The Times of Israel Daily Briefing

Welcome to The Reel Schmooze with ToI film reviewer Jordan Hoffman and host Amanda Borschel-Dan, where we bring you all the entertainment news and film reviews a Jew can use.

This week, the pair speaks about two films -- the new-ish, Jewish, "Bad Shabbos," and the classic Mel Brooks's "History of the World, Part I."

But first, we turn to the segment, "What's the Jangle," in which we discuss two tidbits of Jewish entertainment news.

Hoffman gives a tiny peek at the upcoming super Jewy film starring Timothée Chalamet, "Marty Supreme," which he saw in previews this week.

And then we hear Pope Leo's top four films of all time. (Spoiler: three of them are very Jewy.) And, which questionable film personality was quoted by the pope at a Vatican event?

Next, we get to "The Main Screening," in which the duo first discusses "Bad Shabbos," which one half of the team absolutely loved and the other gave a pretty warm review.

And then, we move to the classic, "History of the World, Part I," which Borschel-Dan buckled down and watched for the first time.

Hear who gave both films a seal of approval and which was a split decision on this week's The Reel Schmooze.

The Reel Schmooze is produced by the PodWaves and can be found wherever you get your podcasts.

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Welcome to The Times of Israel's Lazar Focus. Each Friday, join host deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan and diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman for a deep dive into what's behind the news that spins the globe.

Last week, the pair spoke with foremost urban warfare expert John Spencer and Borschel-Dan noted that a term -- “nation-building” -- was raised repeatedly.

In this week's episode, we explore this concept, starting with defining the term.

We hear about previous models of nation-building, starting from Japan and Germany, following their defeats in World War II. We learn how these attempts were successful -- and former enemies quickly turned into allies.

We then turn to more recent history with the West's attempts to reshape Afghanistan and Iraq. What were the differences between the two wars and their aftermaths?

And finally, Berman applies the lessons learned in these previous attempts at nation-building and conjectures how they could -- or could not -- be applied in Gaza.

Lazar Focus can be found on all podcast platforms. This episode was produced by the Pod-Waves.

IMAGE: Lazar Berman (courtesy) / A general view shows a Security Council meeting at the UN headquarters, September 23, 2025, at the United Nations. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)

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Welcome to The Times of Israel’s Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what’s happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world.

ToI founding editor David Horovitz joins host Jessica Steinberg for today’s episode.

As Israel’s Supreme Court demanded the government justify its reasons for not establishing a state commission of inquiry into the events that led to the October 7 Hamas invasion and massacres in southern Israel, Horovitz discusses how the government’s current approach will not uncover what went wrong, creating a dangerous precedent for the country.

The High Court also ordered the government to create effective enforcement measures against ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers, and Horovitz discusses the ruling written by High Court justice Noam Sohlberg, who rebuked the Haredi community and its assertion that Torah study outweighs army service,  citing the ultra-Orthodox Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik.

Check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

Netanyahu’s Oct. 7 inquiry aims to safeguard his job, not Israel’s future

High Court orders government to explain why it’s not launching Oct. 7 state inquiry

High Court gives government 45 days to draw up sanctions for Haredi draft dodgers

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Pod-Waves.

IMAGE: Deputy President of the Supreme Court Noam Sohlberg arrives for a court hearing on the government’s draft of ultra-Orthodox Jews on October 29, 2025 (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

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Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world.

US bureau chief Jacob Magid joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

During the White House visit of Saudi Arabia's Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known as MBS, US President Donald Trump elevates the status of Saudi Arabia in the eyes of the US, says Magid, along with several defense guarantees and sales of weapons.

Israel hoped those gestures would be conditioned upon the Saudis normalizing conditions with the Jewish state, but went along with the announcement, discusses Magid.

The recent UN Security Council vote gives the Board of Peace the mandate to redevelop Gaza over the next two years, says Magid, as well as a vague pathway toward a Palestinian state after that period.

A resolution to establish the International Stabilization Force and the agreement on the demilitarization of Gaza were included in the vote, although it will be a tougher sell to get countries to contribute armed forces, discusses Magid, who calls the vote an internationalization of the conflict and a victory for the Trump administration.

Fadwa Barghouti, the wife of prominent Palestinian prisoner Marwan Barghouti speaks with Magid for her first Israeli media interview, as part of her push for her husband's release. Barghouti tells Magid now could be the time for his release, as it could be an opportunity to work toward peace.

Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

MBS tells Trump he wants to join Abraham Accords, but path to Palestinian state crucial

Trump says Saudis will get F-35s, bucking Israeli hope he’d condition sale on peace

IDF opposes Saudi F-35 deal, warns Israel’s regional air superiority could be eroded

UN Security Council endorses Trump broad Gaza peace plan, foreign stabilization force

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Pod-Waves.

