captivity and returned to Israel today, as part of the ongoing ceasefire-hostage deal between Israel and Hamas.

The terror group paraded five of the six freed hostages on stages in propaganda-filled handover ceremonies in two locations in Gaza, handing them over to the Red Cross, while al-Sayed was released separately to the Red Cross later in the day, without a ceremony. We hear a little about each man's current status and how he arrived in Gaza.

Israel Police and the Shin Bet security agency reportedly detained two Jewish Israelis and a Palestinian in connection with explosions on three buses in central Israel Thursday night, as the IDF bolstered operations in the West Bank following what is thought to have been a narrowly averted large-scale terror attack. There is a gag order on this case, so Fabian updates us on what we are allowed to report.

Please see today's ongoing live blog for more updates.

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 Adina Karpuj.

For further reading:

Shiri Bibas’s body returned to Israel; officials assess she was ‘brutally’ murdered with sons in Gaza

IDF: Captors murdered children Ariel and Kfir Bibas ‘in cold blood’ with ‘their bare hands’

These are the six living hostages set to be released Saturday

These are the 4 hostages set to be released on Thursday; all are believed to be dead

2 Jewish Israelis, Palestinian said arrested in connection with botched bus bombings

IMAGE: Israelis in Hostages Square, Tel Aviv, watch a big screen showing the releases of hostages Avera Mengistu and Tal Shoham from Hamas captivity in Gaza, February 22, 2025. (Roya Lavi / Hostages Families Forum)

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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.

Diplomatic reporter Lazar Berman joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's Daily Briefing updates, followed by the weekly Friday Focus, The Times of Israel's newest podcast series. Each Friday, catch Berman and Borschel-Dan for a deep dive into what's behind the news that spins the globe.

Slain hostages Oded Lifshitz, and brothers Ariel and Kfir Bibas, were identified after their remains were returned to Israel by Hamas on Thursday but the military said another body sent by the terror group was not the young boys’ mother Shiri Silberman Bibas. We learn more about the fates of the young boys and what have been official Israel’s reactions so far.

Three empty buses exploded in quick succession in parking lots in the Tel Aviv suburbs of Bat Yam and Holon on Thursday night in what police said was a suspected terror attack. There were no injuries reported in the incidents. Police said they neutralized two other unexploded devices on buses nearby. Berman fills us in with what we know about who may be the perpetrators.

On the Friday Focus, ahead of the three-year mark of the ongoing Ukraine war, Berman assesses how the potential winding down of the conflict is stirring up all sorts of other battles on the international stage.

We discuss the origins of the current Russo-Ukraine war and the competing narratives surrounding it, even as Israel attempts to trod on semi-neutral ground.

Finally, we hear how US President Donald Trump views the conflict that is occurring far from his borders, and his country's "obligation" to fund it.

Please see today's ongoing live blog for more updates.

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.

For further reading:

Remains ID’d of Oded Lifshitz, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, but other body isn’t the boys’ mom Shiri

3 buses explode in Bat Yam, Holon in suspected strategically planned terror attack

IMAGE: This combination of pictures created on February 20, 2025 shows posters bearing the portraits of Israeli hostages Shiri Bibas (C) and her two children Ariel (L) and Kfir (R), held in the Gaza Strip since the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, set up on a square outside the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, on January 21, 2025 (AFP)

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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.

Editor David Horovitz joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Coffins holding what are believed to be the bodies of four slain hostages were driven across the border from the Gaza Strip back into Israel this morning, 503 days after they were abducted alive by Hamas-led terrorists. The four were named by Israel and by their terrorist captors as Shiri Bibas, Ariel Bibas, Kfir Bibas, and Oded Lifshitz, all kidnapped from their homes in Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023.

In today's episode, we hear about two ceremonies conducted this morning: one, a cynically staged Hamas propaganda fest in Gaza; the other held by the IDF in the Gaza Strip led by IDF Chief Rabbi Brig. Gen. Eyal Karim.

We learn what the Bibas family and Oded Lifshitz represent to Israeli society and how their families are reacting to the apparent return of their bodies.

We also preview Saturday's planned release of six living male hostages, including how they were likely chosen, and discuss a Hamas offer to release all remaining hostages in one go in a potential phase two of the ongoing ceasefire-hostage release deal.

Please see today's ongoing live blog for more updates.

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.

For further reading:

The worst news of all

Bodies believed to be of 4 slain hostages brought to Israel, 503 days after they were taken alive

Bibas and Lifshitz hostage families cling to hope, say they’ll await final identification of bodies

These are the six living hostages set to be released Saturday

IMAGE: Palestinian terrorists carry one of the coffins said to carry the bodies of four slain Israeli hostages to the Red Cross in Khan Younis in the Gaza on February 20, 2025. (Eyad BABA / AFP)

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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.

US bureau chief Jacob Magid joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

In a surprise move, six living hostages will be released on Saturday, including Israelis Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who have been held by Hamas since entering the Strip on their own in 2014 and 2015, respectively. The other four — Tal Shoham, Omer Shem-Tov, Omer Wenkert, and Eliya Cohen — were kidnapped during the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel. Why are six being released versus the agreed-upon three, and why is Hamas offering a much more generous phase 2 deal?

Former White House Mideast czar Brett McGurk last week penned his first op-ed since leaving government, taking the opportunity to defend the Biden administration’s handling of the hostage negotiations and insisting that Hamas was consistently the obstacle to an agreement. We hear Magid's thoughts on McGurk's statements, as well as the timing of them.

Israel’s envoy to the United States has accused Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi of violating the US-brokered peace deal between Jerusalem and Cairo, profiting from the desperation of Palestinians seeking to flee the Gaza Strip and duplicitously operating to benefit Hamas. This comes as Egypt is working with Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar to formulate a day-after plan for Gaza. Magid weighs in. 

Please see today's ongoing live blog for more updates.

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.

For further reading:

These are the six living hostages set to be released Saturday

6 hostages to be freed Sat.; Hamas says bodies of Bibas mom, kids set for Thurs. return

News of Bibas family’s tragic fate met with confusion, mourning and rage

Biden’s Mideast czar says Trump ‘right to stand firmly by Israel’ on hostage deal

Arab plan for Gaza could involve up to $20 billion regional contribution

Israel’s US envoy: Egypt’s Sissi is breaking peace deal, ‘playing both sides’ with Hamas

IMAGE: Palestinian Hamas terrorist fighters in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on February 15, 2025. (Eyad BABA / AFP)

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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.

Military reporter Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Today as the extended deadline for IDF withdrawal from Lebanon under the US-brokered ceasefire expires, Defense Minister Israel Katz said, “Starting today, the IDF will remain in a buffer zone in Lebanon in five strategic outposts and will continue to enforce forcefully and without compromise against any violation by Hezbollah.” Fabian explains why these five points and whether there is now a "buffer zone" on the border.

Israel is expecting to receive the bodies of four hostages from Hamas on Thursday under the provisions of the first stage of an ongoing ceasefire deal with the Palestinian terror group. We hear how the IDF is preparing to receive the bodies and how the families will eventually be informed of their identities.

Even as Egypt is working towards a proposal for rebuilding Gaza, Defense Minister Katz has called for a new directorate in the Defense Ministry tasked with enabling Palestinians to “voluntarily” leave the Gaza Strip, as per US President Donald Trump’s stated plans. Fabian weighs in.

The Israel Defense Forces said it carried out a pair of drone strikes in the Gaza Strip on Sunday — one targeting a group of gunmen who were approaching Israeli forces in one area and the other as a warning when a car drove near soldiers in another. We hear how all is not calm on the ground in Gaza.

The Israeli military announced on Sunday that it had completed its investigations into its failures during the lead-up to the Hamas terror group’s October 7, 2023, onslaught, and would begin to present its findings next Tuesday. We learn what the investigations should -- or should not -- unveil.

Please see today's ongoing live blog for more updates.

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.

For further reading:

Lebanese army says it’s deploying in southern border villages as IDF withdraws

IDF to remain in five strategic posts in south Lebanon after Tuesday withdrawal

Israel says it is preparing for Hamas to return bodies of four hostages on Thursday

Egypt developing plan to rebuild Gaza as counter to Trump’s call to depopulate area

Katz announces new panel tasked with advancing ‘voluntary’ emigration of Gazans

Hamas said to agree to cede Gaza governance to PA; Netanyahu: ‘Not going to happen’

IDF drone strike hits gunmen in southern Gaza; three Hamas cops reportedly killed

IDF completes all October 7 probes, will start presenting them next week

IMAGE: A map showing the locations of five IDF posts in southern Lebanon that troops will remain deployed to after a February 18, 2025, deadline. (Times of Israel; OpenStreetMap)

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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.

Diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

Following US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's Sunday visit in Israel, Berman discusses the seemingly coordinated statements made by Rubio and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The prime minister spoke about the deep synchronicity between him and the Trump administration, a relationship Netanyahu says he has cultivated for years, leading to an unprecedented opportunity in Israel's history.

Berman notes that there did not seem to be any pressure to discuss the second phase of the hostage deal, until Trump's Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff commented later on a Fox News interview that the second phase will happen, with talks happening this week.

Following Witkoff's statement, the Prime Minister's Office said a negotiating team would go to Cairo for the talks, and the cabinet is meeting Monday night. Berman notes there appears to be pressure from the Trump team, but it's unclear what Netanyahu wants.

There's a paradox regarding the second phase of the hostage talks, says Berman, which calls for the end of the war, yet Hamas can't remain in power in Gaza, and it still retains forces and power in the region.

Please see today's ongoing live blog for more updates.

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.

For further reading:

Trump envoy says there will ‘absolutely’ be stage 2 of ceasefire, as talks continue

Hosting Rubio, Netanyahu says ‘gates of hell will surely open’ if all hostages not freed

Former Israeli hostage negotiator says Israel missed two windows for deal

Netanyahu cagey on Israel’s next steps as Trump deadline to free all hostages passes

IMAGE: Protestors blocking Namir Road in Tel Aviv on the 500th day of captivity, with signs that read, 'President Trump, leave no hostage behind - 500 days in hell' on February 17, 2025 (Credit: Dana Reany/Israeli Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)

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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.

Times of Israel founding editor David Horovitz joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

As certain details emerge regarding the 15-month captivity of the three hostages released on Saturday, Horovitz discusses the scraps of information shared so far, including what's known about Iair Horn's brother Eitan, who is still a captive, that Sagui Dekel-Chen was tortured, and the potential implications of any information that is shared. 

Horovitz also reviews the latest in the hostage deal, how many hostages remain to be released in the first stage and the delayed start to negotiations for the second stage of the ceasefire. He discusses whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is debating whether to return to negotiations and what kind of leverage US President Donald Trump has in this situation. 

Horovitz also discusses comments made by a former Israeli hostage negotiator regarding the missed opportunities for a hostage deal months earlier while the Prime Minister's Office offered an official statement dismissing the accusations.

Please see today's ongoing live blog for more updates.

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.

For further reading:

Hours after release, freed hostages talk of Hamas torture, psychological torment

Netanyahu cagey on Israel’s next steps as Trump deadline to free all hostages passes

Former Israeli hostage negotiator says Israel missed two windows for deal

IMAGE: Freed hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen is reunited with his wife Avital on his return to Israel after 498 days in captivity in Gaza, February 15, 2025. (IDF)

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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.

Military reporter Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Released hostages Sagui Dekel-Chen, Sasha Troufanov and Iair Horn crossed back into Israel this morning after being paraded on a stage in southern Gaza in a propaganda-filled release ceremony by the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups after 498 days in captivity. Fabian fills us in on the ceremony and their health status. We learn about how the IDF has handled the heightened tensions in the Gaza Strip this past week and its readiness to return to war-footing.

In a meeting on Friday morning, Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi apologized to four recently released hostage soldiers for their warnings not being treated seriously before the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, as well as for their long captivity. Halevi met with Agam Berger, Liri Albag, Naama Levy and Karina Ariev, who were released from Hamas captivity after some 15 months. We learn what else was leaked from the meeting.

The outgoing deputy commander of UNIFIL was injured Friday, the international peacekeeping force said, after a convoy taking troops to the Beirut airport was attacked amid pro-Hezbollah demonstrations in the area. This occurred as the IDF is reluctantly readying a drawdown from Lebanon on February 18 -- which may or may not be its final withdrawal of troops, reports Fabian.

Finally, we hear updates on the ongoing counter-terrorism operation in the West Bank and learn how much security cooperation there is with the Palestinian Authority for it.

Please see today's ongoing live blog for more updates.

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.

