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.

US bureau chief Jacob Magid and feature reporter Melanie Lidman join host Jessica Steinberg for today's podcast.

Magid talks about former treasury secretary Jack Lew, an Orthodox Jew who is the current frontrunner for US ambassador to Israel. Lew was chief of staff for former President Barack Obama and has been critical of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the past.

Magid also discusses comments made by two Democrat lawmakers who are perturbed that President Joe Biden's White House is moving ahead with the Visa Waiver Program and the Saudi normalization deal for Israel -- two projects that Netanyahu is eager to finalize -- despite the administration's continued frustration with Netanyahu's right-wing government.

Lidman speaks about the painstaking renovation work that was undertaken at Jerusalem's Church of Holy Sepulchre in the Old City, one of Christianity’s oldest sites. It's a complicated process given the handful of churches that wield control over the holy site.

Lidman also talks about an archaeological find near Kiryat Gat, where the region's most ancient city gate was found, unfolding new information about the establishment of cities and urban environments earlier than was previously thought.

Discussed articles include:

Former treasury secretary Jack Lew frontrunner for next US ambassador

Some Democrats ‘dumbfounded’ by Biden’s willingness to hand major gifts to Netanyahu

Round-the-clock excavations at Church of Holy Sepulchre yield historical treasures

Discovery of Israel’s oldest gate resets clock on local urbanization by centuries

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IMAGE: Christian worshippers take part in the Holy Fire ceremony at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City during the Easter holiday on April 15, 2023 (Photo by 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.

Zman Yisrael editor Biranit Goren and senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur join host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's episode.

The personal attacks against IDF chief of staff Herzi Halevi are heating up. The security establishment believes that by allowing repeated attacks on top military brass, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to shift responsibility onto them over the current harm to the state of military readiness caused by reservists’ refusals to carry out their duties in protest of the coalition’s controversial judicial overhaul legislation. Rettig Gur and Goren dive into the issues, including Yair Netanyahu's role in all of this.

On Monday, prime minister Netanyahu condemned discrimination against secular women by bus drivers or by Haredi passengers, following a recent series of such incidents. Why is this in Netanyahu's political interest even as a minister in his coalition, Environment Minister Idit Silman, attempts to push through gender-segregated bathing at national parks. And Goren weighs in why this isn't a bad thing -- especially for Arab women.

Discussed articles include:

Security officials tell TV network PM trying to shift blame onto them for harm to IDF

PM’s son shares a post calling Herzi Halevi the worst-ever IDF chief

After cases of discrimination against women on buses, PM calls to punish offenders

Teen girls told to sit in back of bus, cover up because of Haredi passengers

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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.

Political correspondent Tal Schneider and military correspondent Emanuel Fabian join host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's episode.

Officials from the Civil Administration, backed by police, destroyed or evacuated five buildings in the “Aira Shahar” outpost near the settlement of Kohav Hashahar this morning. Why is this a surprise?

On Friday, the chief of the Israeli Air Force, Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar, admitted that the state of the force’s readiness was “worsening” in the face of the reservist pilots’ refusals to serve, after which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a pretty explosive reaction. Fabian and Schneider weigh in.

A Jewish Iranian man who arrived to Ben-Gurion Airport was deported soon after on Friday. What are the allegations against him?

Last night, hundreds of right-wing activists protested in Jerusalem over settler brawler Yehiel Indore’s continued remand over the death of a Palestinian man on August 4. Fabian updates us on the case and evidence against him.

Schneider speaks about the looming municipal elections, which are arguably Israel’s midterm elections. She explains that she's set to take a tour in search of furry friends in Bnei Brak.

Discussed articles include:

In rare move, security forces evacuate illegal West Bank outpost

PM said to have shouted at IDF chiefs: ‘It looks like the army is running the country’

Air force head warns damage to military readiness worsening amid overhaul split

Jewish Iranian stopped at airport on spying suspicions, sent back to Iran – Shin Bet

Hundreds at protest call to free settler suspected of killing Palestinian; 2 arrests

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IMAGE: FILE - A rat crosses a Times Square subway platform in New York on January 27, 2015. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

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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 heath reporter Renee Ghert-Zand join host Amanda Borschel-Dan in today's episode. 

With the uptick in fighting in Ethiopia’s Gondar region, Israel extracted some 200 citizens and local Jews from conflict zones in Ethiopia Thursday. Today at 11 there is set to be a protest by veteran immigrants, including members of Knesset, saying this is just a drop in the bucket. How was the operation carried out?

Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Jordan presented his credentials on Saturday to begin also serving as Riyadh’s first-ever non-resident ambassador to Palestine. Is this nod to the PA is basically checking the list before relations with Israel?

