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.

Military reporter Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's show.

Some 240 suspected terror operatives were detained during the operation against Hamas at northern Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital, including the medical center’s director and 15 terrorists who participated in the October 7, 2023, onslaught on southern Israel. Fabian sheds light on the operation, which involved the Navy’s Shayetet 13 commando unit.

Israeli air defenses on Saturday intercepted two rockets fired from Gaza’s Beit Hanoun toward the Jerusalem area, an increasingly rare occurrence after nearly 15 months of war. The IDF said both rockets were successfully intercepted, with no injuries or damage reported. Overnight, Israeli fighter jets struck the launchers used by the Palestinian terrorists. We hear what surprised Fabian about this rocket attack.

Air defenses intercepted a missile fired from Yemen that triggered sirens in the Jerusalem, southern West Bank and Dead Sea areas early Saturday morning, the military said, in the sixth such overnight attack on the center of the country in less than two weeks. Along with Israel's defense array, the Thaad system was used for the second time, after its use early Friday morning. Fabian explains how it complements Israel's air defense systems.

Fabian was deep in the Gaza Strip last week and writes that everything the Israel Defense Forces has established in the Netzarim Corridor is reportedly temporary, "But the reality on the ground in this zone bisecting the Gaza Strip indicates that the IDF will remain here for the foreseeable future." In the second half of the program, we discuss the massive zone and the more than a dozen small military outposts stationed there.

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

Discussed articles include:

IDF completes raid on north Gaza hospital, says some 240 terror suspects arrested

IDF intercepts rare 2 long-range rockets fired from Gaza at Jerusalem area

IDF downs missile from Yemen as sirens blare in Jerusalem, Dead Sea area

In Gaza’s Netzarim Corridor, IDF establishes temporary bases for an indefinite stay

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: Inside an IDF forward operating base in the Netzarim Corridor in the central Gaza Strip, December 26, 2024. (Emanuel Fabian/Times of Israel)

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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.

Stand-up comedian Yochay Sponder joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's show, a bonus episode from our weekly What Matters Now podcast.

After the 2012 Gaza war, comedian Sponder began using his talent to make people laugh as a tool for pro-Israel advocacy in his heavily Hebrew-flavored English. This work has only ramped up since the October 7, 2023, murderous Hamas onslaught, where thousands of terrorists infiltrated southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage to Gaza.

Initially after the attack, Sponder, whose soldier cousin fell in battle on October 7, thought it may be inappropriate to take to the stage and make people laugh. Today, he considers it his reserve duty and Sponder uses his brand of truth-telling to remind the world who started this ongoing war and that Israelis still hope for peace.

With a personal genetic background that would put a Benetton poster to shame, Sponder uses a brusque uber-Israeli persona to counter politically correct norms and spotlight hypocrisy.

Sponder has toured his English-language show, "Self-Loving Jew," extensively this year. In our conversation, he discusses a performance in the United States in which a group of pro-Palestine activists showed up. The result was not what he expected.

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: Stand-up comedian/Israel advocate Yochay Sponder. (Limor Azran Garfinkle)

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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 on today's episode.

In the past several months, Ireland has formally recognized the State of Palestine, it said that it would execute an arrest warrant on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and it also backed South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. So in response to all of this, last week it was announced that for first time, Israel would close an embassy of an EU member state.

Ireland is often considered the most pro-Palestinian country in the EU and public opinion deeply identifies with the Palestinians, which they view as an occupied people. We talk about how Ireland came to this ideology and delve into a period in which the nationalist aspirations of Irish and pre-state Israelis coincided.

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

Discussed articles include:

‘Antisemitic liar’: FM blasts Irish president’s claim Israel wants to settle Egypt

Israel to close its embassy in Dublin due to Ireland’s ‘extreme anti-Israel policy’

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: Ireland's Prime Minister Simon Harris awaits the arrival of Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati at Government Buildings, Tithe an Rialtais, in Dublin, on October 25, 2024. (Paul Faith / 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 on today's episode.

Horovitz discusses ongoing spin regarding ongoing hostage negotiations, more than a year after the release of 105 hostages that took place during a brief pause in fighting last November 2023. It's not clear if it's a truce or ceasefire, says Horovitz, but Israel says it needs to know how many people or who Hamas would be releasing, and mutual recriminations continue without a final deal.

He also discusses how it has become the "semi-norm" for half of Israel to dash for shelter in the middle of the night to avoid incoming rockets from the Houthis in Yemen, and how complicated it is to retaliate to this Iranian-linked organization.

Horovitz reviews his latest op-ed about a new sense of awareness and preparedness of the IDF on the many fronts where it's been fighting, including the unfolding situation in Syria, where it is being extremely wary and doing what it can militarily, to minimize possible future consequences with the new regime.

