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.

Editor David Horovitz joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

The Prime Minister’s Office issued a brief statement after 1 a.m. Saturday morning confirming the government approved the hostage release-ceasefire deal after meeting for more than seven hours. Twenty-four ministers voted in favor of the deal and eight opposed. The deal should enter into force on Sunday at 8:30 am and the first three Israeli hostages are to be freed at 4 pm. In sum, 33 hostages are to be freed in the first, 42-day phase of the deal. Horovitz speaks about the political dramas and what we know about the implementation of the deal and who is on the first-phase list.

Israel is set to release up to 1,904 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, including several serving multiple life sentences for deadly terror attacks and murder. The Justice Ministry has, as of Saturday, published the names of 735 Palestinian prisoners to allow petitions against their release to be submitted to the High Court. We hear some of the complexities around the prisoner-release portion of the truce deal and who is not currently going to be freed.

We speak about the mood of the country after the deal was finally ratified. How are families whose loved ones were killed in battle in Gaza feeling as Hamas and Hezbollah cry victory and vow to ramp up their "resistance" to Israel in the near future.

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

Discussed articles include:

Israeli government approves hostage-ceasefire agreement with Hamas

Israel to free up to 1,904 Palestinians in 1st stage of hostage deal, including killers

These are the 33 hostages set to be returned in phase one of the Gaza ceasefire

Guidelines for hospitals set to receive hostages include STD checks, pregnancy tests

IDF intercepts missile from Yemen in 4th Houthi attack this week, no injuries

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 woman pauses near posters of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, in Tel Aviv, Israel, as Israel's security cabinet convened to decide whether to approve a deal that would release dozens of hostages held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza and pause the 15-month-war, January 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

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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, the weekly Friday Focus.

As US President Joe Biden prepares to leave office, we take a look at the relationship between the president and the Jewish state, starting with his famous meeting with prime minister Golda Meir in which he understood the importance of being a Zionist.

We hear how, after Biden's initial embrace of Netanyahu and the Israeli people following the murderous Hamas onslaught on southern Israel, the complex relationship between the president and his shifting Democratic party may have colored some of his later statements and led to micro-managing the war in Gaza.

Magid postulates that the traditionally special relationship between the US and its ally has also led to sanctions on settler extremists in an attempt to course-correct the Jewish state.

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

Discussed articles include:

On a deadline: How Biden and Trump brokered hostage deal before ‘all hell’ broke loose

Biden: US-backed pressure on Iranian axis helped secure hostage deal, end of Gaza 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: US President Joe Biden, right, hugs Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after arriving at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, October 18, 2023. (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.

Editor David Horovitz joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Last night, the prime minister of Qatar as well as both US President Joe Biden and US President-elect Donald Trump announced that a deal had been reached. Hamas leadership quickly declared victory over Israel, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has continued to insist that the final deal has not been inked and some outstanding details remain. At recording time on Thursday noon, the deal was still not finalized. Horovitz describes what we understand are the main specifics of the agreement.

According to a recent Israel Democracy Institute survey, more than two-thirds of the public support a deal for the release of all or some of the hostages. On the other hand, around a quarter support continuing the military pressure on Hamas, which they believe will lead to a more favorable deal for Israel in the future. Horovitz explains the stances of some of the right-wing protesters who demonstrated Wednesday night and are currently demonstrating at the Knesset against a deal.

We hear about the drama also taking place inside the Knesset as government members wrestle with their consciences to decide which way to cast their votes -- and whether to dissolve the coalition.

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

Discussed articles include:

Get them all home

After 15 months of war, Israel and Hamas agree to a ceasefire-hostage release deal

Biden: US-backed pressure on Iranian axis helped secure hostage deal, end of Gaza war

On a deadline: How Biden and Trump brokered hostage deal before ‘all hell’ broke loose

Hamas leader touts ceasefire as a defeat for Israel while hailing Oct. 7 atrocities

Right-wing groups, including bereaved families, protest pending hostage release deal

Hostage families on ‘roller coaster’ as they celebrate deal, worry for loved ones’ fate

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 protesters carry mock coffins draped in the national flag of Israel during a protest against the ceasefire with Hamas outside the Supreme Court in Jerusalem on January 16, 2025. (John Wessels / 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.

Reporter Amy Spiro filling in for diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman and environmental correspondent Sue Surkes join host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

Spiro says there is optimism that the proposed hostage deal will be signed by Wednesday or Thursday, and reviews the proposed details of the deal that it is very similar to what was proposed last May, with a first stage of 33 hostages to be released in exchange for around 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israel, and negotiations on a second phase of hostages 16 days into the ceasefire.

Spiro says that Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar calls this a gradual deal, not a partial deal.

