The Times of Israel Daily Briefing

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 Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

Berman discusses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's trip to Hungary, followed by his unexpected stop in the US. Netanyahu was welcomed warmly by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. A call between Orban, Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump during the visit led the Israeli prime minister to accept the last-minute invite to head to the US for a meeting in the Oval Office.

Berman says Trump surprised Netanyahu with several statements, including his announcement about high-level talks this Saturday between US and Iran, the existing tariffs on Israel and unexpectedly effusive comments and praise from Trump for Turkey's Erdogan.

The matter of the 59 remaining hostages in Gaza did not dominate the conversation, although it was discussed, says Berman.

Please see today's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

After softball visit to Hungary, Netanyahu strikes out in DC meeting with Trump

Stressing ‘billions’ in aid, Trump refuses to commit to removing tariffs on Israel

Trump suggests he can mediate between Israel and Turkey on Syria

Hosting PM, Trump announces direct nuke talks with Iran; Tehran: Indirect dialogue only

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

IMAGE: President Donald Trump, left, greets Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, Monday, April 7, 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.

US bureau chief Jacob Magid joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet US President Donald Trump at 1 p.m. local time at the White House. The two leaders are expected to discuss the new tariffs Trump imposed on Israel, efforts to roll back Iran and its proxy network and hostage talks with Hamas. Taking each point in turn, Magid fill us in on what to look out for from this spontaneous trip and what Netanyahu hopes to accomplish.

Hamas is prepared to release all of the remaining hostages at once in exchange for a permanent ceasefire, a senior Palestinian official familiar with the ongoing truce talks told Magid last week. Magid was approached by a Hamas figure who resides outside of Gaza, who wants Israelis to know that amid Israel’s longstanding rejection of this type of trade, Hamas is still prepared to release a number of hostages as part of a renewed temporary ceasefire. We hear more.

The Hebrew name of a spotted orange butterfly has been changed to honor murdered hostage Ariel Bibas by the Academy of the Hebrew Language, the Bibas family announced Friday. The academy last week officially informed the family, and on Thursday hand-delivered a letter addressed to Bibas’s father, Yarden — who was also taken hostage but released in February under a ceasefire deal — of the final decision to rename Melitaea ornata (eastern knapweed fritillary). Using one of the biblical names of Jerusalem, Ariel, the name of the butterfly was replaced in Hebrew from Kitmit Yerushalayim (Orange Jerusalem) to Kitmit Ariel (Orange Ariel) in honor of the four-year-old. Borschel-Dan explains the back story behind this change.

Please see today's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

Netanyahu lands in Washington for hastily arranged talks on Trump’s tariffs, Gaza war

Netanyahu to meet Trump in DC on Monday, will discuss tariffs, hostages, Iran, Turkey, ICC

Dermer and Witkoff to join Netanyahu-Trump meetings in Washington

Hamas ready to free all hostages at once for end to war — Palestinian official

Butterfly renamed in honor of murdered hostage Ariel Bibas

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

IMAGE: Illustrative: A Palestinian man stands on debris in a heavily damaged building following an overnight Israeli airstrike on Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on April 7, 2025. (Eyad BABA / 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 reporter Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

The Saudi Al-Hadath channel reports that the US has transferred a second THAAD battery to Israel amid rising tensions over Iran’s nuclear program. The battery was apparently delivered yesterday.
We hear what the THAAD, or Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System, is an advanced anti-missile system, has recently been used for.

Yesterday, Hamas released a propaganda video that shows hostages Bar Kupershtein and Maxim Herkin, in the first sign of life from both of them since they were abducted by terrorists on October 7, 2023. We hear the broad-strokes contents of the video.

The Israel Defense Forces has detailed the initial findings from its investigation into the killing of 14 rescue workers in southern Gaza’s Rafah on March 23, when soldiers opened fire on a convoy of ambulances after mistakenly identifying it as a threat and buried their bodies. The military said it identified six medics as Hamas operatives. Fabian explains the findings and highlights still unanswered questions.

The IDF released footage from the entry of the 36th Division into the so-called Morag Corridor, located between southern Gaza’s Rafah and Khan Younis, last week. It marks the first time since the beginning of the war that ground troops are operating in the area. On Thursday, Israel Defense Forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin told reporters that the IDF has entered a “new phase” in its fighting. What is this new phase that Defrin is referring to?

Hassan Farhat, who had headed Hamas’s forces in the western sector of Lebanon, was killed in an airstrike on an apartment building in Sidon. Likewise, the IDF and Shin Bet on Friday said a terror operative who oversaw the kidnapping and likely was also involved in the murder of Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, Ariel and Kfir, was killed in an airstrike in Gaza. We learn about these two Hamas terrorists and Fabian connects the Sidon strike to an earlier strike on a Hezbollah operative in Beirut.

