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 episode.

Since this morning, the Israeli Air Force has struck more than 300 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. Berman discusses Hezbollah's strategies and capabilities to threaten the IDF on land, air and sea.

As it increasingly appears that Israel is on the brink of another war in Lebanon, Lazar gives insight into how the IDF has changed since the 2006 war and how this could shift the balance toward Israel's favor in another ground operation.

A drone launched at Israel by an Iran-backed militia in Iraq in the early hours of Monday morning was shot down by Israeli fighter jets, the sixth attack from Iraq within 24 hours. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq took responsibility for the incident, saying on Monday morning that the group had targeted an Israeli observation base in northern Israel with drones. What is the Islamic Resistance in Iraq?

Biden Administration officials in the past few days sent the draft text of a new hostage release-ceasefire proposal to Israel and, via Qatari and Egyptian mediators, to Hamas. What are the current proposals on the table and what are we hearing from Hamas?

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

Discussed articles include:

String of IDF successes might cause Nasrallah to back down, but won’t lead to victory

IDF launches over 300 strikes on Hezbollah after stark warnings to Lebanese civilians

Army says drone launched at Israel by Iran-backed militia in Iraq shot down by jets

Reports: Hamas chief incommunicado, Israel checking longshot possibility he’s dead

Israel offers to end war, let Sinwar leave if all hostages freed at once, Gaza disarmed

PM says weighing plan for siege on Hamas in north Gaza; believes half of hostages alive

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: Hezbollah fighters raise their fists and shout slogans during the funeral of their senior commander Ali Dibs who was killed by an Israeli airstrike in Nabatiyeh town, south Lebanon, February 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

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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.

After a series of sharp escalations in the almost year-long tit-for-tat conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, some 2 million Israelis are in areas that are currently affected by Hezbollah rocket fire. This deeper Hezbollah retaliation comes after the IDF assassination of some dozen top commanders of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force in the Friday strike in Beirut that killed Ibrahim Aqil, the head of Hezbollah’s military operations. We begin the program by hearing how significant was Aqil and how much of a blow this mass assassination was.

We hear about the scope of Hezbollah's fighting force and learn about a new kind of missile being used in the deeper attacks today. Is the IDF prepping the ground for an incursion?

The IDF carried out an airstrike this morning and on Saturday against a group of Hamas operatives at command rooms embedded within former school in Gaza. With most of Gaza under IDF control, when will it move into the small pockets in central Gaza that have not yet been touched.

Two terrorists who likely murdered six Israeli hostages in a tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip last month were killed by Israeli troops, IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Saturday. How did the IDF tie the terrorists to the hostages?

A Jewish Israeli civilian was arrested last month after he was allegedly recruited by Iran to advance an assassination plot of Israel’s prime minister, defense minister, or the head of the Shin Bet, authorities announced on Thursday. The suspect, named as 73-year-old Moti Maman from the southern city of Ashkelon, was indicted on Thursday, after which the Shin Bet revealed details of the investigation. What do we know?

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

Discussed articles include:

Hezbollah fires 100 rockets at north, wounding 3; teen killed in crash during siren

IDF confirms eliminating multiple top Hezbollah commanders in Friday’s Beirut strike

IDF says it struck Hamas operatives at inactive Gaza school; 21 reported killed

Army says it killed 2 Hamas terrorists who likely murdered 6 Israeli hostages in tunnel

Israeli Jew recruited by Iran in plot to kill Netanyahu, Gallant or Shin Bet head Bar

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: Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the outskirts of the southern Lebanese village of Zibqin on September 22, 2024. (Kawnat Haju / 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.

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.

Last week, three women were arrested after distributing flyers with six hostages’ faces in MK Yuli Edelstein’s synagogue in Herzliya, including a picture of him as a Prisoner of Zion alongside and the famous “Let My People Go” slogan used to support the refuseniks in the Soviet Union before being allowed to emigrate to Israel in 1987.

