The Times of Israel Daily Briefing
Welcome to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing: Your update on what’s important in Israel, the Middle East and The Jewish World.
Blue wave in US could mean greater isolation for Israel
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 for today's episode.
With Democrats sweeping control of Congress following the midterm elections, Magid attributes the shift to the deeply unpopular Iran war among voters, and discusses whether the change could lead to further alienation of Israel on Capitol Hill.
While in Michigan for Election Day, Magid reports on his conversations with Jewish voters, examining how the midterm elections and t...
Michigan's Jewish vote: Will antisemitism shift it red or blue?
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 reporter Luke Tress joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.
As Democrat Abdul El-Sayed faces off against Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan’s midterm election, Tress discusses the latest antisemitic campaigning from far-left media personality Hasan Piker and where the Jewish vote may end up in the close race.
Tress reports on the races in New York, where candidates from both parties are generally supportive of Israel but the...
After midterms, will US reignite Iran War?
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 correspondent Lazar Berman joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.
For months, analysts have pegged the conclusion of elections in Israel and the US as the benchmark for the restart of the Iran War. Berman looks at what is happening on the military and diplomatic fronts and where signs are pointing.
Ahead of the US midterm elections on Tuesday, a Gallup poll found that the unpopular Iran War...
BONUS: Still Life in Israel with Jessica Steinberg - Keith and Aviva Siegel on how they kept calm in Gaza
Welcome to "Still Life in Israel with Jessica Steinberg," a new weekly podcast in which The Times of Israel’s arts and culture editor explores what life in Israel looks and feels like right now, through conversations with the artists, writers, musicians and other voices helping us make sense of this moment.
For this first episode in the new series, we speak with former hostages Aviva and Keith Siegel.
Aviva Siegel was freed from captivity after 51 days and immediately turned to advocacy for her husband, Keith, who remained a hostage for 484 days.
The co...
Why the first Jewish-Arab coalition failed
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 Ariela Karmel joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.
Yashar leader Gadi Eisenkot vowed Saturday to swiftly utilize the new Knesset’s parliamentary majority, declaring that Israelis had voted decisively against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in last week’s election.
Anti-Netanyahu parties won 67 of the 120 Knesset seats, but of those, Zionist anti-Netanyahu parties won only 48, with the other 19 going to two Arab parties. Karmel explains how Eise...
The Reel Schmooze on 'Tootsie': Does the 1982 gender-bender hold up?
Welcome to The Reel Schmooze with ToI film reviewer Jordan Hoffman and host Amanda Borschel-Dan, where we bring you all the entertainment news and film reviews a Jew can use.
Continuing in our decade-by-decade comedy viewing, this week's featured Schmooze film is 1982's "Tootsie."
Starring Dustin Hoffman as the gender-bending Michael Dorsey/ Dorothy Michaels, the supporting roles are equally star-studded, with 1980s greats Jessica Lange (who won an Oscar for her role), Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman, and Charles Durning.
Sydney Pollack directs -- and shares the spotlight in several scenes as the beleaguered...
A Mandatory Listen - Sir Simon Schama: A howl against rising global antisemitism
Welcome to "A Mandatory Listen," a new weekly podcast in which The Times of Israel deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan asks the big questions facing Israel and the Jewish people.
For this sixth episode in the new series, we speak with historian Sir Simon Schama, who recently published a lengthy essay titled "Jew-Hatred: The Latest Edition."
In this cry from the heart, the professor of art history and history at Columbia University gives a broad-strokes history of antisemitism and delves into reasons why it is rising globally.
The award-winning author and cultural essayist for...
How Trump could break Israel's post-election deadlock
Welcome to The Times of Israel's Lazar Focus. Each Friday, join host and diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman for a deep dive into what's behind the news that spins the globe.
On Tuesday, Israelis went to the polls for the first time since the Hamas invasion of October 7, 2023.
One might think the massacre and the subsequent wars would result in a massive political shake-up. But they did not. Israelis stuck to their voting patterns from four years ago, despite everything that has happened since.
Neither the Benjamin Netanyahu bloc nor the opposition Gadi Eisenkot...
After election dust settles, who will be the last man standing?
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.
With the ballot count nearing an end, as of Thursday noon, the bloc led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on track to win 53 seats in the 120-member Knesset, and the bloc led by Yashar party chair Gadi Eisenkot is at 48 seats, leaving both blocs far from a 61-seat majority.
However, the two predominantly Arab parties are poised to wi...
Israel voted in droves. What comes next?
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 correspondents Tal Schneider and Ariela Karmel join host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.
Both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yashar party chief Gadi Eisenkot gave celebratory remarks after exit poll results came in on Tuesday night, with each vowing to be the one to establish the next government. As Wednesday's dawn broke, the Netanyahu bloc began to pull ahead and we discuss what this may -- or may not...