The US and Iran reached a tentative deal in which Iran will release five American detainees in exchange for the release of several billion dollars in frozen Iranian assets. What did Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have to say about this?

On Thursday, Netflix’s dropped a six-episode limited series, “Painkiller,” which focuses on the prescription opioid crisis in the United States. On the same day, the US Supreme Court temporarily blocked a nationwide settlement with OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma that would shield members of the Sackler family who own the company from civil lawsuits over the toll of opioids. According to “Painkiller,” what was the family’s knowledge of how addictive OxyContin really is?

A collaborative team of researchers from several Israeli institutions has created an itsy bitsy beating heart from stem cells that is the size of a third of a grain of rice. We hear more about this and other human organoids.

Discussed articles include:

Israel rescues some 200 citizens and Jews from Ethiopia conflict region

Saudi Arabia appoints its first ever non-resident ambassador to Palestine

PM scorns US-Iran deal unfreezing Iranian assets in exchange for release of prisoners

Netflix’s ‘Painkiller’ is mesmerizing drama about Sackler role in ongoing opioid crisis

US Supreme Court blocks OxyContin bankruptcy deal that would shield Sacklers

Created from stem cells, Israeli researchers grow tiny, beating model of human heart

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IMAGE: In this file photo provided by Saudi Press Agency, SPA, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman chairs the Arab summit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, May 19, 2023. (Saudi Press Agency via AP)

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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.

Zman Yisrael editor Biranit Goren and senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur join host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's episode.

Israeli media is abuzz with the power struggle between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Smotrich over NIS 200 million ($55 million) budgeted for Arab Israeli economic development and education initiatives.

We dedicate the entire episode to the ripple effects of this showdown and check in on Netanyahu's right-wing coalition.

Discussed articles include:

As Smotrich defends freeze, PM vows to transfer funds to Arab towns ‘with oversight’

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IMAGE: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich at a press conference on the planned construction of a new railway line from the northern city of Kiryat Shmona to the city of Eilat, in Jerusalem, July 30, 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.

Political correspondent Tal Schneider and religions reporter Canaan Lidor join host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's episode.

The Anti-Defamation League and partner organizations in France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Spain released a report focussing on on left-wing antisemitism. Why is this unusual?

Yesterday, Opposition leader and former prime minister Yair Lapid met with UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah Bin Zayed in Italy to discuss bilateral ties and advance joint projects. Was Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the know?

Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman announced last week that two nature reserves near Jerusalem will remain open outside of the usual operating hours for visitors who require gender-segregated bathing. What happened next?

Early this week in a Bloomberg English-language interview, Netanyahu indicated that his government will move ahead with changing the makeup of the Judicial Selection Committee and then stop. But will his own Likud MKs support him?

We end with a curious story out of Haifa’s Stella Maris church where ultra-Orthodox Jews are increasingly making pilgrimage to what they consider is grave of the Prophet Elisha, Elijah’s disciple. Why the Jews’ sudden interest in this site?

Discussed articles include:

Europe’s far-left is normalizing antisemitism, report co-authored by ADL warns

Lapid meets UAE foreign minister in Italy, amid hiatus in high-level visits

Environment minister announces sex-segregated hours at parks, prompting legal review

Netanyahu: Coalition will probably remake judicial selection panel, then halt overhaul

PM doesn’t have the votes to remake judicial selection panel, Likud said to believe

At a Haifa church, Jewish pilgrims test coexistence strained by painful history

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IMAGE: View of the Stella Maris Monastery in the northern Israeli city of Haifa, August 1, 2023. (Shir Torem/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.

US bureau chief Jacob Magid and News editor Luke Tress join host Jessica Steinberg for today's podcast.

Magid discusses Washington equating two weekend attacks, one in which a Palestinian shot and killed a Tel Aviv patrolman and another in which a Palestinian was shot and killed by a Jewish settler.

Tress looks at the incident in Memphis, Tennessee, during which a man unsuccessfully fired a handgun at a Jewish school, and was later discovered to be Jewish, and a former student at the school who had suffered a familial trauma years earlier.

Magid looks at some of the provocative comments made by the outgoing EU ambassador to the Palestinians, Sven Kühn von Burgsdorff, as he left his post and headed toward retirement.

Tress talks about the recent incident with entertainer Jamie Foxx, who made antisemitic statement on social media, and later apologized.

Steinberg mentions the small but meaningful new exhibit opening this week at the Israel Museum of the work of American artist Rashid Johnson, a Chicago born New Yorker who has long used his art to talk about life as a Black man.

