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.

Today, we bring you a bonus episode of What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring key issues currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World.

This week, we hand the mic over to Yossi Klein Halevi, a senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute and an author, thinker and writer for The Times of Israel and many other outlets.

Recently, Klein Halevi shared with us his longtime interest in interviewing Rabbi Irving Yitz Greenberg, whom he called one of this generation's most important Jewish theologians.

Greenberg has been a central figure in the creation of a post-Holocaust Jewish identity and in establishing Holocaust commemoration projects like the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. He is a leader in inter-denominational Jewish pluralism and in Jewish-Christian interfaith dialogue.

Now, at age 91, Greenberg has published his magnum opus, “The Triumph of Life,” which, according to Klein Halevi, offers a brilliant and original argument for a new understanding of Judaism.

So this week, we ask both Yossi Klein Halevi and Rabbi Yitz Greenberg, what matters now.

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: Left to right: Author Yossi Klein Halevi. (Shalom Hartman Institute); Rabbi Irving (Yitz) Greenberg. (Courtesy)

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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 Sue Surkes join host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

Sokol discusses this week's surprise dismissal of former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, it's effect on the Likud party and the government coalition as well as the prime minister's continued efforts to appease his ultra-Orthodox coalition partners, regarding the draft evasion bill.

Surkes talks about her visit down south to several Gaza border communities that are trying to rebuild their homes and structures and replace equipment but are hampered by the holdup in compensation funds from the government.

Sokol looks at a series of government bills aimed at fighting terror, including deporting terrorists' relatives, cutting welfare benefits for convicted terrorists and firing teachers who identify with terror.

Surkes talks about climate confab COP29 beginning next week with the Israeli delegation attending under heightened security efforts.

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

Discussed articles include:

Likud clamps down on dissent over Haredi draft bills after Gallant pushed out

In new coalition deal with Likud, Sa’ar relinquishes right to oppose Haredi draft bills

MKs push bill to create new intelligence oversight body under Netanyahu

Despite constitutional concerns, Knesset passes law on deporting terrorists’ relatives

Lawmakers advance bills cutting welfare benefits for convicted terrorists

Knesset passes law allowing government to fire teachers it asserts identify with terror

Buzzed but never drunk: Research shows Oriental hornets defy alcohol’s effects

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 plenum session on the appointment of Israel Katz as Defense Minister and Gideon Sa'ar as Foreign Minister at the assembly hall of the Knesset  on November 8, 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.

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

In the wake of Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election on Tuesday, two settler leaders called for Israel to annex the West Bank, describing the development as a new opportunity to expand Israeli sovereignty to the disputed territory. The demand was also backed by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir. We discuss Israeli perceptions of a new Trump term in comparison to his actions during his previous presidency.

In light of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s ouster on Tuesday evening, Horovitz discusses the new constellation of Israel Katz as defense minister and Gideon Sa’ar as foreign minister and what this means for the increasingly strong push to conscript Haredi men.

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

Discussed articles include:

Two very different comebacks

79% of US Jews voted for Harris, according to largest preliminary exit poll

GOP spokesperson says Trump wants Israel’s wars to end soon, with decisive victory

Two settlement leaders, Ben Gvir call to annex West Bank after Trump victory

In new coalition deal with Likud, Sa’ar relinquishes right to oppose Haredi draft bills

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 billboard that displays a photo of US President-elect Donald Trump and reads 'Congratulations! Trump, make Israel great' is projected a day after the US election, in Tel Aviv, Israel, November 6, 2024. (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.

US bureau chief Jacob Magid and political correspondent Tal Schneider join host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

Schneider discusses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's unexpected Tuesday evening dismissal of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, during the US elections. She examines the presumed political reasons for the dismissal, given Gallant's support for an ultra-Orthodox draft, the issue that has shaken the current government coalition.

Magid looks at the US administration's reactions to the dismissal, which came as a surprise. The initial US reaction was measured, while Magid's follow-up interview with a US official conveyed the administration's dismay and the belief that the prime minister is looking out for his own political survival.

Schneider talks about her conversations with Jewish voters in Philadelphia prior to Election Day, most of them Democrats, while Magid reports from Dearborn, Michigan, where many Arab voters appeared to be voting for Trump because of their disappointment with US President Joe Biden regarding the war in Gaza.

