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 for today's episode.

As of this morning, Lebanese residents are still prohibited from moving south to a line of villages and their surroundings until further notice. We talk about what Israeli soldiers are currently doing in Lebanon to enforce the fragile ceasefire.

A series of Israeli strikes on border crossings between Lebanon and Syria just before a ceasefire with Hezbollah took effect Wednesday morning were intended to set back the terror group’s smuggling efforts, while driving home as a stark warning to Damascus that Israel will take severe action to prevent attempts to rearm Hezbollah with Iranian weapons via Syrian territory. Fabian discusses the large-scale smuggling efforts.

The IDF published a summary of its activities against Hezbollah in the past 14 months, including the capture of some 12,000 explosive devices and drones; 13,000 rockets, launchers, and anti-tank and anti-aircraft missile systems; and 121,000 pieces of communications equipment and computers. How degraded is Hezbollah as a fighting force?

The Shin Bet recently foiled an attempt by Iran to smuggle large amounts of advanced weapons, including rockets, to terror operatives in the West Bank for use in attacks on Israeli targets, the security agency revealed Wednesday. Fabian updates us on this foiled attempt and how widespread such efforts may be.

According to a report in The New York Times, Hamas is displaying increased flexibility in long-stalled talks for an elusive ceasefire and hostage deal in the Gaza Strip, and may agree to the Israel Defense Forces temporarily remaining on the enclave’s border with Egypt. Fabian explains how strategic this position is, especially to prevent any rearmament of Hamas.

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

Discussed articles include:

As fresh truce holds, IDF says over 12,500 Hezbollah targets hit in 14 months of war

PM threatens ‘intensive war’ if truce breached, as restrictions end in much of Israel

IDF strikes Hezbollah rocket depot, launch sites after identifying truce violations

Israel warns Syria of ‘direct price’ to pay if it helps Hezbollah rearm

Israel says it nabbed large trove of Iranian arms destined for West Bank attack

Increasingly flexible Hamas said open to temporary IDF presence at Gaza-Egypt border

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 Lebanese returning to their homes inspect the damage in the southern Lebanese village of Tair Debba on November 28, 2024. (Mahmoud Zayyat / 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 Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Yesterday, as the fragile ceasefire began IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari clarified the IDF’s role in its implementation in a press conference and said any Hezbollah violation of the ceasefire agreement “will be answered with fire.” At the same time, many in Israel wonder why a permanent buffer zone wasn't included in the deal, something US envoy Amos Hochstein called a “fantasy.” Magid tells us more.

A US official confirmed to Magid yesterday that the Biden administration is advancing a $680 million weapon package to Israel. Could the package be tied to the claim by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the US has been delaying weapon shipments to Israel?

US President Joe Biden is launching a renewed drive for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal now that Israel and Hezbollah have agreed to a truce in Lebanon, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Wednesday, saying, “President Biden intends to begin that work today by having his envoys engage with Turkey, Qatar, Egypt and other actors in the region.” We discuss the new inclusion of Turkey in the list of potential negotiators.

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

Discussed articles include:

US envoy dismisses ‘fantasy’ of deal that would include IDF buffer zone in Lebanon

IDF warns Lebanon truce violations ‘will be answered with fire’; troops shoot at suspects

US confirms $680m arms sale to Israel, but says it was in works pre-Lebanon deal

Arab mediators: Netanyahu stalling, wrongly thinks Trump will deliver better Gaza 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: Pro-Palestinian demonstrators take part in a rally to condemn the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, at Hagia Sophia Square in Istanbul, on August 3, 2024. (Kemal Aslan/ 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.

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

The ceasefire agreement took effect at 4 am local time and IDF troops are still positioned in some areas of southern Lebanon. The militaries in Israel and Lebanon have warned Lebanese civilians against returning to villages where soldiers are still deployed for now. We discuss how fragile this calm is.

Horovitz outlines what was included in the agreement and what was left out, including a buffer zone, which residents of the north consider crucial.

We compare and contrast how Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden spoke about the ceasefire when announcing it to the world yesterday.

A snap television poll on Tuesday evening found Israelis divided over the framework for a ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah in Lebanon. Among supporters of Netanyahu’s governing coalition, just 20% said they supported the ceasefire deal, while 45% said they opposed it and 35% said they didn’t know. We hear potential reasons why Netanyahu pushed for the ceasefire at this time.

Israeli, Palestinian and American sources and officials believe the loss of Hezbollah support may push the Gazan terror group to soften its demands, breaking a prolonged deadlock in the negotiations. What could change?

