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.

Today's we're bringing you an episode of What Matters Now, our weekly podcast exploring key issues currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World. This installment is hosted by arts and culture editor Jessica Steinberg, who is speaking with Jonathan Dekel-Chen, father of released hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen.

Dekel-Chen, a dual Israeli-American citizen, was a vocal and visible hostage parent throughout the months of his son’s captivity. Sagui Dekel-Chen was taken hostage on October 7, 2023, from Kibbutz Nir Oz, while his pregnant wife and two young daughters hid in their safe room.

Dekel-Chen discusses the relief he and the family experienced upon seeing his son released home to Israel, the challenges that Sagui, the family and the Nir Oz community still face, and the sense of rebirth that Sagui feels post-captivity.

For 496 days, Sagui didn’t know the fate of his nuclear family, as well as what happened to extended members of his family and friends.

Dekel-Chen also reflects on the sense of abandonment felt by many hostage families from the Israeli government throughout the months of the war, and particularly now, since the army returned to fighting in Gaza, leaving 59 hostages still in captivity.

He speaks about the tremendous support he and other hostage families received from the US government, both from the Biden and Trump administrations, and his surprise to learn that American Jewish organizations didn’t band together to support the hostage families.

So this week, we ask history professor Jonathan Dekel-Chen, 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: Freed hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen with his father Jonathan aboard an IDF helicopter en route to the hospital soon after his release from 498 days in Hamas captivity in Gaza, February 15, 2025 (IDF)

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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 Daily Briefing, which will be followed by a full episode of ToI's newest podcast series, the Friday Focus with Lazar Berman.

An Egyptian proposal to end renewed fighting in Gaza would see five living hostages released on the first day of the restored ceasefire, with another five living hostages released every 7-10 days, two foreign diplomats with knowledge of the details told The Times of Israel on Wednesday. Magid delves into what else is being reported about this proposal, one of several on the table right now.

One well-connected US analyst of the Middle East told Magid this week that the current Israeli government has all but foreclosed any chance for a normalization deal. We hear what Brian Katulis, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute (MEI) who regularly speaks to Saudi and other regional officials, has to say -- and what the Saudis are potentially planning in the meantime.

US President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, tried to present a more moderate stance on Israel and the West Bank -- or Judea and Samaria, as he calls the contested land -- and urged lawmakers at his confirmation hearing on Tuesday to judge him based on his ability to represent the new administration. Magid weighs in.

In the Friday Focus, Berman illuminates the ongoing prejudice against Israel's Christians, who make up almost 2% of the country's population.

Please see today's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

Egyptian plan would free 5 living hostages on day one, with releases every 7-10 days

Playing down normalization prospects, US analyst says Saudis feel Israel ‘looking backward’

Mike Huckabee downplays pro-settler views at confirmation hearing to be envoy to Israel

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.

ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE: Then-Gov. Mike Huckabee, R-Ark., takes questions from the media, prior to laying a brick at a new housing complex in the West Bank settlement of Efrat, August 1, 2018. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty, 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.

Times of Israel founding editor David Horovitz joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's Daily Briefing.

Following the early morning passage of the highly controversial law that greatly increases political power and influence over the judicial appointments process in Israel, Horovitz discusses details of the measure, and the fact that it will only come into effect in the next Knesset, meaning after Israel’s next general elections, currently scheduled for October 2026.

Horovitz discusses why this measure is being taken now by the coalition government, and how the opposition parties and Israeli society are reacting to this measure that has been in the making since the right-wing government was elected into office in November 2022.

There have been waves of protests over the last ten days, with rallies calling for the return of the hostages and anti-government demonstrations in Jerusalem, and Horovitz looks at what's being said in those gatherings and if they have any effect on current politics.

He also speaks about the continuing protests in Gaza, reportedly against Hamas, although the terror group claims that the Gazans are protesting Israel's return to IDF strikes.

Please see today's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

Knesset passes law greatly boosting political control over appointment of judges

‘Democracy isn’t in danger,’ Netanyahu tells Knesset in tirade against ‘deep state’

Happening now: The smooth, malevolent unraveling of Israel’s vulnerable democracy

Thousands protest outside Knesset ahead of final votes on controversial judicial bill

Hundreds in Gaza join rare protests against Hamas rule, call for an end to the 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 the Pod-Waves.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and ministers in the Knesset plenum during a vote on a bill to remake Israel's judicial appointments process, March 27, 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.

Senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's Daily Briefing.

The 2025 budget bill passed its final reading to become law yesterday afternoon, removing a major threat to the stability of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. Lawmakers voted 66-52 in favor of the NIS 755 billion ($205 billion) spending bill -- the largest in Israeli history. We discuss which monies went where and why, plus look into the wide-sweeping political ramifications of the budget's passage.