Discussed articles include:

US calls both shooting of Israeli patrolman and young Palestinian ‘terror attacks’

Suspect in shooting at Memphis Jewish school was haunted by police killing of father

Departing EU envoy: I won’t accuse Israel of apartheid, but it’s worthy of discussion

Jamie Foxx apologizes for Instagram post that echoed antisemitic trope

Rashid Johnson exhibit at Israel Museum seeks to create ‘discourse about Blackness’

IMAGE: EU Ambassador to the Palestinians Sven Kühn von Burgsdorff paraglides over Gaza on July 17, 2023. (EU Mission to the Palestinians) 

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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 features writer Melanie Lidman join host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's episode.

The security cabinet debated a series of measures on Sunday meant to prop up the Palestinian Authority. What could these measures be?

In an interview published yesterday in the London-based Elaph Arabic-language new site, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen made a few promises regarding the Palestinian Authority and a potential Abraham Accords agreement with Saudi Arabia. What did Cohen say?

Israelis increasingly report feeling pushed out of the country due to the judicial overhaul crisis. A recently published feature looks at the issue and includes an interview with Prof. Sergio Della Pergola, who explained why Israelis have left in large numbers in the past. What did he say?

Many point to the idea that this judicial overhaul crisis could be Israel’s constitutional moment. Berman noted in an in-depth piece on the subject that having a constitution doesn’t necessarily mean all our problems will go away. What happened in the United States in the 1790s?

A unique online exhibit, “Unsilencing the Archives: The Laborers of the Tell en-Nasbeh Excavations (1926-1935),” focuses on the Palestinian excavators who made archaeological digs possible in this era. What was the impetus for the exhibit?

Discussed articles include:

Security cabinet said set to advance measures to prop up PA, but delay announcement

FM Cohen to Arabic outlet: Israel will make gestures to Palestinians for Saudi deal

'This is my red line’: Anguished Israelis talk relocation amid judicial overhaul push

Why the deepening judicial crisis could be Israel’s constitutional moment

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IMAGE: FILE: Passengers at Ben Gurion International Airport, June 6, 2022. (Gili Yaari/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 and legal reporter Jeremy Sharon join host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's episode.

Yesterday evening, a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group opened fire in a bustling area of Tel Aviv and critically shot 42-year-old patrolman Chen Amir, a married father of three. What do we know about the incident and its perpetrator?

Two settlers suspected in the killing of a Palestinian man on Friday have been remanded until Wednesday. We hear about the suspects, Elisha Yered, a former spokesman for the far-right Otzma Yehudit party’s MK Limor Son Har-Melech, and Yehiel Indore.

Last week Fabian toured the area straddling Israel’s northern border with Lebanon. We hear his first-hand impressions on how Hezbollah's escalations are affected residents.

On Thursday, the High Court held a hearing over the recusal amendment to a Basic Law and a lot of very strong statements. Sharon weighs in on what we could see coming out from the court.

Discussed articles include:

Terrorist kills patrolman in Tel Aviv, is shot dead by 2nd officer

IDF troops map West Bank home of Tel Aviv shooter for demolition

Lawyers for settlers suspected in killing of Palestinian claim self-defense

Jitters grow along Lebanon border as Hezbollah provocations become more brazen

High Court calls PM recusal law ‘clearly personal,’ indicates it may intervene

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IMAGE: Elisha Yered, a suspect in the death of 19-year-old Palestinian Qusai Jamal Maatan in the West Bank village of Burqa last night, arrives for a hearing at the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court, August 5, 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.

Political correspondent Tal Schneider and senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur join host Amanda Borschel-Dan in today's episode.

This morning, the High Court of Justice was holding a pivotal hearing on petitions against the Recusal Law, a Basic Law passed earlier this year that prevents the court from ordering the removal of a sitting prime minister. What is significant about this first, unprecedented showdown?

Yesterday, the High Court of Justice ruled against a petition demanding the removal of the illegal West Bank outpost of Homesh. How does this square with the court’s reputation as left-leaning?

For the first time ever, come September 12, the High Court of Justice will convene a 15-judge panel to hear petitions against the Reasonableness law passed last week to limit the court’s oversight of its own actions. Both Schneider and Rettig Gur weigh in on the hearing's implications.

Discussed articles include:

Top court holds key hearing on law shielding Netanyahu from removal from office

High Court shoots down petition to evacuate illegal Homesh outpost in West Bank

Unprecedented 15-judge panel to hear petitions against coalition’s reasonableness law

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IMAGE: Stickers for the struggle against the judicial overhaul seen on a street sign reading 'Supreme Court' in Jerusalem, August 1, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/FLASH90)

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