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.

Legal reporter Jeremy Sharon joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Sharon was in court yesterday as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resumed his testimony in his corruption trial. We hear whether the premier seems in good health following his prostate surgery even as his hearing was canceled today and tomorrow over a judge's illness.

We learn that an angry Netanyahu alleged that key aspects of the case against him rested on testimony that had been illegitimately obtained from witnesses such as former aides Nir Hefetz, Ari Harrow, and Shlomo Filber and that aspects of the indictment against him are factually inaccurate.

After an unprecedented 16 months without a permanent Supreme Court president and in the face of unrelenting opposition from Justice Minister Yariv Levin, Justice Isaac Amit was elected head of Israel’s top court on Sunday night in a court-forced vote by the Judicial Selection Committee.

Sharon delves into the tricky situation in which Levin, together with the other coalition representatives in the committee, Settlements Minister Orit Strock and Otzma Yehudit MK Yitzhak Kroizer, boycotted the hearing in protest of the decision by the Supreme Court — sitting as the High Court of Justice — to order him to hold a vote in the committee.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Netanyahu aiming to meet Trump at White House next week in first visit by foreign leader

Netanyahu accuses police of extorting ‘false testimony’ from state witnesses

Isaac Amit finally elected Supreme Court president; Levin pledges to boycott him

Israel finally gets a permanent Supreme Court president; what does he stand for?

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: Israeli Justice Minister Yariv Levin attends a plenum session at the assembly hall of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, December 4, 2024. )Chaim Goldbergl/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.

Political correspondent Tal Schneider and reporter Sue Surkes join host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

Israel allows thousands of Gazans to return to the north of the Strip, as per the hostage-ceasefire deal, following confirmation that hostages Arbel Yehoud, Agam Berger and a third hostage would be released this week on Thursday, while three more hostages, all men, will be released on Saturday, Schneider notes.

She also reviews the latest regarding the Hezbollah ceasefire, which is being extended until February 18, during which time the Lebanese army is supposed to to deploy to the eastern part of southern Lebanon, close to Syria and the Golan Heights, and stabilize what is currently seen as a fragile ceasefire.

Schneider describes a recent visit to Kibbutz Nir Oz near the Gaza border, one of the kibbutzim hardest hit by the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, where only half a dozen homes were left standing. IDF forces never reached Nir Oz on that day, and neither have Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or many other ministers in the ensuing 15 months.

Surkes talks about how some veteran Israeli aid workers are caught between considering the humanitarian needs of war-torn Gaza, which they haven't been able to enter since the war began, and mourning communities and individuals victimized by the brutal Hamas onslaught on October 7, 2023, which started the war.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Thousands of Gazans gather on coastal road as IDF blocks access to Strip’s north

Israel: Arbel Yehoud, Agam Berger, 3rd hostage to be freed Thursday; 3 more on Saturday

Israel and Lebanon extend truce, with IDF troop withdrawal deadline moved to Feb. 18

22 killed in south Lebanon as IDF fires on suspects trying to break through to villages

Israel fiddled while Nir Oz burned, but the kibbutz will rise again

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: Displaced Palestinians make their way back to their homes in the northern Gaza Strip on January 27, 2025. (Photo by Ali Hassan/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 and reporter Amy Spiro joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Yesterday, the four female soldiers held hostage in Gaza for 477 days — Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy, and Liri Albag — were reunited with their loved ones, embracing them with smiles and tears after their release from captivity. Today, we concentrate on the Hamas violation of the ceasefire deal due to the failure to free civilian hostage Arbel Yehud and Israel’s consequent decision to pause its pulling out from part of the Netzarim Corridor — even as thousands of Palestinians gather on the coastal road in central Gaza, waiting to return to the Strip’s north.