Hundreds of Palestinians protested against Hamas rule and against the war in at least three locations in Gaza on Tuesday, in a relatively rare occurrence in the Strip due to the terror group’s often violent suppression of political dissent. Summing up the seeds of optimism Israelis feel seeing this grassroots uprising, Rettig Gur, quotes a 1942 line from Winston Churchill, "Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."

Please see today's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

In major success for government, Knesset approves 2025 budget, staving off elections

Hundreds in Gaza join rare protests against Hamas rule, call for an end to the war

Israel intercepts 3 rockets fired from north Gaza; Islamic Jihad takes responsibility

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: A slogan in Arabic reading (R): 'Enough killing and destruction' and another reading (L): 'The children of Palestine: We want to live' are displayed during a rally calling for an end to the war where hundreds chanted anti-Hamas slogans, in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on March 25, 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.

Legal reporter Jeremy Sharon and archaeological and religions reporter Rossella Tercatin join host Jessica Steinberg for today's Daily Briefing.

Following the cabinet decision to fire Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, various opposition political parties and legal organizations filed petitions against the decision in Israel's High Court. Sharon discusses the government's response to the petitions and its stance that the court should not interfere in the decision to fire Bar.

Sharon also reviews Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara's reaction to the government decision and her view that the firing will have implications for the functioning of law enforcement and the Shin Bet in the future.

The Shin Bet is also conducting a covert probe into the possible infiltration of extreme-right elements into the Israel Police and Sharon discusses the existence of Kahanist elements in National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir's party that led to the probe.

Tercatin looks at a recent archaeological discovery that grapevines and olive trees may have once grown on the land under the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, with evidence being uncovered of agricultural tools, pottery, and new technologies that can research pollen remains and seeds that relate to the time of Jesus.

She also discusses a poll of high school teens from religous Zionist high schools regarding sexual activity, leading to the researcher's determination that there's a need for more openly discussing sex with religious teens.

Please see today's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

Government tells the High Court it can’t be forced to work with Shin Bet chief it doesn’t trust

Report: Shin Bet covertly probed Kahanist infiltration into police under Ben Gvir

Echoing Gospel account, traces of ancient garden found under Church of Holy Sepulchre

Poll showing religious teens are sexually active sparks rethink of when to have the talk

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: Protestors march toward the Knesset on March 25, 2025, holding a banner that reads, 'Guarding democracy' (Credit Yair Palti/Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)

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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 Daily Briefing.

A 85-year-old man has been shot dead in a terror attack near the northern town of Yokne’am. Another person, later identified as a 20-year-old soldier, was seriously injured. Fabian updates us with initial accounts of the attack.

A string of senior Hamas officials have been targeted by the IDF in the past week. We learn about the uptick in their assassinations and who several of these figures are.

On Sunday morning, the IDF announced that it had restarted ground operations in northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoun a day earlier. With the former humanitarian zone no longer in use, the IDF said that it was enabling Palestinian civilians to evacuate the “combat zone for their safety.” We learn where the IDF is currently operating.

Defense Minister Yisrael Katz said on Friday, that he instructed the IDF to seize additional areas of the Gaza Strip if Hamas refused to release hostages, stating, “As long as Hamas continues its refusal, it will lose more and more land that will be added to Israel.” Also this week, we learned that during a visit to Washington DC this week, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer will discuss with senior US officials a plan for Israeli military control over the Gaza Strip. We ask Fabian: With its current manpower shortages, is the IDF capable of controlling the Strip?

Days after six rockets were fired from Lebanon at northern Israel, which drew dozens of Israeli airstrikes against Hezbollah in return, the terror group has denied any involvement in the Saturday rocket attack on Metula, and called Israel’s accusations “pretexts for its continued attacks on Lebanon.” So, if not Hezbollah, who could it have been?

Even as there still isn’t a governmental commission to probe the failures leading to the October 7 massacre, the new Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir on Saturday announced that he had appointed an external panel of former senior officers to evaluate the military’s probes into Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught. What is the end game of this new commission?

Please see today's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

Elderly man killed as terrorist rams bus stop, opens fire on cars in north

Senior Hamas official killed in targeted strike on Gaza hospital as IDF widens offensive

IDF strike in south Gaza kills senior Hamas official; ground ops restart in Beit Hanoun

Israel to discuss taking full military control of Gaza with senior US officials: source

IDF strike kills Hezbollah operative in Lebanon, day after rocket fire at Metula

New IDF chief appoints external panel to evaluate army’s Oct. 7 probes, implement findings

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: Armored vehicles of the 36th Division are seen at a staging ground in southern Israel, in a handout photo issued by the military on March 23, 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.

NY correspondent Luke Tress joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's Daily Briefing.