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

Discussed articles include:

Israel and Hamas accuse each other of foiling hostage-ceasefire deal

IDF probe: Intel on 6 hostages murdered by Hamas was lacking; troops acted carefully

Houthis fire missile at central Israel for 4th night in past week; IDF intercepts it

Houthi drone crashes in south as terror group said to brace for major Israeli attack

Report: Mossad chief believes Israel should target Iran to get at Houthis; PM disagrees

IDF’s prewar complacency replaced by wariness on every front, proactivism where possible

Israel shifts focus to Houthis, but it needs partners to defeat distant foe

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:  Mia Shalom, mother of IDF soldier Almog Shalom who was killed in battle, lights the first Hanukkah candle on his grave at Mount Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem on December 25, 2024. (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.

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

Magid discusses the ongoing hostage negotiations, commenting that if a deal happens, it will probably take place closer to the January 20 inauguration date for President-elect Donald Trump. Magid says that Qatari negotiators are asking the Israeli government to be more flexible in their current mandate, as Hamas seeks assurances that Israel won't return to fighting after the discussed first phase.

Magid reviews some threatening comments made during a podcast interview by Mike Waltz, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for national security advisor. Waltz spoke about punishments and reprisals for those who take US hostages, with an emphasis placed by both Trump and Waltz in recent comments on the American hostages who are held in Gaza.

Magid speaks about an unlikely statement from US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew, who asserted that a new report alleging famine in north Gaza was incorrect, remarking that the data used was outdated. The unexpected statement was possibly a final shot by Lew as an outgoing ambassador, says Magid.

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

Discussed articles include:

Hostage negotiators returning to Israel for ‘internal deliberations,’ says PM’s office

Trump national security pick threatens US hostage-takers with ‘bullet in forehead’

US calls new report asserting famine in north Gaza ‘outdated and inaccurate’

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: Demonstrators dressed as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, right, and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, take part in a performance during a protest against the government and call for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (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.

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

Schneider discusses the ongoing discussion in Israel's defense establishment of changing Israel’s long-range attack systems from the country's use of air power, as seen in retaliatory Israeli strikes against Iran in October and against Yemen this month.

She also reviews the lifting of the gag order on the name of reservist Ari Rosenfeld, the IDF officer charged with transferring classified information in the Prime Minister's Office. Rosenfeld is under arrest, and his lawyer and wife wanted his name publicized to put pressure on the legal establishment.

Surkes examines the net-zero factory created by the founder of the Shoresh sandal empire in northern Israel and his aim to convince other industrialists and Israelis to do the same.

She also talks about the reopening of the Hula nature reserve in Israel's north, closed for 14 months during the Hezbollah rocket attacks from Lebanon and how that affected the birds that migrate in the spring and fall to the area.

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

Discussed articles include:

Amid IDF rethink, some see air-launched missile doctrine moving to more solid ground

‘My Ari does not deserve this treatment’: Wife of suspect in PM’s office document leak scandal calls for his release

After 14 months at risk of Hezbollah attacks, Northern Israel’s Hula Lake Park reopens

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: Security forces at the scene where a ballistic missile fired from Yemen hit a playground in Jaffa on December 21, 2024. (Photo by Avshalom Sassoni/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 Sam Sokol and reporter Diana Bletter join host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's episode.

Recently, attempts are being made to restart the controversial judicial overhaul legislation and last week, Sokol spoke with one of its architects, MK Simcha Rothman. We hear about Rothman’s perspective on why it is needed and in fact protects Israel's democracy.

The Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee will soon begin holding hearings on a proposed bill applying a Basic Law requiring a public referendum for land-for-peace deals to the West Bank and Israeli territorial waters, the Knesset’s right-wing Land of Israel Caucus announced on Wednesday. What is this bill and why do those who proposed it believe it will be passed at this time.

Bletter went to the northern coastal city of Nahariya yesterday to witness how during the ceasefire, hospitals are moving from war footing and out of their bunkers. She brings tales from the maternity ward.

Last week, Bletter visited Haifa to see how residents are -- once again -- celebrating the annual Holiday of Holidays that honors the mixed city's three major religions.

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

Discussed articles include:

MK threatens that judges ‘playing hardball’ will lead to resumption of judicial overhaul

MKs push bill to block West Bank territorial concessions, prevent Palestinian state

After months of Hezbollah rocket attacks, Haifa’s Christians get ready for Christmas

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: An Israeli protests against the government's plans to overhaul the judicial system outside a branch of the United States Embassy in Jerusalem, September 20, 2023. (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.

Military reporter Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's episode.

