The Times of Israel Daily Briefing

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 105 of the war. Legal reporter Jeremy Sharon and diaspora and Jewish world reporter Canaan Lidor join host Jessica Steinberg.

Sharon discusses the first anti-war demonstration being allowed in Haifa, the largest city in the northern region, following High Court pressure on the police who have resisted requests until now in Haifa.

Lidor looks at another High Court decision that would allow women to serve on the chief rabbinate's top council, something that presumably won't happen in the near term but represents the tension between the secular High Court and religious court.

Sharon disseminates an effort by Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi to remove the current Postal Authority chairman without High Court interference.

Lidor talks about a trance rave held in Modi'in forest last Saturday, three months after the Supernova desert rave was attacked by Hamas terrorists who killed 364 people and took dozens more hostage.

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

Discussed articles include:

Live blog January 19, 2024

Cops allow anti-war demo after High Court says the right to protest is ‘fundamental’

High Court rules women can fill ‘rabbi’ slots in Chief Rabbinate’s top bodies

Communications minister tells High Court he won’t reverse firing of post office chief

Commemorating Supernova victims, electronic music scene attempts a low-key comeback

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: An anti-government rally outside the Knesset in Jerusalem on January 15, 2024 (Photo by Chaim Goldberg/FLASH90)

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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 104 of the war. Editor David Horovitz joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for a one-on-one conversation.

President Isaac Herzog spoke today at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, next to a photo of one-year-old hostage Kfir Bibas. Herzog said that Israelis are not able to think about a peace process with the Palestinians right now. Horovitz weighs in.

In a recent op-ed Horovitz writes, "More than 100 days after October 7, Israel’s vital military effort to destroy Hamas — to prevent it carrying out more massacres, to deter our other enemies, and to enable Israelis to safely return to border areas and sleep soundly in our beds everywhere — has lost momentum." We hear why.

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

Discussed articles include:

Live blog January 18, 2024

Irresponsibility compounds catastrophe: Why the IDF’s war against Hamas has lost momentum

‘The saddest birthday in the world’: Hostage Kfir Bibas turns 1 in Hamas captivity

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: File - Gaza Strip Hamas leader Yehya Sinwar at a rally marking the 35th anniversary of the Hamas Islamic movement, in Gaza City, December 14, 2022. (Atia Mohammed/Flash90)

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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 103 of the war. Political correspondent Sam Sokol and environmental reporter Sue Surkes join host Jessica Steinberg.

Surkes discusses a wide-ranging planning session organized to envision how to rebuild the Gaza border region after October 7, with dozens of organizations and departments involved in the brainstorming process.

She also talks about the future for the evacuees from the north, many of them have lived through other difficult security situations, but with no clear plan right now about when they will move back home.

Sokol offers an overview of the budget discussions that took place before its passage, a process that was streamlined because of the budgetary defense needs given the ongoing war and what that will mean for other ministries.

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

Discussed articles include:

Live blog January 17, 2024

Amid swarm of stakeholders, planners begin brainstorming how to rebuild south

Cabinet approves 2024 budget, making cuts to offset massive wartime defense boost

Minister storms out of cabinet as Netanyahu attempts to push through wartime budget

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: A caravan camp being built near Shefayim for evacuees from Kibbutz Kfar Aza. December 24, 2023 (Photo by Michael Giladi/Flash90 )

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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 102 of the war. Political correspondent Tal Schneider and health reporter Renee Ghert-Zand join host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

An elderly woman was killed and 17 people were injured, including at least seven children and teenagers, in a car-ramming and stabbing attack by two Palestinian terrorists in the central Israel city of Ra’anana early on Monday afternoon. Ghert-Zand updates us on the status of the injured.

Former IDF chief of staff Aviv Kohavi acknowledged Monday at a ceremony at Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl that his actions as the military’s top general will have to be scrutinized as part of investigations into the failures that enabled Hamas’s October 7 bypassing of Israel’s high-tech border barrier and the ensuing mass onslaught. Was Schneider surprised at the timing of the remarks?

Winter has arrived late in Israel this year, along with a correspondingly delayed beginning to the respiratory disease season. What are we seeing in Israel in terms of COVID and flu?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said twice this week that Israel intends to reduce its security dependence on the import of military products. Schneider reports on whether Israel may be able to carry this out.

On October 7, terrorists set fire to the Kibbutz Kfar Aza home of Ariel and Ellay Golan and their 18-month-old daughter Yael, who survived with serious burns. Taken by helicopter to the National Burns Center at Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv, the family was treated with NexoBrid, which was developed by Israeli company MediWound. We hear about this and other med-tech used in the current war.

Finally, as the war changes gears in the Gaza Strip, Schneider compiled a list of what IDF soldiers are reading based on their requests to their parents.

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

Discussed articles include:

Live blog January 16, 2024

Woman killed, 17 wounded in car-ramming, stabbing spree by 2 terrorists in Ra’anana

Ex-IDF chief Kohavi says probe into Oct. 7 failures should scrutinize his decisions

Winter arrived late this year, so Israel only now seeing surge in COVID and flu

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: A US C-17 sits with crates of American munitions for Israel at the Nevatim Air Base, October 13, 2023. (AP Photos/Lolita Baldor)

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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 101 of the war. Diplomatic reporter Lazar Berman joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for this one-on-one episode.

Berman was inside the Gaza Strip yesterday with a reserves parachute unit. We hear what he saw and get a sense of the morale of the troops and Berman's perspective on their preparedness to take on the vast tunnel network.

Hamas also runs a network of operatives in Europe commanded by terror leaders in Lebanon, Israel said Saturday as its intelligence agencies released new details on the Gaza-based organization’s attempts to attack Israeli and Jewish targets abroad. Berman weighs in.