Columbia University has agreed to a series of changes demanded by the Trump Administration as a precondition for restoring $400 million in federal funding the government pulled this month over the school’s handling of antisemitism on campus amid pro-Palestinian protests against Israel. Tress has been covering the anti-Israel protests that have erupted since October 7, 2023, when Hamas slaughtered 1,200 in southern Israel. We speak about new measures that Columbia is taking — especially the restriction of face masks — and discuss whether they will change the intensity of the protests.

Relatedly, on Friday, detained Columbia University student activist Mahmoud Khalil appeared briefly in immigration court at a remote Louisiana detention center as his lawyers fight in multiple venues to try to free him. We discuss the continued debate within the Jewish community over immigration rights and free speech, versus the safety of Jewish students on campus.

Finally, we speak about a trend among US Jews who are looking for increased self-protection through a variety of measures, including taking self-defense courses such as the Israeli martial art, Krav Maga, or, as in a piece we recently published, highly trained -- and highly expensive -- protection dogs.

Please see today's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

Columbia agrees to Trump administration’s demands to address campus antisemitism

Detained anti-Israel activist Khalil appears in Louisiana court as deportation looms

Columbia University expels anti-Israel students for last year’s building takeover

Another Columbia anti-Israel protester arrested, 3rd ‘self-deports’, US feds say

US-Israeli company sells $125k protection dogs to Jews worried about security

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.

ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE: Protesters rally in support of detained Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil outside Columbia University in New York on March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)

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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.

Editor David Horovitz joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's Daily Briefing, which is a bonus episode of our weekly What Matters Now series.

Recording at noon on Thursday in ToI's Jerusalem office ahead of a planned fateful cabinet vote on the firing of Shin Bet head Ronen Bar tonight, Horovitz attempts to summarize this fraught Israeli moment.

As Israel Defense Forces troops are again entering the Gaza Strip for ground operations, fears of a crumbling Israeli democracy are bringing thousands to the streets, alongside others who reject the notion of a renewed war in Gaza without a hostage deal first.

Horovitz takes us through a litany of issues fueling the domestic strife and assesses how Israel again finds itself at a crossroads.

"All of us want Israel to survive and to thrive and we have two things simultaneously: We have terrible threats from without and we have tremendous division from within," says Horovitz. "This is extremely dangerous for Israel."

And so this week, we ask ToI editor David Horovitz, what matters now?

Please see today's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

For Israel, everything will not be okay

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: Israelis march in a protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his plans to dismiss the head of the Shin Bet internal security service, in Jerusalem on March 19, 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.

Diplomatic reporter Lazar Berman joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's Daily Briefing, which will be followed by a full episode of ToI's newest series, the Friday Focus with Lazar Berman.

For the first time in Israeli history, the government has fired the head of the domestic security agency.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet voted unanimously in the early hours of Friday morning to dismiss Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar. If no other replacement is sworn in first, Bar's final day will be April 10.

Among others, Israeli opposition parties Yesh Atid, National Unity, Yisrael Beytenu, and the Democrats have petitioned the High Court of Justice to intervene in the dismissal of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar.

Berman breaks down Netanyahu's stated reasons for Bar's dismissal, Bar's responses and how Israelis feel about it all.

Please see today's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

Cabinet fires Shin Bet chief; PM claims lack of trust in Bar, who calls move invalid

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: Ronen Bar, head of the Shin Bet security services, May 5, 2024. (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.

Military reporter Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's Daily Briefing.

This morning, the Israeli military said it has deployed troops along the coast of the far north of the Gaza Strip, as well as in the Netzarim Corridor and in the southern Gaza Strip. We discuss the ongoing airstrikes -- and how targets are chosen -- and the potential goals of the increased ground operation so far.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels issued a statement claiming responsibility for the ballistic missile fired at Israel overnight, saying the Palestine-2 projectile targeted Ben Gurion Airport. Earlier, on Tuesday evening, the Houthis also launched a ballistic missile at Israel from Yemen Tuesday evening, which marked the first attack from the Iran-backed group since the ceasefire came into effect in the Gaza Strip two months ago. What were the results of both missiles?

On Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces presented its probe into the battle at Kibbutz Alumim — the latest in its detailed investigations of some 40 battles that took place during Hamas’s October 7 attack, when some 5,600 terrorists stormed across the border, massacred some 1,200 people, and took 251 hostages to Gaza. In the second half of our program, we go in depth into the Alumim probe and address the IDF's devastating probe of Kibbutz Nir Oz, which was released last week.

Please see today's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

IDF ground forces operating in Gaza; Katz warns of ‘total destruction’ unless hostages returned

IDF downs Houthi missile as sirens send millions in central Israel to shelters at 4 a.m.

Civil defense team stopped major Hamas invasion at Alumim, but dozens were murdered outside

‘Massive failure’: First troops reached Kibbutz Nir Oz 40 minutes after last terrorists left

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: IDF troops of the 252nd Division operate in northern Gaza, in a handout photo issued by the military on March 20, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

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