A ballistic missile launched by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen impacted a playground in south Tel Aviv early Saturday, lightly injuring some 16 in the area. This came days after the Israel Defense Forces carried out intense airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen early Thursday in which 14 fighter jets took part in the operation — along with dozens of support aircraft — dropping some 60 munitions. Fabian unwinds what has gotten through the IDF's defense net and speaks about the successful air operation.

Israeli troops wounded one person after opening fire Friday on demonstrators in southern Syria, with the military saying the soldiers did so to remove “a threat.” We hear where the IDF is currently deployed in and along the Syrian border.

The IDF said its Kfir Brigade has wrapped up an operation against Hamas in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahiya, and the infantry troops have advanced and are now operating in areas west of Beit Hanoun. Fabian updates us on what is happening in the Strip even has international headlines continue to circulate pointing to an imminent ceasefire deal.

The Israel Defense Forces supports strengthening the Palestinian Authority so it can more effectively combat terrorism in the West Bank, military officials said on Thursday, as the PA appears to step up efforts against Hamas and Islamic Jihad. We learn what steps the PA is currently taking, in a departure from previous years, that could point to how it may potentially operate in the Gaza Strip following the war.

Four Israeli civilians were arrested after illegally entering Lebanon on Thursday, reportedly to visit a shrine, as Israeli troops continuing to operate across the border destroyed Hezbollah weapons and rocket launchers, officials said.
The sentence for such a crime could be up to four years in jail. Fabian describes this and similar breaches that we've recently seen.

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

Discussed articles include:

Several interceptors failed to knock down Houthi missile that hit Tel Aviv — IDF probe

Missile fired from Yemen explodes in south Tel Aviv, lightly injuring 16

US strikes Houthi targets in Yemen, takes down drones over Red Sea

After Yemen strikes, Netanyahu says Israel hitting Houthis on behalf of ‘entire world’

Fighter pilots laud precision of operation to strike Yemen: ‘An incredible feeling’

One hurt after IDF opens fire at group protesting Israeli presence in south Syria

IDF orders evacuations in central Gaza amid reports of imminent hostage deal

IDF says it supports bolstering PA forces to combat West Bank terror

Four Israelis detained after entering Lebanon, reportedly to visit rabbi’s tomb

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: Houthi fighters march during a rally of support for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and against the US strikes on Yemen outside Sanaa on January 22, 2024. (AP Photo)

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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 a bonus episode of Welcome to 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 Andrew Fox.

Fox, a research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, served in the British Army from 2005 to 2021, completing three tours in Afghanistan, including one attached to the US Army Special Forces. At the transatlantic think tank, he specializes in Defense, the Middle East, and disinformation. He holds degrees in Law and Politics, Modern War Studies and Psychology.

This week, Fox and a team of researchers published a report that made international headlines titled, "Questionable Counting: Analysing the Death Toll from the Hamas-Run Ministry of Health in Gaza."

According to the report, the Palestinian death toll for the Gaza war appears to include thousands of people who died of natural causes as well as incorrect figures — partly in an effort to inflate the toll of women and children.

Worse, international media outlets are too quick to accept the figures from terror group Hamas -- usually without the scrutiny and rigor that are applied when reporting numbers supplied by Israel. The Hamas-run Health Ministry's figures, the report claims, are being manipulated for propaganda needs.

[caption id="attachment_3442530" align="alignright" width="300"] Andrew Fox, a research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, on a research trip in the Gaza Strip, summer 2024. (courtesy)[/caption]

The Gaza health ministry, under Hamas, “has systematically inflated the death toll by failing to distinguish between civilian and combatant deaths, over-reporting fatalities among women and children and even including individuals who died before the conflict began,” the report said.

We discuss the report and hear Fox's assessment of how the IDF's operations in Gaza have played out, as well as the one arena Israel has neglected -- the fight for world opinion.

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

Discussed articles include:

UK think tank: Gaza death toll inflated to defame Israel for targeting civilians

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: The IDF operates in the southern Gaza Strip's Rafah in this hand out image from December 16, 2024. (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.

Diplomatic reporter Lazar Berman joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's extended Friday episode.

As Israel continues to contend with a war on seven fronts -- primarily through Iran-backed militia proxies -- Berman floats a hypothesis that Israel should turn to its natural allies in the region as well.

We hear about how history has shown that Israeli proxies don't always have the same goals as the Jewish state. We learn about the case of the South Lebanon Army and how things entirely fell apart. And Berman explains how the Kurds -- and potentially the Druze -- could be a long-term strategic answer for Israel's isolated position in the region.

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

Discussed articles include:

After Yemen strikes, Netanyahu says Israel hitting Houthis on behalf of ‘entire world’

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 prime minister Yitzhak Shamir, during his visit to Lebanese General Antoine Lahat (right) leader of the South Lebanese Army on January 26, 1989 in Marjayoun, Lebonon. (AP Photo/Max Nash)

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