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.

Editor David Horovitz and United States correspondent Jacob Magid join host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's episode.

Magid, who is part of the journalists' pool covering the trip of United States President Joe Biden to the Holy Land and Saudia Arabia, shares what it's like being a Jewish journalist in Jeddah, where casual antisemitism is a way of life.

We hear about the dissonant narratives regarding what could appear to some as warming ties between Israel and Saudia Arabia -- but is being soundly debranded of that idea by the Saudis.

Magid also reported on a frosty beginning to the meeting between Biden and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. What caused the chill?

Horovitz weighs in on the Israel-leg of the Biden visit. Was it a success? And what is very different in the messaging of this president vis a vis the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

Discussed articles include:

Contradicting Biden, Saudis deny opening of airspace is step toward ties with Israel

Saudi minister: Peace with Israel ‘strategic option’ but not before 2-state solution

Biden hails ‘historic’ Saudi decision allowing Israeli flights over its airspace

After Biden raises Khashoggi murder, MBS retorts with question on Abu Akleh killing

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on iTunes, Spotify, PlayerFM, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Image: President Joe Biden arrives at King Abdulaziz International Airport, July 15, 2022, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 legal correspondent Jeremy Sharon join host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's episode.

Israel has welcomed US President Joe Biden with all due official pomp and circumstance, and he has been busy, paying a poignant visit to Yad Vashem, viewing Israel's defense technology, and meeting with Prime Minister Yair Lapid. But some analysts are scratching their heads trying to figure out why he is really here and what he hopes to accomplish with this trip to the Middle East. Rettig-Gur provides some important context for Biden's travels -- and goals.

We also hear whether or not part of the Biden visit is to influence the upcoming November 1 Israeli elections.

Sharon updates us about the ongoing trial of former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, including details that emerged from the explosive testimony of key prosecution witness Hadas Klein. Klein is the personal assistant of Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan and an aide to Australian billionaire James Packer, both of whose luxury gifts to Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, are at the heart of Case 1000, one of the cases for which the former premier is standing trial.

Sharon updates us on a potentially game-changing step on the way to Israeli civil marriage.

Discussed articles include:

Why Biden’s 10th visit to Israel must be his most productive

Biden, Lapid to sign ‘Jerusalem Declaration’ – a platform for US-Israel cooperation

Witness details Sara Netanyahu suicide threat over pool refit; $46,000 bracelet gift

Court rules online civil marriages valid, upending Israel’s religious status quo

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on iTunes, Spotify, PlayerFM, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.

IMAGE: United States President Joe Biden during a welcoming ceremony, at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv on July 13, 2022, for his first official visit to Israel since becoming US president. (Sraya Diamant/Flash90)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

United State President Joe Biden is in Israel through Friday. Magid speaks to us about some last-minute housekeeping Israel has been doing to reduce potential friction.

One of the stops on Biden’s itinerary is a rare evening appearance for the opening ceremonies of the Maccabiah games. Some 10,000 Jewish athletes and support staff have arrived in the Holy Land to participate in a variety of sporting events over the next three weeks. What's Biden's role here?

Unquestionably, the question on everyone’s mind is whether the trip will result in an expansion of the Abraham Accords to Saudi Arabia. Is this just media hype, or a realistic achievement?

Jeffay updates us on a major study that shows that fourth COVID-19 vaccine shots have provided a 72 percent reduction in death rates among the most vulnerable Israelis.

In light of a successful vaccination campaign for polio boosters over the past few months, the Health Ministry said it would stop administering the vaccine to children over the age of six. Jeffay explains this change of heart.

Jeffay reports on Diindolylmethane (DIM), a chemical found in broccoli and cauliflower, that could be used to speed up the healing of skin wounds.

And finally, in a promising super preliminary study, scientists measure if coma patients are processing relatives’ voices and other sounds around them.

Discussed articles include:

Ahead of Biden visit, Israel delays hearing on construction in East Jerusalem

Major Israeli study: COVID death rate among elderly slashed by 72% after 4th vaccine

Health Ministry touts 99% polio vaccination rate among babies

Israeli study: Chemical heals wounds twice as fast, could be antibiotic alternative

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on iTunes, Spotify, PlayerFM, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Image: The sky illuminated by lighting at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, as Air Force One is seen in the foreground ahead of President Joe Biden departing for a trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia, July 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 reporter Luke Tress and real estate writer Danielle Nagler join host Jessica Steinberg for today's podcast.