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

Discussed articles include:

Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire comes into effect, halting nearly 14 months of fighting

‘Peace is possible’: Announcing Lebanon truce, US insists this time will be different

20% of coalition voters back Lebanon truce, vs. 50% of opposition voters, poll finds

Officials hope Lebanon truce will isolate Hamas, pave way to deal 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: A driver holds up portraits of Hezbollah's slain leaders Hassan Nasrallah and Hashem Safieddine as people return to Beirut’s southern suburbs on November 27, 2024, after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect. (Ibrahim Amro/ AFP)

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IMAGE: An Israeli soldier stands guard behind sandbags in Kibbutz Hanita near Israel's border with Lebanon, November 24, 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.

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

After initial approval of the US-backed ceasefire proposal with Hezbollah in Lebanon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is now working on how to present it to the public. Berman discusses the reported contours of the deal -- and whether Iran will be on board.

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid has presented a plan for a regional commission in Riyadh to, among other goals, end the fighting in Lebanon and Gaza. Part of his plan involves the release of the hostages and a six-month truce, during which an Emirati-Egyptian-Moroccan-PA force would enter Gaza and take over the distribution of humanitarian aid and rebuilding. What are the chances of its success?

A new Channel 12 investigation claims Netanyahu received detailed intelligence in 2014 about Hamas’s plans to invade Israel and on a number of occasions rejected proposals to preemptively assassinate Hamas leaders. Berman weighs in.

Rabbi Zvi Kogan, 28, vanished in Dubai on Thursday, where he ran a kosher grocery store, and his body was discovered yesterday. We hear updates.

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

Discussed articles include:

Israel said to agree in principle to Lebanon ceasefire offer, though some issues remain

Lapid presents wide-ranging peace initiative starting with truces in Gaza and Lebanon

Netanyahu for years declined to kill terror chiefs, downplayed Hamas threat — report

United Arab Emirates arrests three suspects in murder of Chabad rabbi Zvi Kogan

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: View of a house hit from missiles fired by Hezbollah from Lebanon into Metula, on the Israeli border with Lebanon, November 20, 2024. (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.

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

Fabian was in Lebanon last week, where troops have pushed into the “second line of villages,” about 4-5 miles from the border. He describes what he saw and speaks about a briefing he had with a senior Israeli defense official, who told reporters Thursday that there is a substantial chance of Israel reaching a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon.

Five Hamas terrorists who participated in the October 7 onslaught were killed in a recent airstrike in the northern Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces announced on Friday, noting that two were commanders who led the massacre and kidnapping of civilians from the Mefalsim area during the brutal attack. Fabian updates us on what is going on inside Gaza right now, even as winter rains are approaching.

This morning, Defense Minister Israel Katz said he will not approve the promotion of two officers from the IDF Southern Command until their role in the failures of October 7 are investigated. This comes after IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi announced a new round of senior appointments in the military, including 11 new brigadier generals and four new colonels, as well as six brigadier generals and 19 colonels who are moving to new positions at the same rank. We discuss several of the new appointments and some of the pressures on Katz.

Emirati authorities have found the body of Rabbi Zvi Kogan, an emissary to Abu Dhabi’s Chabad chapter missing since Thursday, the Prime Minister’s Office and Foreign Ministry said in a joint statement Sunday. This is a developing story, but Fabian describes what we know so far.

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

Discussed articles include:

Aiming to enable return of displaced Israelis, IDF pushes deeper into south Lebanon

Woman lightly wounded as Hezbollah fires rockets and drones at center, north

Defense official says major chance for Lebanon truce after US envoy visits for talks

IDF says it killed five Hamas terrorists who led Mefalsim area massacres on Oct. 7

Body of slain Chabad rabbi found in UAE; Israel condemns ‘antisemitic act of terror’

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: Lt. Col. Roi Katz, a battalion commander in the 188th Armored Brigade in southern Lebanon, November 20, 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.

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

In a speech today in Istanbul, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan praised the “courageous decision” of the International Criminal Court to seek the arrest of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant. The ICC issued the warrants against the Israeli leaders and Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif on Thursday on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Gaza conflict. We discuss how this as a new line in the sand for Israel-supporting countries.

Yesterday, new Defense Minister Israel Katz announced an end to administrative detention orders for West Bank settlers. Almost on the heels of this announcement, several dozen Jewish extremists in Hebron for an annual pilgrimage tried to attack the head of the IDF Central Command Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth. Five were arrested. Horovitz weighs in on this announcement and other unsettling news regarding settlers this week.

