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.

Today’s panel comprises Diplomacy reporter Lazar Berman and United States correspondent Jacob Magid, along with host Amanda Borschel-Dan.

We begin the panel with a look at how the US-Israel relationship is affected by Israel's shaky internal politics. The State Department is changing its use of language under the new Biden administration, even as funding to the Palestinians is quickly being restored. What does this signfy?

Likewise, Berman delves into how Israel's relationships with its Arab/Muslim allies is potentially shifting as the Jewish state maintains campaign mode ahead of a potential fifth election on the horizon.

On Friday, Iran and China announced a reportedly $400 billion investment deal. Why should Israel be alarmed?

Discussed articles include:

Israel’s political instability hampering tighter cooperation with US — experts

State Dept. confirms US views Israel’s control over West Bank as ‘occupation’

Biden quietly giving Palestinians $75 million to help regain ‘trust’ after Trump

Despite huge Iran-China deal, US insists Beijing shares aim to curb nuke program

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IMAGE: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) meets with then US vice president Joe Biden, at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos on January 21, 2016. (Haim Zach / GPO)

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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.

Today’s panel comprises senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur and US correspondent Jacob Magid, along with host Raoul Wootliff.

President Reuven Rivlin was presented today with the final results of last week's election, kicking off the next stage of Israel's so-far inconclusive election. We look at the latest statements from the parties and the possibilities in front of them for who to recommend to form a coalition and be the next prime minister.

In a return to pre-Trump language, the US State Department is back to defining the Palestinian territories as "occupied." We ask what difference a word makes and whether further changes could impact real policy on the ground?

Plus, we assess the Trump administration's downgrading of Palestinian ties by "upgrading" its Jerusalem mission and look at what the Biden administration may do to reverse the move.

And finally, goodbye to some of the characters in the 23rd Knesset who won't be returning in the 24th.

Discussed articles include:

Receiving official election results, Rivlin recommends ‘unusual collaborations’

Sa’ar tells Lapid to ‘step aside’ to let Bennett be PM, before it’s ‘too late’

Lapid said ready to be 2nd in rotation with Bennett but won’t let him form gov’t

In return to pre-Trump norm, State Dep’t report refers to ‘occupied’ territories

Did the US downgrade its Palestinian ties by ‘upgrading’ its Jerusalem mission?

Renegades, rabble-rousers, TV anchors, army chiefs: The MKs who won’t be back

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PHOTO: President Reuven Rivlin casts his ballot at a voting station in Jerusalem, on March 23, 2021. (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.

Today’s panel comprises Palestinian and Arab Affairs reporter Aaron Boxerman and Health reporter Nathan Jeffay, along with host Amanda Borschel-Dan.

To begin with, we find out just who is Mansour Abbas, the head of the Arab-Israeli party Ra'am, who with four seats in the Knesset arguably holds the key to forming the next government. What does Ra'am stand for, and how is its approach similar to ultra-Orthodox parties that have traditionally joined coalitions?

Next, we hear about the devastating second wave of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic in the Palestinian Authority and Gaza, and which vaccinations are currently being administered.

Health reporter Jeffay then takes up the gauntlet with a speed round of COVID studies and innovations, including a nasal spray which its inventor Dr. Gilly Regev calls, "a hand sanitizer for the nose."

Discussed articles include:

How Islamist Ra’am broke Arab politics and may win the keys to the government

Palestinian Authority receives 100,000 doses of China’s Sinopharm vaccine

Report: Thousands of Gazans to be vaccinated, so they can pass through Israel

Pfizer and Moderna vaccines 90% effective in preventing COVID, US finds

Cops said instructed not to enforce mask-wearing outdoors

Israeli-made oral COVID vaccine found to generate antibodies in pigs

‘Life-saving’ nose spray that kills 99.9% of viruses begins production in Israel

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IMAGE: Ra'am party leader Mansour Abbas casts his vote at a voting station in Maghar, during the Knesset Elections, on March 23, 2021. (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.

Today’s panel comprises editor David Horovitz and senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur, along with host Amanda Borschel-Dan.

The final vote count of the March 23 Israeli national elections are in, so we know who is filling the seats in the Knesset. What is still up in the air is who will be steering the ship.