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

Discussed articles include:

Netanyahu fires Gallant, says disagreements, lack of mutual trust helped the enemy

Gallant, after he’s fired, warns Israel is abandoning captives, risks ‘mark of Cain’

US caught off guard, ‘concerned’ by defense minister’s ouster on Election Day

Jewish regent at U of Michigan says Trump not the answer to anti-Israel campus unrest

IMAGE: 'Gallant Night 2' (referring to the intense demonstrations when Gallant was first fired in March 2023) protests at Tel Aviv's Begin Gate on November 5, 2024 (Credit: Roni Shapiro)

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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.

Today is election day in the United States and yesterday, the Israel Democracy Institute released a poll of some 750 Israelis — Jews and Arabs — and asked, “In terms of Israel’s interests, which of the two candidates for the US presidency would be better?” Horovitz weighs in on the response and some of the factors that went into the responses.

The IDF will be sending out another 7,000 draft orders to members of the ultra-Orthodox community next week and as of this morning, we are hearing that the coalition may have lost the votes it needs to pass the controversial so-called Daycare Law being pushed by the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party to preserve subsidies for Haredi draft-evaders. We hear which politicians are dissenting and what this symbolizes.

Investigators suspect that the theft of classified intelligence documents from Israel Defense Forces databases and the transfer of those files to people in the Prime Minister’s Office was “systematic,” and the publication of one such document in foreign media is a source of “ongoing” danger to the lives of both soldiers and hostages in Gaza. Horovitz updates us on new details of the continuing investigation.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly ordered that a “solution” be found for Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara’s “adversarial” relationship with his government, as ministers railed against her office and called for her ouster Monday. We learn how this comment was somewhat pulled back by the prime minister and why.

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

Discussed articles include:

Poll: Some 65% of Israelis believe Trump victory would be best for Israel

Senior Likud MK says he won’t back daycare subsidies bill for Haredi draft-evaders

Theft of sensitive IDF intel, transfer to ‘people at PMO’ was ‘systematic’ – report

Netanyahu demands ‘solution’ to ‘adversarial’ AG as ministers call for her ouster

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: A Haredi man looks at Israeli soldiers gathered at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem, March 14, 2024. (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.

This morning, the Foreign Ministry officially informed the United Nations that Israel is withdrawing from the 1967 agreement recognizing the Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA after the Knesset passed legislation to severely limit the operations of the agency in Israel and in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. We hear about practical implications.

A round of talks between Hamas and Fatah officials in Cairo ended with an agreement to establish a technocratic committee composed of independent Palestinian figures to manage the Gaza Strip, according to an unnamed Hamas source quoted by the Qatari-owned paper Al-Araby al-Jadeed. Berman weighs in on the chances of this agreement coming to fruition.

Eli Feldstein, a spokesperson working with the Prime Minister’s Office, is accused of divulging top-secret information with national security implications to European media outlets, according to a ruling published Sunday evening by Rishon Lezion Magistrate Court head Menahem Mizrahi. The names of three other suspects remain gagged by the court, but it confirmed that they were connected to the defense establishment. Berman examines what we know about the case and how serious the charges are.

Touring the northern border on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that whether via a negotiated settlement or military force, Israel will achieve the conditions it needs to restore security to the area and keep the Hezbollah terror group at bay. Relatedly, we’re hearing that Iran’s president said a potential ceasefire between Israel and its allies Hamas and Hezbollah “could affect the intensity” of Tehran’s threatened attack. Could this added pressure see a ceasefire agreement solidify?

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

Discussed articles include:

Israel informs UN that 1967 agreement recognizing UNRWA is void

PM spokesman Eli Feldstein suspected of leaking intel that may have hurt hostage efforts

Visiting border, PM vows to restore security in north ‘with or without an agreement’

Iran said planning to use more powerful weapons in next attack on Israel

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: Released hostages and their family members seen after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, outside the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, August 23, 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.

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

Top Hamas official Izz al-Din Kassab was killed Friday in an airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip, the IDF and Shin Bet announced. Kasab was one of the last remaining members of Hamas’s political bureau, where he served as head of national relations. Fabian weighs in on how functional Hamas is as an entity in the Gaza Strip right now.

Attack drones have emerged as one of the most potent threats to Israel’s home front since the beginning of the year. Yesterday, an Israel Air Force attack helicopter was filmed intercepting a Hezbollah drone in the Binyamina area, south of Haifa, after the drone set off sirens in area communities. Fabian speaks about how the IDF is adjusting how it takes down drones as the war progresses.