Please see today's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

US said to transfer 2nd THAAD missile battery to Israel as Iran nuclear tensions rise

Hamas hostage video shows Maxim Herkin and Bar Kupershtein, in first signs of life

IDF shares initial details from Gaza ambulance probe, says troops told UN of burial site

Gazans flee expanding strikes in north, south as IDF says fighting entering ‘new stage’

Hamas says it won’t move hostages to safety, Israel responsible for their lives

IDF widens ground operation in northern Gaza, kills top Hamas official in Lebanon

IDF says it killed terrorist who led Bibas abduction, was likely involved in their murders

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

IMAGE: Bodies of Palestinian first responders who were killed March 23, 2025, in Israeli military fire on ambulances lie at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on March 30, 2025. (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.

Today we bring you an episode of What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring key issues currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, with host deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan, speaking with author and scholar Dara Horn.

Horn is the author of novels and non-fiction, including “People Love Dead Jews,” “Eternal Life,” “A Guide for the Perplexed,” and now her first book for young readers, “One Little Goat.”

A graphic novel, "One Little Goat," was dreamed up by a young Horn and written decades later alongside the uniquely grungy illustrations of Theo Ellsworth.

The program's first half delves into the book's trippy storyline and how she arrived at it. As Horn remarks on her website, "'One Little Goat' is a quirky, dryly funny, Passover-themed graphic novel, featuring a lost matzah, a never-ending seder, and a time-traveling talking goat."

In the second half of the program, we hear some about the ideas Horn proposed in her bestselling work, "People Love Dead Jews," and she speaks about her new education initiative, Mosaic Persuasion, which is bent on teaching American schoolchildren about real, living Jews, and Jewish culture.

We hear about how the Hamas massacre of some 1,200 in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, has -- and has not -- shifted American discourse. And Horn points out the Jews' driving counter-culture DNA that has been passed down from generation to generation, much like the rituals of the Passover seder.

And so, this week, we ask author Dara Horn, what matters now?

Please see today's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

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

IMAGE: Dara Horn (Michael Priest)

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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 reporter Lazar Berman joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's Daily Briefing, which is followed a full installment of The Times of Israel's newest podcast series, the Friday Focus.

Qatar on Thursday denied funding a disinformation campaign aimed at discrediting Egypt’s role in negotiations to free Israelis held hostage in Gaza, amid a swirling Israeli investigation around the Gulf state’s links to two of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s aides. Berman weighs in on why he's unconvinced.

Yesterday, the courts extended the remand of Eli Feldstein and Jonatan Urich, the two aides to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who are key suspects in the ongoing Qatargate probe. The two men are suspected of having taken money from Qatar to spread pro-Qatari messaging to reporters while in the prime minister’s employ. We hear what further developments we saw yesterday in the investigation.

Berman, who accompanied the prime minister to Budapest, describes the reception the Israeli delegation was met with and then speaks about Hungary's announcement that it was leaving the International Criminal Court.

Please see today's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

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

For further reading:

Qatar denies paying to spread media narrative undermining Egypt’s role in hostage talks

Detention of key Qatargate suspects extended till Friday, as judge criticizes media leaks

Freed Jerusalem Post editor decries arrest, says he got ‘no benefits’ from Qatar trip

Netanyahu, in Budapest, lauds Orban’s withdrawal from ‘corrupt, rotten’ ICC

Hungary announces withdrawal from ICC as Netanyahu arrives for state visit

IMAGE: An Israeli flag is raised on the Széchenyi Chain Bridge, with the Buda Castle in Budapest in the background on April 2, 2025, as preparations are under way for the visit of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Attila KISBENEDEK / 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 reporter Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

The provincial government in southern Syria’s Daraa says nine civilians were killed and several were injured in Israeli bombardment following an “Israeli incursion.” Soldiers operated on the ground in what is possibly the deepest into Syria that Israeli forces have advanced thus far. Fabian weighs in.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that advancing IDF forces were carving out a new security corridor across southern Gaza as Israel seeks to pile pressure on Hamas to free the hostages. Fabian explains the strategy behind the new “Morag Corridor,” named after an Israeli settlement that stood in the area before it was evacuated during Israel’s 2005 withdrawal from Gaza, and compares the number of forces on the ground in the Strip with that of troops at the height of the war.

On Wednesday, hundreds of Palestinians rallied in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip, chanting “Hamas out” and “Enough death,” in renewed protests against the terror group. Residents were angered by new Israeli military evacuation orders, which the military said followed rocket salvos by terror groups from the area. We hear how the IDF is responding to the increase in rockets -- and who is claiming blame for them.

