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 guests are senior analyst Haviv Rettig-Gur and Arab affairs correspondent Aaron Boxerman, with Jessica Steinberg hosting.

Boxerman leads today's podcast with a look back at the various talks taking place between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and Jordanian monarch Abdullah II in Cairo, as well as President Isaac Herzog's secret meeting last week in Jordan for talks with King Abdullah II.

The two reporters discussed the regional dimension of the meetings, and whether they herald anything new for the region, a very faint possibility. Finally, Boxerman and Rettig-Gur take a look at why Defense Minister Gantz has been so defensive of his recent meeting with Abbas in Ramallah, and why Bennett seemed to be critical of that conversation. 

Discussed articles include:

PA’s Abbas meets Egypt’s Sissi, Jordan’s Abdullah in rare trilateral summit

Herzog secretly visited Jordan for meeting with king

Gantz defends his meeting with Abbas, says it had Bennett’s backing

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IMAGE: Jordanian King Abdullah II, right, as Jordan's Crown Prince Hussein, second right, looks on, speaks to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Tuesday, July 20, 2021 at the State Department in Washington. (Nicholas Kamm /Pool via AP)

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