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 is day 96 of the war. Political writer Tal Schneider and diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman join host Jessica Steinberg.
Berman talks about the latest visit to the region by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, seen as part of ongoing US support for the war, as well as US pressure on Israel to formulate a day-after plan for Gaza.
He also looks at US views toward Lebanon and the joint desire from Israel and US to find a diplomatic solution for that volatile border region.
Schneider discusses how Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been postponing the cabinet discussions about the day-after plans for the Gaza Strip, as he vacillates between his own political considerations and the strategic issues at play.
For the latest updates, please look at The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.
Discussed articles include:
Live blog January 10, 2024
In Israel, Blinken says peace with neighbors hinges on path to Palestinian state
Stop harming Gaza civilians, Blinken tells Netanyahu as fighting rages in Khan Younis
Blinken meets Israel’s war leadership as US concerns grow
PM on Lebanon border: We’ll restore security, preferably without a widespread campaign
Gallant’s post-war Gaza plan: Palestinians to run civil affairs with global task force
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
Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on iTunes, Spotify, PlayerFM, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.
IMAGE: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on his way to meeting with President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv on January 9, 2024. (Photo by Miriam Alster/Flash90) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Day 96 - Blinken's back, but does Netanyahu agree with him?

Welcome to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing: Your update on what&rsquo;s important in Israel, the Middle East and The Jewish World.

News

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.
In this special episode, host Amanda Borschel-Dan speaks with news editor Amy Spiro, who heads up our Those We Have Lost project.
Since a few days after the October 7 murderous Hamas onslaught on southern Israel that massacred some 1,200 people -- mostly civilians -- and saw 251 hostages taken to Gaza, Spiro has worked to memorialize the slain individuals by bringing their stories to the English-speaking world.
Spiro imbues each post with the individual's character and life from publically available information, including funeral eulogies, social media posts, and memorial websites.
In this episode, Spiro and Borschel-Dan share the stories of eight of the fallen, including lone soldiers, a newly pregnant couple, a beloved grandmother and a Thai worker who never got to meet his child.
For more updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.
Discussed articles include:
Staff Sgt. Shlomo Reshetnikov, 20: Lone soldier from Russia
Raz Mizrahi, 21: Wounded in 2021 attack, recovered and slain at party
Keshet Casarotti-Kalfa, 21: Pirate-loving partygoer ‘a ball of light’
Sgt. David Mittelman, 20: Ex-Haredi who hovered between worlds
Yehudit Itzchaki, 76: Doting grandma, child of Holocaust survivors
Lidor Levi and Nitzan Rahoum, 28: Slain couple were expecting first baby
Nitikorn Sae Wang, 26: Thai worker who never got to meet his son
Staff Sgt. Yonatan Chaim, 25: Lone soldier who converted, made aliyah
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
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 IMAGE: Family and friends of Israeli soldier Sergeant Almog Shalom attend his funeral at the Mount Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem on June 11, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Day 260 - Focus on ToI's Those We Have Lost memorial project

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 the latest visit to the US by National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, amid the current kerfuffle between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the US administration.
Dermer and Hanegbi were meeting with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken , and "received an earful" from US officials regarding the video that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made earlier in the week with accusations about the delay of US arms shipments to Israel.
Magid discusses whether Netanyahu is making comments now because Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is going to DC next week and perhaps doesn't want him receiving the credit for solving any issues regarding arms during his trip.
Magid also talks about the ongoing US consideration to set sanctions against Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, given his longtime efforst to withhold funds from the Palestinian Authority, thereby destabilizing the Palestinian government.
Magid also looks at the possibility of US sanctions against the far-right Tzav 9 group, which has organized efforts to halt and wreak havoc with US aid convoys making their way into Gaza.
For more updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.
Discussed articles include:
US hosts PM’s aides amid concern full-on war with Hezbollah would overwhelm Iron Dome
US vexed, disappointed by Netanyahu claim of arms holdup: ‘No one has done more for him’
US sanctions far-right Israeli group behind attacks on aid convoys bound for Gaza
Is the US poised to sanction an Israeli minister for the first time?
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
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 in a video message issued June 19, 2024. (Screenshot/GPO) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Day 259 - Netanyahu's tiff with Biden administration