For further reading:

Released hostages Dekel-Chen, Troufanov and Horn in Israel after 498 days in captivity

Hamas made surveillance troops watch torture videos of male hostages, says mother

IDF chief apologizes to freed surveillance soldiers for failing them on and before Oct. 7

‘I was starved and tortured’: Keith Siegel urges Trump to ensure all hostages freed

Two weeks after his release, former hostage Ofer Calderon hospitalized with pneumonia

UNIFIL’s outgoing deputy chief wounded as convoy attacked by pro-Hezbollah rioters

IDF strikes Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon, citing ‘direct threat’ to Israel

Lebanon tells Iranian flight it can’t land, after IDF’s Hezbollah smuggling claim

Troops neutralize bomb-laden car, Palestinian shot dead near IDF base, in West Bank

IMAGE: A woman holds pictures of three released Israeli hostages in Tel Aviv on February 15, 2025 in the city's Hostages Square. (Jack GUEZ / AFP)

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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.

Diplomatic reporter Lazar Berman joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode, part of The Times of Israel's newest podcast series, Friday Focus. Each Friday, join Berman and Borschel-Dan for a deep dive into what's behind the news that spins the globe.

This week, Berman assesses how the current Trump administration's foreign policy seems to be shaping up. From the US president's bombshell February 4, 2025, proposal to transfer Gaza's population from the Strip to reset the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, to efforts to end the Ukraine War, Trump's gaze appears to be as global as it is domestic.

So how does that square with his promise to "Make America Great Again"?

Berman zooms out and in 30 minutes illustrates how the president appears to be adopting a new motto: "Speak brashly and carry a big stick."

Please see today's ongoing live blog for more updates.

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.

For further reading:

Israel said readying for three hostages to be freed Saturday, still pushing for more

IMAGE: US President Donald Trump takes questions during a joint press conference with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 13, 2025. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP)

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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 Sam Sokol and environmental reporter Sue Surkes join host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

Sokol looks at the coalition's struggle over ultra-Orthodox army service exemptions, between those who want to minimize exemptions and those who want to use legislation to create a gradual increase leading to universal enlistment. He discusses a recent Likud lawmaker conference on the subject, that called for a more universal Haredi draft and sanctions on draft dodgers.

In honor of Tu B'Shvat, the Jewish holiday of the trees, Surkes reports on the new Jewish Climate Trust, with heavy involvement from philanthropist Steven Bronfman, of the Canadian Bronfman family. The fund, which is launching next month, will be the first to focus specifically on climate, aiming to help Jewish and Israeli climate organizations build interfaith bridges and regional bridges in the Middle East.

Surkes also speaks about several moshav communities in the south that were attacked by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023. Two are located just outside the designated zone of the Gaza Envelope and are therefore not eligible for the funding necessary to rebuild after the October 7, 2023 attacks.

Please see today's ongoing live blog for more updates.

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.

For further reading:

Likud lawmakers hold conference calling for Haredi draft, sanctions on dodgers

Budding climate fund seeks to guide Jewish response to era’s greatest threat

Just 138 yards too far from the Gaza border, towns are denied post-Oct. 7 state support

IMAGE: Haredi men protest and clash with police against the ultra-Orthodox draft on January 28, 2025. (Photo by Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

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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.

US bureau chief Jacob Magid joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

Magid discusses how Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flip-flopped Tuesday night with a series of statements regarding the current ceasefire and the number of hostages to be released on Saturday. Magid suggests it could be part of an ongoing effort to back US President Donald Trump's demands and to also keep Hamas guessing.

As the IDF prepares to move enlisted soldiers down south to the Gaza border and called on reservists to ready themselves, Magid says there may be more legitimacy from the US toward Israel to battle Hamas again in order to achieve the broader goals of the region.

Magid reviews Trump's meeting with Jordanian King Abdullah and Abdullah's offer to take in 2,000 sick Palestinian children, although it appears that Jordan is not interested in taking in mass amounts of Gazan refugees, and sees it as exporting the conflict.

He also talks about the Palestinian Authority agreement to review legislation regarding welfare payments for Palestinian prisoners and families of slain attackers who killed Israelis in terrorist attacks.

Please see today's ongoing live blog for more updates.

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.

For further reading:

Netanyahu: ‘Intense fighting’ to resume in Gaza if hostages not released by Saturday

Trump urges ending Gaza ceasefire if all hostages not released by noon Saturday

Abdullah says Jordan will take in 2,000 sick Gazan kids as Trump pushes relocation plan

Architect of US law against PA ‘pay-to-slay’ skeptical of Ramallah effort to end it

IMAGE: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a plenum session at the Knesset on February 10, 2025 (Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

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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 Tal Schneider and diaspora reporter Zev Stub join host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

Schneider discusses further details about some of the hostages that have emerged from the recently released hostages, including signs of life about twin brothers Gali and Ziv Berman. There is also the news that hostage Shlomo Mansour, 86, appears to have been killed on October 7, 2023, his body taken into captivity by Hamas terrorists.

As the government cabinet meets Tuesday morning to discuss the Hamas accusation that Israel has breached the ceasefire deal, Schneider reviews what those breaches may be, including that Israel didn't send a negotiating team to Qatar for the second stage of the deal, and its delays in sending certain supplies to Gaza.

Stub offers a preview of the World Zionist Organization's upcoming elections in March, and how the event, held every five years, represents the Orthodox-liberal struggle in the Jewish world.

He also discusses the growth of the Orthodox Union in Israel, and the organization's decision to embrace that growth by moving into new offices.

Please see today's ongoing live blog for more updates.

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.

For further reading:

IDF says Shlomo Mansour was killed on Oct. 7 and his body taken to Gaza

Hamas says it’s delaying next hostage release, alleging Israeli truce violations

Trump urges ending Gaza ceasefire if all hostages not released by noon Saturday

The man with the plan: DC prof sent Trump study on Gaza relocation, development in July

Upcoming WZO election sees Orthodox-liberal struggle, opportunity for North American Jews

As religious immigration rises, OU expands presence in Israel, investing in integration

IMAGE: A protest that took place outside the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem on February 11, 2025 as a cabinet meeting was held inside, discussing the ceasefire (Credit: Orna Kupferman)

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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.

Times of Israel founding editor David Horovitz joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

With the return to Israel of the three most recently released hostages, several hostage families are receiving the first signs of life from their loved ones, including hostage Alon Ohel. Horovitz discusses the heartbreaking descriptions shared by Idit Ohel, Alon Ohel's mother, on the Sunday night news. Ohel broke down crying as she described her son's injuries and abuses, now known by the family as Ohel was held until Saturday with released hostages Or Levy and Eli Sharabi.

Horovitz talks about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's return home to Israel, where he and his cabinet summarily postponed the discussion of convening a state commission of inquiry into the failures that led to the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, a commission that would presumably cause his government to fall.

Horovitz also reviews Netanyahu's reactions to US President Donald Trump's ideas about the Gaza Strip, a plan that the prime minister seemingly didn't know about before arriving in the US last week, and how Trump's support of Israel is pushing Netanyahu forward on his goals in Gaza.

Please see today's ongoing live blog for more updates.

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.

For further reading:

Pleading for his release, mother says hostage Alon Ohel is wounded, chained in Hamas tunnels

At rowdy meeting, cabinet delays for 3 months decision on state inquiry into Gaza war

PM returns to court for criminal trial testimony, says he faces medical ‘challenges’

Trump’s ‘Extreme Makeover: Gaza Edition’ has many flaws. One of the worst is its absent morality

IMAGE: In Kfar Saba in February 2025, a protestor holding images of hostages, Tsahi Idan, left, included in the first stage of the exchange, while hostage Alon Ohel, right, is not (Credit: Danor Aharon)

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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.

Military correspondent Emanuel Fabian joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

As the three hostages, Or Levy, Eli Sharabi and Ohad Ben Ami return to Israel, questions arise about what they knew of their families' fates as they were released. Fabian discusses some of the details about what each man learned upon coming home to Israel, whether Eli Sharabi found out that his wife and daughters had been killed from Hamas, the Red Cross or his family, and if Or Levy knew his wife Eynav had been killed before he was taken into captivity.

Palestinians are allowed to return to northern Gaza, along the Netzarim Corridor, after the IDF cleared out its remaining positions, says Fabian, adding that Gazans are already approaching the area.

With nine more days left in the ceasefire with Lebanon, Fabian discusses Israel's enforcement of the ceasefire agreement, and the additional understandings that allow Israel to act against any Hezbollah act, including its Saturday strikes against Hezbollah members at a strategic missile site, which Israel said were a blatant violation of the ceasefire.

Following the Saturday IDF strike on a Hamas arms depot near Damascus, the first in more than a year, Fabian talks about the site as one that was known to the IDF. It was suspected that the arms could be used to attack IDF troops in the area.

Please see today's ongoing live blog for more updates.

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.

For further reading:

Almog, 3, to his dad, freed hostage Or Levy: ‘It took you a long time to come back’

IDF strikes Hezbollah operatives in eastern Lebanon; 6 reported killed, 2 wounded

IDF says it carried out airstrike on Hamas arms depot near Damascus

IMAGE: Hamas hands over hostage Or Levy to the Red Cross on February 8, 2025. (Photo by Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

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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.

Military reporter Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Eli Sharabi, 52, Or Levy, 34, and Ohad Ben Ami, 56, are back home in Israel after 491 days of captivity. Sharabi was kidnapped from Kibbutz Be’eri when Hamas terrorists rampaged through southern Israel on October 7, 2023. His wife and daughters were murdered in their home’s safe room and he and his brother Yossi were taken captive. Brother Yossi has since been confirmed dead and Hamas is holding his body.

Or Levy, 34, was kidnapped from the Supernova rave near Kibbutz Re’im on October 7. His wife Eynav was killed, and their now three-year-old son Almog has been staying with his grandparents since.

Ohad Ben Ami, was kidnapped from Be’eri. His wife Raz Ben Ami was also abducted, and released as part of a week-long ceasefire in November 2023.

We learn about initial health assessments and hear about the ceremony this morning, in which Hamas forced the men to speak onstage in Dir El Balak and thank the terror organization for their "good treatment."

We discuss how the IDF is still operating in parts of the Gaza Strip and what is meant to happen in the next two weeks of phase 1 of the already mediated deal, even as phase 2 is still in process.

Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi on Friday to reprimand the head of the Military Intelligence Directorate, Maj. Gen. Shlomi Binder, after he reportedly warned during a military assessment meeting about potential security risks relating to US President Donald Trump’s plan to take over the Gaza Strip and displace its population. Fabian weighs in on this incident and what it may signify. We discusses what is happening on the ground in the West Bank as the IDF continues its almost three-week ongoing intensive counter-terrorism operation there.

The Israeli Air Force carried out strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon on Thursday night, targeting weapons storage sites in the Nabatieh area and the Beqaa Valley. Fabian updates us on the extended truce in Lebanon and expected next steps ahead of the February 18 deadline.

Please see today's ongoing live blog for more updates.

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.

For further reading:

Gaunt and frail, hostages Eli Sharabi, Or Levy and Ohad Ben Ami freed after 16 months

Poll: 70% of Israelis support second phase of hostage-ceasefire deal

Katz reprimands IDF intel chief for warning discourse on Trump’s Gaza plan could prompt violence

IDF fighter jets hit Hezbollah weapons depots that Israel says violated ceasefire

IMAGE: Israeli hostage Eli Sharabi, who has been held hostage by Hamas in Gaza since October 7, 2023, is paraded by Hamas gunmen before being handed over to the Red Cross in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, February 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

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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.

Diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spent Thursday on Capitol Hill, Berman reports from the Capitol, where much of the focus is still on US President Donald Trump's proposal to offer Gazans to relocate from the war-torn region.

Berman says the atmosphere toward Netanyahu is friendly and the prime minister's entourage is "almost giddy" with the sense of friendship and support from the Trump administration, following the criticism and tension that existed with members of the Biden administration.

While the date to restart negotiations over the second phase of the ceasefire with Hamas has come and gone, Berman says that Israel is now trying to extend the current stage of the deal as much as possible and to get some more hostages out in this first stage. He adds that Israel currently has the upper hand right given Trump's support, and Hamas appears to be carefully maneuvering itself, in its attempt not to be seen as the one making the deal fail.

Please see today's ongoing live blog for more updates.

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.

