Hi Daily Briefing listeners, welcome to our second episode of What Matters Now, a new weekly podcast exploration into one key issue shaping Israel and the Jewish World — right now.

In a rare moment of agreement, Israeli media from all sides of the political spectrum is closely following the proposed legislation for judicial overhauls — some of which will have their first preliminary votes early next week.

And while almost everyone seems to agree that there is a need for a judicial overhaul, many ask, why so extreme and why so fast?

For weeks we've reported on protests in the street, sharp rebukes from legal experts, and businessmen threatening to take their money elsewhere. The President of Israel Isaac Herzog waded in and asked legislators for a pause for reconsideration and potential compromise.

But one who doesn't think the overhaul is all that radical is the Member of Knesset who wrote the bills that are being determinedly pushed through, Simcha Rothman from the Religious Zionism party.

For the past decade, Rothman, a lawyer by training, has worked towards this legislation through his advocacy work at Meshilut, the Movement for Governability and Democracy. A fixture in the halls of the Knesset, Rothman has written books and lobbied for what he terms a stronger democracy -- through a rebalancing of power from the Supreme Court to the Knesset.

A member of Knesset since 2021, Rothman is clearly one of the most driven lawmakers in the new coalition. As the chair of the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, he is fast-tracking these first points of reform, which include judicial appointments, curbing the Supreme Court’s test of reasonability, a slim override clause and severely limiting the High Court of Justice’s ability to strike down Basic Laws.

This week, days before a first vote on Monday for two proposals, I made my way through the labyrinth of the Knesset to speak with Rothman and hear why these reforms, and why so quickly.

What Matters Now podcasts are available for download on iTunes, TuneIn, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, PlayerFM or wherever you get your podcasts.

IMAGE: MK Simcha Rothman gives his first remarks at the Israeli Knesset in Jerusalem, August 3, 2021, as current Justice Minister Yariv Levin looks on. (Noam Moskovitch/Knesset Spokesman)

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Welcome to The Times of Israel’s Daily Briefing, your 15-minute audio update on what’s happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, from Sunday through Thursday.

US reporter Jacob Magid and New York reporter Luke Tress join host Jessica Steinberg for today's podcast, with a report from Judah Ari Gross at the earthquake site in Turkey.

Gross speaks with a Hadassah doctor serving with the Hatzolah team in Turkey, helping extract earthquake survivors from the devastating wreckage.

Magid discusses the across-the-board US push for calm in the region, following the visits of several senior Biden administration officials, including US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and CIA director Bill Burns. 

Tress speaks about a recent closed meeting of US congress members with Jewish leaders in New York, and their show of support for Israel and its recent actions. 

Magid talks about the start of the Malka Leifer trial in Melbourne, Australia, expected to last six weeks as it uncovers the sexual abuse reportedly committed by Leifer against her students while she served as principal of an ultra-Orthodox girls school in the early 2000s.

Discussed articles include:

CIA director: Current Israeli-Palestinian tensions resemble Second Intifada

Coalition party vows settlement building will continue, despite US request for pause

After international pressure, PM delays East Jerusalem razing sought by Ben Gvir

US pushing Abbas on plan to boost PA security presence in northern West Bank

In now annual tradition, US urges Israel to keep friction in check ahead of Ramadan

Skirting concerns over new government, NY lawmakers vow firm support for Israel

13 years after bolting, 6 since arrest, Malka Leifer extradited to Australia

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IMAGE: A rescuer walks on a destroyed building in Gaziantep, southeastern Turkey, Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023 (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)

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Welcome to The Times of Israel’s Daily Briefing, your 15-minute audio update on what’s happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, from Sunday through Thursday.

Military reporter Emanuel Fabian, Knesset correspondent Carrie Keller-Lynn and legal reporter Jeremy Sharon join host Amanda Borschel-Dan in today's packed episode.

The death toll is mounting in Turkey and Syria even as rescuers are continuing to pull survivors out of the rubble. What do we currently know about the work that the Israeli delegations are doing on the ground?

Our reporter Judah Ari Gross arrived in Turkey yesterday evening and sent in a report late last night. We hear his first impressions of the quake zone.