Our panelists explain the idea of a narrow majority government led by the anti-Netanyahu bloc, versus the chances of a few right-leaning members of that bloc defecting into the pro-Netanyahu camp. What is the deal with defectors?

Yesh Atid head Yair Lapid has spent the past several days meeting with a disparate group of personalities trying to cobble together a one-year "healing" government. Is he getting any love? And who really holds the cards?

Discussed articles include:

Is a fifth election now a self-fulfilling prophecy?

1-year ‘government of healing’ mooted by anti-Netanyahu bloc, but huge obstacles

Lapid meets with Gantz as he continues to muster support; Yamina lashes out

Liberman indicates he will recommend Lapid form next government

Lapid and Abbas hold talks on forming government, say will continue discussions

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Photo: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and head of Yesh Atid Yair Lapid, at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem on September 23, 2014. (Noam Revkin Fenton/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.

Today’s panel comprises United States correspondent Jacob Magid (who is in Israel to cover the elections) and environmental correspondent Sue Surkes, along with host Amanda Borschel-Dan.

Two days after the election, we open today's show with a look at Magid's election day "hang" with incoming Kahanist MK Itamar Ben Gvir, the head of the Otzma Yehudit party, and how his Religious Zionism faction is positioning itself as the new powerbrokers in the Knesset. Magid explains the main platform points in this constellation of extremist parties, plus we look at the US reaction to the entry of the avowed racist faction into the Knesset.

Surkes then gives us the lowdown on her recent visit to Kibbutz Ketura where they have successfully grown 2000-year-old dates using ancient seeds that had been found in the Judean desert.

And finally, before Passover, the festival of spring, we hear about the cornucopia of royal, or Oncocyclus, irises, that are currently flowering in a rainbow of colors from northern to southern Israel, one of the few places in the world they can be found.

Discussed articles include:

Entering Knesset, far-rightists want to legalize outposts, fight ‘LGBT agenda’

‘Not on my watch’: Smotrich rules out cooperation with Islamist Ra’am party

The new ‘normal’? Far-right, anti-LGBT candidate set to enter Knesset

Ra’am officials, far-right Ben Gvir rule out joining forces in a coalition

US Democratic pro-Israel group ‘appalled’ by Kahanist faction’s entry to Knesset

As irises bloom, the king of Israel’s wildflowers is in the field

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PHOTO: Head of the Religious Zionism party Bezalel Smotrich (L) and incoming MK Itamar Ben Gvir at the party headquarters in Modi'in, on election night, March 23, 2021. (Sraya Diamant/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.

Today’s panel comprises founding editor David Horovitz and senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur, along with host Amanda Borschel-Dan.

A day after the big election day, votes are still being counted. Our panel sorts out what we know and what we think will happen as the Islamic party Ra'am crosses the threshold and changes the coalition map-making.

We discuss the chances of the strange casserole of a Likud-led coalition that includes Ra'am, the anti-Arab, Kahanist party Otzma Yehudit, and the religious, anti-gay Noam party.

In other news, despite some polling to the opposite, Benny Gantz's Blue and White party has more than crossed the threshold, apparently along with the once-dying Labor party and Meretz.

Discussed articles include:

Netanyahu urges rivals to join him in coalition, warning 5th elections otherwise

Updated exit polls show no clear election winner, but Otzma Yehudit can rejoice

Exit polls show far-right, anti-LGBT candidate slated to enter Knesset

What electoral threshold? Blue and White, Labor, Meretz beat gloomy forecasts

In referendum election on Netanyahu’s achievements, victory again eludes him

Cyprus to allow Israelis in starting April 1; Greece lifts cap on visitors

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PHOTO: Ra'am party leader Mansour Abbas and party members at the party headquarters in Tamra, on election night, March 23, 2021. (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.

On today's election day show, rather than pontificating on the vote and its outcomes without knowing anything until results start to come in, our producer Raoul Wootliff brings you some of the voices of the millions of Israelis casting their ballots across the country, as he juggles his own tradition of voting first -- while looking after the kids.

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PHOTO: A woman casts her vote at a polling station for people that is under quarantine because of the COVID in Tel Aviv, during the Knesset Elections, on March 23, 2021. (Noam Revkin Fenton/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.

