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 writer Tal Schneider and diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman join host Jessica Steinberg for today's podcast.

Schneider discusses prime minister-elect Benjamin Netanyahu's options for his government's top ministers and why those choices are stalling his ongoing coalition talks, even as the 25th Knesset is being sworn in Tuesday.

Berman looks at the welcome offered by Russia's Kremlin to Netanyahu, and what that could mean for Israel-Russia-Ukraine relations going forward.

Schneider talks about why foreign diplomats are leery of any official meetings with newly elected Itamar Ben-Gvir, and how that could play out in the future.

Berman examines whether Israel retaliated against Ukraine at the UN Monday, and what is signified by this diplomatic pinball.

Discussed articles include:

Knesset swearing in heralds political stability, though discourse unlikely to soften

Ben Gvir claims he’s met foreign officials to rehabilitate image; evidence is scant

Kremlin on Netanyahu win: Good to have Israeli leaders who share a ‘common approach’

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IMAGE: Parliament workers seen preparing the Israeli parliament for Tuesday's opening session of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem on November 14, 2022 (Courtesy Yonatan Sindel/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.

US correspondents Jacob Magid and Luke Tress join host Jessica Steinberg for today's podcast.

Magid discusses what the final midterm results mean for US-Israel ties and which legislation will likely be handled over the next few years, with Democrats in control of the Senate, but with a slim majority for Republicans in the House.

Tress looks at the loss of New York's most likely Haredi champion, Lee Zeldin, and how governor elect Kathy Hochul will likely react to the various issues at play in the ultra-Orthodox community.

Magid talks about the US reaction to far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir, the presumptive public security minister, who may very well not be welcomed or receive a visa to visit Washington.

Tress and Magid break down Friday's tiff at the UN, when Israel called out Ukraine for supporting a resolution by a committee calling on the International Court of Justice to “urgently” weigh in on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Israeli “annexation.”

Discussed articles include:

US blasts ‘abhorrent’ celebration of Kahane after prospective minister attends

Hochul triumphs over Jewish challenger Zeldin in close New York governor race

Israeli envoy lashes Kyiv for backing UN panel call on ICJ to opine on ‘annexation’

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IMAGE: Head of the Otzma Yehudit party MK Itamar Ben Gvir and members of the party speak to the press after a meeting with Israeli president Isaac Herzog at the President's residence in Jerusalem on November 10, 2022, as Herzog began consulting political leaders to decide who to task with trying to form a new government after the results of the country's general election were announced (Photo by Yonatan Sindel/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.

ToI founding editor David Horovitz and military correspondent Mannie Fabian join host Jessica Steinberg for today's podcast.

Horovitz discusses the ongoing coalition talks and possible ministerial appointments, as Prime Minister-elect Benjamin Netanyahu figures out what will work best for him and his new government.

Horovitz also talks about the so-called override clause that all four parties in Netanyahu’s incoming coalition are interested in legislating, which would reduce the power of the Supreme Court.

Fabian looks at the latest and largest theft of IDF bullets and grenades, stolen from a Golan Heights army base.

He also discusses the ongoing IDF investigation into the death of 78-year-old Omar As’ad and the possibility of charges being pressed against the officer and soldier in the accidental death of As'ad, an American citizen.

Discussed articles include:

Herzog tasks Netanyahu with forming coalition: ‘Not easy decision as he’s on trial’

Israel could be en route to a tyranny of the majority

73,000 bullets, 72 grenades stolen from Golan Heights army base in latest theft

IDF mulls charges against 2 soldiers over death of elderly Palestinian-American man

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IMAGE: Illustrative: Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to US President Joe Biden, from a Likud office in Tel Aviv on November 7, 2022. (Courtesy Likud)

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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 environmental reporter Sue Surkes join host Jessica Steinberg for today's podcast.

Schneider discusses how prime minister-elect Benjamin Netanyahu will handle the Democrat-heavy results of this week's US midterm elections, given the far-right emphasis of his new government partners.

She also looks at the issues and topics being debated with Netanyahu's coalition partners, including the Law of Return, subsidies to yeshivas, Jewish identity, 

Surkes reports from Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, where she's attending COP27 United Nations Climate Conference and where Israel is hosting a large delegation, promoting its climate technologies.

Discussed articles include:

Herzog heard on hot mic saying ‘entire world’ anxious about Ben Gvir

Israel joins Mideast nations, including Iraq, Lebanon, to agree on climate action

Israeli startup to supply Moroccan renewable energy developer with hydrogen power

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IMAGE: Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu arrives coalition talks with his political allies, in Jerusalem, November 6, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/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.

Zman Yisrael editor Biranit Goren and political correspondent Carrie Keller-Lynn join host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's episode.

Today, President Isaac Herzog begins meetings with members of all the factions that were voted into the next Knesset as part of formal consultations on who should assemble the next government. Keller-Lynn takes us through the procedure.

Next, we hear about incoming prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s revolutionary idea to sign a single coalition agreement for all parties.

Goren explains about a probable and looming legal conflict of interest with Netanyahu as he again resumes the role of prime minister.

Finally, Keller-Lynn addresses the personal motivations behind the varied group who voted for the parties led by MKs Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir.

Discussed articles include:

Herzog to begin formal consultations on who should form new coalition

Dramatic rise of Smotrich and Ben Gvir fueled by voters willing to ‘hold their nose’

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IMAGE: Likud party chairman MK Benjamin Netanyahu seen after coalition talks at a hotel in Jerusalem on November 6, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/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.

Diaspora and religions reporter Judah Ari Gross and real estate editor Danielle Nagler join host Jessica Steinberg for today's podcast.