Yesterday the High Court of Justice issued a sharp rebuke of the government’s recent request for another delay in the court’s order to evacuate the illegal Khan al-Ahmar Bedouin encampment in the West Bank. We hear from Sharon why this is so counterintuitive in light of the right-wing government.

Keller-Lynn updates us on all the various legislative balls that are in the air at the Knesset. We also hear about how an unhappy leading Likud member was appeased with a new ministerial position -- in a ministry that already has a minister.

Discussed articles include:

Minor earthquake hits Israel, West Bank

IDF to set up field hospital in Turkey; Israel’s search and rescue team starts work

Another Israeli aid delegation takes off for southern Turkey after deadly quakes

Court rebukes government for seeking to again put off Khan al-Ahmar demolition

Supreme Court critic Amsalem to join Justice Ministry as 2nd minister

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IMAGE: Israeli army and rescue forces seen near the city of Kahramanmaras, Turkey, to assist in rescue efforts after the earthquake on February 8, 2023. (Erik Marmor/Flash90)

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Welcome to The Times of Israel’s Daily Briefing, your 15-minute audio update on what’s happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, from Sunday through Thursday.

Military correspondent Emanuel Fabian and news editor Amy Spiro join host Amanda Borschel-Dan in today's episode.

In the wake of the deadly earthquake yesterday in Turkey and Syria, the IDF has sent already two teams of military rescue experts to Turkey. What kind of expertise is included in the teams making up operation Olive Branches?

Yesterday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel also plans to send aid to Syria, including tents, medication, and blankets. Who is meant to carry it out?

Out of the 31 ministries in the current government sworn in at the end of December, not one minister has appointed a woman to serve as director general. Twenty-three of the positions have been filled by men. This is regrettable, but is it so unusual?

Several Palestinian gunmen were killed in a military raid near Jericho, as part of an operation to apprehend suspects involved in a shooting attack on a restaurant located about 20 minutes from the Dead Sea, close to Jericho. Fabian explains the historic nature of the operation.

Finally, based on her recent in-depth feature on the Hapoel Jerusalem women's soccer team, Spiro describes the factors that have contributed to the relatively equal opportunities afforded to the team.

Discussed articles include:

‘Great privilege to reach out to our neighbor’: IDF aid delegation heads to Turkey

‘Request was received’: Israel to send earthquake relief to Syria as well as Turkey

New government has so far appointed zero women as ministry directors general

At least 5 gunmen killed as IDF targets West Bank terror attack cell, officials say

End goals: The Jerusalem team trying to shake up how Israel treats women’s soccer

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ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE: Emergency teams search for people in the rubble of a destroyed building in Adana, southern Turkey, February 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

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Welcome to The Times of Israel’s Daily Briefing, your 15-minute audio update on what’s happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, from Sunday through Thursday.

Political correspondent Tal Schneider and senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur join host Jessica Steinberg for today's podcast.

Schneider discusses the latest casualties in the devastating earthquake that struck northern Syria and southern Turkey, and Israel's immediate offer of aid to Turkey.

She recalls the last time Israel helped Turkey following an earthquake in 1999, and Schneider and Rettig Gur discuss whether Syria would accept aid from Israel as well, as it has at times in the last decade during the revolution there, when patients were even hospitalized in Israel.

Schneider also unpacks several comments recently made by several prominent Israelis threatening Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. She discusses how those calls for incitement, which were quickly investigated by the police, appeared to draw out President Isaac Herzog to publicly urge a slowdown on the proposed judicial reform process.

Rettig Gur talks about the Israeli left and the seeming absence of the left-wing leadership from the weekly protests around the country as well as from the Knesset and government committees, with a concurrent increase in violent talk from the left.

Discussed articles include:

Israel offers to dispatch emergency aid, teams to earthquake-stricken Turkey

President urges pause to judicial shakeup; Levin: I’m not stopping ‘for a minute’

Ex-pilot who bombed Iraq nuke reactor walks back comment justifying PM assassination

Probe opened into lawyer who said he’d take up arms if legal overhaul implemented

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IMAGE: Firefighters carry the body of a victim in Diyarbakir, in southeastern Turkey, Monday, Feb. 6, 2023 where a powerful earthquake that struck southeast Turkey and northern Syria has killed more than 640 people with hundreds injured (AP Photo/Mahmut Bozarsan)

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Welcome to The Times of Israel’s Daily Briefing, your 15-minute audio update on what’s happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, from Sunday through Thursday.

Diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman and Diaspora Affairs reporter Judah Ari Gross join host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's episode.

We begin with a brief update on this weekend’s rallies in which tens of thousands of Israelis protested the proposed judicial reforms for a fifth week in a row. Along with the main protests in Tel Aviv, smaller demonstrations were held in rainy Jerusalem, in Haifa and elsewhere.
Speaking from the Haifa rally, Opposition leader Yair Lapid said the protesters had come “to save the country.”

Berman landed early this morning from France where he flew to report on this first meeting between Prime Minister Netanyahu and French President Emmanuel Macron since January 2020. What are the headlines?

President of Chad Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno opened a new embassy in Tel Aviv last week. What makes this opening so historic?

The Times of Israel sat with CEO of the Conference of Presidents William Daroff last week in our Jerusalem offices. What struck Gross from the wide-ranging discussion?

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in the region last week and Berman wrote an analysis that states that maybe his statements promoting democracy should be heard in a different light.

And finally, Gross describes what happened when the northern city of Harish canceled the screening of a Holocaust documentary because the film’s subject, Alfred Hirsch, a German Jew who saved children in Auschwitz, was openly gay.

Discussed articles include:

Tens of thousands rally against planned judicial overhaul for 5th straight week

What Matters Now… to philosopher Micah Goodman? Preventing civil war

Macron warns Netanyahu over judicial overhaul, settlements

Hosting Netanyahu, Macron raises alarm over ‘headlong’ Iran nuclear rush

Netanyahu joins Chad’s president to open new embassy in Israel

US Jewish leader Daroff warns: ‘Crisis of divisiveness’ is tearing Israel apart

Blinken’s focus on democracy could also be sign of US desire to cooperate on Iran

An Israeli city nixed an LGBTQ Holocaust docu showing; residents screened it instead

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Welcome to our inaugural episode of What Matters Now, a new weekly podcast exploration into one key issue shaping Israel and the Jewish World -- right now.

Now, I don't know about you, but even for newshounds like me, sometimes the 24/7 headline barrage zooms by so fast that I feel like I don't catch all the nuance. There are so many hot-button issues that understanding the arguments for and against them feels like a Herculean task.

So each week, we'll sit for an in-depth conversation and find out what matters now to one journalist, thinker or newsmaker.

For this first episode, I turned to philosopher and author Dr. Micah Goodman. While his books are read by the country's leaders, he's made a career of explaining Israel and all her nuances -- even to Israelis themselves.

Goodman is the author of the best-selling "Catch-67," as well as "The Wondering Jew" and several surprising bestsellers on canonical Jewish texts, including works on Maimonides.

For this perplexed journalist, understanding this moment in Israel meant having tea with my friendly neighborhood philosopher.

What Matters Now podcasts are available for download on iTunes, TuneIn, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, PlayerFM or wherever you get your podcasts.

IMAGE: Dr. Micah Goodman, February 1, 2023. (Amanda Borschel-Dan/Times of Israel)

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Welcome to The Times of Israel’s Daily Briefing, your 15-minute audio update on what’s happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, from Sunday through Thursday.

United States correspondent Jacob Magid and New York correspondent Luke Tress join host Amanda Borschel-Dan in today's episode.

We begin with an update on Israel Air Force warplanes that carried out overnight sorties in the Gaza Strip in response to a rocket attack on southern Israel, as a new round of rocket alarms sounded in Sderot and nearby towns.

Tress updates on the COI Elimination Act that is being reintroduced to the US Congress. The COI stands for the Commission of Inquiry that the United Nations is carrying out against Israel. Who brought the bill this time?

Magid updates on the last leg of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to the region and what came out of his meetings with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Tress attended an event with former prime minister Naftali Bennett recently in New York where Bennett officially put his yarmulke back into the circus ring of Israeli politics.

Magid explains how Israel is one step closer to joining the US’s visa waiver program. But celebrations may be premature.

