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.

Diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman and news editor Amy Spiro join host Amanda Borschel-Dan.

A tragic update to open the program: 18-year-old Sergeant Noa Lazar was killed last night when a gunman opened fire in a shooting attack at the Shuafat checkpoint in East Jerusalem. Lazar was a member of the Military Police’s Erez battalion. A second casualty, a civilian guard, is still in serious condition at Hadassah Medical Center.

Berman brings us the latest twists in the potential maritime border deal with Lebanon.

The protests in Iran over the death of Mahsa Amini have entered a fourth straight week and sparked solidarity events all over the globe. Berman describes how the international community can support Iranian women.

Spiro brings us the fascinating tale of the Miami Boys Choir -- who, incidentally, are not based in Florida at all.

Discussed articles include:

Soldier killed in East Jerusalem shooting identified as 18-year-old Noa Lazar

Testing of gas pipeline set to start at Karish drilling site amid Hezbollah threats

‘Not afraid anymore’: Iran protests enter 4th week in defiance of deadly crackdown

Israelis rally in Jerusalem in solidarity with Iranian women protesters

The Miami Boys Choir churned out generations of child stars. Where are they now?

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IMAGE: The Miami Boys Choir in concert in Brooklyn in 2018. (Screenshot)

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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 health reporter Nathan Jeffay join host Amanda Borschel-Dan in today's episode.

On Monday in Brussels, the EU and the Israel Association Council met for the first time in many years. Why is this significant and what was discussed?

As promised, Berman updates us on the proposed US-brokered Lebanon maritime border and what's potentially gone awry in the past several days and explains why there is a short window of opportunity to get the deal done.

Jeffay brings us new research — a collaboration between the Weizmann Institute of Science and the University of California San Diego School of Medicine — that found that hunting for fungus in the human body may offer a brand-new method for early detection of cancer as well as information that could shape prognoses and treatment plans.

Researchers at Tel Aviv University believe they have identified a key mechanism that leads skin cancer to prompt brain cancer. So far it has only been tested on human tissue in lab conditions. When do researchers think it will lead to tumor prevention?

A 46-year-old Israeli woman recently gave birth 20 years after freezing her ovary due to cancer treatments in her mid-twenties. She defrosted part of it, reversed her menopause, got pregnant without IVF, and has now given birth to a healthy baby girl.

Discussed articles include:

EU’s top diplomat presses Lapid on Palestinians at opening of Brussels meeting

Intel minister to lead Israeli delegation to EU in Lapid’s stead

Official: Lebanon deal will see unprecedented approval for Israel’s maritime border

Fungus is telltale cancer sign, possibly screenable by blood test: Israel-US study

Israeli discovery may help fight risk of skin cancer triggering brain tumors

Israeli gives birth after menopause reversed with transplant of 20-year frozen ovary

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ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE: Lebanese protesters ride in a yacht with an Arabic banner that reads 'No compromises No waivers, No negligence, Our maritime resources belong to us,' during a demonstration demanding Lebanon's right to disputed maritime oil and gas fields, in the southern marine border town of Naqoura, Lebanon, September 4, 2022. (AP Photo/ Mohammed Zaatari)

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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 Knesset correspondent Carrie Keller-Lynn join host Jessica Steinberg for today's podcast.

Gross discusses statistics regarding the higher incidence of sexual abuse in Israel's religious school system.

Keller-Lynn looks at efforts by Transportation Minister Merav Michaeli to institute Shabbat service on the Israeli railroad system ahead of upcoming elections.

Gross talks about the unlikely marriage of a Utah law allowing wedding ceremonies via Zoom that has eased the path toward civil weddings in Israel.

Keller-Lynn speaks about Arab nationalist party Balad and its defection from the upcoming elections.

Discussed articles include:

Religious students report sexual abuse at twice rate of secular school peers – study

Michaeli promises to run Tel Aviv light rail on Shabbat starting next year

In step toward civil marriage, Jerusalem court accepts ‘Zoom weddings’ from Utah

Balad to meet to consider boycotting elections after being disqualified

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Illustrative: Israeli students seen on the first day of school at a school in Jerusalem, on September 1, 2022. (Olivier Fitoussi/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 military correspondent Emanuel Fabian join host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's episode.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Yair Lapid ordered Israeli security forces to remain in an enhanced state of readiness, given an uptick in violence in the West Bank. Since that order, there have been several incidents. We start with what happened this morning with a shooting near Elon Moreh that was claimed by a new Palestinian militia, the Lion’s Den.

On Saturday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah lauded a US-mediated draft proposal to resolve a maritime border dispute between Israel and Lebanon as “a very important step.” He said that the emerging deal opens up “new and promising horizons for the people of Lebanon by rescuing the country from the crisis it has fallen into.”
Why this change in tone?

On Saturday, Shas party leader Aryeh Deri said that a government under opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu would pass a bill to enable it to overrule High Court decisions. We hear about additional legislators threatening judicial changes.

According to a recent Axios report, last month Robert Menendez, chairman of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, warned Netanyahu that including extreme-right lawmakers in a potential future government would harm US-Israel relations. Horovitz explains why it is not only external ties that may be harmed.

