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

Today’s panel comprises health reporter Nathan Jeffay and senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur, along with host Amanda Borschel-Dan.

We begin our program with a blitz of questions for Jeffay about the surge of COVID in Israel. Is it time to be worried yet?

Next, Rettig Gur discusses how the new Prime Minister Naftali Bennett-led government is slipping and losing control of the Knesset. It's not over the big-headline issues, he says, rather the day-to-day workings of the parliament, including a plethora of committees that are not getting staffed and creating a real bottleneck. Are the MKs in need of a stronger ringmaster?

Finally, Borschel-Dan delves into a newly published inscription that dates from the time of the Book of Judges -- and may be the nickname of Gideon son of Joash, "Jerubba'al." There's a bit of controversy surrounding the inscription's reading, so stay tuned.

Discussed articles include:

Minister says at-risk Israelis can get COVID booster; HMOs unaware of plan

Israeli data seems to show COVID vaccine protection starts fading after 6 months

Bennett: New vaccines to arrive August 1, allowing teen inoculation to continue

Five-letter inscription inked 3,100 years ago may be name of biblical judge

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IMAGE: Medical technicians test passengers for COVID-19 at the Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv on July 12, 2021. (Flash90)

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