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

Discussed articles include:

Live blog January 15, 2024

Israel says it uncovered Hamas terror network planning attacks in Europe

Elderly woman and her son killed at home in Hezbollah anti-tank missile attack

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: FILE -  Israeli soldiers show the media an underground tunnel found underneath Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, November 22, 2023. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano, File)

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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 100 of the war. Military reporter Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for this one-on-one episode.

Regardless of what is decided at the Hague, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged on Saturday evening that Israel will continue its war against Hamas “to the end — until complete victory.” How has the campaign to topple the terror group looked like until now and how many Hamas battalions are still standing and where?

What lessons have been learned from the initial days of the ground offensive and how has the IDF implemented them in its current operations in central and south Gaza?

An infiltration attempt on Israel's north again shows how unexpected incursions can be successful under the cover of something as "low-tech" as fog. Does Start-Up Nation maintain supremacy in, for example, the skies?

Israel has informed Egypt of plans to launch a military operation to take control of the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday. What kind of coordination with Egypt would this entail?

And finally, as we mark 100 days, we ask how long Fabian believes the war in Gaza will continue.

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

Discussed articles include:

Live blog January 14, 2024

On 99th day of war, IDF chief says military pressure is key to freeing more hostages

On eve of 100 days of war, PM pledges ‘complete victory,’ denounces genocide claims

Israel said to tell Egypt of plan to take control of border corridor with Gaza

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: An Israeli tank at a staging area near the Israeli border with Syria, in the Golan Heights, northern Israel, on January 9, 2024. (Michael Giladi/Flash90)

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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 99 of the war. US bureau chief Jacob Magid joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for this one-on-one episode.

Families of hostages are holding 24 hours of non-stop awareness-raising events to mark 100 days of captivity by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Last night, the Prime Minister’s Office announced in a statement that an agreement has been reached that will see vital medications delivered to hostages, via the International Red Cross. What has changed that is allowing this gesture of "semi-good will"?

Early today, the US military struck another Houthi-controlled site in Yemen that it had determined was putting commercial vessels in the Red Sea at risk, a day after the US and Britain launched multiple airstrikes targeting Houthi rebels. While at a Pennsylvania bookstore on Friday, President Joe Biden was asked by the traveling press pool whether he thinks the Houthis are a terrorist organization, despite delisting them in his first year in office. “I think they are,” he said. What’s happening there?

We learned last week that technical conversations between the US and Saudi Arabia about a potential normalization agreement with Israel have continued amid the Israel-Hamas war, according to two senior US officials and a senior Arab diplomat. Magid tells us more.

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

Discussed articles include:

Live blog January 13, 2024

Vital medications to be transferred to Gaza hostages in coming days, PM’s office says

US hits Houthi radar site in fresh strike after threats to Red Sea shipping

Biden calls Houthis a terror group, as administration weighs reapplying designation

Biden: I’m quietly working with Israel to ‘significantly’ lower IDF presence in Gaza

Saudi normalization still possible post-war, but price for Israel is higher — officials

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: File: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) during a Likud party meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem on December 13, 2021; Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (left) speaks during the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, December 14, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90; Bandar Aljaloud/Saudi Royal Palace via AP)

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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 98 of the war. Legal writer Jeremy Sharon joins host Jessica Steinberg.

Sharon describes the scene at The Hague, where the Israeli legal team is battling the South African case of Gaza genocide claims that was argued on Thursday.

He describes Israel's challenge in arguing an uphill battle about comments made by Israeli politicians about Hamas and to demonstrate how Israel tries to prevent harm to Gazan citizens during the ongoing war.

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

Discussed articles include:

Live blog January 12, 2024

Israel rejects Gaza genocide claims at ICJ, pans South Africa’s ‘misleading’ charges

South Africa paints grim picture of Gaza, but obfuscates foundations of genocide claim

Israel seethes after genocide hearing; PM: South Africa representing Hamas monsters

At World Court, South Africa accuses Israel of Gaza genocide; Israel: Baseless claims

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: Protesters waving flags and pictures of the hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7 Hamas cross-border attack in Israel, attend a protest outside the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, Friday, Jan. 12, 2024 (AP Photo/Patrick Post)

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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 97 of the war. Editor David Horovitz joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan on a one-on-one update.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague, Netherlands, opened hearings initiated by South Africa against Israel on charges of “genocide” against Palestinians during the ongoing war in Gaza this morning. Horovitz delves into the allegations and how they avoid any mention of the atrocities commited by Hamas on October 7, which sparked the war against the terror group.

The bench comprises 15 permanent judges and the two ad hoc judges from Israel and South Africa. Former Israeli Supreme Court president Aharon Barak is representing Israel, to much blowback in some corners in Israel.

South Africa is initially asking the International Court of Justice to order an immediate suspension of Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip as the first step in a case that is likely to take years to resolve. Would Israel adhere to such a ruling? 

As Horovitz wrote in an oped yesterday, that Secretary of State Antony Blinken "indicated fairly clearly" that the Biden administration’s patience with Israel’s leadership is running low. What other messages did Blinken impart?

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

Discussed articles include:

Live blog January 11, 2024

Hague hearing begins as South Africa accuses Israel of ‘genocide’ in war with Hamas

‘We should be worried’: Israel faces peril at The Hague in Gaza ‘genocide’ case

Our government and our essential ally, utterly at odds on how to safeguard our future

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: A statue of the late South African president Nelson Mandela stands in a street as members of the Ramallah-based Al-Kamandjati orchestra rehearse ahead of a ceremony organized to mark a landmark 'genocide' case filed by South Africa against Israel at the International Court of Justice, on January 10, 2024. (Photo by Marco Longari / AFP)

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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)

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