Israeli naval commandos captured a Hezbollah official in a raid in northern Lebanon late Friday, the military confirmed on Saturday night, marking an unusual operation both in its nature and location deep inside the country. We hear about the daring mission and what its goals were.

A reprisal attack from Iran is still on the horizon. We hear what preparations the IDF is taking.

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

Discussed articles include:

Three soldiers killed in north Gaza; IDF says 900 terror operatives dead in Jabalia op

IDF says it killed one of the last remaining Hamas politburo members still in Gaza

130 rockets, 10 drones fired at Israel Saturday; helicopter downs drone south of Haifa

Israeli commandos nab top Hezbollah naval operative in north Lebanon raid

Khamenei threatens Israel and US with ‘a crushing response’ to Israel’s airstrikes

US said to warn Iran it won’t be able to restrain Israel if Tehran attacks 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: A building, left, in Batroun, northern Lebanon, November 2, 2024, where a Hezbollah ship captain was taken away by IDF commandos who landed on a coast north of Beirut. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

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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 What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring key issues currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World. This episode features host Amanda Borschel-Dan speaking with ToI senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur.

The United States is electing its next president on November 5 and according to a poll published this week, Israelis massively favor Republican Donald Trump over Democrat Kamala Harris.

So ahead of next week’s results, we take a closer look at exactly how Israelis are polling, which candidate they favor — and some reasons why. We also learn how the current polling matches previous surveys of Israelis ahead of past US elections and who was actually elected in the end.

We also hear from Rettig Gur, who has been touring Jewish communities over the past week, what concerns he’s gathered about both candidates from the American Jews he’s spoken with.

And finally, we look at the recently published AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey of Americans which, among other things, drills down into the US population’s partisan divide on all things Israel and the Middle East.

So this week, we ask Haviv Rettig Gur, what matters now?

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

Discussed articles include:

Poll shows Israelis massively favor Trump over Harris in US election

Poll: Democrats, Republicans split on Israel’s responsibility for war’s escalation

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: This combination of pictures shows US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris (L) speaking during a Get Out the Vote rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on October 30, 2024; and former US president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaking at a campaign rally at the PPL Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on October 29, 2024. (Angela Weiss/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 on today's episode.

Magid discusses the latest ceasefire negotiations and the US administration's decision to first pursue calm in Lebanon, given the signals received from Hezbollah and the hope that a ceasefire could then spread to Gaza. He also offers an update on the ceasefire and hostage negotiations regarding Gaza, and the complications resulting from Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar's death, which has left a gap in the terrorist group's leadership.

Magid talks about statements made by former US president Donald Trump regarding Gaza if he wins next week's election and comments made by Trump running mate JD Vance regarding US interests vis a vis Iran.

Finally, Magid discusses the deadly IDF strike in Gaza that reportedly killed more than 90 people, including 20 children, and what that could mean regarding the US 30-day deadline for Israel about aid and continued American security assistance.

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

Discussed articles include:

Inverting its approach, US pursues calm in Lebanon that will then spread to Gaza

In warning, Qatar and Egypt tell US hostage talks complicated by killing of Sinwar

Trump told Netanyahu he wants Gaza war over by time he enters office — sources

Vance: US and Israeli interests won’t always overlap; we don’t want war with Iran

US presses Israel to explain ‘horrific’ Gaza strike in which over 20 kids said killed

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: U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein leaves after attending a news conference in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

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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.

Yesterday, Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said he was striving for a ceasefire between Israel and the Hezbollah terror group within the coming days, after a hopeful conversation with US special envoy Amos Hochstein and as reports emerged with details of a US-backed ceasefire proposal. We discuss a leaked draft of the deal and also Berman relays a sense of the Lebanese Armed Forces and their ability to control Hezbollah.

The IDF said yesterday that it is launching a new eastern regional division, a decision made following an examination of the military’s “operational needs and defense capabilities in the area, in accordance with the planning of the IDF’s force build-up." We hear what would be the new division’s purview and how ultra-Orthodox soldiers could be a strategic bolstering force.

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

Discussed articles include:

Lebanese PM says hoping for ceasefire in coming days; US-drafted truce deal leaks

US mediators jet to Israel for talks on 60-day truce with Hezbollah

New Hezbollah chief threatens Netanyahu, but opens door for ceasefire in first speech

IDF announces formation of new division to defend Israel’s border with Jordan

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: Israelis protest in Tel Aviv, calling for equal military service, March 14, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

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