She reviews the process of approving the deal, which would first go to the security cabinet and then to the entire government cabinet. Spiro remarks that Likud ministers have said the deal will pass, even without right-wing politicians National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir or Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on board, and that opposition leader Yair Lapid has said he will do what is necessary to ensure the deal goes through despite any longer-term political implications.

Surkes discusses the new reforms aimed at changing the range of imported goods from the European Union, intended to lower prices on goods in Israel.

Surkes also looks at a Tel Aviv University study regarding the lack of cave art in the Levant and a bereaved family member's newspaper that looks at how Israel could become a better place.

The printed newspaper, written only by bereaved families, aligns with the latest Yoni Bloch song that Steinberg speaks about briefly, with an AI clip that imagines the hostages released home and peace in the Middle East.

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

Discussed articles include:

Smotrich undecided on hostage deal at this ‘fateful moment’

Gaza ceasefire-hostage deal on brink of finalization, as reports spell out details

Israeli officials: Deal will see 33 hostages freed in 1st stage, most of them alive

Ben Gvir says he repeatedly foiled hostage deals, urges Smotrich to help him stop this one

Along with soaring prices, Israel rings in 2025 with economic reforms, but will they work?

Israeli researchers devise woolly solution to enigma of why Levant has no cave art

AI music clip imagines all hostages released, a new MidEast

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 at Begin Gate in Tel Aviv on January 15, 2025, calling for the release of all the hostages and the end to the war (Credit Yoav Loeff)

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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.

This morning, a “final round” of Gaza truce talks was due to start in Qatar. According to AFP, today’s meetings “are aimed at finalizing the remaining details of the deal,” with the heads of Israel’s intelligence agencies, the Middle East envoys for the incoming and outgoing US administrations, and Qatar’s prime minister present. Mediators are to meet separately with Hamas officials, the source says. Fabian explains what he knows so far about security arrangements that may be put in place in Gaza in the event of a ceasefire.

Five Israel Defense Forces soldiers were killed and 10 were wounded in an explosion in northern Gaza on Monday, the military said, raising Israel’s toll in over 15 months of fighting in the Strip to 407. The slain troops were all serving with the Nahal Brigade’s Reconnaissance Unit. On Saturday, four soldiers were killed and six were wounded during fighting, also in the northern Gaza Strip. We hear initial findings about these two terrible incidents.

The IDF said Monday it had struck several Hezbollah sites in Lebanon overnight, saying the targets violated the terms of the ceasefire agreement. It said it did so after the international ceasefire monitoring mechanism failed to address them, despite being advised on the matter. This is not the first time -- and it's likely not the last, says Fabian.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels launched ballistic missiles within hours of each other on Monday evening and early Tuesday morning, triggering sirens that sent hundreds of thousands of Israelis rushing into shelters. This comes after a Friday night retaliatory attack by the Israeli Air Force against Houthi targets in Yemen. Fabian shares why the Houthis may not yet be deterred.

IDF Deputy Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Amir Baram on Friday notified his commander, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, that he would leave his role as planned at the end of February. Is it because he wants Halevi's job instead?

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

Discussed articles include:

Israeli officials: Deal will see 33 hostages freed in 1st stage, most of them alive

Five soldiers killed, 10 wounded in explosion in northern Gaza, IDF says

IDF announces 4 soldiers killed, 6 wounded during fighting in northern Gaza

IDF says it hit Hezbollah sites after ceasefire monitors failed to address threats

For second time in hours, Houthi missile at Israel triggers cross-country sirens

Couple, out for walk after overnight sirens, find chunk of Houthi missile on their roof

20 Israeli jets attack two ports and a power plant used by Houthis in Yemen

IDF deputy chief of staff requests to step down, indicates he hopes to succeed Halevi

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: Pictures in Jerusalem of Israelis held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, January 13, 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.

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

Tensions are high in Israel over the possibility of a proposed hostage deal. Schneider discusses the Sunday phone conversation between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden regarding the negotiations. She also reviews which Israeli officials are currently in Doha, along with Steve Witkoff, President-elect Donald Trump's Middle East envoy.

Schneider says Netanyahu met with coalition leaders Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, as the prime minister needs those two powerful coalition partners on board to approve any hostage deal.

Bletter talks about her visits to two northern kibbutz communities where residents have been evacuated for more than a year and now have to decide what the future holds for them. 

She also discusses a Weizmann Institute study about ants, and their ability to work well as a team, unlike their human counterparts.

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

Discussed articles include:

Biden stresses ‘immediate need’ for hostage-truce deal in call with Netanyahu

Netanyahu dispatches top negotiators to Qatar talks amid push to seal hostage deal

PM to meet with Smotrich to gauge support for a potential hostage deal — report

Inside the Lebanon-border closed military zone, kibbutz members prepare to start over

Ants have more ‘group smarts’ than humans, Israeli study finds

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

IMAGE: People walking next to a poster of Israelis held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, 'We won't stop until they're all released!' in Jerusalem, January 12, 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.