Discussed articles include:

Amid rising West Bank violence, Lapid orders forces to remain on high alert

Gunmen target taxi, bus in West Bank terror attack; 1 lightly injured

Police say Palestinian killed after trying to hurl firebomb at cops near Jerusalem

Shots fired at Israeli vehicle in southern West Bank; IDF launches manhunt

In subdued comments, Nasrallah calls maritime border deal proposal ‘important step’

Shas chief: If judges bar me from being a minister, we’ll legislate to overrule them

Top senator said to warn Netanyahu that having Ben Gvir in gov’t would harm US ties

To overturn the evil decree

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IMAGE: A supporter of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group raises is fist and cheers, as he listens to a speech of Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah who appears via a video link, during a rally marking Hezbollah Martyr's Day, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, November 11, 2021. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

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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 environment reporter Sue Surkes join host Amanda Borschel-Dan.

Yesterday we heard the news that the Central Elections Committee disqualified former lawmaker and Yamina rebel Amichai Chikli from running on the Likud’s candidate slate in the upcoming election. At the same time, fellow former Yamina MK Idit Silman is able to retain her spot. What’s going on here?

There are also petitions to disqualify two Arab parties from the upcoming elections: Islamist Ra’am and nationalist Balad. What are the chances they will be barred?

New research suggesting that the extensive use of Arava desert vegetation to fuel the famous King Solomon’s copper mines at Timna caused both the industry, and the local environment, to eventually collapse. Surkes fills us in.

According to Israeli research, planting forests in drylands all over the world is unlikely to help in the fight against global warming and climate change. How does this affect Israeli reforestation?

Just four months after arriving in Israel, former Greenpeace Russia media director Violetta Ryabko has penned a brochure for Israelis on ways to reduce plastic waste over the High Holidays. We hear some of her tips.

Discussed articles include:

Rebel ex-MK Chikli barred from running with Likud, which vows High Court appeal

Wood cut to fuel King Solomon’s ancient mines caused environmental collapse – study

Planting trees in drylands unlikely to curb global warming, Israeli study shows

How to do the holidays with zero waste, with an online guide

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IMAGE: Excavations of ancient copper mines as part of Tel Aviv University’s Central Timna Valley Project. (E. Ben-Yosef and the Central Timna Valley Project)

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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 diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman join host Amanda Borschel-Dan.

During our Wednesday-morning recording, the IDF entered Jenin for an Israeli military raid in which at least three Palestinian gunmen were killed. Fabian gives background.

Over the two-day Rosh Hashanah holiday, there were also clashes on the Temple Mount and in east Jerusalem. What was the spark this time and how long are they expected to continue?

Last week, while Berman reported from the United Nations General Assembly in New York, British Prime Minister Liz Truss told Prime Minister Yair Lapid that she is reviewing a relocation of the country’s embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. How seriously should we take this?

We take a look at what’s happening right now in Ukraine. After a series of contentious referendums for a merger with Russia in occupied Ukrainian territories, officials in three of these regions claimed victory — amid international condemnation of sham ballots. How is Israel reacting and is this a more decisive stance than we’ve seen before?

Fabian recently reported on a joint Israeli and American four-day navy drill in the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea that included American naval drones. Though Iran doesn’t have a coastline along the Red Sea, the drill — dubbed “Digital Shield” — had a significant Iranian bent. Fabian explains why.

Discussed articles include:

Palestinian gunmen ‘planning significant attacks’ killed in Jenin clash with troops

Police clash with protesters in East Jerusalem for 3rd straight night

British PM tells Lapid she is reviewing relocation of UK embassy to Jerusalem

Israel rejects annexation votes in occupied Ukraine as Russian proxies claim victory

US, NATO vow support for Ukraine after ‘diabolical’ Russian annexation votes

Zelensky ‘shocked’ by lack of Israeli defense support: ‘They gave us nothing’

Israel, US wrap up four-day drill in Red Sea with naval drones

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IMAGE: Israeli Navy vessels sail alongside US naval drones in the Gulf of Aqaba, in an image published by the military on September 22, 2022. (Israel Defense Forces)

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Hello Daily Briefing listeners, here's a look back at a favorite Times Will Tell episode from the last year, an interview with Israeli rap impresario Shaanan Streett, the founding member of hip hop/funk band Hadag Nahash.

It's been 25 years since hip hop rappers Hadag Nahash appeared on the Israeli music scene, introducing their brand of feel-good Middle Eastern groove with a hefty dose of Israeli left-wing politics.

They're still writing, singing and performing. Frontman Shaanan Streett has continued to celebrate his six-way partnership, alongside solo ventures including his first novel, "A Moment of Eternity," about Jerusalem skateboarders and graffiti artists.

Streett spoke with The Times of Israel for a Times Will Tell episode earlier this year, discussing his book, his decision to continue living and working in his hometown of Jerusalem, and his decade-long effort to learn Arabic.

Streett, 50, was born in Israel to American parents and is fluent in Hebrew and English, but didn't begin learning Arabic until he was 40.