Nagler discusses the current housing protests in Tel Aviv, led by young protesters and focusing on rental prices for now.

Tress looks at a particular conviction for a violent antisemitic act in New York, and how it compares to the growing number of antisemitic events in New York City.

He also talks about the accusations of antisemitism at CUNY, the City University of New York system, and whether there is real basis to the discussion taking place.

Nagler looks at the rise of glamping as an alternative accommodation for tourists in Israel, and the different options available.

Discussed articles include:

Thousands gather in Tel Aviv to protest housing prices, cost of living

US feds charge pro-Palestinian protester with hate crime for antisemitic attack

NYC lawmakers lash city colleges’ chancellor for skipping hearing on antisemitism

Jewish group calls for investigation into NYC public college over BDS support

With glamping, an Israeli tourism growth sector gets in tents

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on iTunes, Spotify, PlayerFM, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.

IMAGE: Israelis protest against the soaring housing prices in Tel Aviv and cost of living, on July 2, 2022. (Photo by Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

The regional leaders are getting ready for United States President Joe Biden’s trip to Israel Wednesday with a series of phone calls. Who has been talking with whom?

While Biden is here, he’s going to check out some of our military technology. What can he expect to see?

On the final day of the trip, Biden will go virtual with our Prime Minister Yair Lapid for a unique conference called I2U2. What do we need to know?

Fabian updates us on the expected traffic complications. And there are a lot.

We’re hearing reports that bodies of dozens of Egyptian commandos who fought Israel during the Six-Day War were discovered in a mass grave near Latrun in central Israel. Fabian updates us on what's happening so far.

Discussed articles include:

Rare dialogue: Ahead of Biden visit, Lapid, Herzog hold phone calls with PA’s Abbas

Lapid speaks to Erdogan, Sissi, as Israel bolsters links with neighbors

Lapid, Jordan’s King Abdullah discuss ties, upcoming Biden trip in phone call

Biden visit set to cause traffic chaos in central Israel; 16,000 cops to be deployed

Lapid tells Sissi he’ll probe reports of mass grave for Egyptian soldiers from 1967

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on iTunes, Spotify, PlayerFM, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Illustrative: US President Joe Biden walks down the steps of Airforce One on arrival at the Torreon air base in Madrid, Spain, June 28, 2022. (J.J.Guillen/Pool photo via AP)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 environment reporter Sue Surkes join host Amanda Borschel-Dan in today's episode.

United States President Joe Biden is set to arrive in Israel this week. Let's hear what Horovitz sees as the goals and potential outcomes of the trip.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced he would resign late last week. How could this power shift affect the UK's relationship with Israel?

The annual state of nature report that came out on Thursday has concluded that Israeli nature loses an equivalent of a medium-sized city to development every year. What else did the report find?

Israel is set to be 1st in the world to pipe desalinated water into a freshwater lake -- the Sea of Galilee. We learn why this may, or may not, be a boon to nature.

A doctoral student at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in southern Israel is using fungi to create insulation for the construction industry. Another brick in the wall of sustainable development?

Discussed articles include:

Biden: Upcoming flight from Israel to Saudi Arabia a ‘small symbol’ of warming ties

Iron Dome, Yad Vashem, Maccabiah, Bethlehem: Biden’s 2 days in Israel and West Bank

Who could replace Boris Johnson as UK’s next prime minister?

Belfast, a broken menorah, listening to survivors: Johnson’s notable Jewish moments

Israeli nature loses equivalent of a medium-sized city to development every year

Israel to be 1st in world to pipe desalinated water into a natural lake, the Galilee

Student harnesses fungi to create sustainable building material

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on iTunes, Spotify, PlayerFM, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Illustrative image: Then-US vice president Joe Biden at the President's residence in Jerusalem, March 9, 2016. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Carrie Keller Lynn and Palestinian affairs correspondent Aaron Boxerman join host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's episode.

Newly minted Yamina party head Ayelet Shaked has called for a “broad national government” in her first real statement these elections. What does she mean by that?

Next, we talk primaries and hear updates on most of Israel's major parties, including the Arab parties currently in the Knesset.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas head Ismael Haniyeh met for the first time since 2016. What was the impetus of their meet-up?

