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.

Reporter Amy Spiro filling in for diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman and environmental correspondent Sue Surkes join host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

Spiro says there is optimism that the proposed hostage deal will be signed by Wednesday or Thursday, and reviews the proposed details of the deal that it is very similar to what was proposed last May, with a first stage of 33 hostages to be released in exchange for around 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israel, and negotiations on a second phase of hostages 16 days into the ceasefire.

Spiro says that Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar calls this a gradual deal, not a partial deal.

She reviews the process of approving the deal, which would first go to the security cabinet and then to the entire government cabinet. Spiro remarks that Likud ministers have said the deal will pass, even without right-wing politicians National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir or Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on board, and that opposition leader Yair Lapid has said he will do what is necessary to ensure the deal goes through despite any longer-term political implications.

Surkes discusses the new reforms aimed at changing the range of imported goods from the European Union, intended to lower prices on goods in Israel.

Surkes also looks at a Tel Aviv University study regarding the lack of cave art in the Levant and a bereaved family member's newspaper that looks at how Israel could become a better place.

The printed newspaper, written only by bereaved families, aligns with the latest Yoni Bloch song that Steinberg speaks about briefly, with an AI clip that imagines the hostages released home and peace in the Middle East.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Smotrich undecided on hostage deal at this ‘fateful moment’

Gaza ceasefire-hostage deal on brink of finalization, as reports spell out details

Israeli officials: Deal will see 33 hostages freed in 1st stage, most of them alive

Ben Gvir says he repeatedly foiled hostage deals, urges Smotrich to help him stop this one

Along with soaring prices, Israel rings in 2025 with economic reforms, but will they work?

Israeli researchers devise woolly solution to enigma of why Levant has no cave art

AI music clip imagines all hostages released, a new MidEast

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: Protestors at Begin Gate in Tel Aviv on January 15, 2025, calling for the release of all the hostages and the end to the war (Credit Yoav Loeff)

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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.

Military reporter Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

This morning, a “final round” of Gaza truce talks was due to start in Qatar. According to AFP, today’s meetings “are aimed at finalizing the remaining details of the deal,” with the heads of Israel’s intelligence agencies, the Middle East envoys for the incoming and outgoing US administrations, and Qatar’s prime minister present. Mediators are to meet separately with Hamas officials, the source says. Fabian explains what he knows so far about security arrangements that may be put in place in Gaza in the event of a ceasefire.

Five Israel Defense Forces soldiers were killed and 10 were wounded in an explosion in northern Gaza on Monday, the military said, raising Israel’s toll in over 15 months of fighting in the Strip to 407. The slain troops were all serving with the Nahal Brigade’s Reconnaissance Unit. On Saturday, four soldiers were killed and six were wounded during fighting, also in the northern Gaza Strip. We hear initial findings about these two terrible incidents.

The IDF said Monday it had struck several Hezbollah sites in Lebanon overnight, saying the targets violated the terms of the ceasefire agreement. It said it did so after the international ceasefire monitoring mechanism failed to address them, despite being advised on the matter. This is not the first time -- and it's likely not the last, says Fabian.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels launched ballistic missiles within hours of each other on Monday evening and early Tuesday morning, triggering sirens that sent hundreds of thousands of Israelis rushing into shelters. This comes after a Friday night retaliatory attack by the Israeli Air Force against Houthi targets in Yemen. Fabian shares why the Houthis may not yet be deterred.

IDF Deputy Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Amir Baram on Friday notified his commander, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, that he would leave his role as planned at the end of February. Is it because he wants Halevi's job instead?

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Israeli officials: Deal will see 33 hostages freed in 1st stage, most of them alive

Five soldiers killed, 10 wounded in explosion in northern Gaza, IDF says

IDF announces 4 soldiers killed, 6 wounded during fighting in northern Gaza

IDF says it hit Hezbollah sites after ceasefire monitors failed to address threats

For second time in hours, Houthi missile at Israel triggers cross-country sirens

Couple, out for walk after overnight sirens, find chunk of Houthi missile on their roof

20 Israeli jets attack two ports and a power plant used by Houthis in Yemen

IDF deputy chief of staff requests to step down, indicates he hopes to succeed Halevi

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: Pictures in Jerusalem of Israelis held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, January 13, 2025. (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.

Political correspondent Tal Schneider and reporter Diana Bletter join host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

Tensions are high in Israel over the possibility of a proposed hostage deal. Schneider discusses the Sunday phone conversation between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden regarding the negotiations. She also reviews which Israeli officials are currently in Doha, along with Steve Witkoff, President-elect Donald Trump's Middle East envoy.

Schneider says Netanyahu met with coalition leaders Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, as the prime minister needs those two powerful coalition partners on board to approve any hostage deal.

Bletter talks about her visits to two northern kibbutz communities where residents have been evacuated for more than a year and now have to decide what the future holds for them. 