Today’s panel comprises founding editor David Horovitz and political and diplomatic correspondent Tal Schneider, along with host Amanda Borschel-Dan.

On today's show, with one day left until the fourth Israeli election in the past two years, we prepare for the ballot box by looking at the process ahead, the big parties and some of the hopeful no-hopers.

The number of people voting with so-called double envelope ballots, which are counted last, is expected to increase from 330,000 in the previous elections, to up to 600,000. How could this affect Tuesday night, and the weeks ahead? And when will we know who has really won?

We analyze Yamina head Naftali Bennett's pledge not to join a government with Yesh Atid's Yair Lapid as prime minister. The move may be aimed at winning votes, but is it smart politics?

With Shas leader Aryeh Deri defending the absence of female candidates on his party's slate by saying, "It isn’t their natural place," we look at the role of gender politics in this election and how the only female party leader, Labor's Merav Michaeli, has changed the discourse. And finally, from Netanyahu apparatchiks to those dead-set on ousting him, plus anti-vaxxers and cult wives, everything you need to know about the lesser-known factions running in Tuesday’s vote.

Discussed articles include:

Passover, COVID restrictions could see clear election results delayed by days

Rivlin to wait some 2 weeks for final election result before meeting party heads

Bennett signs pledge not to join government with Lapid as prime minister

Shas leader defends absence of female candidates: ‘It isn’t their natural place’

Here we go again: ToI’s guide to the 38 parties still seeking your vote

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PHOTO: Likud supporters during an election campaign tour of the party in Jerusalem, March 21, 2021. (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.

Today’s panel comprises diplomatic reporter Lazar Berman and senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur, along with host Amanda Borschel-Dan.

We begin with reports of a leaked Biden administration memo titled, “The US Palestinian Reset and the Path Forward,” which found its way to United Arab Emirates' press last week. Could the time of this leak be a form of United States election tampering?

US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin recently had a well-publicized round of name-calling. What exactly is going on -- and will Israel be caught in the middle?

Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi met with Russian FM Sergei Levrov last week in Moscow -- a day after the Hezbollah FM also called. Coincidence? Berman gives a preview to a piece he's writing this week.

Finally, Israeli elections are set for Tuesday and polls have closed. Rettig Gur explains what we know -- and what we don't. He also illuminates a curious and costly aborted election stunt that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's campaign team almost orchestrated on early Friday morning outside of Yamina head Naftali Bennett's house, which cost tax payers some NIS 500,000.

Discussed articles include:

Internal Biden memo said to back 2-state solution along 1967 lines

Putin responds to Biden calling him a killer: ‘Takes one to know one’

What sort of ‘victory’ would await a victorious Netanyahu?

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IMAGE: Then-vice president of the United States Joe Biden, left, gestures as he meets Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, March 10, 2011. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

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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.

Today’s panel comprises health and science correspondent Nathan Jeffay and economy editor Shoshanna Solomon, along with host Amanda Borschel-Dan.

On today's show, we open with a look at a groundbreaking Israeli technique that could lead to human gestation outside the human womb and is already giving new insights into organ formation. What more could we learn?

We then hear about a new Israeli study that shows that babies born to vaccinated mothers have COVID-fighting antibodies, suggesting they are born with immunity to coronavirus.

And as vaccinations kick in and the chance of children infecting elderly Israelis diminishes, Israeli doctors say quarantine for children could come to an end soon, although health officials continue to demure. Jeffay clues us in on the considerations behind the decision.

Looking to the post-COVID economy, Solomon updates on how Israel's Finance Ministry is offering grants to encourage furloughed employees to return to work, as former officials warn that tackling unemployment is key to recovery.

And finally, we take a very little look at a trio of tiny Israeli satellites set to orbit the Earth on just 1 gram of fuel a day.

Discussed articles include:

In breakthrough, Israelis grow hundreds of mouse embryos in artificial wombs

Israeli study: Babies born to vaccinated moms have COVID-fighting antibodies

Kids’ quarantine, every parent’s nightmare, could soon be eased, doctors predict

As economy reawakens, fears of sluggish rebound for labor market linger

3 tiny Israeli satellites to orbit earth on just 1 gram of fuel a day

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

PHOTO: A mouse embryo grows in the artificial womb at the Weizmann Institute of Science (courtesy of the Weizmann Institute of Science)

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