IMAGE: President Donald Trump meets Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

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Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world.

Legal and settlements correspondent Jeremy Sharon joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Justice Minister Yariv Levin of the ruling Likud party will head a ministerial panel to determine the mandate of the government’s commission of inquiry into failures surrounding the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023. Since the murders and atrocities, the government has resisted establishing an investigative body to thoroughly examine how such a disastrous military calamity could befall the country. We discuss first why the change of heart and ask whether the commission will be independent.

Security forces and Civil Administration personnel on Monday conducted an evacuation and demolition operation against an illegal settlement outpost in the Gush Etzion region of the West Bank, in an apparent response to accusations from a local council head that there was “anarchy” in the area. Sharon delves into several reasons why this evacuation is significant, especially under the current coalition.

Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

Levin to lead Ben Gvir, Smotrich and others in delineating government’s Oct. 7 probe

Will government’s plan to set up its own Oct. 7 probe prompt top court to intervene?

Several officers wounded in clash with settlers at demolition of illegal outpost

Jewish extremists burn Palestinian homes and cars in West Bank; IDF searching for perps

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Pod-Waves.

IMAGE: A candle bearing the portrait of 24-year-old Yulia Chaban, who was killed on the beach in Zikim during Hamas' October 7, 2023, attacks, is left inside a bomb shelter on the beach in the southern Israeli Kibbutz of Zikim, the closest Israeli beach to the Gaza Strip, on October 16, 2025. (Maya Levin / AFP)

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Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world.

Military correspondent Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Hamas has begun amassing advanced weapons and stockpiling them abroad in hopes of smuggling them into Gaza in the future, according to a report on Sunday on KAN television. Fabian brings in background pointing to the likelihood of the report's veracity. We then hear about what is happening on the ground in Gaza, get an update on the Hamas gunmen trapped in tunnels in the Israeli-held area, and IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir's warning that he is readying the military to retake parts of Hamas-controlled Gaza if the 20-point peace plan doesn't move into phase two -- the demilitarization of the terror group.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon reported that the Israeli military fired on its observers from an IDF post inside southern Lebanon yesterday morning, with the military later saying the incident was a result of “misidentification” and that soldiers did not deliberately fire on UN troops. Fabian gives a litany of other near misses between the IDF and UNIFIL and speaks about the IDF's continued strikes on Hezbollah operatives throughout southern Lebanon.

Some 50 members of a Hamas network in the Bethlehem area of the West Bank were detained in a series of recent operations. According to the Shin Bet, the suspects’ interrogations revealed that the leaders of the Hamas network recruited and set up terror cells, procured weapons and planned to carry out shootings against Israeli security forces and civilians. We ask Fabian whether he believes IDF operations similar to the evacuations and demolitions in the northern West Bank will be launched.

Four residents of East Jerusalem’s Beit Safafa neighborhood have been arrested and will be charged with affiliation to the Islamic State and planning attacks against Jewish Israelis as part of a “great war of the end of days,”  the Shin Bet security agency and Israel Police announced Friday. Fabian reminds listeners that there is precedent in Israel of the extreme ideology taking root in Palestinian and Arab Israeli communities.

Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

Amid talk of its disarmament, Hamas said stockpiling advanced weapons abroad

UNIFIL troops in Lebanon come under fire from IDF, which says it ‘misidentified’ them

Hezbollah operative killed in strike on car near Tyre — IDF

Israel detains 50 members of Hamas network in West Bank said to be planning attacks

4 East Jerusalem Palestinians held for Islamic State ties, prepping for ‘end of days’ war

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Pod-Waves.

IMAGE: Troops of the Nahal Brigade operate in southern Gaza's Rafah, in a handout photo issued on November 1, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

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Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world.

Diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Last week, the US officially launched negotiations within the 15-member United Nations Security Council on a draft resolution that would follow up on Israel and Hamas’s October 9 ceasefire-hostage agreement. Tomorrow, the Security Council is set to vote on the resolution, which would deliver Gaza to an International Stabilization Force (ISF) and an apolitical Palestinian administration overseen by a Trump-chaired Board of Peace. In the first half of the program, Berman gives an analysis of some of the implications for Israel -- and questions the world's appetite for seeing through in the demilitarization of Hamas.

US President Donald Trump on Friday said that he was considering agreeing to a deal to supply Saudi Arabia with F-35 stealth fighter jets, which are made by Lockheed Martin. We hear whether a more robust Saudi air force could affect the Middle East and learn why the United Arab Emirates has not yet received its promised planes.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said on Friday that the Israeli army had built walls on the Lebanese side of the UN-demarcated Blue Line, the de facto border. We learn about the Blue Line and discuss whether a complaint to the UN has any teeth.

Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

US says its plan for postwar management of Gaza offers pathway to Palestinian statehood

US: Failure to back UN resolution based on Trump’s Gaza plan is a vote for Hamas, war

Indonesia says it has trained 20,000 troops for Gaza peacekeeping force

First storm of the season pummels Gaza, flooding tent camps and makeshift shelters

Trump says he’s weighing Saudi request to buy F-35s, hopes Riyadh will normalize Israel ties

Lebanon to file UN complaint accusing Israel of building border wall beyond Blue Line

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Pod-Waves.

IMAGE: Illustrative: An armed Palestinian Hamas gunman stand not far from an International Red Cross (ICRC) vehicle, as a search for the bodies of killed Israeli hostages takes place, in Gaza City on November 2, 2025. (Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

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Welcome to The Reel Schmooze with ToI film reviewer Jordan Hoffman and host Amanda Borschel-Dan, where we bring you all the entertainment news and film reviews a Jew can use.

This week, the pair introduces the concept of the new show, including the segment, "What's the Jangle," in which they discuss two tidbits of Jewish entertainment news.

We hear how "The Real Pain" creator Jesse Eisenberg is willing to go under the knife to donate a kidney to a perfect stranger. And we learn about two brave Hollywood actresses -- Meryl Streep and Sigourney Weaver -- who haven't joined the boycott Israel movement and are signed on to work with Israeli director Joseph Ceder in his upcoming thriller.

Next, we get to "The Main Screening," a segment in which the duo discusses two films: the newly released Natalie Portman project, "Arco," and 2024's "Thelma" starring 96-year-old June Squibb.

Hear which films get the seal of approval from our team and which was a split decision on this week's The Reel Schmooze.

The Reel Schmooze can be found wherever you get your podcasts.

IMAGE: Jordan Hoffman (courtesy) / Israeli actress, director, producer Natalie Portman arrives for the screening of the film 'Arco' at the 78th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 16, 2025. (Bertrand GUAY / AFP)

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Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring key issues currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, with host Amanda Borschel-Dan speaking with The Times of Israel's senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur.

BBC director-general Tim Davie and Deborah Turness, the chief executive of BBC News, stepped down this week after being in the firing line for months over allegations of bias — including the national broadcaster’s coverage of antisemitism, the war in Gaza, and Israel more generally. Rettig Gur is just back from London, and we hear his disheartening impressions of how that corner of the Jewish Diaspora is faring.

US President Donald Trump sent a letter to Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday formally asking Israel’s head of state to pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption. Herzog's office issued a statement that a pardon request must go through the proper channels.

We first ask whether a pardon is even possible, if, as Opposition Leader Yair Lapid stated Wednesday, it would require the premier to admit he broke the law.

Regardless of admissions of guilt, Rettig Gur explains why he has some hopes that Netanyahu will be pardoned. Spoiler: It's not because Rettig Gur is especially a fan of Israel's leader.

And so this week, we ask Haviv Rettig Gur, what matters now.

What Matters Now podcasts are available for download on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by the Pod-Waves.

IMAGE: Haviv Rettig Gur (courtesy) / President Donald Trump talks with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, Israel's parliament, October 13, 2025, in Jerusalem. (Saul Loeb/Pool via AP)

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Welcome to The Times of Israel's Friday Focus. Each Friday, join host deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan and diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman for a deep dive into what's behind the news that spins the globe.

This week, the duo is joined by military expert John Spencer, chair of War Studies at the Madison Policy Forum and executive director of the Urban Warfare Institute.

As of recording time, some 100-200 Hamas terrorists are estimated to be holed up in tunnels in southern Gaza on the Israeli side of the Yellow Line. The US has pressured Israel to allow the terrorists safe passage back to Hamas-held areas of Gaza, though Israel has not agreed to such a solution as of yet.

For the first part of our conversation, we plumb the depths of the extensive Hamas tunnel network, speaking about its scope and how the IDF is able to destroy or at least neutralize its many tentacles.

In the second half, we speak about where the current ceasefire in Gaza may turn, as reports are circulated about a two-year mandate for an International Security Force that could be implemented to demilitarize Hamas.

Spencer gives bad -- and better -- examples of international forces and discusses why UNIFIL, the force deployed in southern Lebanon, was destined to failure.

Friday Focus can be found on all podcast platforms. This episode was produced by the Pod-Waves.

IMAGE: John Spencer (courtesy) / Hamas militants search for the bodies of Israeli hostages in the Shijaiyah neighborhood of Gaza City, November 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

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