Fifteen emergency and aid workers from the Red Crescent, the United Nations and the Hamas-linked Palestinian Civil Defense have been recovered from a grave in the sand in the south of the Gaza Strip, UN officials said on Monday. The IDF acknowledged Friday that it had fired on ambulances and fire engines, saying it had identified them as “suspicious vehicles.” Investigations are ongoing, but Fabian lays out what we currently understand from the IDF.

Yesterday, Fabian toured an IDF post in Lebanon, on the edge of Markaba, which overlooks the Israeli border community of Margaliot. It is one of five strategic positions where the IDF has remained after a February deadline to withdraw from Lebanon, as part of an ongoing ceasefire that began in November. We learn what Fabian saw -- and what Defense Minister Israel Katz had to say about how long troops will be stationed there.

This conversation can also be viewed here:

 

Please see today's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

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

For further reading:

IDF says several gunmen ‘eliminated’ after firing on troops in southern Syria

IDF strikes hit ‘remaining military capacities’ at Syrian airbases

Netanyahu says IDF carving new corridor across Gaza to cut off Rafah, pressure Hamas

Hamas threatens protesters, as new mass rallies against terror group held in Gaza

UN says 15 Gaza medics killed by IDF found in mass grave; IDF: We targeted terrorists

In Lebanon, Katz says troops to stay ‘without time limit’ to defend border communities

Katz says offensive aimed at seizing ‘extensive territory,’ as IDF pounds south Gaza

ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE: Israeli soldiers on the border between Syria and northern Israel, March 14, 2025. (Ayal Margolin/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.

Released hostage Amit Soussana is honored by the US State Department as a Woman of Courage and is the only one of eight women honored to speak at the event. Magid notes that she uses the platform to speak about the remaining hostages and the need to return to negotiations, something echoed by former hostage Yarden Bibas and his focus on US President Donald Trump in his CBS interview with "60 Minutes." Magid speaks about the freed hostages who feel comfortable making their opinions clear, and their concerns about the intensification of military pressure and the current impasse in hostage negotiations.

The spontaneous, sporadic protests in Gaza against Hamas are the first in years, according to Magid, as people take a huge risk calling for an end to war in Gaza. A 22-year-old protester was tortured and killed, says Magid, who follows several Palestinian activists on social media who are planning more protests in the coming days. Magid notes that it would be best if Israel did not comment on them, leaving the movement as real, genuine protests against Hamas that could help impact the terror group as it approaches the ongoing hostage talks.

This conversation can also be viewed here:

Please see today's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

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

For further reading:

Ex-hostage Amit Soussana receives US’s International Woman of Courage Award

Yarden Bibas to 60 Minutes: Only Trump can convince Netanyahu, Hamas to renew ceasefire-hostage deal

Gazan man murdered by Hamas after joining protests against terror group, family says

Gazan clan executes alleged Hamas operative who killed one of their relatives

IMAGE: Former hostage Amit Soussana, left, holds her hands over her heart while being applauded after speaking during the International Women of Courage awards ceremony, next to Henriette Da, of Burkina Faso, Georgiana Pascu, of Romania, Major Velena Iga, of Papua New Guinea, and first lady Melania Trump, at the award ceremony, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, at the State Department in Washington. S (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

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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 reporter Jeremy Sharon and archaeology reporter Rossella Tercatin join host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused police of holding two aides “hostage” after they were arrested over their alleged engagement in illicit ties with Qatar while working for the premier, who interrupted his ongoing corruption trial to provide testimony in the controversial Qatargate investigation. Sharon delves into the latest developments.

The High Court of Justice ruled unanimously on Thursday that Israel has taken a variety of steps to provide for the humanitarian needs of Gaza’s civilian population during the current war with Hamas, and that there was no cause for the court to order the government and the army to take any additional action. We hear why this ruling is important in the context of other accusations against Israel on the international stage.

The IDF issued a statement on Monday night announcing that it had disciplined several officers and troops for vandalizing Palestinian property in Jinba after an investigation it conducted into the incident. Villagers claim that troops had stood by while the settler extremists attacked residents and prevented a Red Crescent ambulance from evacuating the wounded. IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir went to Jinba himself to investigate the incident on Sunday, as did Sharon. He reports back.

Almost one in four US adults who were raised Jewish no longer identify as such, a new report by the prominent Pew Research Center released on Wednesday has shown. The report focuses on the phenomenon of “switching religions” around the world, and it is based on data obtained by polling almost 37,000 Americans and over 41,000 individuals in 35 other countries, including Israel. Tercatin gives highlights.

