The Times of Israel Daily Briefing

Latest Episodes:

Will sanctions succeed against Iran where military force hasn’t? Sep 03, 2026

Show notes

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.

Amid the resumed US-Iran fighting, US President Donald Trump is playing down the potential for escalation, reports Magid, and telling Israel not to worry.

Additionally, Magid discusses the administration's attempts to pressure Iran with economic sanctions, a lengthy process that will impact pricing for Americans at the gas pump, and will also require cooperation from a range of countries with diverse interests, including the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar and China.

The US issued slightly stronger condemnation than usual of West Bank settler violence, denouncing criminal violence and calling for investigations, arrests and prosecutions, but didn’t specifically mention settlers, or Israel, in its statement, notes Magid.

The US-backed Board of Peace called out Israel's continued strikes on Hamas targets in Gaza, Magid also reports, as the Israeli government appears to be waiting until after the October 27 elections to make any substantive policy shifts.

Magid also updates us on a Palestinian banking crisis, which was averted at the eleventh hour, with Israeli banks Discount and Hapoalim agreeing to continue providing correspondent banking services until January 1.

Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party is attempting to reconcile internal feuds ahead of planned Palestinian legislative elections at the end of November.

Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

Trump: ‘Israel should not worry’ about latest Iran clashes, war will wind down soon

US issues harsher censure of ‘West Bank violence,’ without explicitly blaming Israel

Board of Peace envoy knocks Israel’s ‘unacceptable’ Gaza policy as disarmament plan stalls

Palestinian banking crisis averted, as Israeli bank delays plan to halt collaboration

Feuding Fatah officials meet as internal rifts risk poor showing in November election

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. Ari Schlacht produced this episode.

IMAGE: US bureau chief Jacob Magid appears on the Times of Israel Daily Briefing with host Jessica Steinberg (AP)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In bold Israeli op, Hamas commander nabbed in Gaza City Sep 02, 2026

Show notes

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.

“Special forces” of the Shin Bet captured the commander of Hamas’s internal security apparatus in a “bold operation” in Gaza City on Tuesday morning, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the military, and the domestic security agency. It is the first time since the ceasefire that Israel is publicizing a raid deep inside the Gaza Strip. Fabian takes us through what we know.

The IDF on Tuesday dismissed a reservist commander who, along with his troops, was filmed in early August praying with settlers besieging the Palestinian village of Qusra, rather than removing them from their illegal outpost. Fabian reviews the timeline of the siege on the village and how the IDF is -- or is not -- dealing with the extremist settlers conducting it.

The commander of the Givati Brigade’s Rotem Battalion on Sunday sentenced 16 of his troops to prison after they refused to enter an armored personnel carrier in the Gaza Strip for operational activity last week because a female paramedic was attached to the force. We discuss the evolving roles of women in the military and whether it could even function without female soldiers.

Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

Israel confirms capturing Hamas internal security chief in Gaza City raid

IDF ousts reservist who prayed with besieging settlers; still no arrests for Qusra attack

16 Givati soldiers sent to prison for refusing to enter APC with female paramedic

Bar Kalifa tapped as top IDF West Bank officer, weeks after Katz announced move on TV

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What makes a Jewish legislator join forces with an Arab party? Sep 01, 2026

Show notes

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.

Ruling out a nuclear option, US President Donald Trump on Monday vowed a response to Iran’s overnight strikes on US forces in Jordan, as tensions again ramped up between the sides after a monthlong lull in fighting. Horovitz brings us up to speed with what is happening -- and not -- with the war right now.

Some 2.6 million students and preschoolers returned to school Tuesday morning at some 28,000 institutions around the country, as Israel marked the beginning of the 2026-2027 school year. Horovitz delves into some of the challenges the system faces and how critical it is to overhaul it.

Ra’am party head Mansour Abbas and Yoav Segalovitz — a Jewish, Zionist former police official, lawmaker and deputy minister — announced Monday evening that Segalovitz will run with Ra’am, an Arab party, in the October 27 election. We hear about the reasons for the merger as well as its immediate blowback.

Sara Netanyahu, wife of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, insinuated without evidence in an interview aired Monday that left-wing politician Yair Golan had advance notice of the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, onslaught. Of course, this drew a furious response from Golan's Democrats Party, but could the Israeli public believe this conspiracy theory?

Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

Trump vows response to Iranian strike on US troops in Jordan as tensions ratchet up

‘What a stupid question’: Trump rules out idea of nuking Iran amid renewed tensions

2.6 million students return to school amid teacher shortages, systemic challenges

In unprecedented move, Abbas and Segalovitz announce joint run, bringing Jewish lawmaker to Arab party’s slate

Full speech: Yoav Segalovitz joins Arab party Ra’am with hopes for ‘a shared future’

Breaking silence, Netanyahu decries ‘criminal violence’ after settlers again raid besieged village

Sara Netanyahu pushes conspiracy theory that left-wing leader Golan had advance knowledge of Oct. 7

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Splinter parties jockey for position as election deadline looms Aug 31, 2026

Show notes

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 joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

With a growing number of new splinter parties on the right and center-right, some of them founded by former Netanyahu allies, Sokol reviews the latest additions, noting that most of these third-bloc parties, not part of the coalition or opposition blocs, are polling below the electoral threshold as all jockey for position.

Sokol reports on the campaign of former IDF general Ofer Winter, who has placed himself firmly in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's camp even as he criticizes the Netanyahu government, but whose People of Israel party appears to be thriving at the cost of the Religious Zionism party of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

Sokol also reports on a new Haredi party, The Charedi Public, founded by Beit Shemesh deputy mayor Moti Leitner, to challenge the preeminent ideologies in the ultra-Orthodox community and be more responsive to the needs and demands of the Haredi public.

Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

With only days left to submit slates, small parties are still jockeying for position

Netanyahu warns Winter’s party could ‘bring down’ his coalition, urges meeting

With debutant Winter poised to cannibalize his bloc, Netanyahu has reason to sweat

Winter launches nationalist ‘People of Israel’ party; Netanyahu warns it could doom the right

No slate, no HQ: Sharren Haskel wages an uphill fight to return to the Knesset

Launching campaign, new Haredi party slams ‘detachment, stupidity’ of existing factions

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

IMAGE: Political correspondent Sam Sokol appears on the Daily Briefing with host Jessica Steinberg (Flash 90)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Golan Druze rethink their ties to Syria Aug 30, 2026

Show notes

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.

Health reporter Diana Bletter joins host Gabriella Jacobs for today's episode.

Following a recent reporting visit to Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights, Bletter discusses the significant uptick in Druze applications for Israeli citizenship instead of permanent residency, a change due to the recent regime change in Syria.

Bletter turns to health issues, including the scientific risks of UV tanning. Bletter reports that the UV index has gone viral on social media in Israel and around the world, used as a guide for when people can achieve the best bronzing.

A new study conducted by scientists at Weizmann Institute of Science shows that the active ingredient in Viagra disrupts cancer cells' metastasis, notes Bletter.

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Gabriella Jacobs and edited by Ari Schlacht.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Reel Schmooze on 'Don't Say Good Luck': The Sunny (Sandler) side of life, with cancer Aug 22, 2026

Show notes

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.

Taking a break from pulling classics out of the vaults, this week's film, "Don't Say Good Luck," just dropped on Netflix.

Sunny Sandler stars as a 16-year-old theater kid, backed up by a cast including Melanie Lynskey, Max Greenfield, Stephanie Beatriz, Bebe Neuwirth, and Steve Buscemi.

Within minutes, it's clear that what could have been a superficial teen flick produced by Adam and Jackie Sandler is a relatable look at "the show going on" while a family member fights cancer. Notes Hoffman, that depth may be due in part to the involvement of director Julia Hart and co-producer/writer Jordan Horowitz -- both veteran filmmakers with proven hits.

However, it is Sunny Sandler who is the glowing glue of the movie, providing singing and acting chops rare in a 16-year-old.

Hoffman gives a bit of the backstory behind the movie's production and insight into the choice of "The Waitress" as the play within the film. Labeling it a "weeper," he qualifies that it's not really a downer, rather realistically portrays the family's dilemmas.

Borschel-Dan, who watched with two of her teenagers, realizes they are 100% the target audience for this intergenerational, Jewish-coded tale that is all too familiar.

Let’s hear who gave this film an “oy,” “meh” or the prized “not bad” this week on The Reel Schmooze.

The Reel Schmooze is produced by Ari Schlacht and can be found wherever you get your podcasts.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Yossi Klein Halevi: Why Jewish extremism is so seductive - and dangerous Aug 21, 2026

Show notes

Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring key issues currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, with host Amanda Borschel-Dan speaking with author Yossi Klein Halevi.

The Hartman Institute senior fellow, writer and thinker joins us in our Jerusalem studio for a probing conversation about Jewish extremism.

