The Times of Israel Daily Briefing

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.

We are now on Day 6 of the war with Gaza. Fabian updates on “widespread” airstrikes in Gaza, whether there are still terrorists from Gaza inside the borders of Israel and a fresh deployment of the reservists to the north.

Rettig Gur tells us about the 10 members of one extended family on Kibbutz Beeri, including little children, who are still missing and what their friends -- including Rettig Gur -- and family are doing to try to find them.

Goren dives into the newly announced emergency unity government. Who is in and who is out?

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

Discussed articles include:

Live blog October 12, 2023

IAF hits Gaza on ‘unprecedented scale’; Strip’s power plant shuts down

10 members of same kibbutz family believed held by Hamas, including 3 children

After days of indecision, Netanyahu, Gantz agree to establish emergency war government

Gallant vows to ‘wipe Hamas from earth,’ after ‘the worst terror attack’ in history

Gantz’s entry into government sidelines far right, with judicial overhaul’s future dim

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IMAGE: Yahel Haran, 3, from Kibbutz Be'eri and 10 members of her extended family are believed to be held hostage in Gaza by Hamas since October 7, 2023. (courtesy)

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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.

US bureau chief Jacob Magid and environmental reporter Sue Surkes join host Jessica Steinberg for today's podcast.

Magid discusses the content and tone of US President Joe Biden's speech in which Biden clearly described some of the more horrifying aspects of the Hamas onslaught, as well as his message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the need to uphold democracy, particularly with regard to the rules of warfare in Israel's counteroffensive against Hamas in Gaza.

He talks about reactions to Biden's words, which includes the approval of a massive US aid package to Israel, and moving the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier into the eastern Mediterranean, closer to Israel.

Surkes speaks about her reporting on a shortage of necessary army equipment for reservists, answered with massive local and international fundraising and purchases, and then with a response from the IDF about the logistics of equipping a massive 300,000 call-up in 48 hours.

She also describes her visit to a Tel Aviv hotel currently housing several hundred evacuees, surviving residents from Gaza border communities, and how they are slowly figuring out next steps after their terrifying experiences, knowing they'll never be the same again.

Steinberg mentions the Magen David Adom blood drive in Jerusalem, where Israelis have spent hours each day, sometimes 10 or 11 hours, lining up patiently in order to bolster the blood supply for the more than 3,000 injured people in Israeli hospitals.

Discussed articles include:

Horrified Biden details Hamas’s ‘sheer evil,’ vows to ensure Israel can defend itself

White House spokesperson: We share Israel’s deep fear and anger after Hamas attack

‘Like Babyn Yar’: Hamas atrocities worst since Holocaust, Netanyahu tells Biden

Army launches hotline for reservists seeking equipment, food

A traumatized community from the Gaza border finds refuge at a Tel Aviv hotel

At Magen David Adom blood drive, a show of force by Israelis of every type

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IMAGE: President Joe Biden speaks Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023, in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, about the war between Israel and the militant Palestinian group Hamas. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

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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.

Military correspondent Emanuel Fabian and political correspondent Tal Schneider join host Amanda Borschel-Dan.

Although the IDF had announced that the Gaza border was finally sealed, forces from the elite Maglan unit identified a terror cell hiding on Zikim beach near the border with the Gaza Strip this morning. What is the actual control of the IDF on the borders?

The northern border has seen increased action over the past day. We hear what’s been happening there.

What are current tactics the IDF and the government are employing against the Gaza Strip in general?

At recording time, the country is still waiting for an announcement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about a unity government. Schneider weighs in.

Schneider gives us highlights from an in-depth analysis she published on how the Netanyahu government has propped up Hamas.

Schneider shares the story of her neighbor who has not been seen or heard from since the war began.

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

Discussed articles include:

Live blog October 10, 2023

IDF says Gaza border finally sealed, bodies of 1,500 terrorists found inside Israel

For years, Netanyahu propped up Hamas. Now it’s blown up in our faces

Families agonize over hostages’ safety as Gaza pounded and Hamas threatens executions

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IMAGE: Israeli soldiers takes position on a main road near the Israel-Gaza border in southern Israel, October 10, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

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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.

Editor David Horovitz and diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman join host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's episode.

We are in day three of Operation Swords of Iron, which began Saturday morning with Hamas’s infiltration by land, sea and air. Terrorists are still attempting to cross into Israel and there are ongoing gunfire battles in several towns and cities in the south. Berman updates on what has happened in the past 24 hours.

