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.

Diaspora and religions reporter Judah Ari Gross and real estate editor Danielle Nagler join host Jessica Steinberg for today's podcast.

Gross discusses reaction of US Jewry post election results and what could be the issues that will push the buttons on Jewish community's reactions.

Nagler looks at the rental market and what changes need to be made to ease pressure on Israelis seeking suitable housing.

Gross also talks about the new government made up of religious parties, and how that will affect issues of religion and state, including LGBTQ rights and the kosher certification process.

Nagler speaks about the Israeli hotel industry and its shifts following the pandemic with regard to both local and foreign tourists.

Discussed articles include:

Herzog to US Jews: Respect Israel’s election results even if you don’t like them

Vowing to lower prices, new government could target Israel’s untamed rental market

Israel poised to have its most religious government; experts say no theocracy yet

Israel to build 8,000 new hotel rooms by 2023 as tourism ramps up

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IMAGE: Religious Zionism leader Bezalel Smotrich arrives for coalition talks with Likud chief Benjamin Netanyahu, in Jerusalem, November 6, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/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 news editor Amy Spiro join host Amanda Borschel-Dan.

On Sunday, Religious Zionist leader Bezalel Smotrich spoke during the official memorial ceremony at the Knesset, marking 27 years since Rabin’s assassination by Yigal Amir, and asserted that some of the blame for his murder lay with Israel’s Shin Bet security service. What exactly was Smotrich asserting and what was the response?

Incoming prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu struck a more conciliatory tone at the commemoration event. Does Horovitz see this as foretelling his position in leading the new coalition?

Spiro recently interviewed British journalist Simon Parkin, the author of “The Island of Extraordinary Captives,” which illuminates the lives of thousands of Jewish refugees who were held on the Isle of Man after fleeing Germany. Deemed “enemy aliens,” the refugees held in Hutchinson Camp were rounded up in mass arrests in 1940. How does this jibe with the heroic narrative of the Kindertransport?

Discussed articles include:

At Rabin memorial event, Smotrich claims Shin Bet ‘encouraged’ assassination

Smotrich comes under fire after blaming Shin Bet for Rabin killing

Netanyahu, who mainstreamed Israel’s radicals, now the last obstacle to their agenda

They fled persecution in Nazi Germany. Then the British put them behind barbed wire

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Image: Enemy aliens, who were arrested in a big police round-up, leave London, England, May 17, 1940, under a heavy military escort for internment camps. (AP Photo)

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

Early Friday morning, the Israeli military struck a rocket factory in the Gaza Strip, hours after four rockets were launched at Israel from the Hamas-run Palestinian enclave. What sparked this most recent exchange of fire?

We hear about ripple effects from the recent November 1 election, starting with a recent statement from Bahrain.

The British government said on Thursday that it would not relocate its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, backing away after a pledge made by former prime minister Liz Truss to weigh the matter, shortly before she left office last month. Any surprise here?

A US-based Orthodox Jewish nonprofit on Wednesday announced a new partnership with the Israeli military to provide kosher food and other supplies to soldiers who arrive in the country for joint training and other activities with American forces. Is kosher food so hard to find in the US?

Discussed articles include:

Israel strikes ‘rocket factory’ in Gaza after rockets launched at south

Allies may worry over far-right’s election gains, but few can afford to shun Israel

Paralyzed Nation no more? ToI experts break down Israel’s election results

After Netanyahu’s win, Bahrain pledges to ‘continue building’ Israel partnership

With far right ascendant in Israel, Blinken tells Abbas US committed to 2 states

UK backs away from possible Jerusalem embassy move floated by ex-PM Truss

Orthodox nonprofit teams up with IDF to aid religious troops stationed in US

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Illustrative image: Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrive for a joint statement after a meeting at the Prime Minister's office, May 25, 2021, in Jerusalem, Israel. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

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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 Jacob Magid and military reporter Emmanuel Fabian join host Jessica Steinberg for today's podcast.