Higher Arab turnout could mean evening lines, delayed exit polls
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 Tal Schneider joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.
As election day begins, Schneider discusses recent statements made by candidates, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments regarding possible economic sanctions against Israel and his suggestion of an alternative economy of cryptocurrency.
With a high turnout expected among Arab voters, pushing for a new government that will tackle the intensive crime problem in the local Arab population, Schne...
Legal groups brace for right-wing interference at Arab polls
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.
Legal correspondent Jeremy Sharon joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.
As Election Day approaches, Sharon discusses the civil and legal rights organizations that filed legal motions to ensure Likud and Religious Zionist party activists don’t intimidate Arab voters, including a motion to prohibit polling station officials from bearing firearms on site. The parties had announced plans to send some 2,000 activists to polling stations in Arab towns and cities, supposedly to p...
Slaying of two soldiers sparks widespread IDF op in Hebron
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 correspondent Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.
Two Palestinian gunmen opened fire at a military checkpoint near the southern West Bank city of Hebron on Friday, killing two soldiers and wounding three in a gunfight that lasted for more than 20 minutes, before soldiers killed both attackers.
A subsequent Israeli military operation in and outside the city of Hebron has displaced some 2,000 Palestinians from their homes a...
The Reel Schmooze on 'The In-Laws': How a shmendrik dentist and crazy CIA agent share a mid-life crisis
Welcome to The Reel Schmooze with ToI film reviewer Jordan Hoffman and host Amanda Borschel-Dan, where we bring you all the entertainment news and film reviews a Jew can use.
Continuing in our decade-by-decade comedy viewing, this week's featured Schmooze film is "The In-Laws."
The 1979 comedic adventure stars the great Jewish actors Alan Arkin playing dentist Sheldon "Shelly" Kornpett and Peter Falk as Vince Ricardo, a loose-cannon CIA agent who initially poses as an eccentric businessman.
The script's outlandish premise sees the soon-to-be in-laws travel to "Tijata," a small island south of Honduras...
A Mandatory Listen - Yossi Klein Halevi: Spiritually coping with this Israeli election
Welcome to "A Mandatory Listen," a new weekly podcast in which The Times of Israel deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan asks the big questions facing Israel and the Jewish people.
For this fifth episode in the new series, we speak with author Yossi Klein Halevi.
A deep pre-election political conversation had been planned for this episode. However, in a conversation that could have been called "Mann tracht un Gott lacht" (Man plans and God laughs), Borschel-Dan and Klein Halevi firmly pivot away from the profane -- politics -- and veer toward the sacred.
Spurred...
Tamir Hayman: We should be worried about Israel's post-Oct. 7 security doctrine
Welcome to The Times of Israel's Lazar Focus. Each Friday, join host diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman for a deep dive into what's behind the news that spins the globe.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did something rare -- he convened a group of Israeli journalists to give a briefing on his new national security concept. A national security concept is no trivial matter. It affects how armies build their forces, how they fight wars, and how they think of core ideas like war and peace.
Gen. (res.) Tamir Hayman, the head of the Institute f...
Arab states weigh in on post-election potential for regional ties
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 Nava Freiberg joins host Gabriella Jacobs for today's episode.
Arab capitals are assessing whether the 26th Knesset could usher in a new chapter in Israeli leadership and policy or keep in place those currently in power, and what either outcome will mean for Israel and the wider region.
Freiberg explains that while many Arab states may find new Israeli leadership easier to work with, few expect any...
Is Netanyahu gearing up to strike Iran?
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 correspondent Lazar Berman joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu planned to carry out strikes against Iran earlier this month, but President Donald Trump opposed reigniting the fighting before the US midterms, the Financial Times reports. This comes as Israel Air Force planes reportedly have been conducting drills in preparation for a renewed attack. What could be in the offing?
Britain will fly Royal...
A Qatar mole in the PM's office?
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.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly held a secret meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during an unannounced visit to Israel on Monday night. Horovitz speculates about what may have been on the table. Hegseth's lightning visit comes a day after US President Donald Trump endorsed Netanyahu as his choice for Israel's next prime minister. Is that such a gift to Bi...
Operation Olive Leaf: Police make rare arrest of 10 extremist settlers
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 correspondent Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.
Israel announced the arrest of 10 suspected settler extremists on Monday morning, after days of international pressure to take action following weekend attacks on Palestinians, foreign diplomats and Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine in the West Bank. Fabian explains what is the responsibility of the police versus the IDF and Shin Bet is in preventing these attacks.
IDF Chief o...
With election days away, polls still can't predict a winner
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.
News editor Ben Sales joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.
With the final barrage of election polls before the October 27 election, Sales notes that the canvassing can't accurately predict who will win, and explains why, including the issue of the smaller parties on both sides of the political spectrum that are hovering around the 3.25% electoral threshold.