US President Donald Trump said Saturday he’d like to see Jordan, Egypt and other Arab nations accept more Palestinian refugees from the Gaza Strip — potentially moving out enough of the population to “just clean out” the war-torn area and create a virtual clean slate. We discuss the feasibility of this idea, as well as the Palestinian security prisoners who were deported to Egypt yesterday.

The initial 60-day truce in Lebanon has run out this morning and the Lebanese army is calling on its civilians to “exercise self-restraint” and follow instructions as people attempt to return to villages in south Lebanon, despite the IDF presence there. We learn which parts of southern Lebanon the IDF still holds and what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s declared intentions are, and hear updates about the IDF’s presence in the Syrian buffer zone.

And finally, we end with the bittersweet win of Yuval Raphael, a survivor of the Hamas attack on the Nova music festival, who was voted in last week as Israel’s contestant at the 2025 Eurovision in Switzerland in May.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

‘Unfazed’: Freed hostages say they knew they had to project strength at Hamas handover

Israel bars Palestinians from returning to north Gaza in row over hostage Arbel Yehud

Trump proposes Jordan, Egypt take in Gazans so decimated Strip can be ‘cleaned out’

IDF warns Lebanese against return to border villages as it prepares to extend stay

Israel won’t complete full withdrawal from Lebanon by Sunday deadline, PM says

Yuval Raphael, survivor of Nova massacre, to represent Israel at 2025 Eurovision

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: Lebanese women hold portraits of of slain Hezbollah leader Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah, as they check the destruction in their village Aita al-Shaab, a Lebanese border village with Israel, south Lebanon, January 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

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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 special update.

This morning, four female soldiers held hostage by Hamas for 477 days — Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy, and Liri Albag — were released by the terror group after being paraded through a Gaza City square and made to participate in a demeaning ceremony before being handed over to the Red Cross.

Hamas "gift bags" in hand, the four young women returned to Israel and were reunited with their families at the IDF base near Re'im, mere kilometers from the Gaza border. 

Fabian reminds listeners of Hamas's murderous October 7, 2023, takeover of the Nahal Oz IDF base that saw 66 soldiers murdered and seven female surveillance officers taken prisoner. 

We hear what we currently know about the physical health of the four released today and details from the handover.

Fabian also updates us on Israel's response to Hamas's overt violation of the ceasefire-hostage release deal which should have seen female civilian Arbel Yehud -- and any other living female civilian and children -- released ahead of the female soldiers.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

4 female soldier hostages freed by Hamas, paraded on Gaza stage, returned to Israel

Israel blocks Palestinians from returning to north Gaza after Hamas breaks truce terms

Bibas family: ‘World came crashing down’ when Shiri, kids weren’t slated for release

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 Palestinian woman throws confetti as Hamas fighters prepare to hand over four Israeli hostages to a Red Cross team from a stage at a square in Gaza City on January 25, 2025. (Omar AL-QATTAA / 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.

Senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode, a special Friday Focus on the painful issue of the release of Palestinian security prisoners as part of the hostage release-ceasefire deal.

Tomorrow, another four hostages are set to be released from Gaza -- presumably women and presumably alive. Alongside the Israelis' release, however, up to 200 Palestinian prisoners could also be released, according to the current formula of 30 Palestinian prisoners for every civilian and 50 for every female soldier.

Rettig Gur takes on this complicated and emotional subject through looking at the history of terrorist hostage-taking and previous so-called exchanges of the abductees and Palestinian prisoners -- including those who were serving multiple life sentences.

We speak about the most memorable exchange of prisoners, which came in 2011 when captured soldier Gilad Shalit was released from Gaza as 1,027 security prisoners were freed from Israeli prisons. However, Rettig Gur postulates that the blueprint for that abduction came much earlier.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Convicted terrorists to be released are ‘an open wound’ for victims’ families

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: Palestinians celebrate the release of some 90 prisoners set free by Israel in the early hours of January 20, 2025 upon their arrival aboard a Red Cross bus in the Palestinian West Bank town of Beitunia, on the outskirts of Ramallah. (Zain JAAFAR / 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.