Starting on Saturday, there have been calls for an emergency government. So far, many conditions have been made and the make-up of such a government is unclear. Horovitz breaks it down.

President Isaac Herzog delivered an address to the nation Sunday night. Berman fills us in on the important messages.

Horovitz delves into the heartbreaking ongoing saga surrounding those who have been kidnapped and taken to Gaza.

And finally, we hear an unbelievable story of a couple who fended off terrorists -- with coffee and cookies.

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

Discussed articles include:

Live blog October 9, 2023

Air Force pounds Gaza overnight in bid to ‘devastate’ Hamas; rocket fire continues

Israel evacuates civilians from Gaza-area towns as forces scour for remaining gunmen

Emergency group says 260 were slain by terrorists at rave, as families seek answers

Coffee and cookies: How a hostage kept her terrorist captors distracted till rescue

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IMAGE: A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip by Palestinian terrorists hits a building in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon on October 9, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

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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.

Military correspondent Emanuel Fabian, diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman and Arab affairs reporter Gianluca Pacchiani join host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's episode.

We are in day two of Operation Swords of Iron, which began Saturday morning with Hamas’s infiltration by land, sea and air. There are hundreds of Israeli civilians and military personnel dead, with thousands wounded. It is a war that is being called by some as Israel’s 9/11, Israel’s Pearl Harbor.

On today's podcast, we are updated by Fabian on what is happening in the north and south of the country. Pacchiani briefs us on reactions from the Gaza Strip and West Bank. And Berman turns to the international stage with statements from Arab and Muslim countries.

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

Discussed articles include:

Live blog October 8, 2023

Hezbollah fires mortars at Israel; IDF strike hits tent on Lebanon border in response

Forces continue to battle terrorists in Gaza border area after devastating assault

Relatives of dozens killed or kidnapped to Gaza from rave: ‘Nobody is helping us’

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IMAGE: Israeli tank heads south near Sderot, Israel, October 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

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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.

Editor David Horovitz and military correspondent Emanuel Fabian join host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's special episode.

Since just after dawn Saturday morning, Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip have launched massive rocket barrages at southern and central Israel. The attacks is combined with an assault by dozens of gunmen who infiltrated Israel by air, land and sea, clashing with Israel Defense Force troops and taking dozens of hostages.

Fabian, tells us how the orchestrated attack unfolded and where we stand now. Horovitz fills us in on the political drama that is, as well, an ongoing story.

Discussed articles include:

Live blog October 7, 2023

‘We are at war,’ Netanyahu says, after Hamas launches devastating surprise attack

Israel confirms people abducted into Gaza; Hamas claims to capture soldiers, civilians

Residents near Gaza Strip beg for IDF help as they fight off terrorists

Thousands flee rocket and gunfire at all-night desert ‘Nature Party’; dozens missing

‘A colossal failure’ as Gaza’s Hamas terrorists infiltrate, catch Israel unprepared

In first, leading kosher authority Orthodox Union certifies lab-grown meat

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IMAGE: The scene where a rocket fired from Gaza caused damage in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon on October 7, 2023. (Jamal Awad/Flash90)

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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.

Diplomatic correspondent Tal Schneider and environment reporter Sue Surkes join host Jacob Magid for today's podcast.

Schneider discusses the fallout over the latest filmed incident of Orthodox Jews spitting toward Christian worshipers in the Old City of Jerusalem and the government's ties to those involved and to those who condone such conduct.

She then outlines a new proposal from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to remake the Judicial Selection Committee, which the premier is convinced is balanced enough to garner support from across the political spectrum.

Surkes later updates listeners on the discovery of soft coral off of Israel's Eastern Mediterranean coast and explains why this is a worrying development caused by climate change.

She wraps up the show with some lighter news about the migration of half of the world's population of lesser spotted eagles that are flying over Israel today en route to Africa for the winter. 

Discussed articles include:

Video showing fresh Haredi spitting attack on Christians draws wide condemnation

5 arrested for spitting at Christians in Jerusalem; police minister: It’s not criminal

Jordan slams vandalism of Muslim sites; US pans spitting on Christians in Jerusalem

Netanyahu has yet another new plan for choosing judges. It, too, is highly problematic

Discovery of soft coral species offers new evidence Mediterranean turning tropical

Over half of world’s lesser spotted eagle population set to fly over Israel

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IMAGE: Dozens of Orthodox Jews hold signs during a protest outside a Christian Embassy Feast of Tabernacles eventa t the Pais Arena stadium in Jerusalem on October 3, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/FLASH90)

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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.