For further reading:

Netanyahu gifted Trump a golden pager at White House meeting, PM’s office confirms

Trump says Israel would hand Gaza to US when war ends, no American troops needed there

PM calls Trump’s Gaza plan ‘remarkable’; Katz tells IDF to prep for voluntary emigration

Meeting Netanyahu, US defense secretary says Trump seeking ‘new ways to solve problems’

Trump’s Gaza plan won’t happen, but it could certainly shake up the region

IMAGE: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, is welcomed by, from left, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., as they meet at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

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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 Sam Sokol and reporter Diana Bletter join host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

Sokol discusses the variety of reactions from Knesset members to the remarks made by US President Donald Trump suggesting the relocation of Gazans from the Strip during the expected long reconstruction period. He looks at the predictably pleased statements from the far-right flank of the government, including former national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, and the more guarded comments of Opposition Leader Yair Lapid and National Unity party leader Benny Gantz.

Bletter reports on her trips to several northern villages, where residents are waiting to see if the ceasefire with Hezbollah will hold. Her visit to Alawite village Ghajar, the Jewish town of Mattat and the Druze village of Hurfeish left her with an impression of residents eager to return to regular life but unsure as to what the future may hold.

Please see today's ongoing live blog for more updates.

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.

For further reading:

Ben Gvir says he’ll return to government if PM implements Trump’s Gaza transfer plan

Smotrich says he supports Saudi normalization, but not if it means ending war

Lapid: We need to ‘study the details to understand’ Trump’s plan for Gaza

Gantz welcomes Trump’s Gaza comments: ‘Creative, original and interesting thinking’

‘Fear is now in our DNA’: With pause in Hezbollah attacks, two border towns regroup

As Alawite village on Israel-Lebanon border reopens, locals fear for relatives in Syria

IMAGE: Displaced Palestinians return to their homes in the northern Gaza Strip via Rashid Street located on the sea, on February 5, 2025 (Photo by Ali Hassan/Flash90)

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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.

US bureau chief Jacob Magid joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

After US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in the White House on Tuesday, Trump repeated his statements to the press about relocating all Gazans, possibly placing US troops in Gaza and annexing the West Bank.

Magid reviews the highlights of Trump's comments and the press conference that followed, as well as reactions from Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, condemning Trump's plan.

Magid discusses Trump's ideas regarding a peace process with Saudi Arabia and looks at the US President's statements regarding the annexation of the West Bank as a pressure tactic and one that naturally emboldens Netanyahu's far-right coalition partners.

In Magid's exit interview with Israel's Ambassador to the US, Mike Herzog, who served two different Israeli governments, the diplomat shares his perspectives on US-Israel relations, criticizing the Biden administration for its delays in shipping armaments, but also warning against relying solely on Republican support for Israel.

Please see today's ongoing live blog for more updates.

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.

For further reading:

Trump: US will ‘take over’ Gaza, level it and create ‘Riviera of the Middle East’

Countering Trump, Saudi Arabia says no Israel normalization without Palestinian state

Hosting PM, Trump urges permanent relocation of all Gazans: ‘That place has been hell’

After finishing DC tour, an Israeli ambassador known for his discretion is ready to talk

IMAGE: US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holding a joint press conference at the White House in Washington D.C., February 4, 2025. (Photo by Liri Agami/Flash90)

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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.

Editor David Horovitz joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Eight were wounded, two critically, in the shooting attack at an army checkpoint near the northern West Bank village of Tayasir this morning. Horovitz updates on what we knew about the attack at recording time. Sadly, two soldiers' deaths were subsequently announced.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is currently in Washington, DC, and set to meet with US President Donald Trump today. Yesterday, reporters were given mixed signals surrounding the president's willingness to see Israel annex the West Bank. Horovitz explains.

Amid mounting talk of a peace deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel, posters of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman shaking hands with Trump against the backdrop of an Israeli flag were unveiled in Jerusalem and other cities across Israel with the message, “Israel is Ready.” Is it?

Amid the expected restart of negotiations for the second phase of the hostage release-ceasefire deal, Netanyahu appears to be heading toward some personnel changes on his team. Who may be in -- and who is out?

Finally, Justice Minister Yariv Levin declined Monday to sign the official announcement of the appointment of Justice Isaac Amit as the new president of the Supreme Court in the state gazette. While one may call this "petty politics," Horovitz warns that there are very serious repercussions for this type of behavior.

Please see today's ongoing live blog for more updates.

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.

For further reading:

2 soldiers killed, 8 hurt in shooting attack at IDF checkpoint in northern West Bank

Asked about West Bank annexation, Trump says Israel ‘a small country, in terms of land’

Billboard campaign proclaims ‘Israel is ready’ for Saudi normalization

Levin declines to sign official announcement of new Supreme Court president

IMAGE: President Donald Trump speaks during a ceremony with the Florida Panthers NHL hockey team to celebrate their 2024 Stanley Cup victory in the East Room of the White House, February 3, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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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.

Zman Yisrael editor Biranit Goren joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew to Washington, DC, yesterday and is set to meet with US President Donald Trump tomorrow. In the meantime, he will meet and potentially start up talks about the second phase of the hostage release deal with US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff. Who is Witkoff and is he the key to Trump's idea of depopulating the Gaza Strip?

We discuss what we're learning about the treatment meted out to the three men freed on Saturday: Yarden Bibas, Ofer Calderon and Keith Siegel.

In an interview that aired on Israel’s Uvda investigative program on Tuesday evening, released hostage Amir Soussana said she owes one of the recently released female surveillance soldiers, Liri Albag her life. Goren recounts portions of Soussana's chilling interview.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

As Netanyahu arrives in Washington, Trump says talks on Middle East ‘progressing’

Witkoff to freed IDF soldiers: We have a common goal to bring everybody home

Hamas captors said to have tormented Yarden Bibas with incessant talk of wife, kids

Cages, starvation and fasting on Yom Kippur: More testimonies from freed hostages emerge

Keith Siegel forced to write thank-you letter to Hamas captors ahead of release

Ex-hostage says Liri Albag saved her life as Hamas captors tortured, threatened her

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: Israelis protest for the release of Israelis held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, in Tel Aviv on February 1, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

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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.

Military reporter Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

The Israeli military on Saturday carried out three drone strikes on terror operatives in the northern West Bank. The strikes came as the Israel Defense Forces expanded an ongoing counterterrorism operation in the northern West Bank, now in its 13th day. What has been the scope of the operation so far?

On Friday, IDF troops operating in a buffer zone in southern Syria came under fire in the first such incident since Israeli forces deployed to the buffer zone on the border between Israel and Syria. The IDF said soldiers returned fire toward the source of the shooting. Who was shooting at the IDF soldiers?

Maj. Gen. (res.) Eyal Zamir, the Defense Ministry director general, was tapped by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz on Saturday to become the next chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces. We learn about a previous case in which a reserves officer is pulled back into the army to head it and what Zamir may bring to the role.

The Israel-Egypt border has been largely peaceful since the two countries signed a peace agreement in 1979, Israel’s first with an Arab state. Increasingly in addition to drug smuggling, the IDF border forces are attempting to prevent weapons smuggling as well. Fabian was there a few weeks ago and reports back.

Defense Minister Israel Katz on Saturday threatened the released Palestinian prisoner and former terror chief Zakaria Zubeidi, two days after Zubeidi was freed as part of the hostage-ceasefire agreement with Hamas. Why was this terrorist mastermind singled out?

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

IDF carries out 3 drone strikes in Jenin area; Palestinians say 4 dead, including teen

IDF troops operating in Syria buffer zone come under fire in 1st such incident

Eyal Zamir named next IDF chief, set to take over from Herzi Halevi in March

On Egypt border, senior IDF officer warns quietest ‘front’ has potential to erupt

Defense minister warns freed terrorist Zubeidi: ‘One mistake and you’ll meet old friends’

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: IDF troops operate in the West Bank city of Jenin on January 31, 2025, in this handout photo. (IDF)

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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.

Editor David Horovitz joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Three Israeli hostages were freed from Hamas captivity today and returned to their families in Israel: Yarden Bibas, Ofer Calderon and Keith Siegel. Horovitz compares today's two release "ceremonies" with the bedlam experienced on Thursday. We also learn how Hamas symbolically reminded onlookers of the horrors of October 7, 2023.

As we are increasingly hearing details of how those who are now released were treated in captivity, the mother of freed hostage Emily Damari revealed Friday that her daughter was held by Hamas at UNRWA facilities in the Gaza Strip, and that her captors refused to give her access to medical treatment. Horovitz weighs in on how seriously the world will listen to the freed hostages.

Israel freed 183 Palestinian prisoners on Saturday, shortly after three Israeli hostages taken by Hamas on October 7 were released by the terror group in the Gaza Strip. According to Palestinian authorities, 18 of the prisoners were serving life sentences. Alongside the return of their brothers in arms, what else are Hamas's aims in the release of these terror masterminds?

Twelve more living hostages are meant to be freed in the coming weeks of phase one. Later this week, negotiations are supposed to begin in earnest on phase two of the accord. How does Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's trip to Washington, DC, further Israel's goals?

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Hostages Yarden Bibas, Keith Siegel, Ofer Calderon freed after 484 days in Hamas captivity

Tears, cheers and tight embraces as 3 released hostages reunited with relatives

As Yarden Bibas is released, relief, dread, and evidence that Hamas is reviving

Emily Damari’s mom: My daughter was held in UNRWA facilities, denied medical treatment

Hostages’ stories: Gadi Mozes paced 7km a day in tiny cell, soldiers rationed grains of rice

183 Palestinian security prisoners released after Hamas sets free 3 civilian hostages

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: Yarden Bibas is seen on an IDF helicopter on his way to a hospital in central Israel on February 1, 2025 (Israel Defense Force)

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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.

Reporter Amy Spiro joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

With the release home of hostage and surveillance soldier Agam Berger, followed by the terrifying mayhem surrounding the release of hostages Arbel Yehoud, Gadi Mozes and the five Thai hostages, Spiro discusses Israel's delay of the release of Palestinian prisoners, and its demand to Hamas to guarantee safe passage in the release of future hostages.

Spiro reviews what is known about the release of the Thai hostages, Pongsak Thenna, Sathian Suwannakham, Watchara Sriaoun, Bannawat Seathao, and Surasak Lamnau, and reactions from the Thai Embassy.

US President Donald Trump's Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff was in Israel yesterday, meeting with some of the released hostages and in Tel Aviv's Hostages Square and Spiro discusses his central role in the ongoing ceasefire and his meetings with some of the more right-wing partners of the coalition government.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is traveling to the US next week to meet with Trump, amid the ceasefire talks, and Spiro talks about expectations for those negotiations.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

‘We’ll never leave you again’: Families meet freed hostages after 15 months of agony

Furious over ‘shocking scenes’ of hostage handover, Israel delays release of prisoners

Surveillance soldiers all finally home: Agam Berger’s return closes one horrific Oct. 7 chapter

In Thailand, families of hostages weep with joy upon news of their release from Gaza

Working through the trauma, Thai farmhands who survived Oct. 7 return to the fields

Zakaria Zubeidi among terrorists to get heroes’ welcome as Israel frees 110 prisoners

Witkoff meets freed soldiers, ex-hostages, officials, stresses commitment to full deal

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: Arbel Yehoud, center, with her parents and siblings on an IDF helicopter after being freed from captivity on January 30, 2025. (Courtesy)

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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.

Military reporter Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

This morning, 8 hostages — 3 Israeli and 5 Thai — returned to Israel from Gaza where they were taken by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad on October 7, 2023.

Agam Berger, 20, the final surveillance officer among seven young women taken hostage on October 7 was released from the northern Gaza Strip in a staged ceremony this morning. Fabian debriefs us on what we know about her health and describes the situation in the northern part of the Strip as the IDF allows residents to return there.

Just before 1 pm, two other Israeli civilians were released from within a seething mob in Khan Younis: 29-year-old Arbel Yehoud, who was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, and her fellow kibbutznik Gadi Moshe Mozes, who is 80. Fabian describes the utter chaos of their releases, along with five Thai nations who were freed in a separately mediated deal.

We look ahead to Saturday's release of three further hostages and who may -- or may not -- be on the list, as well as future pullbacks by the IDF.

And finally, we hear about what is happening along Israel's northern borders with Lebanon and Syria.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Arbel Yehoud, Gadi Mozes, 5 Thais, freed amid mayhem in Khan Younis; Agam Berger released

IDF reveals it killed Hamas terrorist seen dragging Naama Levy to captivity on Oct. 7

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: Gadi Moses, 80, center right, who has been held hostage by Hamas in Gaza since October 7, 2023, is escorted by Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters as he is handed over to the Red Cross in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, January 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

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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.

US bureau chief Jacob Magid joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

Magid takes a look at President Donald Trump's first week in office, including Trump's controversial comments regarding Gazans and where they could be moved, even temporarily during the reconstruction of parts of Gaza, and how Egypt and Jordan view the influx of Palestinians as a security threat.