She also discusses a Weizmann Institute study about ants, and their ability to work well as a team, unlike their human counterparts.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Biden stresses ‘immediate need’ for hostage-truce deal in call with Netanyahu

Netanyahu dispatches top negotiators to Qatar talks amid push to seal hostage deal

PM to meet with Smotrich to gauge support for a potential hostage deal — report

Inside the Lebanon-border closed military zone, kibbutz members prepare to start over

Ants have more ‘group smarts’ than humans, Israeli study finds

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Podwaves.

IMAGE: People walking next to a poster of Israelis held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, 'We won't stop until they're all released!' in Jerusalem, January 12, 2025 ( 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.

Legal reporter Jeremy Sharon joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Late last week, almost two years exactly to the unveiling of the initial judicial overhaul legislative package, Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar unveiled a far-reaching package of changes to Israel’s judicial system which would increase political power over judicial appointments and curb the High Court’s ability to strike down legislation. The new package would stop short of some measures that sparked massive anti-government protests in 2023, but are potentially just a beginning. We unravel the new initiative and try to understand its implications.

The High Court of Justice on Friday gave the state until the end of January to explain what steps it was taking to maximize Haredi enlistment to the Israel Defense Forces and to penalize draft dodgers.
The instruction came in response to several petitions calling for the immediate conscription of all previously exempt ultra-Orthodox men. We learn about the court's impatience with the government's lack of action on this flashpoint issue.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Overhaul redux: Levin’s ‘compromise’ proposal would again radically constrain the judiciary

Levin, Sa’ar unveil new judicial overhaul plan; wary opposition heads hold off response

High Court orders state to clarify plans to draft Haredim, penalize dodgers

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: Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar (left) with Justice Minister Yariv Levin at the Knesset on November 6, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/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.

Senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for a bonus episode of our weekly What Matters Now series.

This week, a committee appointed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to examine defense spending and IDF military force design for the future announced that the election of Donald Trump as US president offers an unprecedented opportunity to remove the threat Israel faces from Iran.

Trump’s return to the White House, said the Nagel Committee on Monday, “creates, for the first time, the potential for a fundamental change, and the removal or meaningful reduction of the Iranian threat.”

Likewise this week, incoming US envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff announced that he would travel to Doha, saying a hostage deal being mediated by Qatar is on the verge of completion, as Trump again warned “all hell will break loose” in the region if an agreement between Israel and Hamas is not reached by his January 20 inauguration.

We all know that Trump is one to talk tough, but the question is -- how much of this rhetoric will translate into action? And will he aid Israel in its effort to prevent a nuclear Iran?

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

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 Donald Trump (left) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, May 23, 2017. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner, 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.

Diplomatic reporter Lazar Berman joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for a special Friday Focus episode, part two of last week's discussion, "Why the IDF abandoned the offensive and ended up with Oct. 7."

When Israel's founding prime minister David Ben Gurion envisioned the country's defense forces, he proposed a small standing army and a large reservist force. In the first part of our conversation, we discussed how this model served the state, alongside a doctrine of deterrence, intelligence, and battlefield victory.

However, as the state evolved, the standing army was increasingly shrunk alongside an outsized confidence in Israel's air array. How did this lead up to the complete failure of the army to prevent -- and spur -- the Hamas onslaught on October 7, 2023?

This week, we speak about how Israel's army continues to evolve by learning from our current enemies -- non-state actors who don't fight by the rules. We discuss how this generation of IDF soldiers grew up in the shadow of the Disengagement -- and without much ground-operation experience.

Finally, we hear lessons the IDF has learned from October 7 and how it is already attempting to implement them.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

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: IDF forces operation in the Gaza Strip in a handout photo issued by the Israeli military on January 9, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

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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.

US bureau chief Jacob Magid joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

As US Secretary of State Antony Blinken nears the end of his term in the Biden administration, Blinken says that mediators are very close to securing a ceasefire and hostage release agreement, something that hasn't been stated in a while. However, Magid says it may only be finalized at the start of the new Trump administration.

He discusses other aspects of the hostage deal under discussion, including the refrain from hostage families that a deal for only 34 hostages, some of them no longer living, will leave two-thirds of the remaining hostages behind, a death sentence for them, adds Magid.

Magid notes that Blinken placed the blame on Hamas for holding up a hostage deal for months in his recent interview with The New York Times, a comment which suggests that the US never wanted to blame Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his positioning on the deal, says Magid, even when it frustrated the negotiating teams.

He also looks at the proposed $8 billion arms deal being prepped by the Biden administration, and which has to be approved by the Senate and House committees. Magid says the deal is to ensure that Israel has the arms it needs in the case of any further Iranian attacks.

Magid talks about the appointment of Morgan Ortegus as deputy Middle East envoy, someone who opposes Trump's isolationist approach and therefore Trump didn't offer a ringing endorsement of her appointment.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Blinken: We’re very close to hostage deal, it’ll be handed to Trump if not finalized

Blinken: After Oct. 7, I threatened to nix Biden visit if Israel didn’t let aid into Gaza

Biden administration prepping $8 billion arms package for Israel, including heavy bombs

Trump appoints Ortagus as deputy Mideast envoy, but admits he’s not excited about it

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: Demonstrators protest outside the prime minister's Jerusalem residence after the IDF recovered the body of hostage Youssef Ziyadne from a Gaza tunnel, January 8, 2025. (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.