And finally, Tress spoke with former KISS frontman Gene Simmons at a United Nations International Holocaust Remembrance Day event last week. The glam rockstar had some advice.

Discussed articles include:

Israel bombs Hamas sites in retaliatory Gaza strikes; rocket sirens sound in Sderot

Bill calling to end UN probe into Israel reintroduced to US Congress

US pushing Abbas on plan to boost PA security presence in northern West Bank

In meeting with Abbas, Blinken laments deaths of ‘innocent Palestinian civilians’

Bennett vows return to politics; urges US Jews: ‘Don’t give up on Israel’

Israel clears major hurdle in bid to qualify for US Visa Waiver Program

Kiss frontman Simmons wants to rock Holocaust memorials with Never Again concert

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IMAGE: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken boards the plane to leave Israel on January 31, 2023, stating, 'Concluded another productive trip to Israel and the West Bank, where I met with Israeli and Palestinian counterparts and leaders from civil society. We will continue to support the parties and all efforts to deescalate tensions.' (Twitter) 

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Welcome to The Times of Israel’s Daily Briefing, your 15-minute audio update on what’s happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, from Sunday through Thursday.

Legal correspondent Jeremy Sharon and investigative reporter Inna Lazareva join host Amanda Borschel-Dan in today's episode.

We discuss three of the cases described in Sharon's recent article on eight massive court interventions. We first focus on a case in which the court broadened legislation in the February 2005 Disengagement Law.

The second case we discuss is when the High Court annulled an amendment passed by the Knesset passed an amendment to the 1954 anti-infiltration law that allowed the state to detain asylum seekers and migrants for a minimum of three years. What was the basis of the High Court’s intervention?

The third High Court intervention took place in 2014 and surrounds the construction of a mikveh or ritual bath for residents of Kfar Vradim. Why did the court compel the municipality to construct one there?

Finally, Lazareva discusses her lengthy investigation into the world of illegal broker fees for foreign workers, a multi-million dollar scandal.

Discussed articles include:

From a rogue MK to Haredi subsidies, 8 times High Court struck down laws, decisions

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IMAGE: Settler in the Gaza Strip settlement of Netzarim argues with soldiers who have come to evacuate him from his home, accusing them of betraying Jewish values, during the disengagement from Gaza, August 22, 2005. (Flash90)

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Welcome to The Times of Israel’s Daily Briefing, your 15-minute audio update on what’s happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, from Sunday through Thursday.

Editor David Horovitz and diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman join host Amanda Borschel-Dan in today's episode.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is now in Israel. We begin by discussing his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blinken's advice for Israel's leader.

Both during Blinken’s meeting with Netanyahu and with Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, Blinken also seemed to urge Israel to expand its security support for Kyiv. Is it possible that Israel will begin providing security support to Ukraine?

Blinken arrived to the region on Sunday, with a first stop in Egypt where he met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi. Could the US see Egypt as playing a potentially larger role in brokering the increasing armed conflict in the West Bank?

Yesterday, in a resounding 89-8 vote, a bill to revoke the Israeli citizenship or residency of terror convicts who receive financial support for their acts from the Palestinian Authority passed its first reading. At the same time, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said Monday he would advance legislation allowing Israel to impose the death penalty for certain terror offenses. Do either of these measures counter Israel’s founding principles?

For the past several weeks, The Times of Israel has played host to an animated series called “Whispered in Gaza.” Horovitz reminds listeners what this project is and where they can find it.

Discussed articles include:

As Netanyahu talks Iran, Blinken makes US concerns over judicial shakeup clear

Diplomatically but firmly, Blinken advises Netanyahu not to harm Israeli democracy

Bill to strip Israeli citizenship from terror convicts paid by PA passes 1st reading

Ben Gvir to push for death penalty bill in wake of Jerusalem attack

Darkest tragedy, unrealized dreams: ‘Whispered in Gaza,’ the final interviews

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IMAGE: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, center, meets with Israeli emerging leaders at 'Feel Beit,' an Israeli-Palestinian art and culture collective in Jerusalem, January 31, 2023. (Ronaldo Schemidt/Pool via AP)

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