He also discusses Steve Witkoff's role in hostage negotiations and his seemingly personal connection to the families of released hostages, as Witkoff touches down in Israel for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about Saudi Arabia.

Magid shares insights from his interview with Barbara Leaf, a top Middle East diplomat from the Biden administration as they explored the ongoing challenges in Gaza post-war. Leaf expressed regret over the lack of a post-war plan for Gaza, and commented that recent developments in Syria and Lebanon could positively impact regional stability.

Finally, Magid looks at the Trump administration's claims about foreign aid spending during the Biden years, including a humorous controversy regarding US foreign aid for supposed condom distribution in Gaza.

This conversation can also be viewed here:

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Trump says ‘would be nice’ to solve Iranian nuclear crisis without Israeli strikes

Trump doubles down on proposal to move Gazans; insists Egypt and Jordan will agree

‘We averted much worse’: Biden’s top Mideast diplomat looks back on tumultuous term

Trump invites Netanyahu to visit White House; PM’s office says meeting set for Feb. 4

White House: Biden allotted $50m for Gaza condoms; ex-official denies ‘feverish dream’

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: At the entrance to a Tel Aviv conference entitled 'Opportunities for Israel under Trump,' in Tel Aviv. January 28, 2025. (Photo by Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

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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.

Legal reporter Jeremy Sharon joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Sharon was in court yesterday as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resumed his testimony in his corruption trial. We hear whether the premier seems in good health following his prostate surgery even as his hearing was canceled today and tomorrow over a judge's illness.

We learn that an angry Netanyahu alleged that key aspects of the case against him rested on testimony that had been illegitimately obtained from witnesses such as former aides Nir Hefetz, Ari Harrow, and Shlomo Filber and that aspects of the indictment against him are factually inaccurate.

After an unprecedented 16 months without a permanent Supreme Court president and in the face of unrelenting opposition from Justice Minister Yariv Levin, Justice Isaac Amit was elected head of Israel’s top court on Sunday night in a court-forced vote by the Judicial Selection Committee.

Sharon delves into the tricky situation in which Levin, together with the other coalition representatives in the committee, Settlements Minister Orit Strock and Otzma Yehudit MK Yitzhak Kroizer, boycotted the hearing in protest of the decision by the Supreme Court — sitting as the High Court of Justice — to order him to hold a vote in the committee.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Netanyahu aiming to meet Trump at White House next week in first visit by foreign leader

Netanyahu accuses police of extorting ‘false testimony’ from state witnesses

Isaac Amit finally elected Supreme Court president; Levin pledges to boycott him

Israel finally gets a permanent Supreme Court president; what does he stand for?

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: Israeli Justice Minister Yariv Levin attends a plenum session at the assembly hall of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, December 4, 2024. )Chaim Goldbergl/Flash90)

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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 Tal Schneider and reporter Sue Surkes join host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

Israel allows thousands of Gazans to return to the north of the Strip, as per the hostage-ceasefire deal, following confirmation that hostages Arbel Yehoud, Agam Berger and a third hostage would be released this week on Thursday, while three more hostages, all men, will be released on Saturday, Schneider notes.

She also reviews the latest regarding the Hezbollah ceasefire, which is being extended until February 18, during which time the Lebanese army is supposed to to deploy to the eastern part of southern Lebanon, close to Syria and the Golan Heights, and stabilize what is currently seen as a fragile ceasefire.

Schneider describes a recent visit to Kibbutz Nir Oz near the Gaza border, one of the kibbutzim hardest hit by the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, where only half a dozen homes were left standing. IDF forces never reached Nir Oz on that day, and neither have Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or many other ministers in the ensuing 15 months.

Surkes talks about how some veteran Israeli aid workers are caught between considering the humanitarian needs of war-torn Gaza, which they haven't been able to enter since the war began, and mourning communities and individuals victimized by the brutal Hamas onslaught on October 7, 2023, which started the war.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Thousands of Gazans gather on coastal road as IDF blocks access to Strip’s north

Israel: Arbel Yehoud, Agam Berger, 3rd hostage to be freed Thursday; 3 more on Saturday

Israel and Lebanon extend truce, with IDF troop withdrawal deadline moved to Feb. 18

22 killed in south Lebanon as IDF fires on suspects trying to break through to villages

Israel fiddled while Nir Oz burned, but the kibbutz will rise again

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: Displaced Palestinians make their way back to their homes in the northern Gaza Strip on January 27, 2025. (Photo by Ali Hassan/Flash90)

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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.

Military reporter Emanuel Fabian and reporter Amy Spiro joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Yesterday, the four female soldiers held hostage in Gaza for 477 days — Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy, and Liri Albag — were reunited with their loved ones, embracing them with smiles and tears after their release from captivity. Today, we concentrate on the Hamas violation of the ceasefire deal due to the failure to free civilian hostage Arbel Yehud and Israel’s consequent decision to pause its pulling out from part of the Netzarim Corridor — even as thousands of Palestinians gather on the coastal road in central Gaza, waiting to return to the Strip’s north.

US President Donald Trump said Saturday he’d like to see Jordan, Egypt and other Arab nations accept more Palestinian refugees from the Gaza Strip — potentially moving out enough of the population to “just clean out” the war-torn area and create a virtual clean slate. We discuss the feasibility of this idea, as well as the Palestinian security prisoners who were deported to Egypt yesterday.

The initial 60-day truce in Lebanon has run out this morning and the Lebanese army is calling on its civilians to “exercise self-restraint” and follow instructions as people attempt to return to villages in south Lebanon, despite the IDF presence there. We learn which parts of southern Lebanon the IDF still holds and what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s declared intentions are, and hear updates about the IDF’s presence in the Syrian buffer zone.

And finally, we end with the bittersweet win of Yuval Raphael, a survivor of the Hamas attack on the Nova music festival, who was voted in last week as Israel’s contestant at the 2025 Eurovision in Switzerland in May.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

‘Unfazed’: Freed hostages say they knew they had to project strength at Hamas handover

Israel bars Palestinians from returning to north Gaza in row over hostage Arbel Yehud

Trump proposes Jordan, Egypt take in Gazans so decimated Strip can be ‘cleaned out’

IDF warns Lebanese against return to border villages as it prepares to extend stay

Israel won’t complete full withdrawal from Lebanon by Sunday deadline, PM says

Yuval Raphael, survivor of Nova massacre, to represent Israel at 2025 Eurovision

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: Lebanese women hold portraits of of slain Hezbollah leader Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah, as they check the destruction in their village Aita al-Shaab, a Lebanese border village with Israel, south Lebanon, January 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

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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.

Military reporter Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's special update.

This morning, four female soldiers held hostage by Hamas for 477 days — Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy, and Liri Albag — were released by the terror group after being paraded through a Gaza City square and made to participate in a demeaning ceremony before being handed over to the Red Cross.

Hamas "gift bags" in hand, the four young women returned to Israel and were reunited with their families at the IDF base near Re'im, mere kilometers from the Gaza border. 

Fabian reminds listeners of Hamas's murderous October 7, 2023, takeover of the Nahal Oz IDF base that saw 66 soldiers murdered and seven female surveillance officers taken prisoner. 

We hear what we currently know about the physical health of the four released today and details from the handover.

Fabian also updates us on Israel's response to Hamas's overt violation of the ceasefire-hostage release deal which should have seen female civilian Arbel Yehud -- and any other living female civilian and children -- released ahead of the female soldiers.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

4 female soldier hostages freed by Hamas, paraded on Gaza stage, returned to Israel

Israel blocks Palestinians from returning to north Gaza after Hamas breaks truce terms

Bibas family: ‘World came crashing down’ when Shiri, kids weren’t slated for release

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: A Palestinian woman throws confetti as Hamas fighters prepare to hand over four Israeli hostages to a Red Cross team from a stage at a square in Gaza City on January 25, 2025. (Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

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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.

Senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode, a special Friday Focus on the painful issue of the release of Palestinian security prisoners as part of the hostage release-ceasefire deal.

Tomorrow, another four hostages are set to be released from Gaza -- presumably women and presumably alive. Alongside the Israelis' release, however, up to 200 Palestinian prisoners could also be released, according to the current formula of 30 Palestinian prisoners for every civilian and 50 for every female soldier.

Rettig Gur takes on this complicated and emotional subject through looking at the history of terrorist hostage-taking and previous so-called exchanges of the abductees and Palestinian prisoners -- including those who were serving multiple life sentences.

We speak about the most memorable exchange of prisoners, which came in 2011 when captured soldier Gilad Shalit was released from Gaza as 1,027 security prisoners were freed from Israeli prisons. However, Rettig Gur postulates that the blueprint for that abduction came much earlier.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Convicted terrorists to be released are ‘an open wound’ for victims’ families

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: Palestinians celebrate the release of some 90 prisoners set free by Israel in the early hours of January 20, 2025 upon their arrival aboard a Red Cross bus in the Palestinian West Bank town of Beitunia, on the outskirts of Ramallah. (Zain JAAFAR / AFP)

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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.

Times of Israel founding editor David Horovitz joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

Horovitz reviews the fraught, ongoing process of the hostage releases, both those that took place last Sunday and the four living women expected to be released on Saturday. He comments on how every day carries a new twist in the ceasefire and hostage exchange, and the terrifying moment of transfer in Gaza City, last Sunday.

He also talks about some of the behind-the-scenes aspects of the ceasefire, how and why it finally came about, the cooperation between the Trump and Biden administrations, the weakened Hezbollah and positioning of Hamas, along with the fact that it's not an easy deal for Israel, but it will save hostages' lives.

Discussion of phase two of the deal has also begun, as hostage families plea for their loved ones' lives. Horovitz discusses some of the politics that will enter that part of the process, and how that could affect the stability of Netanyahu's political coalition and what he might do about that.

Horovitz talks about the likelihood of the Palestinian Authority taking some portion of control over Gaza, and the tremendous amount of nuance involved in any discussion of that possibility.

Finally, he talks about the resignation of IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, due to take effect in March, and what it has meant to have Halevi take responsibility for the failures that led to October 7, as well as why many Israelis still feel loyal to him. 

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Top officials said already gearing up for 2nd phase hostage talks, ahead of schedule

Israel said to tell Hamas it expects Arbel Yehud to be among next freed hostages

Farewell Herzi Halevi, uniformed embodiment of our national tragedy, leader of the fightback

IDF chief Halevi’s resignation letter: Oct. 7 failure will stay with me for rest of my life

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: Varda Ben Baruch, grandmother of Idan Alexander who is held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, holds a sign as she stands outside the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, January 23, 2025. (Photo by Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

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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.

Military reporter Emanuel Fabian and settlements reporter Jeremy Sharon join host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Four people were wounded yesterday evening by a terrorist who went on a stabbing spree in a trendy Tel Aviv neighborhood, emergency services and Israel Police said, before he was shot dead. An off-duty IDF tank officer who had lost a hand during fighting in the Gaza Strip was among those who attempted to neutralize the terrorist. Fabian tells us more.

Yesterday, Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi and the head of the IDF Southern Command Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman both announced their resignations, 15 months into the war sparked by Hamas’s attack and two days after a ceasefire and hostage release deal with the terror group in the Gaza Strip went into effect. Why now and who is in the running to replace the pair?

Yesterday, the Israel Defense Forces launched a major counterterrorism operation in the northern West Bank city of Jenin on Tuesday afternoon, which military sources said was expected to last several days. We learn about the aims of the operation and the coordination with the Palestinian Authority.

Dozens of extremist settlers conducted an attack on two West Bank Palestinian villages on Monday night in which IDF troops also came under attack. Sharon explains that this is just one of a series of attacks and delves into who these extremist Israelis are.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Off-duty officer who lost hand in Gaza helped chase down terrorist in Tel Aviv attack

US green card holder, a Moroccan national, wounds 4 in Tel Aviv terror stabbing spree

IDF reservist killed, senior officer seriously hurt by roadside bomb in West Bank

Taking responsibility for Oct. 7 failures, IDF chief and head of Southern Command resign

IDF launches major counterterror raid in West Bank’s Jenin, expected to last days

IDF: Dozens of settler extremists involved in Monday night riots, troops also attacked

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: IDF soldiers stand guard as Israeli Jewish settlers tour the old market in the city of Hebron in the West Bank on December 28, 2024. (HAZEM BADER / AFP)

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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.

US bureau chief Jacob Magid joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

Magid reviews the leadup to President Donald Trump's inauguration into office as the 47th president of the United States, including the President-elect's role in the Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal that began with the release of three female hostages on Sunday. Magid points out that reaching the second phase of the deal may be more difficult, given the pressures on Netanyahu's coalition government, and the prime minister's desire to remain fighting Hamas in Gaza.