In a highly unusual move, the State Prosecutor’s Office on Friday published a rebuttal to allegations that it has been selectively enforcing the law concerning leaked intelligence information with the grave charges it has brought against Eli Feldstein, a spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and an unnamed IDF reservist, in relation to the leak of a stolen, classified document to German newspaper Bild. A second PMO spokesman, Jonathan Urich, was questioned by the Israel Police’s Lahav 433 major crimes unit for a second time on Wednesday as part of the probe. Horovitz discusses the prosecutor's unusual move to publish a Q&A on the case and raises other outstanding questions surrounding it.

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

Discussed articles include:

UK indicates it could arrest Netanyahu on ICC warrant, as Hungary invites him to visit

Analysts warn ICC arrest warrants could pave way to future arms embargoes on Israel

Defense minister declares end to administrative detention against West Bank settlers

Several dozen Jewish extremists in Hebron try to attack IDF’s top West Bank commander

Troops smuggled settler leader into Gaza to survey settlement options – report

State prosecution posts rare rebuttal of ‘misinformation’ relating to PMO intel leak case

Report: Netanyahu adviser Urich questioned for second time in document leak case

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: Undated photo of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, the Netherlands. (Oliver de la Haye/iStock)

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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 first discusses the legal bombshell of the International Criminal Court's decision Thursday to issue arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The prime minister has stated that he won't comply, but Magid points out that there are countries abroad that would comply and whose recognition matters to Israel.

Magid also looks at the recent Senate vote, in which more Democrats supported efforts to withhold aid against Israel, and he points out that several Democrats who are not usually part of that progressive camp also voted for it.

He talks about the UN Security Council measure calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the US veto because the measure did not couple the truce with the immediate release of all remaining hostages.

Finally, Magid turns to Netanyahu aide Eli Feldstein who may face a life term for allegedly transferring information to the German Bild newspaper, to skew the public debate over the hostage negotiations at a time when the public was turning against Netanyahu and his government.

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

Discussed articles include:

US ‘fundamentally rejects’ ICC warrants, says it’s working with Israel on next steps

World split over Netanyahu, Gallant arrest warrants, as some in EU vow to uphold them

Israel breathes small sigh of relief after most US Senate Democrats back arms transfers

Senate motions blocking arms sales to Israel fail, but pick up Democrat support

US vetoes Gaza ceasefire resolution at UN as it didn’t condition truce on hostages’ release

Netanyahu aide charged with harming state security in leaked document case, could face life term

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 in the Knesset on November 13, 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.

Legal reporter Jeremy Sharon and environment reporter Sue Surkes join host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Last night, some 150 right-wing activists rally outside the Tel Aviv home of Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara to demand her ouster. These protesters arrived after roughly twice as many people began protesting in support of the attorney general. Baharav-Miara has frequently clashed with members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government, and disagreements have increased amid ongoing investigations into the premier’s staff. Sharon explains what the most recent controversies include.

Surkes returned earlier this week from Baku, Azerbaijan, where she attended a large chunk of the annual United Nations COP (Conference of the Parties) confab — better known as COP29. It kicked off on November 11 and will end on Friday. We discuss what the conference is meant to accomplish versus the cognitive dissonance she found on the ground.

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

Discussed articles include:

Ministers rage at ‘anarchist’ AG, with one implying she’s trying to ‘kill’ Netanyahu

Cabinet okays forced retirement for government legal advisers, ignoring AG criticism

Labor minister agrees to court-proposed compromise on Haredi daycare subsidies

At the third UN climate confab to be held in a petrostate, fact and fantasy collide

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: Activists participate in a demonstration for transforming food systems at the COP29 UN Climate Summit, November 19, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

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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.

The UN Security Council is slated to vote on a resolution demanding “an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” in Gaza. This time, there is also the demand for the “immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.” Rettig Gur weighs in on what the chances are of its passage — and whether it is of any significance.

After a meeting with Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, an ally of Hezbollah, Special Envoy Amos Hochstein said, “I came back [to Lebanon] because we have a real opportunity to bring this conflict to an end,” adding that gaps between the sides had been “significantly narrowed” in the talks Tuesday. Berri said the “situation is good in principle,” though some unresolved technical details remain. Why aren't we hearing such optimism from Israel?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited an Israeli military position in the Gaza Strip and reiterated an offer to lavishly pay Gazans who turn over Israeli hostages, upping the reward to $5 million for each captive, after previously suggesting Israel would pay “several million” for their recovery. Rettig Gur dives into what else the premier was setting out to accomplish.

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

Discussed articles include:

UNSC to vote on resolution demanding immediate Gaza ceasefire, freeing of hostages

US envoy says Lebanon ceasefire ‘within grasp’ as soldier killed in drone strike

Touring Gaza, PM vows Hamas won’t return to power, offers $5 million for hostages

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 visits the Netzarim Corridor in the central Gaza Strip on November 19, 2024. (Maayan Toaf/GPO)

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