After a week of backlash to their arrests and his apparent support for them, Edelstein clarified that while he understands the hostage families’ protests, he does “not forgive people who turn the hostages into currency to promote goals that have nothing to do with them.”

At the same time, there already are efforts inside most — if not all — synagogues throughout Israel to release the hostages: the longstanding prayer for the release of hostages that is found in most standard prayerbooks.

Rettig Gur and Borschel-Dan discuss the two sides’ stances and question whether they are all that far apart on the issue of the hostages.

The two then turn to the question of whether or not Israel is basically experiencing an undeclared, low-burn regional war after a week in which a ballistic missile from the Yemenite Houthis reached Tel Aviv, a drone from Iraq was downed over the Sea of Galilee, along with the “usual” rockets from Gaza and Lebanon. Rettig Gur argues that even if Israel isn’t currently in a regional war, it’s time for one, but with one specific target.

And 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.

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: Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian, center, meets with Iraqi community members during his visit to Basra, Iraq, September 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jourani)

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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 US administration comments regarding the uptick in Israeli strikes against Hezbollah, noting the carefully couched understanding of the escalation, given the continual Hezbollah missile attacks against Israel over the last year.

He also reviews comments made by US officials to the Wall Street Journal about the lack of a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal, and expectations that none would be forthcoming before the end of the Biden administration.

Magid then talks about two talks given by former President Donald Trump to two Jewish groups in the US, and Trump's stance that he is the only candidate who can save Israel from the destruction that he says would take place under a Kamala Harris administration.

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

Discussed articles include:

Blinken warns against ‘escalatory actions’ in Mideast, cites risk to Gaza deal

US: ‘Additional military ops’ not the best way to prevent Israel-Hezbollah escalation

US says it wasn’t involved in or tipped off about Hezbollah pager detonations

Senior US officials think Gaza ceasefire unlikely by end of Biden’s term — report

Trump: If I lose election, Jewish people will ‘have a lot to do with’ it

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; US Secretary of State Antony Blinken exits a vehicle as he departs Egypt, taking off from Cairo, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, for meetings in Paris, France. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP)

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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 founding editor David Horovitz joins host Jessica Steinberg on today's episode.

Horovitz discusses the latest escalation in the north, following two waves of Hezbollah device explosions this week, and the decision by the government and IDF to send more troops to the northern border.

He also describes the Shin Bet arrest of an older Israeli man, discovered to have traveled to Iran in a plot to kill the prime minister, defense minister or the head of the Shin Bet.

Horovitz reviews the Wednesday night Channel 12 report alleging that the prime minister had been working since December to torpedo a possible hostage deal for political reasons, and also delves into the collapse of the end-of-November hostage deal.

He also discusses why Netanyahu would want to swap his current defense minister, Yoav Gallant, during a war, for another political foe, MK Gideon Sa'ar, who has no specific defense background.

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

Discussed articles include:

Gallant says IDF diverting resources to northern border in ‘new phase’ of war

20 killed, 450 wounded as Lebanon hit by 2nd wave of Hezbollah device explosions

Hungary: Exploding pagers weren’t made here, linked firm acted as trade intermediary

Will the pager operation deter Hezbollah and Iran, and is Israel prepared for war if not?

Israeli recruited by Iran in plot to kill Netanyahu, Gallant or Shin Bet head Bar

Ex-defense minister Ya’alon was target of Hezbollah bomb attack in Tel Aviv last year

Report: Nov. truce collapsed because Hamas falsely claimed women set for release were dead

Netanyahu, don’t fire Gallant again: The first was a tragedy, the second could be worse

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: IDF evacuates civilians injured by missile fired from Lebanon, in the Ramim Cliff area on September 19, 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.

Military reporter Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today’s episode.

Four IDF soldiers fell in the Gaza Strip yesterday: Cpt. Daniel Mimon Toaff, 23; Staff Sgt. Agam Naim, 20; Staff Sgt. Amit Bakri, 21; and Staff Sgt. Dotan Shimon, 21. We discuss how the death of Naim, a paramedic, marks the first female soldier to be killed in the ground offensive.