Klein Halevi is the author of the 1995 "Memoirs of a Jewish Extremist," based on his time spent as a disciple of far-right racist firebrand Meir Kahane. He is uniquely poised to delve into the psyche of the violent fringe terrorizing West Bank Palestinian and shaking members of the settler movement.

We discuss the throughline between the era that spawned Kahane and his followers and today's national traumas that are spurring extremists to believe Kahane was right all along.

Through Kahane's vanities and human frailties, Klein Halevi realized that the cult of personality was dangerous and unhealthy. We ask, what happens if adherents believe their racist violence is actually in the service of God?

Klein Halevi, optimistic that these youth can be awoken, sets out conditions that could, slowly, allow for their transformation.

And so this week, we ask Yossi Klein Halevi, what matters now.

What Matters Now podcasts are available for download on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Yitzchak Ledee.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Israel risks opening a new front with strike deep in Syria Aug 20, 2026

Show notes

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.

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

After Israel struck a military base in Syria, where Turkey was apparently ready to deploy forces, Horovitz reviews the ensuing diplomatic ruckus between Israel, Turkey and Syria, with a US envoy castigating Israel but the White House silent.

Following this week's meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump aide Jared Kushner regarding the Board of Peace plan for Gaza, Horovitz explains the shared goal but differing approaches of the US and Israel, and highlights the need to not only disarm Hamas but also drain its coffers.

Horovitz examines the results of Monday's Likud primary and the options still available for Netanyahu to parachute a few of his own selected candidates to high slots on the party's final Knesset slate. He also updates us on the emergence of yet another small party, and a renewed alliance between three established ones.

Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

‘Don’t’: Netanyahu says he warned Turkey before Israel struck Syrian base

PM, Kushner clashed over continued Israeli strikes on Oct. 7 terrorists — officials

Hamas must be drained of its money as well as its weapons

Arab-majority Hadash, Ta’al and Balad parties agree on joint run after striking deal

Hawkish ex-general Ofer Winter expected to launch new party next week, shaking up the right

Times of Israel founding editor David Horovitz appears on Daily Briefing podcast with host Jessica Steinberg (Flash 90)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former Hamas hostage fulfills a dream at Nir Oz Aug 19, 2026

Show notes

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.

Culture editor Jessica Steinberg joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Former hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen took to the stage last week to sing nine songs he composed in his head during 498 days of Hamas captivity in Gaza. Steinberg was there and sets the scene ahead of a broader discussion on what other creative efforts are produced by former hostages, now thrust into a strange celebrity status.

Director Avi Nesher’s latest film, “Our Loves,” will be screened at the upcoming Toronto Film Festival, featured in the Centrepiece program that highlights feature films from established directors. This piece of news, once unsurprising, is noteworthy during a de facto boycott of most Israeli artists around the world. Steinberg takes us into how some filmmakers and musicians, including Noga Erez, are handling this boycott.

To close the program, we hear about other new films on the horizon that cover the October 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught on southern Israel -- and its aftermath -- from several different angles.

Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

Former hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen returns home to perform songs he composed in Hamas captivity

Avi Nesher’s Oct. 7 retelling, ‘Our Loves,’ to screen at Toronto Film Festival

Noga Erez and Ori Rousso share intimate details in new documentary ‘Noga’

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

US holds direct talks with Hamas. Why it's the new normal Aug 18, 2026

Show notes

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 Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and top aide Jared Kushner met with Hamas chief Khalil al-Hayya in the Egyptian coastal city of El-Alamein on Sunday before meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem yesterday. We discuss the normalization of the US conducting direct talks with Hamas and a potential new way forward being floated by the Board of Peace.

As the 60-day memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran has run out, in a wide-ranging phone interview with Fox News, US President Donald Trump said he had “no time schedule” for the conflict. Magid also delves into the visible mixed messaging between the president and Vice President J.D. Vance over the war's goals.

And finally, we turn to the ongoing saga taking place at the Palestinian village of Qusra, near Nablus. International media attention has been spotlighting the location for over a week after settlers began surrounding several new houses built on its outskirts, trapping residents inside in an apparent effort to force them out. The IDF’s actions — and inactions — have generated condemnation around the world.

Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

Kushner meets Hamas chief in Egypt in push for Gaza disarmament; IDF continues strikes

Meeting with Kushner, PM doubles down on IDF remaining in Gaza until Hamas disarmed

Amid Israeli pushback, source reveals Board of Peace weighing new disarmament framework

Trump threatens to bomb Oman over its deal with Iran on Hormuz, as 60-day MOU expires

Palestinian-American raises US flag upon return to Qusra home besieged by settlers

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

The Times of Israel Daily Briefing

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected