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 hosted by deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan.

Shortly after October 7, when the murderous Hamas onslaught on southern Israel sparked the war in Gaza, Israel was pulled into defending itself and fighting Iran or its proxies on seven fronts: Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, the West Bank and, of course, Iran.

But there is an eighth front that has emerged and is no less pernicious: the battle for public opinion and legitimacy.

Since war broke out, Israel advocate Aviva Klompas has used her robust social media platforms to provide a counter to the onslaught of anti-Israel hate.

As co-founder and CEO of Boundless, Aviva says she aims to reshape Israel education and confront antisemitism head-on. This war is affording her a great opportunity. We speak about this advocacy work and her new book, “Stand-Up Nation.”

So this week we ask Aviva Klompas, what matters now.

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: Author and Israel advocate Aviva Klompas. (Zev Fisher)

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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.

It’s been one year since October 7, 2023. To honor this day, we’ve produced "October’s Wake," a podcast mini-series, exclusively for ToI Community members.

In this first episode, host Amanda Borschel-Dan brings together editor David Horovitz, senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur and diplomatic reporter Lazar Berman to answer your questions on the major issues from all fronts of the war — both in Israel and abroad.

We zoom out and discuss how Israelis live with the knowledge that their homeland was invaded, and whether rallies in support of hostage families have helped torpedo a release deal. We hear whether Israel has a grand vision and possible ways to end the cycle of Iranian proxy warfare. And finally, we learn, what, if anything, gives these journalists hope.

To hear the other two episodes, "October’s Wake: The waging of war" and "October’s Wake: The political quagmire" please join The Times of Israel Community.

As a member of the ToI Community, you will have access to "October’s Wake" and other exclusive content that enable critical discussions about the future of Israel and its people. Your support helps us continue delivering quality journalism and insightful content.

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 Zev Levi.

 

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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 reviews the nearly one-hour-long call held between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden on Wednesday, about Israel's plans to attack Iran, although that was only discussed briefly. He discusses the US "walking away" from its initial push for a 21-day ceasefire with Hezbollah, and US support of IDF raids into Lebanon.

Magid looks at the clear frustrations the US administration has with Netanyahu, the continuing lack of a ceasefire and negotiations, and the blame game with the Israeli leader as well as Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

He also discusses comments made by former Biden aide Andrew Miller about how Israel approaches military actions in civilian areas, how the US administration had to change its approach in influencing Israel and the ongoing war, and the need to plan for the day after in Gaza.

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

Discussed articles include:

One year since Oct. 7, US resigned to limits of its influence over Netanyahu

US official: Sinwar likely alive in Gaza tunnel ‘with hostages in his vicinity’

Ex-Biden aide claims Israel has more tolerance for causing civilian casualties than US

Biden and Netanyahu hold ‘direct and productive’ call in wake of Iranian attack

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: This combination image shows, from left; President Joe Biden, on March 12, 2020, in Wilmington, Del., and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Oct. 28, 2023, in Tel Aviv, Israel. (AP Photo, 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 on today's episode.

According to a Channel 12 news report on Tuesday night, the United States and Arab states have launched covert talks with Iran for a comprehensive ceasefire aimed at calming all war fronts at once. Berman discusses what influence Iran may still have with its proxies.

Ahead of the planned phone call between President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today, the apparently unease between the two leaders was writ large in headlines about an upcoming book by US journalist Bob Woodward. They haven’t spoken for over 50 days and last night the Defense Ministry on Tuesday informed the Pentagon that it is postponing Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s planned trip to the United States -- reportedly because the two leaders have not yet spoken. Berman weighs in.

Netanyahu seemed to confirm on Tuesday evening that Israel had successfully assassinated projected new Hezbollah leader Hashem Safieddine, who was targeted in an airstrike in Beirut last Thursday, and claimed Israel has also killed the next in line for the job, however the IDF’s follow up statement was much less conclusive. Berman parses this out.

During a press conference in Jerusalem on Monday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot doubled down on French President Emmanuel Macron’s call last week for a partial arms embargo on Israel. Berman gives context and historical background to this new statement.

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

Discussed articles include:

Hezbollah rains rockets on Haifa as deputy leader claims capabilities intact

US and Arab states reportedly in talks with Iran for ceasefire on all war fronts

Netanyahu and Biden expected to hold call on Iran Wednesday after weeks of silence

Biden said to call Netanyahu ‘a f**king liar’ after Israeli troops entered Rafah

Netanyahu: Israel killed ‘Nasrallah’s replacement, and his replacement’s replacement’

Gallant’s trip to US delayed, reportedly after Netanyahu sets last-minute obstacles

French FM backs Macron’s calls for arms ban, argues it’s for Israel’s security

Macron speaks with Netanyahu, but doesn’t retract his call for arms embargo

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

IMAGE: IDF forces on the ground in southern Lebanon, October 9, 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.

Editor David Horovitz and culture editor Jessica Steinberg join host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's episode.

The UN special coordinator for Lebanon and the head of the peacekeeping force deployed along the border with Israel said this morning that a negotiated solution is the only way to restore stability. They added that Hezbollah’s attacks starting on October 8, 2023, were in violation of the UN Security Council resolution that ended the 34-day Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006. Horovitz weighs in on whether Israel currently believes the path of diplomacy is still viable.

This morning, former prime minister Naftali Bennett called for Israel to strike the Iranian nuclear program which, he said, “casts a dark shadow over our futures,” amid reports military or intelligence targets could be hit in response to Tehran’s ballistic missile attack last week. Horovitz explores Bennett's motivations and discusses the current window of opportunity. 

Steinberg reports on yesterday's commemoration ceremonies and discusses what the "alternative" and "official" productions show about Israeli society and its healing process. 

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

Discussed articles include:

On anniversary of start of Hezbollah attacks on Israel, UN officials call for diplomatic solution

Bennett urges Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear program: ‘A one-time window of opportunity’

At separate memorials, families demand accountability as PM touts Israeli ‘strength’

‘We will rise from the ruins’: A bereaved audience pays homage on Oct. 7 anniversary

Still under fire, Israel remembers Oct. 7 victims while grappling with ongoing nightmare

Paramedic Amit Mann, 22: Sacrificed herself to protect patients

Guy Illouz, 26: Soundman for Hayehudim with ‘a huge heart’

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

IMAGE: Kibbutz Beeri residents take part in a march and a ceremony marking one year since Hamas's October 7 massacre in Kibbutz Beeri and other locations in southern Israel, October 7, 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 on today's episode.

Incoming rocket sirens sounded in central Israel following rocket fire from the Gaza Strip. The alerts are activated in some areas of Tel Aviv, as well as Holon, Rishon Lezion, Bat Yam, and other central towns. At the same time, the IDF said it thwarted a large barrage of rockets Hamas planned to launch at Israel this morning on the anniversary of the October 7 massacre. We hear what came out of the Strip this morning.

Yesterday, the Israel Defense Forces said that troops had encircled Jabaliya amid a new ground operation targeting efforts by Hamas to reestablish itself in northern Gaza. Fabian speaks of other new developments in the Strip.

Five people were wounded in Haifa on Sunday when Israel’s air defenses failed to intercept a barrage of five rockets launched from Lebanon, allowing at least one rocket to strike a busy urban area. What do we know about the air defense failure?

The IDF announced that its 91st “Galilee” Regional Division began ground operations last night in southern Lebanon, joining two other divisions already operating there against Hezbollah. We hear about the ground operation and the airstrikes being conducted in tandem.

A Border Police officer was killed and at least 10 others were wounded when a terrorist opened fire in the Beersheba bus station on Sunday afternoon. The victim was identified as Sgt. Shira Suslik, 19, a Border Police officer from Beersheba. Fabian talks about the site of the attack and its history.

As the country marked one year since the onset of the war on October 7, 2023, the Israel Defense Forces on Monday published new data on its operations in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and Lebanon, from the number of rockets fired at Israel to the number of sites struck by the Israeli Air Force. Fabian brings highlights.

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

Discussed articles include:

IDF launches new ground op in north Gaza’s Jabaliya to foil Hamas efforts to regroup

IDF preparing for possible long-range rocket attacks from Gaza on Oct. 7 anniversary

Five injured in Haifa after air defenses fail to intercept Hezbollah rocket barrage

Border cop killed, 10 wounded in terror shooting attack at Beersheba central bus station

IDF says hostage Idan Shtivi was declared dead based on new intelligence

A year of war: IDF data shows 728 troops killed, over 26,000 rockets fired at 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 Ben Wallick.

IMAGE: Israelis hold hands at Dizengoff Square in Tel Aviv, next to photographs of Israelis killed in the October 7 massacre, on the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attack, October 7, 2024. (Tomer Neubergi/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 legal affairs reporter Jeremy Sharon join host Jessica Steinberg on today's episode.

Sokol discusses the latest brouhaha with Transportation Minister Miri Regev, as reservists called up for duty over the holiday lacked public transportation during the Rosh Hashanah holiday, a year into the ongoing war.

Sokol also reviews the first week at work for Minister without Portfolio Gideon Sa'ar, once the prime minister's foe on the right, now part of his inner circle.

Sharon looks at the latest with Justice Minister Yariv Levin, as he endeavors to drag out the appointment of a left-leaning Supreme Court president by imposing candidacies on all standing justices.

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

Discussed articles include:

Shutdown of public transport hampers reservists called up over long holiday weekend

Israel seeks to reverse EU’s advice to avoid its skies as foreign carriers nix flights

As he officially rejoins government, Sa’ar blasts opposition for ‘living in Oct. 6’

Vogelman retires as Supreme Court president in shadow of severe judiciary-gov’t clash

Judiciary adviser: Levin’s tactic to delay Supreme Court president vote ‘ridiculous’

10 Supreme Court justices seek to retract their imposed candidacies for president

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

IMAGE: Israeli soldiers near Israel's northern border with Lebanon on October 2, 2024 (Photo by Ayal Margolin/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.