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

Horovitz reviews the fraught, ongoing process of the hostage releases, both those that took place last Sunday and the four living women expected to be released on Saturday. He comments on how every day carries a new twist in the ceasefire and hostage exchange, and the terrifying moment of transfer in Gaza City, last Sunday.

He also talks about some of the behind-the-scenes aspects of the ceasefire, how and why it finally came about, the cooperation between the Trump and Biden administrations, the weakened Hezbollah and positioning of Hamas, along with the fact that it's not an easy deal for Israel, but it will save hostages' lives.

Discussion of phase two of the deal has also begun, as hostage families plea for their loved ones' lives. Horovitz discusses some of the politics that will enter that part of the process, and how that could affect the stability of Netanyahu's political coalition and what he might do about that.

Horovitz talks about the likelihood of the Palestinian Authority taking some portion of control over Gaza, and the tremendous amount of nuance involved in any discussion of that possibility.

Finally, he talks about the resignation of IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, due to take effect in March, and what it has meant to have Halevi take responsibility for the failures that led to October 7, as well as why many Israelis still feel loyal to him. 

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Top officials said already gearing up for 2nd phase hostage talks, ahead of schedule

Israel said to tell Hamas it expects Arbel Yehud to be among next freed hostages

Farewell Herzi Halevi, uniformed embodiment of our national tragedy, leader of the fightback

IDF chief Halevi’s resignation letter: Oct. 7 failure will stay with me for rest of my life

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: Varda Ben Baruch, grandmother of Idan Alexander who is held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, holds a sign as she stands outside the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, January 23, 2025. (Photo by 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 and settlements reporter Jeremy Sharon join host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Four people were wounded yesterday evening by a terrorist who went on a stabbing spree in a trendy Tel Aviv neighborhood, emergency services and Israel Police said, before he was shot dead. An off-duty IDF tank officer who had lost a hand during fighting in the Gaza Strip was among those who attempted to neutralize the terrorist. Fabian tells us more.

Yesterday, Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi and the head of the IDF Southern Command Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman both announced their resignations, 15 months into the war sparked by Hamas’s attack and two days after a ceasefire and hostage release deal with the terror group in the Gaza Strip went into effect. Why now and who is in the running to replace the pair?

Yesterday, the Israel Defense Forces launched a major counterterrorism operation in the northern West Bank city of Jenin on Tuesday afternoon, which military sources said was expected to last several days. We learn about the aims of the operation and the coordination with the Palestinian Authority.

Dozens of extremist settlers conducted an attack on two West Bank Palestinian villages on Monday night in which IDF troops also came under attack. Sharon explains that this is just one of a series of attacks and delves into who these extremist Israelis are.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Off-duty officer who lost hand in Gaza helped chase down terrorist in Tel Aviv attack

US green card holder, a Moroccan national, wounds 4 in Tel Aviv terror stabbing spree

IDF reservist killed, senior officer seriously hurt by roadside bomb in West Bank

Taking responsibility for Oct. 7 failures, IDF chief and head of Southern Command resign

IDF launches major counterterror raid in West Bank’s Jenin, expected to last days

IDF: Dozens of settler extremists involved in Monday night riots, troops also attacked

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 soldiers stand guard as Israeli Jewish settlers tour the old market in the city of Hebron in the West Bank on December 28, 2024. (HAZEM BADER / 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.

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

Magid reviews the leadup to President Donald Trump's inauguration into office as the 47th president of the United States, including the President-elect's role in the Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal that began with the release of three female hostages on Sunday. Magid points out that reaching the second phase of the deal may be more difficult, given the pressures on Netanyahu's coalition government, and the prime minister's desire to remain fighting Hamas in Gaza.

Magid also looks at Trump and Netanyahu's various supporters, and who has sway over the two leaders in their decision-making process.