Gross discusses reaction of US Jewry post election results and what could be the issues that will push the buttons on Jewish community's reactions.

Nagler looks at the rental market and what changes need to be made to ease pressure on Israelis seeking suitable housing.

Gross also talks about the new government made up of religious parties, and how that will affect issues of religion and state, including LGBTQ rights and the kosher certification process.

Nagler speaks about the Israeli hotel industry and its shifts following the pandemic with regard to both local and foreign tourists.

Discussed articles include:

Herzog to US Jews: Respect Israel’s election results even if you don’t like them

Vowing to lower prices, new government could target Israel’s untamed rental market

Israel poised to have its most religious government; experts say no theocracy yet

Israel to build 8,000 new hotel rooms by 2023 as tourism ramps up

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IMAGE: Religious Zionism leader Bezalel Smotrich arrives for coalition talks with Likud chief Benjamin Netanyahu, in Jerusalem, November 6, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/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 news editor Amy Spiro join host Amanda Borschel-Dan.

On Sunday, Religious Zionist leader Bezalel Smotrich spoke during the official memorial ceremony at the Knesset, marking 27 years since Rabin’s assassination by Yigal Amir, and asserted that some of the blame for his murder lay with Israel’s Shin Bet security service. What exactly was Smotrich asserting and what was the response?

Incoming prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu struck a more conciliatory tone at the commemoration event. Does Horovitz see this as foretelling his position in leading the new coalition?

Spiro recently interviewed British journalist Simon Parkin, the author of “The Island of Extraordinary Captives,” which illuminates the lives of thousands of Jewish refugees who were held on the Isle of Man after fleeing Germany. Deemed “enemy aliens,” the refugees held in Hutchinson Camp were rounded up in mass arrests in 1940. How does this jibe with the heroic narrative of the Kindertransport?

Discussed articles include:

At Rabin memorial event, Smotrich claims Shin Bet ‘encouraged’ assassination

Smotrich comes under fire after blaming Shin Bet for Rabin killing

Netanyahu, who mainstreamed Israel’s radicals, now the last obstacle to their agenda

They fled persecution in Nazi Germany. Then the British put them behind barbed wire

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Image: Enemy aliens, who were arrested in a big police round-up, leave London, England, May 17, 1940, under a heavy military escort for internment camps. (AP Photo)

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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 military correspondent Emanuel Fabian join host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's episode.

Early Friday morning, the Israeli military struck a rocket factory in the Gaza Strip, hours after four rockets were launched at Israel from the Hamas-run Palestinian enclave. What sparked this most recent exchange of fire?

We hear about ripple effects from the recent November 1 election, starting with a recent statement from Bahrain.

The British government said on Thursday that it would not relocate its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, backing away after a pledge made by former prime minister Liz Truss to weigh the matter, shortly before she left office last month. Any surprise here?

A US-based Orthodox Jewish nonprofit on Wednesday announced a new partnership with the Israeli military to provide kosher food and other supplies to soldiers who arrive in the country for joint training and other activities with American forces. Is kosher food so hard to find in the US?

Discussed articles include:

Israel strikes ‘rocket factory’ in Gaza after rockets launched at south

Allies may worry over far-right’s election gains, but few can afford to shun Israel

Paralyzed Nation no more? ToI experts break down Israel’s election results

After Netanyahu’s win, Bahrain pledges to ‘continue building’ Israel partnership

With far right ascendant in Israel, Blinken tells Abbas US committed to 2 states

UK backs away from possible Jerusalem embassy move floated by ex-PM Truss

Orthodox nonprofit teams up with IDF to aid religious troops stationed in US

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Illustrative image: Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrive for a joint statement after a meeting at the Prime Minister's office, May 25, 2021, in Jerusalem, Israel. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

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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 Jacob Magid and military reporter Emmanuel Fabian join host Jessica Steinberg for today's podcast.

Magid discusses his election day coverage with Itamar Ben Gvir, and the differences this time around to the nationalist candidate, as opposed to 19 months ago, when Ben Gvir first ran for the Knesset.

Magid also looks at how Israel's left-wing parties ran their campaigns, and what could lay ahead for them over the next four years.

Fabian offers an update on the car ramming attack that took place Wednesday, in which an IDF officer was seriously injured by an Arab assailant.

He also unpacks the unexpected story of an IDF soldier traveling home to Israel, and landing unexpectedly, undetected, in an Iranian airport.

Discussed articles include:

It took 4 voting rounds to normalize Ben Gvir. By the end of the 5th, he’s a star

‘We’ll reassert ownership of this state,’ Ben Gvir vows as exit polls show big gains

Officer seriously wounded in West Bank car-ramming; attacker shot dead — IDF

9 hours at an Iranian airport: IDF soldier faces unnerving flight diversion

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IMAGE: Head of the Otzma Yehudit party MK Itamar Ben Gvir speaks to supporters as the exit polls of the Israeli elections are announced, at the party's campaign headquarters in Jerusalem, November 1, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/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.

Political correspondent Tal Schneider and senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur join host Amanda Borschel-Dan in this post-election episode.

At recording time, we didn't yet know the final totals, but we break down what we know and don’t, so far.

Schneider begins with a broad-stroke run down of how the results look so far. Which parties are definitely out?

Some 10% of the electorate voted for the far-right Religious Zionist party. Rettig Gur gives some reasons why this is not, in fact, a shift.

Discussed articles include:

With 97% of regular votes counted, Likud-led bloc has 65 seats, Meretz out

Coalition officials: ‘Cannibalistic pig’ Lapid felled allies, gave Netanyahu victory

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IMAGE: Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu addresses his supporters after first exit poll results for the Israeli Parliamentary election at his party's headquarters in Jerusalem, November 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

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