Magid discusses his election day coverage with Itamar Ben Gvir, and the differences this time around to the nationalist candidate, as opposed to 19 months ago, when Ben Gvir first ran for the Knesset.

Magid also looks at how Israel's left-wing parties ran their campaigns, and what could lay ahead for them over the next four years.

Fabian offers an update on the car ramming attack that took place Wednesday, in which an IDF officer was seriously injured by an Arab assailant.

He also unpacks the unexpected story of an IDF soldier traveling home to Israel, and landing unexpectedly, undetected, in an Iranian airport.

Discussed articles include:

It took 4 voting rounds to normalize Ben Gvir. By the end of the 5th, he’s a star

‘We’ll reassert ownership of this state,’ Ben Gvir vows as exit polls show big gains

Officer seriously wounded in West Bank car-ramming; attacker shot dead — IDF

9 hours at an Iranian airport: IDF soldier faces unnerving flight diversion

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IMAGE: Head of the Otzma Yehudit party MK Itamar Ben Gvir speaks to supporters as the exit polls of the Israeli elections are announced, at the party's campaign headquarters in Jerusalem, November 1, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/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 this post-election episode.

At recording time, we didn't yet know the final totals, but we break down what we know and don’t, so far.

Schneider begins with a broad-stroke run down of how the results look so far. Which parties are definitely out?

Some 10% of the electorate voted for the far-right Religious Zionist party. Rettig Gur gives some reasons why this is not, in fact, a shift.

Discussed articles include:

With 97% of regular votes counted, Likud-led bloc has 65 seats, Meretz out

Coalition officials: ‘Cannibalistic pig’ Lapid felled allies, gave Netanyahu victory

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IMAGE: Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu addresses his supporters after first exit poll results for the Israeli Parliamentary election at his party's headquarters in Jerusalem, November 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

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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.

Knesset reporter Carrie Keller-Lynn and US correspondent Luke Tress join host Jessica Steinberg for today's podcast.

Keller-Lynn looks at the various factors that could shift this election, Israel's fifth in four years.

Tress talks about President Isaac Herzog's visit to the White House and with President Joe Biden last week, including the varying emphases on the US brokered maritime border agreement between Israel and Lebanon, and nuclear talks with Iran.

Tress also discusses the admission of guilt and $5 million penalty being paid by New York's largest Hasidic yeshiva over its misappropriation of government funds.

Discussed articles include:

As Israel votes for fifth time since 2019, these 5 factors could break the deadlock

White House’s Lebanon success, Iran failure on display during Herzog visit

US despairing over increasingly distant Iran nuke talks, Israeli official says

New York’s biggest Hasidic yeshiva to pay $8m after admitting to systematic fraud

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IMAGE: Voter casts their ballot at a polling station in Bnei Brak on November 1, 2022 (Menahem KAHANA / AFP)

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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 United States correspondent Jacob Magid join host Amanda Borschel-Dan in today's episode.

The Israeli elections are finally tomorrow. Magid was in the northern Arab town of Umm Al-Fahm on Saturday. He explains what's happening on the ground there and who is -- and is not -- voting.

Next, Magid describes a visit to the religious Tel Aviv suburb of Givat Shmuel. A plurality of its residents voted for former prime minister Naftali Bennett in the previous elections and feel betrayed. What's happening there now?

Next, we hear thoughts from Horovitz, explaining how the rise of the far right in Israel did not happen in a vacuum.

Discussed articles include:

Damned if you vote, damned if you don’t: Despair a deciding factor in Arab turnout

Furious at Bennett’s betrayal, these national religious voters won’t allow a repeat

With rise of Ben Gvir and Smotrich, Israel risks a catastrophic lurch to extremism

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IMAGE: Former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, surrounded by security and his supporters visits at Hatikva Market in Tel Aviv, Israel, October 28, 2022. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

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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 settlements reporter Jeremy Sharon join host Amanda Borschel-Dan in today's episode.