A high court decision in May gave the IDF the green light to evict up to 2000 Palestinians in the south Hebron Hills. Boxerman lays out the background.

Discussed articles include:

Shaked calls for ‘broad national government’ in 1st statement on elections

Meretz leadership in play as Golan enters race against Horowitz

As Likud primaries near, final date and procedures still in the air

PA leader Abbas, Hamas’s Haniyeh hold first face-to-face meeting in years in Algeria

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on iTunes, Spotify, PlayerFM, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Illustrative image: A polling station for people that is under quarantine because of the Covid-19 in Jerusalem, during the Knesset Elections, on March 23, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur join host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's podcast.

Prime Minister Yair Lapid had several missions to accomplish on his trip to Paris on Tuesday. What were they and how did he do?

While Lapid was in Paris, did he by chance meet with Yael Braun-Pivet, the new speaker of the French National Assembly? She is the fourth most senior official in France after the president, prime minister, and Senate speaker.

Berman updates on the tenuous Israel-Poland relationship and how there is a recent warming of ties.

Rettig Gur lays out his argument for why these elections are former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's last hurrah.

Discussed articles include:

In Paris, Lapid urges response to Iranian nuclear violations, warns Hezbollah

Jewish lawmaker becomes first female speaker of French National Assembly

After year-long spat over Holocaust law, Poland says it’s returning envoy to Israel

Netanyahu embarks on a campaign that’s shaping up as his last hurrah

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on iTunes, Spotify, PlayerFM, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Illustrative image: People stand in front of an election campaign billboard for the Likud party showing a portrait of its leader former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Ramat Gan, Israel, March 14, 2021. AP Photo/Oded Balilty, File)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Diaspora affairs correspondent Judah Ari Gross join host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's episode.

A gunman on a rooftop in Chicago’s Highland Park neighborhood opened fire on a Fourth of July parade yesterday, killing six and wounding dozens. Gross updates us on what we currently know about the victims.

Schneider brings an exclusive report on a study conducted by Israel’s National Security Council which concluded that the country must include more women in decision-making capacities. We hear why that's probably not going to happen.

In videos that are burning up Israeli social media, Labor party leader MK Merav Michaeli is seen dancing with MK Moshe Gafni’s granddaughter in the women's section of her wedding. We hear why the sex-segregated dancing images are problematic for both sides.

Late last week, a fracas ensued at the pluralistic pavilion next to the Western Wall as three families attempted to conduct egalitarian bar and bat mitzvah ceremonies. Gross explains how the State of Israel let these Diaspora families down.

Discussed articles include:

Synagogue staffer, Mexican grandfather among 6 shot dead in Chicago’s Highland Park

In first, National Security Council report blasts lack of women in decision-making roles

Israeli lawmakers unite for one evening at wedding for MK Gafni’s granddaughter

Labor’s Michaeli won’t nix sitting with ultra-Orthodox, rules out merger with Meretz

Haredim interrupt Americans’ Western Wall bar, bat mitzvahs, tear up prayer books

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on iTunes, Spotify, PlayerFM, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.

IMAGE: Ultra-Orthodox youths interrupt a bar mitzvah ceremony at the egalitarian section of the Western Wall on June 30, 2022. (Laura Ben-David)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 reporter Jacob Magid and tech editor Ricky Ben-David join host Jessica Steinberg for today's podcast.

Magid discusses decision to finally hand over the bullet that killed Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh to the US and what could happen next.

Ben-David looks at plans to open cybersecurity development center in Israel, as part of German phamaceutical giant Bayer's global cybersecurity operations.

Magid speaks about the latest chapter in the legal debate over Ben & Jerry’s Israel and Unilever, following the settlement boycott that began a year ago.

Ben-David looks at the government approval of NIS 4 million shekels to back academic research for new alternative protein technologies.

Steinberg previews Tel Aviv Museum of Art exhibit about photojournalist Micha Bar-Am and the gripping video and audio installation covering Israel’s history.

Discussed articles include:

Palestinian Authority hands US bullet that killed Shireen Abu Akleh for examination

Pharma giant Bayer to set up cybersecurity center in Israel

Ben & Jerry’s Israel, parent company Unilever reach deal to end settlement boycott

50 years of love, war and country: Photojournalist’s work expands to massive screens

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on iTunes, Spotify, PlayerFM, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.

IMAGE: Courtesy Ben & Jerry's Israel

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.