He said that while Israelis are learning Arabic in greater numbers than ever before, there's something unique about studying it in Jerusalem, whose Arab neighborhoods, in East Jerusalem, are a world apart from the Jewish areas of the capital.

"When you study in Jerusalem, you take your car and you cross an unseen line into another world and you park your car in the other world where everybody is now speaking Arabic, where you are now a minority," said Streett. "And if you want to go and buy a beigele, which I do and I do it in Arabic, everybody knows that this here is now the Jew coming to speak in Arabic."

It is the diversity found in Jerusalem that has kept Streett in the city, he said, despite his Hadag Nahash bandmates and many friends having migrated to Tel Aviv.

"[Jerusalem] reminds you every day that numerous people lead a very different everyday life than you do," said Streett. "And you can dip your toe in that for as deep as you want. So the old, the new, the religious, the secular, the different religions, the different languages, the different cultures. It looks very nice on a postcard. It's sometimes very difficult to live through, but it's always interesting."

There's a natural connection between all of it, said Streett, from his initial decision to make hip-hop music in Hebrew to writing about skateboarding, graffiti and even dream interpretation.

"It's like you need less of a necktie," said Streett, using a popular Israeli saying that means "come as you are." "You take off the tie and you were a painter, but now you're a graffiti artist. So hip-hop has the same element."

IMAGE: Rapper, philosopher, writer and Jerusalemite Shaanan Streett, lead singer and founding member of Hadag Nachash (Courtesy Ohad Romano)

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Hi Daily Briefing listeners, for the holiday, we're sharing a musical Times Will Tell with Lenka Lichtenberg, who talks about and shares songs from her new album “Thieves of Dreams: Songs of Theresienstadt's Secret Poetess.”

Lichtenberg is a classically trained musician who grew up in the Czech Republic. Before eventually settling in Canada, she moved around Europe and dipped her toes in a variety of musical genres.

Her eclectic musical background can be heard in her new project, which is based on poems that her grandmother Anna Hana Friesova wrote during the Holocaust -- before, during and after her years spent in Theresienstadt.

A few years ago, Lichtenberg came across her grandmother’s two notebooks of poems in Prague while cleaning out her recently deceased mother’s apartment. Sixteen of the poems were turned into songs, eight of which Lichtenberg composed and eight others that were commissioned from Czech and Canadian composers. The arrangements feature 19 recording artists from Canada, the Czech Republic and Germany. The album was recorded and produced by Lichtenberg at her Melody Meadows barn studio in eastern Ontario.

In this slightly longer episode this week, we learn about Lichtenberg and her family and hear excerpts from her remarkable album “Thieves of Dreams.”

Times Will Tell podcasts are available for download on iTunes, TuneIn, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, PlayerFM or wherever you get your podcasts.

IMAGE: Musician Lenka Lichtenberg (Bo Huang)

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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.

For this special Jewish New Year episode, co-hosts Amanda Borschel-Dan and Jessica Steinberg dish while their festive dishes are cooking.

We first hear about Steinberg's adventures in the Negev Desert on the trail of innovative wineries way down south.

Borschel-Dan talks about a study in which a team of Israeli scientists and archaeologists believe they have identified the earliest physical evidence of opium use. She also discusses the recent discovery of an untouched 3,300-year-old cave at Palmachim beach -- and it's unfortunate aftermath.

The next two days are holidays, so the pair picked out two favorite episodes of our weekly Times Will Tell podcast that will be shared instead of the Daily Briefing on Monday and Tuesday. They explain why these episodes are worth another listen.

Discussed articles include:

In the Negev, a new breed of vintners are making the desert bloom

Israeli archaeologists uncover earliest known use of opium in the ancient world

Frozen in time: 3,300-year-old burial cave from Ramses II era found at popular beach

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IMAGE: Pouring a Nana Estate Winery rose while looking out toward the unlikely desert terroir of this Negev vineyard. (Courtesy: Nana Winery)

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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 US reporter Jacob Magid join host Jessica Steinberg for today's podcast.

Berman discusses Lapid's plan for his Thursday speech at the UN General Assembly, including mentioning his support for a two-state solution.

Berman also talks about Lapid's various meetings Wednesday with Turkish president Erdogan, Jordan's King Abdullah and others, while Magid weighs in on the US reaction to Lapid's talks and plans.

Magid covers his interview with Special Envoy Deborah Lipstadt, also at the United Nations as part of her role in the State Department, and their conversation about her recent trip to Saudi Arabia and the topic of antisemitism in Saudi textbooks, among issues of antisemitism elsewhere.

Discussed articles include:

Lapid to back two-state solution in UN address; is slammed by rivals and some allies

Lapid hails mended Turkey ties in first meet between Erdogan, Israeli PM since 2008

Lapid meets Jordan king on West Bank terror as news of fresh attack arrives

British PM tells Lapid she is reviewing relocation of UK embassy to Jerusalem

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IMAGE: Prime Minister Yair Lapid, left, meets Jordan's King Abdullah II in New York, September 20, 2022. (Avi Ohayon/GPO)

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