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 in the Jerusalem offices for today's episode.
Facing a growing number of high-profile spats involving members of his coalition, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Wednesday for his political partners to “get a grip” and abandon “petty politics.” Horovitz unwinds the insults and accusations that were thrown about yesterday and assesses the stability of the coalition even as some members of Likud are showing signs of discontent.
IDF Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told Channel 13 last night, “This business of destroying Hamas, making Hamas disappear — it’s simply throwing sand in the eyes of the public.” Horovitz discusses how Israel's internal political strife may be affecting its prosecution of the war.
The Wall Street Journal reported today that US officials estimate that of the 116 hostages believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza, just 50 are still alive. The assessment is based on a combination of Israeli and US intelligence and puts the number of deceased hostages at 66, a far higher number than Israel has publicly confirmed. As hostage negotiation talks seem to be at a stalemate, Horovitz speaks to the international pressure being placed on Hamas and why it's likely not enough.
Last night the head of Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group Hasan Nasrallah commented on the escalating conflict with the Jewish state, and said the Shiite terror group does not want “total war,” is only acting in support of Hamas, but in the case of full-blown war, “The enemy knows well that we have prepared ourselves for the worst… and that no place… will be spared from our rockets.” Why this announcement right now?
For more updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.
Discussed articles include:
As war winds down, diplomacy is paramount, but Netanyahu has other priorities
Amid multiplying spats, Netanyahu urges coalition partners to ‘get a grip’
IDF spokesman says Hamas can’t be destroyed, drawing retort from PM: ‘That’s war’s goal’
Nasrallah says ‘no place’ in Israel would be safe in war, threatens to target Cyprus
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
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: Economy Minister Nir Barkat attends a plenum session at the assembly hall of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem on May 29, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Day 258 - Things fall apart? Mini-revolt among a few Likud MKs

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.
Fabian is just back from the Yabna neighborhood of Rafah in the Gaza Strip where he was embedded with troops from the Givati Infantry Brigade. We hear what he saw and then dive into the current status of fighting in the Strip.
Just after Hezbollah brazenly published aerial drone footage of Israel yesterday, top IDF generals approved plans for war in Lebanon. What do we know about the plans and what is happening along the border now?
Annual Israeli arms sales reached a new record in 2023, for the third consecutive year, amounting to nearly double the value of exports compared to five years ago, according to Defense Ministry figures released Monday. How can war-time Israel be exporting so many arms?

For more updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.
Discussed articles include:
In Rafah, IDF focuses on tunnels, with aim of destroying Hamas brigade within a month
IDF says half of Hamas’s forces in Rafah dismantled, at least 550 gunmen killed
Top Israeli generals approve Lebanon offensive battle plans, army says
In open threat, Hezbollah publishes drone footage of sites in northern Israel
IDF kills Hezbollah rocket specialist amid rare 3-day lull in terror group’s fire
Israeli arms sales break record for 3rd year in row, reaching $13 billion in 2023
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
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: Troops of the IDF's Givati Brigade operate in the Yabna camp of southern Gaza's Rafah, June 18, 2024. (Emanuel Fabian/Times of Israel) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Day 257 - Report from Rafah: How Hamas triggers booby-traps

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.
After last week’s escalation along the northern border, US special envoy Amos Hochstein is in the country to try to head off a war with Hezbollah and advance efforts to rein in hostilities along the “Blue Line” between Israel and Lebanon. What are his chances?
An unnamed senior Israeli negotiator told AFP yesterday that dozens of hostages are still alive and that the Israeli negotiating team had green-lit the Biden plan and is waiting for Hamas's answer. Berman brings up an idea that is slowly gaining support, that Israel must change the paradigm of the war in Gaza and consider it as just a first step in taking on all the Iranian proxies that make up the hydra-like monster that is Iran.  
A document by the IDF’s Gaza Division warning of a potential attack by Hamas and en masse hostage-taking that was internally circulated on September 19 and reportedly brought to the attention of at least some senior intelligence officials, was ignored. Berman explores the report and discusses some reasons why -- tragically -- this intel wasn't acted upon.
For more updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.
Discussed articles include:
Top Biden aide in Israel to try to head off war with Hezbollah
Gantz tells visiting US envoy ‘time is running out’ for deal to calm northern border
Dozens of hostages are alive ‘with certainty’ — top Israeli negotiator
Netanyahu officially disbands war cabinet after Gantz’s departure from government
3 weeks before Oct. 7, IDF Gaza Division warned of Hamas plan to attack, take 250 hostages
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
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: Relatives and supporters of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by Hamas terrorists since the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, take part in a demonstration calling for their release in Tel Aviv on June 15, 2024. (Jack Guez / AFP) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Day 96 - Blinken's back, but does Netanyahu agree with him?

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