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 and senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur join host Amanda Borschel-Dan for a "live" in-person recording of today's third-anniversary episode.

In the second major legal defeat this week for the government, the High Court of Justice ruled six to five on Wednesday to postpone the implementation of a controversial law shielding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from being ordered to recuse himself from office by the attorney general or the High Court itself, determining that it had been passed to personally benefit the premier.

We put this ruling into context with the earlier ruling on the Reasonableness Law and ask -- what does all this mean for Israel?

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah warned Israel against waging war on Lebanon in a televised address last night, a day after a strike blamed on Israel killed Hamas’s political number two, terror chief Salah al-Arouri, in a Hezbollah stronghold in the southern Beirut suburbs.

At the same time, President Joe Biden has sent US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US diplomatic envoy Amos Hochstein to de-escalate the situation. What are their chances of success?

For the latest updates, please look at The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Live blog January 4, 2024

High Court delays implementation of PM recusal law, in 2nd gov’t defeat this week

Ministers slam High Court for delaying recusal law; one calls decision ‘null and void’

Nasrallah vows response to Arouri, warns of fight ‘without limits’ if Israel goes to war

Israel ready for fight in north, IDF chief says after killing of Hamas terror chief

US dispatches senior envoy to cool seething tensions on Israel-Lebanon border

THOSE WE HAVE LOST: Civilians and soldiers killed in Hamas's onslaught on Israel

THOSE WE ARE MISSING: The hostages and victims whose fate is still unknown

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IMAGE: Supporters shout slogans during the commemorations of the anniversary of the killing of slain top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani, marked by a televised speech of Lebanon's Hezbollah chief Hasan Nasrallah in a Beirut's southern suburb on January 3, 2024.(ANWAR AMRO / AFP)

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