Sales also discusses rising tensions among members of Mayor Zohran Mamdani's political ba...
A Mandatory Listen - Nechumi Yaffe: An insider's dire prognosis for the Haredi world - and its cure
Welcome to "A Mandatory Listen," a new weekly podcast in which The Times of Israel deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan asks the big questions facing Israel and the Jewish people.
For this fourth episode in the new series, we speak with Prof. Nechumi Yaffe, an ultra-Orthodox woman running for Knesset for the Charedi Public Party (HaTzibur HaCharedi).
A faculty member at Tel Aviv University since 2019, Yaffe is currently a tenured senior lecturer at the School of Public Policy and co-director of the Haredi Research Group at UCLA.
Among other fields of interest, Yaffe delves...
The Reel Schmooze on 'The Apartment': Why this 1960 film about adultery is a comedy icon today
Welcome to The Reel Schmooze with ToI film reviewer Jordan Hoffman and host Amanda Borschel-Dan, where we bring you all the entertainment news and film reviews a Jew can use.
This week's featured Schmooze film is "The Apartment," a 1960 iconic work of dark comedy by famed filmmaker Billy Wilder.
Starring Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine and Fred MacMurray, the film takes us to the massive offices of an insurance conglomerate where Lemmon is attempting to climb the corporate ladder. A bit of a "shnook," he finds himself lending out his Upper West Side apartment to a...
LIVE Daily Briefing - Security, diplomacy, politics: Your questions, our answers
We recorded a live Daily Briefing podcast in Jerusalem on Wednesday, October 14, joined by an exclusive ToI Community audience.
Deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan hosted military correspondent Emanuel Fabian, diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman, and political correspondent Ariela Karmel for a night of interactive polls and audience questions, followed by light refreshments.
This event was exclusively for members of The Times of Israel Community, our reader support group.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Natasha Hausdorff: International law itself under attack by anti-Israel NGOs
Welcome to The Times of Israel's Lazar Focus. Each Friday, join host diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman for a deep dive into what's behind the news that spins the globe.
Israel is doing well on the battlefield since October 7, but has lost significant ground in the information war.
Much of that discourse is rooted in legal language -- war crimes, arrest warrants, illegal settlements, charges of genocide.
International law and the conversation around international law is a central battlefield for Israel.
Natasha Hausdorff is one of Israel's most prominent advocates, especially around q...
Why are the Saudis so poor at war despite spending billions?
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 correspondent Lazar Berman joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.
Amidst rising inflammatory rhetoric from the United States and Iran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated Wednesday that he is against a US or Israeli attack on Iran in the coming days, ahead of the Israeli election on October 27. We hear what is being said on all sides and why, yet again, actions speak louder than words.
Turning to...
IDF, police, Education Ministry spar over deadly school trip blast
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 correspondent Emanuel Fabian joins host Jessica Steinberg for today’s episode.
As the government approves an "urgent" NIS 1 billion shekel deal to purchase 12 Apache helicopters, Fabian discusses the need for a larger fleet to defend Israel’s borders.
With the ongoing investigation by the IDF, police and the Education Ministry about who is responsible for allowing a school trip near the Lebanese border in which a 14-year-old h...
Mamdani's political balancing act backfires
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 reporter Luke Tress joins host Gabriella Jacobs for today's episode. Last Wednesday at an Israeli-led coexistence event commemorating the anniversary of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, anti-Zionist protesters railed at New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, calling him a "traitor." Meanwhile, Jewish leaders broadly condemned a statement the mayor made earlier in the day accusing Israel of genocide.
Tress explains how the backlash from both the far left and...
How the Houthis' multi-pronged strategy is unbalancing the Saudis
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.
Mideast expert Ksenia Svetlova joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.
Yemen’s Houthis attacked Riyadh’s international airport with a missile on Saturday, in an attack that Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority said killed at least 12 people and injured over 300, with some in critical condition.
Saturday’s attack, the deadliest on Saudi soil in more than a decade, was a sharp escalation in the Yemen war, where Riyadh ba...
A message to Eisenkot? Joint List vows to do 'anything' to oust Netanyahu
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 Ariela Karmel joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.
As Ofer Winter and his People of Israel party simultaneously criticize the Netanyahu government while declaring they will only serve in a right-wing government led by the current prime minister, Karmel discusses how Winter's party was created to sustain Netanyahu and his allies, creating an address for right-wing voters angry with the country's leadership after October 7.
Following a d...
The Reel Schmooze on 'The Stamp Thief': Will a rag-tag team of LA Jews get lucky in Poland?
Welcome to The Reel Schmooze with ToI film reviewer Jordan Hoffman and host Amanda Borschel-Dan, where we bring you all the entertainment news and film reviews a Jew can use.