For the first time, a team of Israeli archaeologists has uncovered ancient artifacts at northern Israel’s “Armageddon” site that might offer proof of an epic battle documented in the books of Kings II and Chronicles between a king of Judah and an Egyptian pharaoh. We hear how the old adage "an army marches on its stomach" may give us insight into this historical battle.

Please see today's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

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

For further reading:

Netanyahu says his two aides ‘being held hostage’ in Qatargate ‘witch hunt’

High Court says petitioners ‘not even close’ to showing Israel starving Gazan civilians

‘There’s no justice’: Palestinian villagers reel after brutal settler, IDF rampage

Pew Research Center survey: A quarter of US adults raised Jewish no longer identify as Jews

Archaeologists find first evidence of epic biblical battle at ‘Armageddon’

IMAGE: People protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government outside the Knesset, Israel's parliament in Jerusalem, March 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

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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.

Times of Israel founding editor David Horovitz and reporter Sue Surkes join host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

As the IDF warns Gazans to leave Rafah in southern Gaza, saying the military is returning to fight to eliminate terrorist capabilities as part of its military pressure to bring about a hostage deal, Horovitz reviews the situation in the Gaza Strip. He discusses the ongoing divide in Israeli society over how to bring the remaining hostages home, whether through military pressure or negotiations.

Horovitz also looks at the CBS "60 Minutes" interview with released hostages, including freed captive Yarden Bibas, who pointedly called for US President Donald Trump to help bring about a return to negotiations.

As Trump threatens Iran with strikes if it doesn't return to nuclear talks, Horovitz talks about the rise in rhetoric between the two nations.

Kibbutz Kfar Aza, one of the hardest-hit collectives on October 7 is working to remember its dead and find solutions for its future, and Surkes discusses a book written by one of its residents about the challenges facing the kibbutz that had been privatized years before the Hamas terror attack. She also describes a recently installed memorial for those killed on the kibbutz on October 7.

Please see today's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

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

For further reading:

IDF tells Gazans to flee entire Rafah area in largest evacuation since fighting resumed

Yarden Bibas to 60 Minutes: Only Trump can convince Netanyahu, Hamas to renew ceasefire-hostage deal

Trump threatens ‘there will be bombing’ if Iran fails to make deal on nukes

‘A murder in every corner’: 60-year resident writes book on Kfar Aza challenges post-Oct. 7

Kfar Aza Oct. 7 memorial forms unforeseen stop on trail envisioned by murdered Ofir Libstein

IMAGE: Palestinians attend Eid prayers in Khan Yuni in the southern Gaza Strip, on March 30, 2025. (Photo by Abed Rahim Khatib/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.

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

The Israeli military said Saturday evening it had expanded its ground offensive in the southern Gaza Strip to expand a buffer zone along the borders of the Strip, the IDF said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced this morning that the security cabinet last night voted to increase pressure on Hamas. This comes as mediation efforts are stepping up. Berman explains where negotiations stand now -- and why.

Last week, Gazans took to the streets in protest against the Hamas regime throughout the Gaza Strip. This morning we learned that Hamas operatives kidnapped, tortured and executed a 22-year-old Palestinian man, Oday Nasser Al Rabay, who participated in last week’s wave of protests, according to his family. This comes as we learn of a June 2023 document from the Defense Ministry unit that oversees the Gaza Strip which recommended a potential long-term truce (hudna) with Hamas. Berman delves into what this document says about Israel's "conception" of Hamas capabilities.

Hundreds of thousands of anti-government demonstrators rallied in Istanbul Saturday calling for democracy to be defended after the arrest of mayor Ekrem Imamoglu which sparked Turkey’s worst street unrest in over a decade. Berman examines the Israel-Turkey relationship -- or lack thereof -- since October 7, 2023.

Syria’s new transitional government was sworn in Saturday, nearly four months after the Assad family was removed from power and as the new authorities in Damascus work to bring back stability to the war-torn country. While the 23-member Cabinet is religiously and ethnically mixed, Israel sees itself as a defender of Syria's minorities, says Berman.

Please see today's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

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

For further reading:

Israel confirms it received new Gaza truce proposal from mediators, made counteroffer

IDF expands ground op in southern Gaza, pushing further into Rafah

In disturbing Hamas video, distraught hostage Elkana Bohbot shouts and begs for release

Gazan man murdered by Hamas after joining protests against terror group, family says

Report: A June 2023 Defense Ministry document proposed near-sovereignty for Hamas in Gaza

Hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, gather at Istanbul rally to protest against Erdogan

Syria swears in new transitional government four months after ousting Assad

IMAGE: Palestinians buy clothes in a shop next to a destroyed apartment building in preparation for Eid al-Fitr celebrations at Al-Rimal neighborhood in the center of Gaza City, March 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

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