Magid also looks at Trump and Netanyahu's various supporters, and who has sway over the two leaders in their decision-making process.

Magid discusses Trump's comments during the inauguration rally, as he invited hostage families and former hostage Noa Argamani on stage, but made a point about releasing the January 6, 2021 "hostages," not referring to the hostages taken by Hamas to Gaza.

After the inauguration and rally, says Magid, Trump signed a number of orders, including undoing the Biden sanctions against violent Israeli settlers, revoking the Biden order that removed Trump's 2020 sanctions on the International Criminal Court and ordering a 90-day pause in foreign development assistance.

Finally, Magid discusses Trump's casual comment regarding the Gaza ceasefire and that it may not hold, remarking that the war in Gaza is "their war, not our war," perhaps as a way for Trump to distance himself from the region and situation.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Trump looks to ride on success of hostage deal as he readies to take oath of office

On day one, Trump rolls back Biden sanctions regime targeting violent Israeli settlers

Trump orders 90-day pause in foreign development assistance, likely impacting Palestinians

Trump revokes Biden order that removed his 2020 sanctions on the ICC

Trump believes Israeli-Saudi normalization can be reached ‘soon’

Trump says not confident Gaza deal will hold through all three phases

‘I thought I’d die in Gaza’: First testimonies from freed hostages released

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: President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance and first lady Melania Trump greet families of hostages held in Gaza, during an indoor Presidential Inauguration parade event at Capital One Arena, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

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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.

Military reporter Emanuel Fabian and political reporter Tal Schneider join host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Yesterday evening, three Hamas hostages were returned to Israeli soil as part of the hostage release-ceasefire agreement that went into effect at 11:15 yesterday morning. We learn how Romi Gonen, 24, Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, were released, what we know currently of their conditions and how they were received in Israel.

Israel released 90 Palestinian security prisoners early Monday morning, hours after Hamas released the three civilian hostages on the first day of a ceasefire with the terror group in the Gaza Strip. These inmates included terror convicts but reportedly none convicted of murder. Where were they taken and how were they greeted?

We hear a quick update on the status of the truce that is still holding in southern Lebanon -- and that is meant to expire on Sunday.

Former national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party quit the coalition on Sunday morning, following through on its threat to exit if the government agreed to a ceasefire agreement with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Schneider discusses the new alignment of power in the coalition and goes through several potential scenarios.

At the inauguration of US President Donald Trump in Washington, DC, today, part of the festivities will be led by Yeshiva University head Rabbi Ari Berman, who will deliver a benediction. We hear what else Israeli or Jewish may be in store.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Hostages Romi Gonen, Emily Damari, Doron Steinbrecher return to Israel after 471 days

Beaming, laughing, weeping, 3 freed hostages finally reunite with loved ones

Israel frees 90 Palestinian security prisoners, who are welcomed with Hamas flags

Otzma Yehudit exits coalition over Gaza deal, blasting it as ‘victory for terrorism’

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: Relatives and friends of people killed and abducted by Hamas and taken into Gaza, react to the news of the hostages' release, as they gather in Tel Aviv, Israel on January 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

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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.

Military reporter Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

The ceasefire between Israel and the terror groups led by Hamas in the Gaza Strip came into effect at 11:15 am after Hamas finally submitted the names of the three hostages set to be released this evening, Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher. Fabian discusses what preparations are being made to receive the women.

The body of soldier Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul, who was killed and captured by Hamas in 2014, was returned to Israel recently. We hear what we know about the military operation that finally closed one family’s saga, even as Israelis await dozens more hostages.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Hours before Gaza ceasefire set to start, PM stresses right to resume war after ‘pause’

With doctors and therapists: Army completes preparations to receive hostages

High Court rejects bereaved families’ petition against release of terrorists

Body of soldier Oron Shaul, killed and captured by Hamas in 2014, recovered from Gaza

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: Armed Hamas operatives parade in southern Gaza's Rafah after the ceasefire was supposed to take effect on January 19, 2025 (Screen grab/Al-Jazeera)

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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.

Editor David Horovitz joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

The Prime Minister’s Office issued a brief statement after 1 a.m. Saturday morning confirming the government approved the hostage release-ceasefire deal after meeting for more than seven hours. Twenty-four ministers voted in favor of the deal and eight opposed. The deal should enter into force on Sunday at 8:30 am and the first three Israeli hostages are to be freed at 4 pm. In sum, 33 hostages are to be freed in the first, 42-day phase of the deal. Horovitz speaks about the political dramas and what we know about the implementation of the deal and who is on the first-phase list.

Israel is set to release up to 1,904 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, including several serving multiple life sentences for deadly terror attacks and murder. The Justice Ministry has, as of Saturday, published the names of 735 Palestinian prisoners to allow petitions against their release to be submitted to the High Court. We hear some of the complexities around the prisoner-release portion of the truce deal and who is not currently going to be freed.

We speak about the mood of the country after the deal was finally ratified. How are families whose loved ones were killed in battle in Gaza feeling as Hamas and Hezbollah cry victory and vow to ramp up their "resistance" to Israel in the near future.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Israeli government approves hostage-ceasefire agreement with Hamas

Israel to free up to 1,904 Palestinians in 1st stage of hostage deal, including killers

These are the 33 hostages set to be returned in phase one of the Gaza ceasefire

Guidelines for hospitals set to receive hostages include STD checks, pregnancy tests

IDF intercepts missile from Yemen in 4th Houthi attack this week, no injuries

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: A woman pauses near posters of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, in Tel Aviv, Israel, as Israel's security cabinet convened to decide whether to approve a deal that would release dozens of hostages held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza and pause the 15-month-war, January 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

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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.

US bureau chief Jacob Magid joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode, the weekly Friday Focus.

As US President Joe Biden prepares to leave office, we take a look at the relationship between the president and the Jewish state, starting with his famous meeting with prime minister Golda Meir in which he understood the importance of being a Zionist.

We hear how, after Biden's initial embrace of Netanyahu and the Israeli people following the murderous Hamas onslaught on southern Israel, the complex relationship between the president and his shifting Democratic party may have colored some of his later statements and led to micro-managing the war in Gaza.

Magid postulates that the traditionally special relationship between the US and its ally has also led to sanctions on settler extremists in an attempt to course-correct the Jewish state.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

On a deadline: How Biden and Trump brokered hostage deal before ‘all hell’ broke loose

Biden: US-backed pressure on Iranian axis helped secure hostage deal, end of Gaza war

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: US President Joe Biden, right, hugs Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after arriving at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, October 18, 2023. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

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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.

Editor David Horovitz joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Last night, the prime minister of Qatar as well as both US President Joe Biden and US President-elect Donald Trump announced that a deal had been reached. Hamas leadership quickly declared victory over Israel, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has continued to insist that the final deal has not been inked and some outstanding details remain. At recording time on Thursday noon, the deal was still not finalized. Horovitz describes what we understand are the main specifics of the agreement.

According to a recent Israel Democracy Institute survey, more than two-thirds of the public support a deal for the release of all or some of the hostages. On the other hand, around a quarter support continuing the military pressure on Hamas, which they believe will lead to a more favorable deal for Israel in the future. Horovitz explains the stances of some of the right-wing protesters who demonstrated Wednesday night and are currently demonstrating at the Knesset against a deal.

We hear about the drama also taking place inside the Knesset as government members wrestle with their consciences to decide which way to cast their votes -- and whether to dissolve the coalition.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Get them all home

After 15 months of war, Israel and Hamas agree to a ceasefire-hostage release deal

Biden: US-backed pressure on Iranian axis helped secure hostage deal, end of Gaza war

On a deadline: How Biden and Trump brokered hostage deal before ‘all hell’ broke loose

Hamas leader touts ceasefire as a defeat for Israel while hailing Oct. 7 atrocities

Right-wing groups, including bereaved families, protest pending hostage release deal

Hostage families on ‘roller coaster’ as they celebrate deal, worry for loved ones’ fate

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: Israeli protesters carry mock coffins draped in the national flag of Israel during a protest against the ceasefire with Hamas outside the Supreme Court in Jerusalem on January 16, 2025. (John Wessels / AFP)

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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.

Reporter Amy Spiro filling in for diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman and environmental correspondent Sue Surkes join host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

Spiro says there is optimism that the proposed hostage deal will be signed by Wednesday or Thursday, and reviews the proposed details of the deal that it is very similar to what was proposed last May, with a first stage of 33 hostages to be released in exchange for around 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israel, and negotiations on a second phase of hostages 16 days into the ceasefire.

Spiro says that Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar calls this a gradual deal, not a partial deal.

She reviews the process of approving the deal, which would first go to the security cabinet and then to the entire government cabinet. Spiro remarks that Likud ministers have said the deal will pass, even without right-wing politicians National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir or Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on board, and that opposition leader Yair Lapid has said he will do what is necessary to ensure the deal goes through despite any longer-term political implications.

Surkes discusses the new reforms aimed at changing the range of imported goods from the European Union, intended to lower prices on goods in Israel.

Surkes also looks at a Tel Aviv University study regarding the lack of cave art in the Levant and a bereaved family member's newspaper that looks at how Israel could become a better place.

The printed newspaper, written only by bereaved families, aligns with the latest Yoni Bloch song that Steinberg speaks about briefly, with an AI clip that imagines the hostages released home and peace in the Middle East.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Smotrich undecided on hostage deal at this ‘fateful moment’

Gaza ceasefire-hostage deal on brink of finalization, as reports spell out details

Israeli officials: Deal will see 33 hostages freed in 1st stage, most of them alive

Ben Gvir says he repeatedly foiled hostage deals, urges Smotrich to help him stop this one

Along with soaring prices, Israel rings in 2025 with economic reforms, but will they work?

Israeli researchers devise woolly solution to enigma of why Levant has no cave art

AI music clip imagines all hostages released, a new MidEast

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: Protestors at Begin Gate in Tel Aviv on January 15, 2025, calling for the release of all the hostages and the end to the war (Credit Yoav Loeff)

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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.

Military reporter Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

This morning, a “final round” of Gaza truce talks was due to start in Qatar. According to AFP, today’s meetings “are aimed at finalizing the remaining details of the deal,” with the heads of Israel’s intelligence agencies, the Middle East envoys for the incoming and outgoing US administrations, and Qatar’s prime minister present. Mediators are to meet separately with Hamas officials, the source says. Fabian explains what he knows so far about security arrangements that may be put in place in Gaza in the event of a ceasefire.

Five Israel Defense Forces soldiers were killed and 10 were wounded in an explosion in northern Gaza on Monday, the military said, raising Israel’s toll in over 15 months of fighting in the Strip to 407. The slain troops were all serving with the Nahal Brigade’s Reconnaissance Unit. On Saturday, four soldiers were killed and six were wounded during fighting, also in the northern Gaza Strip. We hear initial findings about these two terrible incidents.

The IDF said Monday it had struck several Hezbollah sites in Lebanon overnight, saying the targets violated the terms of the ceasefire agreement. It said it did so after the international ceasefire monitoring mechanism failed to address them, despite being advised on the matter. This is not the first time -- and it's likely not the last, says Fabian.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels launched ballistic missiles within hours of each other on Monday evening and early Tuesday morning, triggering sirens that sent hundreds of thousands of Israelis rushing into shelters. This comes after a Friday night retaliatory attack by the Israeli Air Force against Houthi targets in Yemen. Fabian shares why the Houthis may not yet be deterred.

IDF Deputy Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Amir Baram on Friday notified his commander, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, that he would leave his role as planned at the end of February. Is it because he wants Halevi's job instead?

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Israeli officials: Deal will see 33 hostages freed in 1st stage, most of them alive

Five soldiers killed, 10 wounded in explosion in northern Gaza, IDF says

IDF announces 4 soldiers killed, 6 wounded during fighting in northern Gaza

IDF says it hit Hezbollah sites after ceasefire monitors failed to address threats

For second time in hours, Houthi missile at Israel triggers cross-country sirens

Couple, out for walk after overnight sirens, find chunk of Houthi missile on their roof

20 Israeli jets attack two ports and a power plant used by Houthis in Yemen

IDF deputy chief of staff requests to step down, indicates he hopes to succeed Halevi

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: Pictures in Jerusalem of Israelis held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, January 13, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

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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 Tal Schneider and reporter Diana Bletter join host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

Tensions are high in Israel over the possibility of a proposed hostage deal. Schneider discusses the Sunday phone conversation between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden regarding the negotiations. She also reviews which Israeli officials are currently in Doha, along with Steve Witkoff, President-elect Donald Trump's Middle East envoy.

Schneider says Netanyahu met with coalition leaders Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, as the prime minister needs those two powerful coalition partners on board to approve any hostage deal.

