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 reporter Lazar Berman joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's Daily Briefing podcast.

Israeli Air Force fighter jets on Sunday struck dozens of targets across Syria, taking out weaponry that Israel feared could fall into the hands of hostile forces in light of the dramatic fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime some two weeks into a lightning offensive by rebel groups. Also on Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces seized control of a buffer zone between the Israel-Syria border in the Golan Heights, in what it described as a temporary defensive measure. We discuss why we have a buffer zone with Syria, when it was established and the legal standing of the Golan Heights.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday claimed credit for starting the chain of events that led to the sudden fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, hailing it as an “historic day.” According to Berman, "Seeing that Hezbollah and Iran were exhausted and that Russia was stretched to the limit in Ukraine, Syrian rebels poured out of their statelet in the northwest, driving south until they took the capital." He explains some of the scenarios of what may happen next.

On Sunday night, Netanyahu told the family members of hostages held in Gaza that the regime change in Syria could help advance a deal, while US President-elect Donald Trump said he did not believe there were many captives left alive. This morning, it was reported that mediated negotiations between Israel and Palestinian terror group Hamas to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip have advanced to the point where the sides are discussing lists of those who would be released. Berman updates.

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

Discussed articles include:

Sinwar’s ‘Al-Aqsa Flood’ washed Iran’s axis away, but new groups could reach Israel

As Assad falls, Israeli jets destroy his deadly arsenals before they fall to rebels

Netanyahu claims credit for starting ‘historic’ process that led to fall of Assad regime

Netanyahu tells hostage families fall of Assad regime could advance negotiations

Israel and Hamas exchange lists of names for release as talks advance – report

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: Troops of the elite Shaldag unit are seen on the Syrian side of Mount Hermon, December 8, 2024. (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.

Arab Affairs correspondent Gianluca Pacchiani and Jewish World reporter Zev Stub join host Jessica Steinberg for today's Daily Briefing podcast.

Pacchiani reviews the latest in the stunning takeover in Syria by rebel forces followed by celebrations in the streets of Damascus as the Assad family appears to have fled the country. He discusses the Russian, Kurdish and Turkish strongholds in the country, the Islamic tone of the rebel forces and what that could mean in the country's new political reality.

Stub discusses the details of the early Friday morning arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue, the reactions within the Jewish community and the eventual designation of the fire as a terrorist attack by the Australian government.

Steinberg briefly discusses the latest in the Hamas hostages and the release of a video of hostage Matan Zangauker on Saturday. Zangauker's mother, Einav Zangauker, has emerged as one of the most vocal anti-government voices in the ongoing hostage situation.

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

Discussed articles include:

Rebels declare Damascus captured in stunning end to Assad family rule in Syria

Syria rebels take areas near Israel border; IDF warns them not to ‘turn in our direction’

Syrian rebel commander urges Israel to support uprising, strike Iran-backed forces

Who are the rebels battering Syria’s regime, and do they pose a risk to Israel?

Australia rebuffs Netanyahu’s claim synagogue arson due to ‘anti-Israel’ government

Police hunt 2 suspects in devastating arson attack on Melbourne’s Addas Israel synagogue

Hamas video shows Gaza hostage Zangauker for first time as thousands rally for deal

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 soldiers near the Israeli border with Syria on December 8, 2024 (Photo by David Cohen/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.

In today's episode, ToI senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for a special bonus episode of our weekly What Matters Now podcast.

Former Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, an Iranian career diplomat who participated in the previous round of nuclear talks, has been Iran's vice president for strategic affairs since August. In that role, he wrote an op-ed in the bimonthly Foreign Affairs journal. The century-old magazine focuses on international relations and policy and can serve as a platform to float ideas and hear reasoned responses.

In Zarif's article, "How Iran Sees the Path to Peace," among the arguments raised was the idea of a "referendum" voting on the governance of the territory that largely includes the Jewish state.

"Iran can continue to play a constructive role in ending the current humanitarian nightmare in Gaza and work with the international community to pursue a lasting and democratic solution to the conflict," writes Zarif.

"Iran will agree to any solution acceptable to Palestinians, but our government believes that the best way out of this century-long ordeal would be a referendum in which everyone living between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea — Muslims, Christians, and Jews — and Palestinians driven to diaspora in the twentieth century (along with their descendants) would be able to determine a viable future system of governance. This is in line with international law and would build on the success of South Africa, where an apartheid system was transformed into a viable democratic state."

To Rettig Gur, Zarif's op-ed -- filled with posturing and warnings to the Western world -- is a sign of Iran's faltering regime and he explains why.

So this week, we discuss this new era of Iranian potential weakness and how the West needs to handle it wisely, as Haviv Rettig Gur weighs in on what matters now.