Those We Have Lost project coordinator Amy Spiro joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's episode.

Today, we’re dedicating the daily podcast’s time to stories of civilians and soldiers who have fallen since October 7. We’ve each chosen 9 individuals to focus on and we’ll explain why they moved us.

We also hear updates from Spiro on how many of the over 1,600 individuals who were killed on or after October 7 during this war with Hamas and Hezbollah that we have been able to write memorials for.

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

Discussed articles include:

Cpt. Alina Pravosudova, 23: ‘Gingit’ loved ballet, volunteered for MDA

Staff Sgt. Omri Peretz, 20: Squad commander ‘surrounded by friends’

Sujith Nissanka, 48: Dedicated Sri Lankan carer slain with his patient

Mayana and Noah Hershkovitz, 65 & 68: Couple shared a love of art

Sivan Shaarbany, 21: Curly-haired partygoer who loved salt & pepper

Alon Toledano, 54: Sensitive man who aimed to help others

Ilan Fiorentino, 38: Kibbutz security chief who was a ‘200% dad’

Ronen Daichman, 49: Physics teacher was ‘the coolest guy in the school’

Chief Supt. Martin Kyzmickas, 46: Cop who had ‘warrior blood’

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: Family and friends of Israeli soldier Captain Eitan Itzhak Oster attend his funeral at the Mount Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem on October 2, 2024. (Oren Ben Hakoon/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 on today's episode.

The IDF is calling on Lebanese civilians in 37 villages and towns in southern Lebanon to evacuate immediately, and head north of the Awali River. The overnight heavy airstrikes in Beirut targeted Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters, according to the IDF. We begin with the tragic incidents in which 6 members of the elite Egoz unit, two Golani soldiers and one paratrooper were killed inside Lebanon.

As rocket sirens continue to sound all along Israel’s north, some 100 Hezbollah operatives have been killed during Israeli operations in southern Lebanon in the past day, according to IDF assessments. Fabian fills us in about the potential targeting of former Hezbollah head Hassan Nasrallah’s successor and other operations in the north.

The head of a Hamas terror network in Tulkarem, along with several other operatives, were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the West Bank this evening. According to the military, the airstrike carried out by a fighter jet in Tulkarem targeted Zahi Yaser Abd al-Razeq Oufi, a top Hamas commander in Tulkarem who was planning a terror attack “in the immediate time frame.” Fabian weighs in.

Senior Hamas official Rawhi Mushtaha, the de facto prime minister of the Gaza Strip, was killed in an Israeli strike several months ago, as well as two other high ranking Hamas operatives, the IDF and Shin Bet said Thursday. Likewise, the security forces said in a statement Thursday that they had killed Aziz Salha, a Palestinian man infamous for his role in the lynching of two Israeli soldiers in Ramallah in 2000, in an airstrike in Gaza. Fabian explains who these men were and how significant.

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

Discussed articles include:

Nasrallah’s presumed successor said to be target of heavy Israeli strike in Beirut

Officer killed in Lebanon; strike hits Hezbollah commander behind rocket attack on kids

In first fatalities of Lebanon ground op, 8 IDF soldiers killed in battles with Hezbollah

At least 18 said killed in Tulkarem airstrike on head of local Hamas terror network

IDF says it killed Hamas de facto PM – Sinwar’s right-hand man – in strike 3 months ago

Palestinian infamous for 2000 lynching of soldiers in Ramallah killed in Gaza strike

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

IMAGE: Troops of the 188th Armored Brigade are seen operating in southern Lebanon, in handout image published October 4, 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.

Senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's episode.

For nearly a year, Israel has been forced to fight a war on seven fronts: against Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza; Hezbollah in Lebanon; the Houthis in Yemen; various Iran-backed militias in Iraq, and also in Syria; against Iranian efforts to arm Palestinian militants in the West Bank; and against Iran itself, which first attacked Israel in April and then again on Tuesday night.

Rettig Gur examines how Israel has moved to a more offensive position this week, and how far it may go before the United States's bear hug becomes a restraint.

And to close out this holiday episode, Rettig Gur speaks about what makes the Jewish New Year different from every other major holiday.

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

Discussed articles include:

Biden: US opposes Israel hitting Iran nuclear sites, response should be ‘proportional’

A nervous Iran wanted to restore old regional order, but Israel is on the offensive

Iranian regime’s missile assault underlines that Israel, with US, must expedite its demise

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 Podwaves.

IMAGE: Israelis stand on top of the remains of an Iranian missile in the Negev desert near Arad, on October 2, 2024, in the aftermath of an Iranian missile attack on Israel. (Menahem KAHANA / AFP)

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