Bletter talks about her visits to two northern kibbutz communities where residents have been evacuated for more than a year and now have to decide what the future holds for them. 

She also discusses a Weizmann Institute study about ants, and their ability to work well as a team, unlike their human counterparts.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Biden stresses ‘immediate need’ for hostage-truce deal in call with Netanyahu

Netanyahu dispatches top negotiators to Qatar talks amid push to seal hostage deal

PM to meet with Smotrich to gauge support for a potential hostage deal — report

Inside the Lebanon-border closed military zone, kibbutz members prepare to start over

Ants have more ‘group smarts’ than humans, Israeli study finds

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Podwaves.

IMAGE: People walking next to a poster of Israelis held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, 'We won't stop until they're all released!' in Jerusalem, January 12, 2025 ( Photo by Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

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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.

Legal reporter Jeremy Sharon joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Late last week, almost two years exactly to the unveiling of the initial judicial overhaul legislative package, Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar unveiled a far-reaching package of changes to Israel’s judicial system which would increase political power over judicial appointments and curb the High Court’s ability to strike down legislation. The new package would stop short of some measures that sparked massive anti-government protests in 2023, but are potentially just a beginning. We unravel the new initiative and try to understand its implications.

The High Court of Justice on Friday gave the state until the end of January to explain what steps it was taking to maximize Haredi enlistment to the Israel Defense Forces and to penalize draft dodgers.
The instruction came in response to several petitions calling for the immediate conscription of all previously exempt ultra-Orthodox men. We learn about the court's impatience with the government's lack of action on this flashpoint issue.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Overhaul redux: Levin’s ‘compromise’ proposal would again radically constrain the judiciary

Levin, Sa’ar unveil new judicial overhaul plan; wary opposition heads hold off response

High Court orders state to clarify plans to draft Haredim, penalize dodgers

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Ben Wallick.

IMAGE: Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar (left) with Justice Minister Yariv Levin at the Knesset on November 6, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

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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.

Senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for a bonus episode of our weekly What Matters Now series.

This week, a committee appointed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to examine defense spending and IDF military force design for the future announced that the election of Donald Trump as US president offers an unprecedented opportunity to remove the threat Israel faces from Iran.

Trump’s return to the White House, said the Nagel Committee on Monday, “creates, for the first time, the potential for a fundamental change, and the removal or meaningful reduction of the Iranian threat.”

Likewise this week, incoming US envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff announced that he would travel to Doha, saying a hostage deal being mediated by Qatar is on the verge of completion, as Trump again warned “all hell will break loose” in the region if an agreement between Israel and Hamas is not reached by his January 20 inauguration.

We all know that Trump is one to talk tough, but the question is -- how much of this rhetoric will translate into action? And will he aid Israel in its effort to prevent a nuclear Iran?

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

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: US President Donald Trump (left) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, May 23, 2017. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner, File)

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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.

Diplomatic reporter Lazar Berman joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for a special Friday Focus episode, part two of last week's discussion, "Why the IDF abandoned the offensive and ended up with Oct. 7."

When Israel's founding prime minister David Ben Gurion envisioned the country's defense forces, he proposed a small standing army and a large reservist force. In the first part of our conversation, we discussed how this model served the state, alongside a doctrine of deterrence, intelligence, and battlefield victory.

However, as the state evolved, the standing army was increasingly shrunk alongside an outsized confidence in Israel's air array. How did this lead up to the complete failure of the army to prevent -- and spur -- the Hamas onslaught on October 7, 2023?

This week, we speak about how Israel's army continues to evolve by learning from our current enemies -- non-state actors who don't fight by the rules. We discuss how this generation of IDF soldiers grew up in the shadow of the Disengagement -- and without much ground-operation experience.

Finally, we hear lessons the IDF has learned from October 7 and how it is already attempting to implement them.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

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: IDF forces operation in the Gaza Strip in a handout photo issued by the Israeli military on January 9, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

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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.

US bureau chief Jacob Magid joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

As US Secretary of State Antony Blinken nears the end of his term in the Biden administration, Blinken says that mediators are very close to securing a ceasefire and hostage release agreement, something that hasn't been stated in a while. However, Magid says it may only be finalized at the start of the new Trump administration.

He discusses other aspects of the hostage deal under discussion, including the refrain from hostage families that a deal for only 34 hostages, some of them no longer living, will leave two-thirds of the remaining hostages behind, a death sentence for them, adds Magid.

Magid notes that Blinken placed the blame on Hamas for holding up a hostage deal for months in his recent interview with The New York Times, a comment which suggests that the US never wanted to blame Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his positioning on the deal, says Magid, even when it frustrated the negotiating teams.

He also looks at the proposed $8 billion arms deal being prepped by the Biden administration, and which has to be approved by the Senate and House committees. Magid says the deal is to ensure that Israel has the arms it needs in the case of any further Iranian attacks.

Magid talks about the appointment of Morgan Ortegus as deputy Middle East envoy, someone who opposes Trump's isolationist approach and therefore Trump didn't offer a ringing endorsement of her appointment.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Blinken: We’re very close to hostage deal, it’ll be handed to Trump if not finalized

Blinken: After Oct. 7, I threatened to nix Biden visit if Israel didn’t let aid into Gaza

Biden administration prepping $8 billion arms package for Israel, including heavy bombs

Trump appoints Ortagus as deputy Mideast envoy, but admits he’s not excited about it

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Ben Wallick.

IMAGE: Demonstrators protest outside the prime minister's Jerusalem residence after the IDF recovered the body of hostage Youssef Ziyadne from a Gaza tunnel, January 8, 2025. (Photo by Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

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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.

Military reporter Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara filed the state’s response to High Court petitions on Haredi military enlistment, stating that there is no limit on the numbers of ultra-Orthodox men recruited into the Israel Defense Forces from mid-2026. This comes as coalition members have often insisted that the IDF is not capable of absorbing the estimated 70,000 Haredi young men currently eligible for service. We dive into the divisive issue and why the army needs more soldiers.

The IDF said that this past week, 338 members of the ultra-Orthodox community enlisted in the military for mandatory service — 211 combat soldiers and 127 combat support. We hear the breakdown of numbers and also how the army said it had completed sending out a wave of 7,000 draft orders to members of the ultra-Orthodox community, after 3,000 were sent out over the summer. What have been the results so far?

We learn about the ongoing manhunt in the West Bank after the fatal shooting on Monday near the Jewish settlement of Kedumim. The shooting attack, which targeted a bus and two cars, occurred inside the Palestinian village of al-Funduq, which straddles a major artery used by thousands of Israelis and Palestinian drivers daily.

And finally we discuss the deployment of the IDF in the Gaza Strip and in southern Lebanon, among efforts by US envoy Amos Hochstein to lengthen the 60-day truce with Hezbollah.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Survey: Public support for conscripting ultra-Orthodox has surged throughout war

First 50 ultra-Orthodox soldiers drafted to IDF’s new Haredi brigade

Soldier killed fighting in Gaza as IDF withdraws brigade from northern Strip

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Ben Wallick.

IMAGE: Israeli soldiers and ultra-Orthodox Jews at the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site in the Old City of Jerusalem, July 10, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

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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.

Arab Affairs correspondent Gianluca Pacchiani and Tech Editor Sharon Wrobel join host Jessica Steinberg on today's show.

Pacchiani discusses the latest with the Hamas list of proposed hostages that would include some 34 living captives out of the remaining 100 hostages left in Gaza, as Hamas asks for greater numbers of prisoners in a hostage exchange.

Pacchiani also reviews the status of Hezbollah in Lebanon as the 60-day ceasefire with Israel draws to an end, the opportunity for Hezbollah to rest and prepare for a possible renewal of fighting and what it all means for the balance of power in Lebanon's complicated political mosaic.

Wrobel talks about comments made by the Bank of Israel governor at the start of the new year, with some cautious optimism for the Israeli economy and a look at the costs borne by the country for the ongoing war.

She also discusses the emergency grants offered to evacuated families from Israel's north. To take advantage of the financial packages, families must return home by March 2025.

Wrobel dives into consumer legislation being considered by the government to cancel flight compensation for passengers, as part of an effort to ease the financial costs to airlines and help bring foreign airlines back to Israeli skies.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Israeli negotiators head to Qatar amid some reported progress in hostage talks

Central bank sees economy improving but warns of continued geopolitical uncertainty

Israel lays out NIS 3.4 billion plan to get northerners back home in March

Israel to cut travelers’ flight cancellation compensation to woo back foreign airlines

Who’s afraid of the Houthis? Iran’s last proxy standing is proving no pushover for Israel

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Nomi Studios.

IMAGE:  Watching planes take off at Ben Gurion International Airport, August 26, 2024. (Photo by Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

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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.

Diplomatic reporter Lazar Berman joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today’s show.

Israeli and regional media is rife with headlines about an imminent potential Gaza hostage release deal. However, after a Saudi outlet published a list it received from Hamas of 34 hostages the terror organization says would be freed in the first phase of a potential hostage-ceasefire deal, the Prime Minister’s Office puts out a statement stressing that the document is merely an Israeli list that was given to the mediating countries in July 2024. Berman updates us on what is going on.

US special envoy Amos Hochstein has just landed in Beirut. This comes a day after Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that Israel will be “forced to act” if Hezbollah does not pull back from southern Lebanon as stipulated in the ceasefire agreement. What is happening with the temporary truce agreement?

As Syria’s new government strives to gain international legitimacy after overthrowing the Bashar al-Assad regime, Western countries seem open to giving a chance to the government led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, head of the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group. Berman explains how Israel is sounding the alarm.

An Israel Defense Forces soldier who survived Hamas’s attack at the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, hurriedly ended his vacation in Brazil on Sunday morning after the country’s Federal Court ordered police to open a war crimes investigation into him, according to Brazilian media. Another 11 soldiers across the globe were warned by the Foreign Ministry. Berman weighs in.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Leaked list names 34 hostages to be freed in 1st stage of Gaza deal; Israel denies progress

Hamas said to okay list of 34 hostages to be freed, but refuses to detail who’s alive

Katz warns ceasefire in jeopardy if Hezbollah doesn’t withdraw from south Lebanon

As European and Arab leaders rush to meet Syria’s new leader, Israel calls for caution

IDF soldier who survived Nova massacre escapes war crimes investigation in Brazil

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Nomi Studios.

IMAGE: A protester with her hands bound and mouth taped shut holds a placard during a demonstration calling for the release of hostages held captive in Gaza by Hamas terrorists since the October 7 attacks, outside the Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv on January 4, 2025. (Jack Guez / AFP)

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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.

Military reporter Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's show.

The Hamas terror group released a propaganda video on Saturday showing signs of life from 19-year-old hostage Liri Albag, the latest in a series of clips it has released of Israeli captives taken in the October 7, 2023, attack. What were the contents of the three-and-a-half-minute-long video, which Hamas released as a form of psychological torture?

The Israeli military said Saturday that its troops had in recent days demolished an entire residential complex in northern Gaza, close to Beit Hanoun, which had been used as a hideout and command center by senior Hamas commanders. The complex overlooks the Israeli community of Netiv Ha’asara and was considered a threat to the rail line to Sderot, which hasn’t operated since Oct. 7, 2023. We learn more about this operation and where else the IDF is actively fighting, as well as continued rocket fire from the Strip.

A ballistic missile fired toward Israel from the Yemenite Houthis was intercepted early Sunday morning, the military said, with air raid sirens largely remaining silent despite the threat. Fabian updates on the shrapnel that fell and why sirens didn't sound.

Lebanese army officials have received “serious signals” that Israel could extend its presence in Lebanon for an additional 30 days beyond the 60-day withdrawal period stipulated in its ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah, a newspaper aligned with the terror group reported on Saturday. We hear how Hezbollah and the Lebanese Army aren't holding up their ends of the truce and what may be the results.

The Israeli Air Force on Thursday revealed details and footage from one of its most daring and complex commando operations ever, in which 120 members of special forces units raided and destroyed an underground Iranian missile manufacturing plant deep in Syria in September. Some of the details of the September 8 operation previously reported by foreign media outlets — including the name of the raid — are now known to have been wrong, or slightly incorrect. Fabian fills us in.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Hamas releases video of hostage Liri Albag, 19. Parents: ‘This is not the Liri we know’

Gaza rocket lands near Nir Am, missile fired at chopper, as IAF pounds Hamas targets

IDF destroys Hamas terror compound overlooking Israel; rocket hits aid crossing

Late-night Houthi ballistic missile attack thwarted by IDF, without widespread sirens

Reports: IDF may extend south Lebanon presence for 30 more days as Hezbollah regroups

Israel said to hit defense facility, scientific research center near Syria’s Aleppo

120 commandos deep inside Syria: IDF reveals daring raid on Iranian missile factory

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Ben Wallick.