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

Discussed articles include:

IAEA chief: Iran poised to ‘dramatically’ increase stockpile of near weapons-grade uranium

US deepens sanctions on Iranian oil as smuggling said to rake in billions for Tehran

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: Masoud Pezeshkian, center, flashes a victory sign after casting his vote in Iran's presidential election as he is accompanied by former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, left, at a polling station in Shahr-e-Qods near Tehran, Iran, July 5, 2024. (AP/Vahid Salemi)

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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, recorded in our Jerusalem offices. We’re doing something different today and Berman and Borschel-Dan have an informal conversation about a mid-November report that Pope Francis has called for an investigation to determine if Israel’s attacks in Gaza constitute genocide.

These remarks were included in a new book celebrating the pontiff’s jubilee year and they marked the first time that Francis has openly urged for an investigation of genocide allegations over Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip.

The revolution in ties between the Catholic Church and Jews began with a brief document -- Nostra Aetate -- issued on October 28, 1965, by more than 1700 Catholic bishops gathered in Rome for the Second Vatican Council. We speak about what this document states and what it represents.

We learn about the relationship between the Catholic Church and Israel -- and the Jewish people writ large -- and how it has evolved from accusations of Jews as Christ-killers to a relatively Golden Age. Lately, however, observers wonder if remarks made by Pope Francis and others could mark a turning point.

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

Discussed articles include:

Pope calls for probe into whether Israel is committing ‘genocide’ in 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: Pope Francis waves as he arrives for his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at The Vatican, December 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

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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.

US President-elect Donald Trump on Monday threatened those holding hostages in the Middle East with unprecedented American firepower if they are not released by the time he enters office on January 20.
The latest warning was posted on Truth Social came two days after Hamas released a propaganda video showing American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander pleading with the president-elect to secure his release and hours after the IDF revealed that another American-Israeli hostage — Omer Neutra — was killed during Hamas’s October 7 onslaught and that his body is being held in Gaza. We discuss what efforts have not yet been brought to the table and how Neutra's death was covered in US media.

Israel’s Channel 12 reported yesterday that an Israeli delegation will travel to Cairo early next week after Egypt has put together a new multi-stage hostage deal proposal. Also, earlier in the week, we heard that the Palestinian terror group Hamas and the Palestinian Authority’s Fatah party have agreed to create a committee to jointly administer postwar Gaza. Magid weighs in whether this new alliance could be enough to give Hamas the lifeline it needs to claim post-war victory.

US President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday announced the appointment of his Lebanese-American in-law Massad Boulos to be his senior adviser on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs. Boulos will likely work alongside Steve Witkoff, who Trump last month appointed as his special envoy for the Middle East to work on expanding the Abraham Accords that he brokered at the end of his first term. Are these the right men for the job?

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

Discussed articles include:

Trump warns there will be ‘all hell to pay’ if hostages aren’t released by Jan. 20

Slain Israeli-American hostage remembered as ‘hero of Israel’ at NY memorial service

Fatah, Hamas agree to form committee to run postwar Gaza

Trump says Lebanese-American in-law will be senior aide on Arab and Mideast affairs

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: Campaigning for a second term, former US President Donald Trump speaks before prominent Jewish donors at an event titled 'Fighting Antisemitism in America' at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill, Washington DC, September 19, 2024. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images via JTA)

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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.

Arab Affairs correspondent Gianluca Pacchiani and environmental reporter Sue Surkes join host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

Pacchiani reviews the reactions from Lebanese Shiites following the temporary ceasefire with Hezbollah, and how the Iran-backed terrorist organization will presumably lay low after being battered during the last months of the war with the IDF.

He also looks at rebel groups in northwestern Syria fighting the weakened regime of the Bashar Al Assad regime. The rebel forces, who are against Hezbollah, hope that Israel will strike Iranian convoys and Hezbollah forces inside Syria, aiding their cause.

Surkes discusses the weak climate bill that's being pushed through the Knesset, a piece of legislation that lacks targets, has no budget and won't serve as a tool in petitioning the government on climate targets.

She also looks at a Greenpeace Israel project that tracked used clothing by using AirTags, and found that the used textiles ended up mostly in the West Bank and Africa, where they were primarily dumped or turned into rags.

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

Discussed articles include:

Lebanon’s Shiites increasingly reject role of scapegoat in Hezbollah’s war on Israel

Who are the rebels battering Syria’s regime, and do they pose a risk to Israel?

Most used clothes deposited in textile recycling bins end up in Africa — report

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: Children take part in recycling and environmental activities in southern Tel Aviv, November 28, 2024 (Photo by Dor Pazuelo/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 episode.

The Israeli military launched a wave of airstrikes in Lebanon on Monday evening after Hezbollah fired two mortars at the Mount Dov area for the first time since the ceasefire went into effect last week. Fabian will tells us what’s happening on the ground as well as efforts to stop Iranian weapons shipments bound for Hezbollah — including the Israel Air Force making a plane turn back to Tehran.

Fourteen months after Hamas’s terror onslaught on October 7, 2023, the Israel Defense Forces confirmed that Cpt. Omer Maxim Neutra, 21, was killed during the attack and his body was being held hostage in the Gaza Strip. We hear of a new kind of evidence may have allowed the IDF to draw this conclusion.

The Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) says that some 780 aid trucks are awaiting pickup on the Gazan side of the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip, after just 43 were collected yesterday by international organizations. We hear what the current holdup is — and what may be a solution.

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

Discussed articles include:

IDF launches wave of strikes in Lebanon after Hezbollah mortar attack

Israeli jets block Iranian plane suspected of ferrying arms to Hezbollah over Syria

IDF says US-Israeli hostage Cpt. Omer Neutra killed on Oct. 7 and his body held in Gaza

Fatah, Hamas agree to form committee to run postwar 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: A view of south Lebanon from a destroyed home in Kibbutz Manara, November 27, 2024. (Eli Katzoff)

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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 health editor Diana Bletter join host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

Schneider discusses the latest in the hostage talks as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seems to be showing a growing interest in connecting with hostage families and discussing negotiations, possibly as a result of incoming President-elect Donald Trump.

She also looks at the visit of Housing and Construction Minister Yitzchak Goldknopf to sites in the Gaza Strip where he says he wants to reestablish Jewish settlements, and why an ultra-Orthodox Knesset minister would involve himself in that political storm.

Bletter speaks about her visits in the last week to several northern communities and cities that were devastated by the last 14 months of war with Hezbollah in Lebanon, and what residents who were visiting their homes or stayed in the north have to say about the temporary ceasefire.

Bletter also looks at Tel Aviv University research that could be promising in terms of treatment for aspects of a certain type of autism.

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

Discussed articles include:

Netanyahu convenes discussion on hostage negotiations with new ceasefire push

Top Likud minister said to support ousting Netanyahu in talk with hostage relatives

Touring Gaza border region, senior Haredi minister calls to resettle the Strip

In northern border town of Shlomi, a wary trickle home in the shadow of a fragile ceasefire

Northern evacuees question whether a ceasefire deal is enough to see them home

Israeli study finds gene mutation that may cause some autism, possibly enabling treatment

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: Minister of Construction and Housing Yitzchak Goldknopf at the Knesset on November 11, 2024 (Photo by 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.

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

As the fragile ceasefire in Lebanon continues to basically hold, this morning, Iran’s top diplomat Abbas Araghchi said he will leave Tehran for Damascus to deliver a message of support for Syria’s government and armed forces after a lightning advance by rebels. Berman breaks down the Syrian rebellion, part two, and the potential spillover ramifications for Israel.

Iran sees the days-old ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah as a chance to rebuild the Lebanon-based terror organization, as well as its welfare and political wings. Berman weighs in.

The Hamas terror group on Saturday released a propaganda video showing signs of life from hostage Edan Alexander, 20, in the first video of its kind in months. Also yesterday, Hamas said it was open to discussing “all ideas and proposals,” a senior official from the Palestinian terror group told AFP, as representatives arrived in Cairo on Saturday for talks with Egyptian negotiators on a possible hostage-ceasefire deal in Gaza. We hear about other remarks of this nature and what they may signify.

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

Discussed articles include:

Syrian military says dozens of soldiers killed in major Islamist attack on Aleppo

Iran ‘firmly supports’ Assad as top envoy travels to Damascus after rebel attacks

Iran sees ceasefire as a chance to take stock and rebuild Hezbollah – report

Hamas says open to ‘all ideas and proposals’ ahead of hostage-truce talks in Cairo

In Hamas propaganda video, hostage Edan Alexander pleads with Trump to push for deal

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: Anti-government fighters pose for a picture on a tank on the road leading to Maaret al-Numan in Syria's northwestern Idlib province on November 30, 2024. (Muhammad Haj Kadour / 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 blogger Tuvia Book joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's bonus What Matters Now episode.

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.

Tuvia Book was honorably discharged as a combat medic in the Israel Defense Forces following the 2006 Second Lebanon War. Like most Israeli reservists, however, he stashed a uniform in his basement, "just in case."

That emergency occurred on October 7, 2023, when Book, learning of the Hamas murderous onslaught on southern Israel, pulled out that uniform and, hearing a rumor that some units based in the south were lacking combat medics, packed his car and drove. He arrived, without enlistment papers and no longer registered in the draconian IDF bureaucracy.

He was accepted into the Palmar Asaf Medical Extraction Unit and fought his way back into the IDF system.

Book, who in "real life" is a Times of Israel blogger, a tour guide, author and Jewish educator," has served in the reserves for the past 12 out of 14 months of war.

At the end of November, the Medical Corps reported that some 5,300 wounded soldiers had been treated amid the ground offensive in the Gaza Strip and another 700 in Lebanon.

Book describes his unique reservists unit, and how a combination of speed, professionalism and technology is resulting in a vastly lower case fatality rate — the proportion of wounded who end up dying -- than in any previous war.

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: Reservist Tuvia Book, a combat medic in the Palmar Asaf Medical Extraction Unit, on a Gazan beach, 2024. (courtesy)

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