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 our editor David Horovitz and investigative reporter Simona Weinglass, along with host Amanda Borschel-Dan.

We begin the program with some updates about the increasingly disquieting coronavirus infection spread in vaccinated Israel even as serious cases hover around 29. This week Prime Minister Naftali Bennett again called on parents to vaccinate their 12 to 15-year-old children and brought his own daughter to a vaccination center for her jab.

Also this week, within the flurry of diplomatic visits and phone calls, Bennett spoke with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and the two men agreed to meet soon. Between Foreign Minister Yair Lapid’s recent trip to the United Arab Emirates and outgoing President Reuven Rivlin’s farewell tour of the United States, are we seeing a new era of international relations?

And finally, we focus on an investigative report about Payoneer, which started trading on the NASDAQ stock exchange this week. It achieved a market cap of $3.5 billion on the first day of trading, which would have been a big story in any case, but what made it even more newsworthy is that Bennett invested in the company 13 years ago, becoming about $5 million wealthier this week. The fly in the ointment? Over the years, at least some of Payoneer’s profits came from processing payments for pornography websites and scams.

Discussed articles include:

Israel records over 300 new daily COVID cases for first time since April

Daily COVID cases expected to jump to 500 next week; threats to close airport

Israel said negotiating COVID vaccine swap deal with UK

Bennett talks to Egypt’s Sissi for 1st time as PM; they agree to meet

Playing Joshua to Bibi’s Moses, Lapid looks to take UAE ties into promised land

Behind Bennett’s Payoneer payday, a firm that profited off smut and alleged cons

Payoneer begins trading on Nasdaq

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on iTunes, Spotify, PlayerFM, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.

IMAGE: Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett seen during a memorial ceremony marking 107 years since the death of Zionist leader Theodor Herzl, held on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem on June 30, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.