IMAGE: Members of the IAF's Shaldag unit in Israel following a raid against an Iranian missile factory in Syria, September 8, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

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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.

Founding editor David Horovitz joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's show, a bonus episode from our weekly What Matters Now podcast.

Five years ago this week, The Times of Israel launched its Daily Briefing podcast to keep listeners updated on the latest news out of Israel and the region, from Sunday through Thursday.

Starting from October 7, 2023, the podcast has moved to seven days a week in an effort to broadcast fair and accurate news and analysis from Israel every day during wartime. We discuss the locations of some of the podcast's more unexpected listenership.

Horovitz then delves into ongoing efforts on the part of the government to limit the freedom of the press, from the banning of Al Jazeera to halting government ads in a left-wing daily to trying to close down the irritating state broadcaster. He explains the "gentleman's agreement" that is the basis of the relationship of the Israeli press with the military censor -- and how frustrating it can be.

We also hear about the inescapable blindsides in reporting a war in which often unverifiable narratives pour out of Gaza and are widely presented as solid truths.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

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: Newspapers and magazines for sale at a shop in the center of Jerusalem. November 10, 2013. (Nati Shohat/FLASH90)

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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.

Diplomatic reporter Lazar Berman joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's show.

In today's special longer Friday episode, Berman charts the evolving essential purpose of the IDF, starting with its origins. He speaks of the push-pull of a fledgling organization as both a defensive and offensive body.

We learn how the fight for Israel's independence crystallized the need for an easily maneuverable fighting machine that would not hinder the Jewish state's need for a stable economy.

Berman explains how first prime minister David Ben-Gurion's solutions worked well -- until with the shifting tides of warfare, they really didn't.

In this podcast, the first installment of a two-part conversation, we hear how after a series of wars and political decisions, the stage was set for the IDF's catastrophic failure on October 7.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

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: A detachment of Haganah soldiers overlooking Acre relaxes on May 21, 1948, after the three-day fight for the city, which surrendered on May 18. 1948. (AP Photo/FN)

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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.

US bureau chief Jacob Magid joins host Jessica Steinberg on today's show.

Magid discusses why former defense minister Yoav Gallant resigned from the Knesset, which appears to be primarily due to his opposition to legislation that would allow ultra-Orthodox men exemptions from army service. The move is somewhat confusing, given that Gallant's vote could have made a difference regarding certain legislation, but he seems to be leaving as a political move, to cement his future possibilities.

Magid looks at why the hostage talks are reported to have stalled, with obstacles that included Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's not offering a viable alternative as to who would fill the void of Hamas leadership in Gaza, and the Hamas stance that it can't locate all the remaining hostages held in Gaza.

He also reviews a Palestinian Authority crackdown on armed terror groups in Jenin in the northern West Bank, and its relationship to the fall of Assad to rebel groups in Syria. Criticism of the Palestinian Authority's activity was broadcast on Al Jazeera, and the news channel was then barred temporarily from the West Bank.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Gallant resigns from Knesset, denounces imminent bill to exempt Haredim from IDF

Hamas said willing to free only 22 of 34 living hostages demanded by Israel in deal

PA halts Al Jazeera West Bank broadcasts amid criticism of its terror crackdown

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: MK Yoav Gallant in the corridors of the Knesset on December 23, 2024. (Photo by Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

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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 Sam Sokol joins host Jessica Steinberg on today's show.

Sokol discusses the political machinations in the Knesset as voting over the 2025 budget leads National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and several ultra-Orthodox parties to threaten to oppose the bill, given some of the planned cuts.

While Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich have banded together in the past over their political aspirations, the two have been at odds for some time, which could possibly lead to a break in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition, explains Sokol.

Sokol reviews the further political dramas that played out on Tuesday in the Knesset, as Netanyahu, recovering from a successful prostate removal surgery at the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem, was forced to leave his hospital bed and return to the Knesset, in order to cast a decisive vote on the budget law, and thwart Ben Gvir.

Another Knesset member, Likud MK Boaz Bismuth, who was in the midst of the seven-day mourning period for his mother, was also pushed to leave the shiva and come to the Knesset and vote in favor of the bill.

Sokol also offers a brief description of the fragment of a Houthi missile that landed in his Beit Shemesh neighborhood late Monday night.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

PM leaves hospital to cast decisive vote on a budget law, thwarting Ben Gvir revolt

Coalition factions threaten to vote against key budget bill over cuts, Haredi draft

In rare cross-aisle cooperation, MKs back bill to penalize ministers who snub oversight

IDF downs ballistic missile from Yemen as sirens heard across central Israel

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: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a vote at the plenum of the Knesset in Jerusalem, on December 31, 2024. (Photo by Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

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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.

Editor David Horovitz joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's show.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is recovering after a successful prostate removal surgery at the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem on Sunday. The premier was moved to an underground, fortified recovery ward where he is expected to spend several days under observation amid fears he could be targeted by rocket or missile fire during the ongoing war. What do we know about Netanyahu's health moving forward?

Netanyahu held a high-level meeting during which he told those present that Israel will resume fighting after a hostage deal, if one comes about, according to a Channel 12 report. Horovitz discusses the fraught ongoing hostage talks and reports that Hamas has changed the number of hostages that will be released in any potential first phase.

Jimmy Carter, the longest-lived American president, died on Sunday at the age of 100. We hear how Carter is remembered in Israel and how the issue that toppled his presidency -- Iran -- is increasingly resonant for the United States.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Netanyahu stays in the hospital Monday night after prostate surgery

Report: Alarming hostage negotiators, PM says Israel should be upfront about plan to resume war after deal

Hamas said willing to free only 22 of 34 living hostages demanded by Israel in deal

PM on Carter’s death: Israel-Egypt peace treaty ‘offers hope for future generations’

‘He will rot in hell’: Iranians remember Jimmy Carter as ‘architect of sanctions’

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: Former US president Jimmy Carter holds a copy of his book, 'Palestine: Peace, Not Apartheid,' at a book signing in Tempe, Arizona, December 12, 2006. (AP Photo/Paul Connors)

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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.

Arab Affairs reporter Gianluca Pacchiani and reporter Sue Surkes join host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's show.

Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa spoke on Al Arabiya and gave a glimpse of his plans for the country, including divulging that holding elections in Syria could take up to four years and that drafting a new constitution could take up to three years. Pacchiani weighs in.

For the past week and more, swaths of Israelis from many parts of the country have found themselves seeking shelter in the middle of the night as the Houthis continue their campaign of projectiles, vowing to continue their attacks on Israel “until the aggression on Gaza stops and the siege is lifted.” We hear when they rose to power — and how?

Sweden-based Yemeni activist Luai Ahmed, 31, has become something of a celebrity in Israel and he comes by it genetically, it seems: After fleeing Sanaa in 2014, Ahmed, who is openly gay, received refugee status in Sweden and later acquired Swedish citizenship. But his family still lives between Yemen and Egypt, and his mother, Amal Basha, is one of the most prominent women’s rights advocates in Yemen. We hear about Ahmed.

Surkes has done a deep dive into Israeli international aid organizations and has discovered that their funding has dried up for two main reasons: antisemitism -- people don't want to give to a Zionist body -- and patriotism -- funders prefer to donate to a group doing work inside Israel proper. She explains why.

The Energy Ministry has identified geological formations capable of holding 10 million tons of carbon dioxide a year and kickstarting a carbon storage industry worth an annual estimated NIS 1 billion ($275 million). Surkes is cautiously optimistic.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Syrian leader: New elections could take up to 4 years, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham will be dissolved

‘Houthis are simply insane’: In Tel Aviv, Yemeni activist explains current conflict

Energy Ministry: Geological formations could store 10 million tons of CO₂ annually

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: Syria's new leader and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) chief Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) receives Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha (Andriy Sybiga) in Damascus on December 30, 2024. (Bakr Alkasem / AFP)

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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.

Military reporter Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's show.

Some 240 suspected terror operatives were detained during the operation against Hamas at northern Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital, including the medical center’s director and 15 terrorists who participated in the October 7, 2023, onslaught on southern Israel. Fabian sheds light on the operation, which involved the Navy’s Shayetet 13 commando unit.

Israeli air defenses on Saturday intercepted two rockets fired from Gaza’s Beit Hanoun toward the Jerusalem area, an increasingly rare occurrence after nearly 15 months of war. The IDF said both rockets were successfully intercepted, with no injuries or damage reported. Overnight, Israeli fighter jets struck the launchers used by the Palestinian terrorists. We hear what surprised Fabian about this rocket attack.

Air defenses intercepted a missile fired from Yemen that triggered sirens in the Jerusalem, southern West Bank and Dead Sea areas early Saturday morning, the military said, in the sixth such overnight attack on the center of the country in less than two weeks. Along with Israel's defense array, the Thaad system was used for the second time, after its use early Friday morning. Fabian explains how it complements Israel's air defense systems.

Fabian was deep in the Gaza Strip last week and writes that everything the Israel Defense Forces has established in the Netzarim Corridor is reportedly temporary, "But the reality on the ground in this zone bisecting the Gaza Strip indicates that the IDF will remain here for the foreseeable future." In the second half of the program, we discuss the massive zone and the more than a dozen small military outposts stationed there.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

IDF completes raid on north Gaza hospital, says some 240 terror suspects arrested

IDF intercepts rare 2 long-range rockets fired from Gaza at Jerusalem area

IDF downs missile from Yemen as sirens blare in Jerusalem, Dead Sea area

In Gaza’s Netzarim Corridor, IDF establishes temporary bases for an indefinite stay

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: Inside an IDF forward operating base in the Netzarim Corridor in the central Gaza Strip, December 26, 2024. (Emanuel Fabian/Times of Israel)

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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.

Stand-up comedian Yochay Sponder joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's show, a bonus episode from our weekly What Matters Now podcast.

After the 2012 Gaza war, comedian Sponder began using his talent to make people laugh as a tool for pro-Israel advocacy in his heavily Hebrew-flavored English. This work has only ramped up since the October 7, 2023, murderous Hamas onslaught, where thousands of terrorists infiltrated southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage to Gaza.

Initially after the attack, Sponder, whose soldier cousin fell in battle on October 7, thought it may be inappropriate to take to the stage and make people laugh. Today, he considers it his reserve duty and Sponder uses his brand of truth-telling to remind the world who started this ongoing war and that Israelis still hope for peace.

With a personal genetic background that would put a Benetton poster to shame, Sponder uses a brusque uber-Israeli persona to counter politically correct norms and spotlight hypocrisy.

Sponder has toured his English-language show, "Self-Loving Jew," extensively this year. In our conversation, he discusses a performance in the United States in which a group of pro-Palestine activists showed up. The result was not what he expected.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

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: Stand-up comedian/Israel advocate Yochay Sponder. (Limor Azran Garfinkle)

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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.

Diplomatic reporter Lazar Berman joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's episode.

In the past several months, Ireland has formally recognized the State of Palestine, it said that it would execute an arrest warrant on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and it also backed South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. So in response to all of this, last week it was announced that for first time, Israel would close an embassy of an EU member state.

Ireland is often considered the most pro-Palestinian country in the EU and public opinion deeply identifies with the Palestinians, which they view as an occupied people. We talk about how Ireland came to this ideology and delve into a period in which the nationalist aspirations of Irish and pre-state Israelis coincided.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

‘Antisemitic liar’: FM blasts Irish president’s claim Israel wants to settle Egypt

Israel to close its embassy in Dublin due to Ireland’s ‘extreme anti-Israel policy’

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: Ireland's Prime Minister Simon Harris awaits the arrival of Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati at Government Buildings, Tithe an Rialtais, in Dublin, on October 25, 2024. (Paul Faith / AFP)

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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.

Times of Israel founding editor David Horovitz joins host Jessica Steinberg on today's episode.

Horovitz discusses ongoing spin regarding ongoing hostage negotiations, more than a year after the release of 105 hostages that took place during a brief pause in fighting last November 2023. It's not clear if it's a truce or ceasefire, says Horovitz, but Israel says it needs to know how many people or who Hamas would be releasing, and mutual recriminations continue without a final deal.

He also discusses how it has become the "semi-norm" for half of Israel to dash for shelter in the middle of the night to avoid incoming rockets from the Houthis in Yemen, and how complicated it is to retaliate to this Iranian-linked organization.