A massive attack against Hezbollah operatives that is being attributed to Israel saw the explosion of thousands of pagers yesterday a few hours after Israel announced an additional official war goal: getting displaced residents of the north back to their homes. Fabian fills us in on what we’re hearing from foreign reports and the possibility of retaliation.

The Shin Bet foiled a recent attempt by Hezbollah to assassinate a former senior Israeli security official using a remotely detonated explosive device, the security agency announced on Tuesday. Fabian explains how Hezbollah likely has recruits in Israel to carry out such attacks.

The Israeli military clarified on Sunday that there was no evacuation recommendation given for civilians in southern Lebanon, and that flyers dropped in the southern village of Wazzani calling on residents to leave had been distributed by a brigade commander without permission. How could this have happened?

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

Discussed articles include:

4 IDF troops killed, several hurt during fighting in southern Gaza’s Rafah

9 killed, almost 3,000 injured as vast wave of pager explosions strikes Hezbollah

Analysts say Mossad likely hid explosives in pagers before they reached Hezbollah

IDF urges vigilance as defense chiefs meet amid Hezbollah retaliation threat

Shin Bet says it foiled Hezbollah attempt to kill former top Israeli security official

After unauthorized flyers dropped, IDF says there’s no south Lebanon evacuation order

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: Lebanese first responders carry a man who was wounded after his handheld pager exploded in an attack blamed on Israel targeting Hezbollah, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, September 17, 2024. (AP Photo)

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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.

The security cabinet updated its official goals for the ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza to include the objective of allowing residents of the north to return safely to their homes after being displaced by attacks by the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah, the Prime Minister’s Office announced this morning. Does this change anything?

There are reports circulating right now about an emerging deal between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and New Hope chairman Gideon Sa’ar. Sa’ar is reportedly expected to be appointed defense minister if Netanyahu fires current defense chief Yoav Gallant and other reports say the two have agreed to jointly choose a new IDF chief of staff. Could it be detrimental to the war to switch leadership now?

Four years ago, the Bahraini and Emirati foreign ministers stood on either side of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump to sign the Abraham Accords. Since then, the accords were slightly expanded to include Morocco. We hear how the war has affected the participating countries and whether the accords could be expanded again soon.

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

Discussed articles include:

Return of displaced northern residents to their homes becomes an official war goal

In deal to join cabinet, Sa’ar may get veto over judicial overhaul, choice of IDF chief

Four years on, Abraham Accords are strained by Gaza war — but prove resilient

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: The scene where a Hezbollah missile fired from Lebanon hit a home in the northern Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona, September 4, 2024. (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.

Political reporter Tal Schneider and reporter Gavriel Fiske join host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's episode.

In a phone conversation overnight, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin the time for a diplomatic solution to clashes with Hezbollah on the northern border is passing. At the same time, US special envoy Amos Hochstein is set to meet with Israel’s leadership today in an attempt to avoid further escalation between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon. Schneider describes what could be on the table.

Three women who on Thursday distributed flyers on behalf of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza at the Ohel Moshe synagogue in Herzliya were arrested a day later for alleged breaking and entering. The flyers distributed last week featured the images of six hostages believed to be held captive in Gaza as well as an image of a young Likud MK Yuli Edelstein — who was a refusenik and prisoner of Zion before being allowed to emigrate to Israel in 1987 — with the words “Let my people go” across the top. Schneider puts the contentious arrests into perspective and describes Edelstein's response.

As the new school year approached, the Israel Democracy Institute's Education Policy Program, in collaboration with the IDI's Viterbi Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research, conducted an online survey from August 21 to 27, 2024. Fiske delves into the poll, which looks at how Israelis think the war should be taught in schools.

Recent research by a team of Tel Aviv University archaeologists may upend the Masada legend by asserting that the Roman siege on the mountain fortress likely lasted just a few weeks and not years. We hear highlights of Fiske's conversation with the lead researcher, Dr. Guy Stiebel, a senior lecturer in Tel Aviv University’s Department of Archaeology and Near Eastern Cultures.

The Hecht Museum in Haifa officially returned a repaired 3,500-year-old ceramic jug to its accustomed place next to the museum entrance on Wednesday, after it had been accidentally shattered last month by a curious four-year-old visitor in a viral incident that made headlines all over the world. Fiske visited the museum last week.

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

Discussed articles include:

Months after bodies recovered, IDF says 3 hostages were killed as ‘byproduct’ of strike

Gallant tells US counterpart time passing for deal with Hezbollah, ‘direction is clear’

Edelstein’s synagogue denies calling police on women who distributed hostage flyers

Masada legend upended: ‘The Romans came, saw and conquered, quickly and brutally’

3,500-year-old jug smashed by 4-year-old is back on display — still not behind a barrier

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 Yiftah Brigade carry out a drill in northern Israel, in a handout photo published September 6, 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.

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

A surface-to-surface missile launched from Yemen set off sirens across central Israel this morning. Fabian gives us an update.

A barrage of some 40 rockets was fired from Lebanon at the Galilee Panhandle and Golan Heights this morning. We hear how these rockets are wreaking damage and how they compare to the missile shot by Yemen this morning.

On Saturday, the IDF called on Palestinians in parts of the northern Gaza city of Beit Lahiya to evacuate, after two rockets were fired from the area aimed at the southern coastal city of Ashkelon. The IDF in recent months has repeatedly issued evacuation orders for areas from which terrorists launched rockets at Israel, but that wasn’t always the case. What changed?

Fabian reports back from Rafah where he learned last week that the Hamas terror group’s Rafah Brigade has been decimated, at least 2,308 of its operatives have been killed by the Israel Defense Forces and over 13 kilometers (8 miles) worth of tunnels have been destroyed. What did he see on the ground?

According to a number of unconfirmed foreign reports last week, Israeli special forces carried out a raid on an Iranian weapons facility in Syria. The reports claim Israeli troops operated on the ground at Masyaf, which lies about 200 kilometers (124 miles) north of Israel, only about 30 kilometers (18 miles) from Syria’s western coastline. The IDF has not confirmed these reports, but Fabian describes what we are hearing.

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

Discussed articles include:

Ballistic missile fired from Yemen triggers sirens across central Israel

IDF orders evacuations in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahiya after rocket attack on Israel

IDF declares Hamas’s Rafah Brigade defeated; no active cross-border tunnels found

Reports: Israeli troops raided IRGC weapons facility in Syria, took equipment, documents

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: Police near the remains of a ballistic missile fired by the Iran-backed Houthis from Yemen, near Moshav Kfar Daniel, September 15, 2024. (Yossi Aloni/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.

Today, we bring you a bonus episode of What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring one key issue currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World. This episode features host Amanda Borschel-Dan speaking with Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove.

Cosgrove is a leading voice in Conservative Judaism, who has served as head rabbi of New York’s Park Avenue Synagogue since 2008.

We speak about his soon-to-be-published book, "For Such a Time as This: On Being Jewish Today" (Harper Collins), which was written after the October 7 Hamas massacre of 1,200 and abduction of 251.

The book is a blend of memoir, Torah study and reflection on what it means to be a Jew in the Diaspora today even as Israel continues its war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Using the October 7 onslaught as a touchstone, the book is roughly divided into past, present and future and examines the connection between American Jewry and Israel throughout the decades. Cosgrove addresses concerns such as a new generation of young Jewish Americans who are proud of their religious heritage, but repudiate the nationalism exhibited by the Jewish state.

So this week, we ask Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove, 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: Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove, head rabbi of New York’s Park Avenue Synagogue, holding his new book, 'For Such a Time as This: On Being Jewish Today,' September 11, 2024. (Courtesy)

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