Magid discusses Trump's comments during the inauguration rally, as he invited hostage families and former hostage Noa Argamani on stage, but made a point about releasing the January 6, 2021 "hostages," not referring to the hostages taken by Hamas to Gaza.

After the inauguration and rally, says Magid, Trump signed a number of orders, including undoing the Biden sanctions against violent Israeli settlers, revoking the Biden order that removed Trump's 2020 sanctions on the International Criminal Court and ordering a 90-day pause in foreign development assistance.

Finally, Magid discusses Trump's casual comment regarding the Gaza ceasefire and that it may not hold, remarking that the war in Gaza is "their war, not our war," perhaps as a way for Trump to distance himself from the region and situation.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Trump looks to ride on success of hostage deal as he readies to take oath of office

On day one, Trump rolls back Biden sanctions regime targeting violent Israeli settlers

Trump orders 90-day pause in foreign development assistance, likely impacting Palestinians

Trump revokes Biden order that removed his 2020 sanctions on the ICC

Trump believes Israeli-Saudi normalization can be reached ‘soon’

Trump says not confident Gaza deal will hold through all three phases

‘I thought I’d die in Gaza’: First testimonies from freed hostages released

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, Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance and first lady Melania Trump greet families of hostages held in Gaza, during an indoor Presidential Inauguration parade event at Capital One Arena, Monday, Jan. 20, 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.

Military reporter Emanuel Fabian and political reporter Tal Schneider join host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Yesterday evening, three Hamas hostages were returned to Israeli soil as part of the hostage release-ceasefire agreement that went into effect at 11:15 yesterday morning. We learn how Romi Gonen, 24, Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, were released, what we know currently of their conditions and how they were received in Israel.

Israel released 90 Palestinian security prisoners early Monday morning, hours after Hamas released the three civilian hostages on the first day of a ceasefire with the terror group in the Gaza Strip. These inmates included terror convicts but reportedly none convicted of murder. Where were they taken and how were they greeted?

We hear a quick update on the status of the truce that is still holding in southern Lebanon -- and that is meant to expire on Sunday.

Former national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party quit the coalition on Sunday morning, following through on its threat to exit if the government agreed to a ceasefire agreement with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Schneider discusses the new alignment of power in the coalition and goes through several potential scenarios.

At the inauguration of US President Donald Trump in Washington, DC, today, part of the festivities will be led by Yeshiva University head Rabbi Ari Berman, who will deliver a benediction. We hear what else Israeli or Jewish may be in store.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Hostages Romi Gonen, Emily Damari, Doron Steinbrecher return to Israel after 471 days

Beaming, laughing, weeping, 3 freed hostages finally reunite with loved ones

Israel frees 90 Palestinian security prisoners, who are welcomed with Hamas flags

Otzma Yehudit exits coalition over Gaza deal, blasting it as ‘victory for terrorism’

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: Relatives and friends of people killed and abducted by Hamas and taken into Gaza, react to the news of the hostages' release, as they gather in Tel Aviv, Israel on January 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

 

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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 ceasefire between Israel and the terror groups led by Hamas in the Gaza Strip came into effect at 11:15 am after Hamas finally submitted the names of the three hostages set to be released this evening, Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher. Fabian discusses what preparations are being made to receive the women.

The body of soldier Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul, who was killed and captured by Hamas in 2014, was returned to Israel recently. We hear what we know about the military operation that finally closed one family’s saga, even as Israelis await dozens more hostages.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Hours before Gaza ceasefire set to start, PM stresses right to resume war after ‘pause’

With doctors and therapists: Army completes preparations to receive hostages

High Court rejects bereaved families’ petition against release of terrorists

Body of soldier Oron Shaul, killed and captured by Hamas in 2014, recovered from Gaza

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: Armed Hamas operatives parade in southern Gaza's Rafah after the ceasefire was supposed to take effect on January 19, 2025 (Screen grab/Al-Jazeera)

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