Horovitz reviews his latest op-ed about a new sense of awareness and preparedness of the IDF on the many fronts where it's been fighting, including the unfolding situation in Syria, where it is being extremely wary and doing what it can militarily, to minimize possible future consequences with the new regime.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Israel and Hamas accuse each other of foiling hostage-ceasefire deal

IDF probe: Intel on 6 hostages murdered by Hamas was lacking; troops acted carefully

Houthis fire missile at central Israel for 4th night in past week; IDF intercepts it

Houthi drone crashes in south as terror group said to brace for major Israeli attack

Report: Mossad chief believes Israel should target Iran to get at Houthis; PM disagrees

IDF’s prewar complacency replaced by wariness on every front, proactivism where possible

Israel shifts focus to Houthis, but it needs partners to defeat distant foe

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:  Mia Shalom, mother of IDF soldier Almog Shalom who was killed in battle, lights the first Hanukkah candle on his grave at Mount Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem on December 25, 2024. (Photo by Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

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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.

US bureau chief Jacob Magid joins host Jessica Steinberg on today's episode.

Magid discusses the ongoing hostage negotiations, commenting that if a deal happens, it will probably take place closer to the January 20 inauguration date for President-elect Donald Trump. Magid says that Qatari negotiators are asking the Israeli government to be more flexible in their current mandate, as Hamas seeks assurances that Israel won't return to fighting after the discussed first phase.

Magid reviews some threatening comments made during a podcast interview by Mike Waltz, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for national security advisor. Waltz spoke about punishments and reprisals for those who take US hostages, with an emphasis placed by both Trump and Waltz in recent comments on the American hostages who are held in Gaza.

Magid speaks about an unlikely statement from US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew, who asserted that a new report alleging famine in north Gaza was incorrect, remarking that the data used was outdated. The unexpected statement was possibly a final shot by Lew as an outgoing ambassador, says Magid.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Hostage negotiators returning to Israel for ‘internal deliberations,’ says PM’s office

Trump national security pick threatens US hostage-takers with ‘bullet in forehead’

US calls new report asserting famine in north Gaza ‘outdated and inaccurate’

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: Demonstrators dressed as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, right, and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, take part in a performance during a protest against the government and call for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

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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 Tal Schneider and environmental reporter Sue Surkes join host Jessica Steinberg on today's episode.

Schneider discusses the ongoing discussion in Israel's defense establishment of changing Israel’s long-range attack systems from the country's use of air power, as seen in retaliatory Israeli strikes against Iran in October and against Yemen this month.

She also reviews the lifting of the gag order on the name of reservist Ari Rosenfeld, the IDF officer charged with transferring classified information in the Prime Minister's Office. Rosenfeld is under arrest, and his lawyer and wife wanted his name publicized to put pressure on the legal establishment.

Surkes examines the net-zero factory created by the founder of the Shoresh sandal empire in northern Israel and his aim to convince other industrialists and Israelis to do the same.

She also talks about the reopening of the Hula nature reserve in Israel's north, closed for 14 months during the Hezbollah rocket attacks from Lebanon and how that affected the birds that migrate in the spring and fall to the area.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Amid IDF rethink, some see air-launched missile doctrine moving to more solid ground

‘My Ari does not deserve this treatment’: Wife of suspect in PM’s office document leak scandal calls for his release

After 14 months at risk of Hezbollah attacks, Northern Israel’s Hula Lake Park reopens

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: Security forces at the scene where a ballistic missile fired from Yemen hit a playground in Jaffa on December 21, 2024. (Photo by Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

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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 Sam Sokol and reporter Diana Bletter join host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's episode.

Recently, attempts are being made to restart the controversial judicial overhaul legislation and last week, Sokol spoke with one of its architects, MK Simcha Rothman. We hear about Rothman’s perspective on why it is needed and in fact protects Israel's democracy.

The Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee will soon begin holding hearings on a proposed bill applying a Basic Law requiring a public referendum for land-for-peace deals to the West Bank and Israeli territorial waters, the Knesset’s right-wing Land of Israel Caucus announced on Wednesday. What is this bill and why do those who proposed it believe it will be passed at this time.

Bletter went to the northern coastal city of Nahariya yesterday to witness how during the ceasefire, hospitals are moving from war footing and out of their bunkers. She brings tales from the maternity ward.

Last week, Bletter visited Haifa to see how residents are -- once again -- celebrating the annual Holiday of Holidays that honors the mixed city's three major religions.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

MK threatens that judges ‘playing hardball’ will lead to resumption of judicial overhaul

MKs push bill to block West Bank territorial concessions, prevent Palestinian state

After months of Hezbollah rocket attacks, Haifa’s Christians get ready for Christmas

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: An Israeli protests against the government's plans to overhaul the judicial system outside a branch of the United States Embassy in Jerusalem, September 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

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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.

Military reporter Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's episode.

A ballistic missile launched by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen impacted a playground in south Tel Aviv early Saturday, lightly injuring some 16 in the area. This came days after the Israel Defense Forces carried out intense airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen early Thursday in which 14 fighter jets took part in the operation — along with dozens of support aircraft — dropping some 60 munitions. Fabian unwinds what has gotten through the IDF's defense net and speaks about the successful air operation.

Israeli troops wounded one person after opening fire Friday on demonstrators in southern Syria, with the military saying the soldiers did so to remove “a threat.” We hear where the IDF is currently deployed in and along the Syrian border.

The IDF said its Kfir Brigade has wrapped up an operation against Hamas in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahiya, and the infantry troops have advanced and are now operating in areas west of Beit Hanoun. Fabian updates us on what is happening in the Strip even has international headlines continue to circulate pointing to an imminent ceasefire deal.

The Israel Defense Forces supports strengthening the Palestinian Authority so it can more effectively combat terrorism in the West Bank, military officials said on Thursday, as the PA appears to step up efforts against Hamas and Islamic Jihad. We learn what steps the PA is currently taking, in a departure from previous years, that could point to how it may potentially operate in the Gaza Strip following the war.

Four Israeli civilians were arrested after illegally entering Lebanon on Thursday, reportedly to visit a shrine, as Israeli troops continuing to operate across the border destroyed Hezbollah weapons and rocket launchers, officials said.
The sentence for such a crime could be up to four years in jail. Fabian describes this and similar breaches that we've recently seen.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Several interceptors failed to knock down Houthi missile that hit Tel Aviv — IDF probe

Missile fired from Yemen explodes in south Tel Aviv, lightly injuring 16

US strikes Houthi targets in Yemen, takes down drones over Red Sea

After Yemen strikes, Netanyahu says Israel hitting Houthis on behalf of ‘entire world’

Fighter pilots laud precision of operation to strike Yemen: ‘An incredible feeling’

One hurt after IDF opens fire at group protesting Israeli presence in south Syria

IDF orders evacuations in central Gaza amid reports of imminent hostage deal

IDF says it supports bolstering PA forces to combat West Bank terror

Four Israelis detained after entering Lebanon, reportedly to visit rabbi’s tomb

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: Houthi fighters march during a rally of support for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and against the US strikes on Yemen outside Sanaa on January 22, 2024. (AP Photo)

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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.

Today, we bring you a bonus episode of Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring key issues currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, with host deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan speaking with Andrew Fox.

Fox, a research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, served in the British Army from 2005 to 2021, completing three tours in Afghanistan, including one attached to the US Army Special Forces. At the transatlantic think tank, he specializes in Defense, the Middle East, and disinformation. He holds degrees in Law and Politics, Modern War Studies and Psychology.

This week, Fox and a team of researchers published a report that made international headlines titled, "Questionable Counting: Analysing the Death Toll from the Hamas-Run Ministry of Health in Gaza."

According to the report, the Palestinian death toll for the Gaza war appears to include thousands of people who died of natural causes as well as incorrect figures — partly in an effort to inflate the toll of women and children.

Worse, international media outlets are too quick to accept the figures from terror group Hamas -- usually without the scrutiny and rigor that are applied when reporting numbers supplied by Israel. The Hamas-run Health Ministry's figures, the report claims, are being manipulated for propaganda needs.

[caption id="attachment_3442530" align="alignright" width="300"] Andrew Fox, a research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, on a research trip in the Gaza Strip, summer 2024. (courtesy)[/caption]

The Gaza health ministry, under Hamas, “has systematically inflated the death toll by failing to distinguish between civilian and combatant deaths, over-reporting fatalities among women and children and even including individuals who died before the conflict began,” the report said.

We discuss the report and hear Fox's assessment of how the IDF's operations in Gaza have played out, as well as the one arena Israel has neglected -- the fight for world opinion.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

UK think tank: Gaza death toll inflated to defame Israel for targeting civilians

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: The IDF operates in the southern Gaza Strip's Rafah in this hand out image from December 16, 2024. (IDF)

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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.

Diplomatic reporter Lazar Berman joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's extended Friday episode.

As Israel continues to contend with a war on seven fronts -- primarily through Iran-backed militia proxies -- Berman floats a hypothesis that Israel should turn to its natural allies in the region as well.

We hear about how history has shown that Israeli proxies don't always have the same goals as the Jewish state. We learn about the case of the South Lebanon Army and how things entirely fell apart. And Berman explains how the Kurds -- and potentially the Druze -- could be a long-term strategic answer for Israel's isolated position in the region.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

After Yemen strikes, Netanyahu says Israel hitting Houthis on behalf of ‘entire world’

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: Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Shamir, during his visit to Lebanese General Antoine Lahat (right) leader of the South Lebanese Army on January 26, 1989 in Marjayoun, Lebonon. (AP Photo/Max Nash)

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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.

US bureau chief Jacob Magid joins host Jessica Steinberg on today's episode.

Magid speaks about the ongoing hostage negotiations and intense speculation in the media. He notes that any agreed-upon ceasefire would be longer and less fragile than the week-long pause in fighting that took place in November 2023. He also discusses the unusual cooperation taking place between the outgoing Biden administration and the incoming Trump administration in the ceasefire negotiations.

Magid discusses a reckoning by Biden officials following the Israeli attack on Hezbollah and the panic initially felt among US intelligence officials and the Israeli government beforehand, as the concerns were that an Israeli strike on Hezbollah could lead to an all-out war with Lebanon.

He also reviews the Biden administration's decision not to sanction Netanyahu coalition partners, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, after months of considering such a move because of their roles in increasing settler violence and destabilizing the West Bank.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Netanyahu said set to huddle with top brass Thursday to discuss Gaza deal latest

Hamas fears Trump will allow Israel to resume Gaza war after 1st phase of hostage deal

US intel wrongly envisioned catastrophic outcome if IDF escalated against Hezbollah

US won’t sanction Smotrich and Ben Gvir before end of Biden’s term — officials

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: President Joe Biden meets with President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

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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.

Arab affairs reporter Luca Pacchiani and archaeology reporter Gavriel Fiske join host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's episode.

CIA Director Bill Burns is set to meet the Qatari Prime Minister in Doha today, in an effort to bridge the remaining gaps between Israel and Hamas on a Gaza deal. Pacchiani updates us on what he is reading about the hostage-release talks in neighboring nations' Arabic media this morning.

Recently, the Palestinian Authority seems to be flexing its peace-keeping muscles in the West Bank, perhaps signally that it is ready to take on the challenge of Gaza. We hear about a possible Hamas-Fatah alliance -- and whether Israel would sign on to it.

Syrian Christians currently make up less than 2% of the population and the new HTS rebels regime has repeatedly reassured Syrians and the international community that it will protect all minorities and women. Pacchiani reports on what he is hearing from Syrian Christians.

Likewise,
Alawites, a sect that splintered from Shiite Islam in the ninth century, constitute around 10% of Syria’s predominantly Sunni population. While uncertainty prevails among all of Syria’s religious minorities today, the Alawite community – from which deposed President Assad originates – arguably has the most to fear. Pacchiani weighs in.

In late November, speaking at an academic conference in Boston, veteran archaeologist Prof. Glenn Schwartz of Johns Hopkins University made a startling claim: Four tiny clay cylinder-shaped seals, which had been excavated 20 years ago from an intact Bronze Age tomb in Syria, were engraved with what he asserted was the earliest known examples of alphabetic writing — albeit as yet undeciphered. We talk about why this find is in the news again -- and what it appears to be.

Researchers have deciphered a tiny third-century Christian silver scroll that was found rolled up inside an amulet, at a Roman burial site in Frankfurt, Germany. Could this be “the oldest Christian testimony found north of the Alps,” as the announcement claims?

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

With a show of force in Jenin, the PA tries to prove it can rule Gaza. But can it?

Can Syria’s dwindling Christian community survive under jihadi rebel rule?

A claim that the earliest alphabet was found in Syria sparks a media maelstrom – finally

Amulet found in Germany said to be ‘oldest Christian testimony north of the Alps’

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: Palestinians carry UN-donated flour in Khan Younis, central Gaza Strip, Saturday December 14, 2024.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

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