Lebanon’s 89-year-old President Michel Aoun stepped down today, but on Thursday, Israel and Lebanon signed a historic maritime borders agreement. How with the two countries' changing governments affect the agreement?

There’s a neck-in-neck race happening for Brazil between right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro and his leftist challenger Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. How does a win for either candidate affect Israel?

Natan Sharansky had a 20-minute in-person meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky last week in Kyiv. Berman spoke with Sharansky immediately after. We hear what they spoke about.

Israel hosted Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama last week in yet another sign of increasing ties. What was the reason for his visit?

Turning to Sharon, we speak about how Otzma Yehudit compares with the far-right parties of Europe.

Discussed articles include:

Biden drafts letter guaranteeing Israel’s rights in Lebanon maritime deal

Israel, Lebanon to sign maritime boundary deal Thursday afternoon at UN base

Zelensky to Sharansky: Israel is one of few countries that can help defend our skies

After cutting ties with Iran, Albanian PM arrives in Israel to talk cybersecurity

Ben Gvir’s policy goals: Going to extremes even Europe’s far right won’t touch

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IMAGE: Israeli far-right lawmaker and the head of 'Jewish Power' party, Itamar Ben-Gvir visits at Hatikva Market in Tel Aviv during his campaign ahead of the country's election, October 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

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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.

Religions reporter Judah Ari Gross and environmental correspondent Sue Surkes join host Jessica Steinberg for today's podcast.

Gross discusses matters of concern to Jewish diaspora and Israeli candidates, including the Western Wall, in a panel ahead of next week's elections.

Surkes looks at Israel's plans for COP27, beginning November 6 in Sharm el sheikh in Egypt, including the official delegation and pavilion, hundreds of local NGOs and presentation of climate tech companies.

Gross talks about the delicate situation Chabad Lubavitch is finding itself navigating in Russia, including a recent accusation of the Hasidic sect as a "supremicist cult" by a top security official.

Surkes explains the concept of green taxonomy, the categorization process of what kinds of business activities can be considered 'green' or climate-friendly investments.

Discussed articles include:

For a brief moment, frayed Israel-Diaspora ties take center stage in election debate

Israel’s big delegation to COP27 hoping to make connections, help climate with tech

Ministry drafts plans to recruit finance, business sectors to fight climate change

Russian chief rabbi protests as top official describes Chabad as a supremacist cult

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IMAGE: Illustrative: Russian Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar, a Chabad emissary, with congregants at an unfinished synagogue in Sevatopol, Crimea, July 14, 2014. (Cnaan Liphshiz/JTA)

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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.

United States correspondent Jacob Magid and legal reporter Jeremy Sharon join host Amanda Borschel-Dan in this episode.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog is currently in the US. It’s, as he says himself, “a politically sensitive time" for both countries. What are we hearing so far from the trip?

For many Israelis, the November 1 election is about two main issues — yes or no to former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and whether or not the country needs extreme judicial reform. On October 18, Religious Zionism party leader Bezalel Smotrich combined the two issues. Sharon explains the interesting situation in which two right-wing politicians -- Religious Zionism MK Simcha Rothman and Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar of the National Unity Party -- are on different sides.

The next Negev Forum is coming up in the UAE and behind the scenes, the countries involved are trying to rope in Jordan for the next session. What are the pluses and minuses for Jordan?

And finally, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is not holding back his disdain for the current US government and using inflammatory rhetoric. Is this a strategic tactic to perhaps cozy up to Russia?

Discussed articles include:

Herzog invited to address US Congress, 1st Israeli to get honor since Netanyahu

In US, Herzog says elections shouldn’t affect ties amid tensions over far-right

Two right-wing camps seek to reform Israel’s judiciary, in opposite ways

As Israeli-Arab Negev Forum prepares to reconvene, members try to bring in Jordan

While not cutting ties, Abbas increasingly talks of Biden as if he is Trump

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FILE PHOTO: Then leader of the Israeli Labour party, current President of Israel Isaac Herzog meets with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah. December 1, 2013. (Issam Rimawi/FLASH90)

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