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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