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

Late last week, almost two years exactly to the unveiling of the initial judicial overhaul legislative package, Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar unveiled a far-reaching package of changes to Israel’s judicial system which would increase political power over judicial appointments and curb the High Court’s ability to strike down legislation. The new package would stop short of some measures that sparked massive anti-government protests in 2023, but are potentially just a beginning. We unravel the new initiative and try to understand its implications.

The High Court of Justice on Friday gave the state until the end of January to explain what steps it was taking to maximize Haredi enlistment to the Israel Defense Forces and to penalize draft dodgers.
The instruction came in response to several petitions calling for the immediate conscription of all previously exempt ultra-Orthodox men. We learn about the court's impatience with the government's lack of action on this flashpoint issue.

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

Discussed articles include:

Overhaul redux: Levin’s ‘compromise’ proposal would again radically constrain the judiciary

Levin, Sa’ar unveil new judicial overhaul plan; wary opposition heads hold off response

High Court orders state to clarify plans to draft Haredim, penalize 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 Ben Wallick.

IMAGE: Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar (left) with Justice Minister Yariv Levin at the Knesset on November 6, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/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 a bonus episode of our weekly What Matters Now series.

This week, a committee appointed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to examine defense spending and IDF military force design for the future announced that the election of Donald Trump as US president offers an unprecedented opportunity to remove the threat Israel faces from Iran.

Trump’s return to the White House, said the Nagel Committee on Monday, “creates, for the first time, the potential for a fundamental change, and the removal or meaningful reduction of the Iranian threat.”

Likewise this week, incoming US envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff announced that he would travel to Doha, saying a hostage deal being mediated by Qatar is on the verge of completion, as Trump again warned “all hell will break loose” in the region if an agreement between Israel and Hamas is not reached by his January 20 inauguration.

We all know that Trump is one to talk tough, but the question is -- how much of this rhetoric will translate into action? And will he aid Israel in its effort to prevent a nuclear Iran?

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

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: US President Donald Trump (left) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, May 23, 2017. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner, 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.

Diplomatic reporter Lazar Berman joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for a special Friday Focus episode, part two of last week's discussion, "Why the IDF abandoned the offensive and ended up with Oct. 7."

When Israel's founding prime minister David Ben Gurion envisioned the country's defense forces, he proposed a small standing army and a large reservist force. In the first part of our conversation, we discussed how this model served the state, alongside a doctrine of deterrence, intelligence, and battlefield victory.

However, as the state evolved, the standing army was increasingly shrunk alongside an outsized confidence in Israel's air array. How did this lead up to the complete failure of the army to prevent -- and spur -- the Hamas onslaught on October 7, 2023?

This week, we speak about how Israel's army continues to evolve by learning from our current enemies -- non-state actors who don't fight by the rules. We discuss how this generation of IDF soldiers grew up in the shadow of the Disengagement -- and without much ground-operation experience.

Finally, we hear lessons the IDF has learned from October 7 and how it is already attempting to implement them.

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

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 forces operation in the Gaza Strip in a handout photo issued by the Israeli military on January 9, 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.

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

As US Secretary of State Antony Blinken nears the end of his term in the Biden administration, Blinken says that mediators are very close to securing a ceasefire and hostage release agreement, something that hasn't been stated in a while. However, Magid says it may only be finalized at the start of the new Trump administration.

He discusses other aspects of the hostage deal under discussion, including the refrain from hostage families that a deal for only 34 hostages, some of them no longer living, will leave two-thirds of the remaining hostages behind, a death sentence for them, adds Magid.

Magid notes that Blinken placed the blame on Hamas for holding up a hostage deal for months in his recent interview with The New York Times, a comment which suggests that the US never wanted to blame Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his positioning on the deal, says Magid, even when it frustrated the negotiating teams.

He also looks at the proposed $8 billion arms deal being prepped by the Biden administration, and which has to be approved by the Senate and House committees. Magid says the deal is to ensure that Israel has the arms it needs in the case of any further Iranian attacks.

Magid talks about the appointment of Morgan Ortegus as deputy Middle East envoy, someone who opposes Trump's isolationist approach and therefore Trump didn't offer a ringing endorsement of her appointment.

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

Discussed articles include:

Blinken: We’re very close to hostage deal, it’ll be handed to Trump if not finalized

Blinken: After Oct. 7, I threatened to nix Biden visit if Israel didn’t let aid into Gaza

Biden administration prepping $8 billion arms package for Israel, including heavy bombs

Trump appoints Ortagus as deputy Mideast envoy, but admits he’s not excited about it

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

IMAGE: Demonstrators protest outside the prime minister's Jerusalem residence after the IDF recovered the body of hostage Youssef Ziyadne from a Gaza tunnel, January 8, 2025. (Photo by Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

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