Military reporter Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara filed the state’s response to High Court petitions on Haredi military enlistment, stating that there is no limit on the numbers of ultra-Orthodox men recruited into the Israel Defense Forces from mid-2026. This comes as coalition members have often insisted that the IDF is not capable of absorbing the estimated 70,000 Haredi young men currently eligible for service. We dive into the divisive issue and why the army needs more soldiers.

The IDF said that this past week, 338 members of the ultra-Orthodox community enlisted in the military for mandatory service — 211 combat soldiers and 127 combat support. We hear the breakdown of numbers and also how the army said it had completed sending out a wave of 7,000 draft orders to members of the ultra-Orthodox community, after 3,000 were sent out over the summer. What have been the results so far?

We learn about the ongoing manhunt in the West Bank after the fatal shooting on Monday near the Jewish settlement of Kedumim. The shooting attack, which targeted a bus and two cars, occurred inside the Palestinian village of al-Funduq, which straddles a major artery used by thousands of Israelis and Palestinian drivers daily.

And finally we discuss the deployment of the IDF in the Gaza Strip and in southern Lebanon, among efforts by US envoy Amos Hochstein to lengthen the 60-day truce with Hezbollah.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Survey: Public support for conscripting ultra-Orthodox has surged throughout war

First 50 ultra-Orthodox soldiers drafted to IDF’s new Haredi brigade

Soldier killed fighting in Gaza as IDF withdraws brigade from northern Strip

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: Israeli soldiers and ultra-Orthodox Jews at the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site in the Old City of Jerusalem, July 10, 2024. (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.

Arab Affairs correspondent Gianluca Pacchiani and Tech Editor Sharon Wrobel join host Jessica Steinberg on today's show.

Pacchiani discusses the latest with the Hamas list of proposed hostages that would include some 34 living captives out of the remaining 100 hostages left in Gaza, as Hamas asks for greater numbers of prisoners in a hostage exchange.

Pacchiani also reviews the status of Hezbollah in Lebanon as the 60-day ceasefire with Israel draws to an end, the opportunity for Hezbollah to rest and prepare for a possible renewal of fighting and what it all means for the balance of power in Lebanon's complicated political mosaic.

Wrobel talks about comments made by the Bank of Israel governor at the start of the new year, with some cautious optimism for the Israeli economy and a look at the costs borne by the country for the ongoing war.

She also discusses the emergency grants offered to evacuated families from Israel's north. To take advantage of the financial packages, families must return home by March 2025.

Wrobel dives into consumer legislation being considered by the government to cancel flight compensation for passengers, as part of an effort to ease the financial costs to airlines and help bring foreign airlines back to Israeli skies.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Israeli negotiators head to Qatar amid some reported progress in hostage talks

Central bank sees economy improving but warns of continued geopolitical uncertainty

Israel lays out NIS 3.4 billion plan to get northerners back home in March

Israel to cut travelers’ flight cancellation compensation to woo back foreign airlines

Who’s afraid of the Houthis? Iran’s last proxy standing is proving no pushover for Israel

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Nomi Studios.

IMAGE:  Watching planes take off at Ben Gurion International Airport, August 26, 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.

Diplomatic reporter Lazar Berman joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today’s show.

Israeli and regional media is rife with headlines about an imminent potential Gaza hostage release deal. However, after a Saudi outlet published a list it received from Hamas of 34 hostages the terror organization says would be freed in the first phase of a potential hostage-ceasefire deal, the Prime Minister’s Office puts out a statement stressing that the document is merely an Israeli list that was given to the mediating countries in July 2024. Berman updates us on what is going on.

US special envoy Amos Hochstein has just landed in Beirut. This comes a day after Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that Israel will be “forced to act” if Hezbollah does not pull back from southern Lebanon as stipulated in the ceasefire agreement. What is happening with the temporary truce agreement?

As Syria’s new government strives to gain international legitimacy after overthrowing the Bashar al-Assad regime, Western countries seem open to giving a chance to the government led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, head of the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group. Berman explains how Israel is sounding the alarm.

An Israel Defense Forces soldier who survived Hamas’s attack at the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, hurriedly ended his vacation in Brazil on Sunday morning after the country’s Federal Court ordered police to open a war crimes investigation into him, according to Brazilian media. Another 11 soldiers across the globe were warned by the Foreign Ministry. Berman weighs in.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Leaked list names 34 hostages to be freed in 1st stage of Gaza deal; Israel denies progress

Hamas said to okay list of 34 hostages to be freed, but refuses to detail who’s alive

Katz warns ceasefire in jeopardy if Hezbollah doesn’t withdraw from south Lebanon

As European and Arab leaders rush to meet Syria’s new leader, Israel calls for caution

IDF soldier who survived Nova massacre escapes war crimes investigation in Brazil

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Nomi Studios.

IMAGE: A protester with her hands bound and mouth taped shut holds a placard during a demonstration calling for the release of hostages held captive in Gaza by Hamas terrorists since the October 7 attacks, outside the Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv on January 4, 2025. (Jack Guez / AFP)

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