This week's featured Schmooze film is a rollicking Holocaust-themed documentary called "The Stamp Thief."
“Seinfeld” producer Gary Gilbert leads a gang of curious individuals on the trail of a trove of stamps stolen from Jews in the Holocaust and reportedly buried in a small town in Poland.
Gilbert's neighbor, documentary film director Dan Sturman first serves as the voice of reason, but is soon...
A Mandatory Listen - Bret Stephens: Israel regained deterrence. The US lost it
Welcome to "A Mandatory Listen," a new weekly podcast in which The Times of Israel deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan asks the big questions facing Israel and the Jewish people.
For this third episode in the new series, we speak with The New York Times columnist Bret Stephens -- also the editor of the SAPIR Journal -- who was in the country for a lightning reporting trip ahead of the Israeli election on October 27.
Stephens, who both supports and criticizes Israel, is increasingly the minority voice at the Gray Lady, where the Jewish state has decidedly...
Elizabeth Tsurkov: Sharaa's Syria is no threat to Israel
Welcome to The Times of Israel's Lazar Focus. Each Friday, join host diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman for a deep dive into what's behind the news that spins the globe.
Israel and Jews around the world marked three years since the October 7 attacks this week.
It was a time to remember the fallen and the survivors. It was also an opportunity to take stock of Israel's conflicts and what Israel should do next.
Elizabeth Tsurkov, a PhD student at Princeton and Middle East scholar, says that Israel's approach to Syria and Lebanon needs to b...
Shared grief, deep divisions: Israel marks October 7
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.
News editor Ben Sales joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.
Following the various memorial ceremonies held this week to mark the third anniversary of October 7, Sales and Steinberg discuss the ongoing polarization in Israeli society, extending to the different days on which the Hamas massacre is commemorated.
Looking ahead to the October 27 election, Sales talks about the democratic expectation of having a mandate once the votes are in, ye...
3 years to Hamas attack, Israel is both more secure and more vulnerable
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 correspondent Lazar Berman joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.
The country is marking the passage of three years since the onset of the multifront war on October 7, 2023. We speak about the concept of memorializing what one is living through and why this third anniversary is different.
Moving from border to border, Berman speaks about the military's operations on all fronts and whether the status on the ground...
Echoes of Oct. 7 in the failures exposed by flydubai near-disaster
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.
The copilot who attempted to carry out a terror attack on a flydubai flight on Wednesday intended to crash the plane into Ben Gurion Airport, according to reports on Sunday. This is just one of the many details surfacing after the miraculous thwarting of the near-disaster that Horovitz unveils during today's program.
However, alongside the saga of in-flight heroism, we...
Will IDF's Oct. 7 lessons learned in blood be implemented?
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 correspondent Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.
An Israeli airstrike in Gaza City overnight Friday-Saturday targeted Ali al-Amoudi, the terror group’s de facto leader in the enclave, according to the military, with Palestinian media reporting five people killed, including a number of women. This morning, a Hamas official claimed that al-Amoudi has survived the strike. Fabian fills us in.
The Israel Defense Forces on Thu...
In Bnei Brak, poverty, density and religious needs reshape real estate
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.
Jewish world and real estate correspondent Zev Stub joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.
Following the fierce Shabbat protests in Bnei Brak in early September, Stub discusses the real estate market in the largest ultra-Orthodox city, and developments in the poor, dense city, including better public transport that draws businesses that pay higher tax rates and unusual residential requirements.
After Rabbi Yitz Greenberg, an influential thinker of liberal O...
The Reel Schmooze on 'Ushpizin': An unforgettable homage to the most beautiful etrog of all
Welcome to The Reel Schmooze with ToI film reviewer Jordan Hoffman and host Amanda Borschel-Dan, where we bring you all the entertainment news and film reviews a Jew can use.
Last week, Borschel-Dan threw down a challenge: Can anyone suggest a Sukkot-themed film?
Dozens of loyal listeners wrote in with 2004's "Ushpizin," directed by Gidi Dar.
The unforgettable Israeli film -- which both of our Schmoozers had actually seen decades ago and blanked on -- explores the life of an unlucky ultra-Orthodox couple about to celebrate the Sukkot holiday.
The couple...
A Mandatory Listen - Micah Goodman: The one issue that unites America's radical left and right
Welcome to "A Mandatory Listen," a new weekly podcast in which The Times of Israel deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan asks the big questions facing Israel and the Jewish people.
For this second episode in the new series, who better to ask the big questions than a philosopher? We turn to author and public intellectual Micah Goodman for an in-depth conversation on the one burning issue that unites America's radical right and left.
Spoiler: They hate Israel.
But the reasons why the far left and the far right despise the Jewish state come from...