Senior analyst Haviv Rettig-Gur and Zman Yisrael editor Biranit Goren join host Anne Gordon for today's podcast.

The holiday of Sukkot is often heralded as a time to celebrate all of the nations of the world -- Israel has parades and performances to that effect. It therefore seems fitting to discuss an important element of Israel’s foreign affairs -- specifically, the possible defense pact between Israel and the United States. Both Israelis and Americans have mixed feelings about the potential treaty, and US involvement may now be complicated further, in light of US Rep. Keven McCarthy’s departure from his position as speaker of the House of Representatives. Goren and Rettig Gur unpack what it all means.

And a new development on the home front too -- Israel’s political party, Yesh Atid, which is the party of Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, will be holding primary elections -- and Lapid is being challenged for the leadership, at least officially. Goren and Rettig Gur consider why this shift in approach.

Discussed articles include:

Gallant to meet US counterpart in Washington, after Netanyahu’s sit-down with Biden

‘Basic framework’ in place for Israel-Saudi normalization, US says

In first, Yesh Atid to hold leadership election; MK Ram Ben Barak to challenge Lapid

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IMAGE: Defense Minister Yoav Gallant greets US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at Ben Gurion Airport, March 2023. (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)

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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.

US bureau chief Jacob Magid and New York correspondent Luke Tress join host Jessica Steinberg for today's podcast.

Magid discusses the factors that finally pushed forward Israel's admission into the US Visa Waiver Program that will offer an easier visa process to all travelers to the US, including finding solutions for handling security issues regarding Palestinian travelers at Ben Gurion International Airport.

He also talks about comments made by former US ambassador Tom Nides, who focused heavily on the program during his 18 months in office, and noted that when Israel wants something, it can figure out how to make it happen.

Tress looks at recent calls from US Jewish groups and organizations calling on participating law firms to cut their support for a significant legal award for Navi Pillay, the former UN human rights official who demonstrated a bias against Israel and the Jewish people. Tress discusses the deeply interwoven relationships between Pillay and the top law firms funding the award.

Steinberg mentions events taking place throughout Israel for the holiday of Sukkot, including two upcoming shows from US pop star Bruno Mars for Tel Aviv audiences of 60,000 each.

She also talks about efforts made by Brown boutique hotel chain to make several of their Tel Aviv hotels more amenable to religious clientele, with kosher kitchens and sukkah huts built on roof decks.

Discussed articles include:

US admits Israel into Visa Waiver Program, in major boost to bilateral ties

Ex-envoy Nides: Visa waiver success proves Israel can make concessions when it wants

Leading US Jewish groups decry top legal award for anti-Israel UN official

Pop star Bruno Mars makes his way to Tel Aviv for two shows

Hip Brown hotel chain embarks on holy quest for Tel Aviv’s religious visitors

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IMAGE: Illustrative: People check in at a counter at Ben Gurion International Airport on November 2022 (Photo by Tomer Neuberg/Flash 90)

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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.

Diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman and religion reporter Canaan Lidor join host Amanda Borschel-Dan in today's episode.

Lidor shares a sound sample from this morning’s priestly blessing at the Western Wall and we hear how this Sukkot, the tone of those attending has slightly changed.

Last week, Tourism Minister Haim Katz was in Saudi Arabia and this week, Communication Minister Shlomo Karhi is leading an Israeli delegation to the Universal Postal Union’s 2023 Extraordinary Congress. Berman explains why these aren't necessarily steps towards normalization.

Berman also discusses why Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Palestine Nayef al-Sudairi canceled his planned trip to al-Aqsa Mosque last week.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is slated to meet with his American counterpart, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, in Washington later this month after an apparent ban on ministerial visits to the US. What's changed?

Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, the son of the much esteemed former Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, is again in the headlines for comments made during a recorded weekend sermon. Some of the Knesset’s opposition leaders had quick rejoinders for Yosef. What were they?

Discussed articles include:

Saudi tourism minister acknowledges historic Israeli presence at Riyadh confab

Days after tourism minister’s trip, communications minister heading to Saudi Arabia

Gallant to meet US counterpart in Washington, after Netanyahu’s sit-down with Biden

Sephardic chief rabbi claims secular Jews who eat non-kosher food ‘get stupid’

Fearing religious takeover, activists see ‘secular awakening’ in Yom Kippur fray

At a Tel Aviv prayer rally, anti-government protesters channel ‘a different Judaism’

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IMAGE: File: Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel Yitzhak Yosef visit at a school in the northern Israeli city of Tzfat, January 14, 2020. (David Cohen/Flash90)

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