The Times of Israel Daily Briefing The Times of 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.

It is day 247 of the war with Hamas. Editor David Horovitz joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Israel celebrated yesterday after the IDF announced that it had rescued Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, and Shlomi Ziv from eight months of Hamas captivity in Gaza. Horovitz shares his impressions of the mood of the country.

Protesters at rallies in Tel Aviv and across the country on Saturday night called for new elections and the return of the hostages held in captivity in Gaza. The protests at the same time as war cabinet minister Benny Gantz was meant to give a statement at the deadline of his self-imposed ultimatum of whether or not to stay in the government. We hear what may be some of Gantz's considerations.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to visit the region starting tomorrow, even as Israel awaits Hamas’s response to the hostage deal proposal pushed by US President Joe Biden. Could the rescue operation reframe the negotiations in any way?

On Friday, Israel, Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad were added to the United Nations’ so-called “list of shame,” which is attached to an annual report released by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s office that documents alleged rights violations against children in armed conflict, sparking outrage in Jerusalem. Horovitz weighs in.

For more updates, please check out The Times of Israel's ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Rescue brings rare cause for Israeli joy, before hearts return to 116 hostages still held

Father of hostage Almog Meir Jan died hours before son’s rescue: ‘He died of grief’

Protesters nationwide hail hostage rescue, urge deal to free the rest; 33 arrested

Israelis rejoice over news of successful mission to rescue 4 hostages from Gaza

Blinken to return to Israel next week, as US pushes Hamas to take hostage deal offer

Israel livid as it’s added to UN ‘list of shame’ for wartime children’s rights violations

THOSE WE HAVE LOST: Civilians and soldiers killed in Hamas's onslaught on Israel

THOSE WE ARE MISSING: The hostages and victims whose fate is still unknown

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: An Israel Air Force CH-53 Sea Stallion military helicopter flies over as people gather with Israeli national flags outside Sheba Tel Hashomer Medical Centre in Ramat Gan on June 8, 2024, where Israeli hostages were transferred after being rescued from captivity in the Gaza Strip since the October 7 attacks. (Jack Guez / 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.

It is day 246 of the war with Hamas. Military reporter Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

After eight months in captivity, four Israeli hostages -- Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 21, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41 -- were rescued alive in a minutely planned IDF operation from Hamas captivity Saturday in a daring daylight operation in the central Gaza Strip. Fabian fills us in.

The IDF said Friday that they had carried out an airstrike on a Hamas command center that had been set up in a United Nations school in Gaza City’s Shati neighborhood, killing several members of the cell. The strike comes a day after the IDF hit another UN school in Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp, which was housing what it said was a compound used by dozens of terror operatives, 17 of which have so far been identified. Fabian discusses what we know about both strikes.

A drone launched from Lebanon impacted in an open area in the Jezreel Valley, near Nazareth, in northern Israel on Friday afternoon, in what is potentially the deepest drone strike during this conflict. Fabian describes why the use of drones is on the rise.

For more updates, please check out The Times of Israel's ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

IDF rescues 4 hostages from 8 months’ captivity in daytime operation in central Gaza

IDF says strike hit Hamas command room housed in container at Gaza City UN school

In apparent deepest attack of war, drone launched from Lebanon strikes near Nazareth

THOSE WE HAVE LOST: Civilians and soldiers killed in Hamas's onslaught on Israel

THOSE WE ARE MISSING: The hostages and victims whose fate is still unknown

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: An image depicting Noa Argamani, one of four Israeli hostages rescued by the Israeli army, is held up as Israeli activists rally during an anti-government demonstration, calling for the return of Israeli hostages being held in the Gaza Strip following their kidnapping by Palestinian Hamas terrorists during the October 7 attacks, in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv, on June 8, 2024. (Jack Guez / 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.

It is day 246 of the war with Hamas. Host Amanda Borschel-Dan speaks with archaeologist Prof. Jodi Magness for today's bonus episode from our What Matters Now weekly podcast series.

This Wednesday, Israel marked Jerusalem Day, which celebrates the reunification of Jerusalem following the 1967 Six-Day War.

But the capital has a rich and fascinating history of rulership changes since its foundation circa 1000 BCE.

Magness just published her latest book, "Jerusalem Through the Ages: From Its Beginnings to the Crusades," through Oxford University Press. She stopped by The Times of Israel's Jerusalem offices to speak about the ancient eternal city's rulerships and populations throughout the eras.

“Jerusalem Through the Ages” is a 700-page weighty tome that delves into the city’s history through archaeological evidence and also texts, including the Bible and extra-biblical material such as the Egyptian Amarna Letters.

Magness is Kenan Distinguished Professor for Teaching Excellence in Early Judaism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the author of 11 books, including "Masada: From Jewish Revolt to Modern Myth," "Stone and Dung, Oil and Spit: Jewish Daily Life in the Time of Jesus," and "The Archaeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls." From 2011 until 2023, Magness directed excavations at Huqoq in Israel’s Galilee and uncovered its breathtaking mosaics.

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: Prof. Jodi Magness in Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre, on April 11, 2022. (Amanda Borschel-Dan/The Times of Israel)
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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.

It is day 245 of the war with Hamas. US bureau chief Jacob Magid joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will address a joint session of Congress on July 24, top US lawmakers announced on Thursday. Will this truly be a bipartisan event?

Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan informed his US counterpart Linda Thomas-Greenfield yesterday that Jerusalem opposes the Security Council resolution being advanced by the Biden administration that expresses support for the hostage-ceasefire proposal Israel made last week. Why is Israel opposing an Israeli proposal?

The United States warned Thursday that Israel will see a "massive" negative impact if the Palestinian Authority collapses as Washington again pressed Israel to let revenue flow. Who is holding up the money and on what grounds?

The US State Department announced on Thursday sanctions against the Lions’ Den terror group that was established over two years ago in the northern West Bank. Why now?

In a new interview with ABC News, US President Joe Biden said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has listened to his warnings against a major military offensive in Rafah and that Biden believes Netanyahu supports the hostage deal Israel submitted last week. What else did you hear?

For more updates, please check out The Times of Israel's ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

‘Falling for Hamas tactics’: IDF names 9 terrorists killed in school strike, slams media

Netanyahu to defend ‘just war’ in July 24 speech to joint session of US Congress

Israel rejects Security Council resolution in support of its own hostage deal offer

US announces sanctions on largely dormant West Bank terror group Lions’ Den

THOSE WE HAVE LOST: Civilians and soldiers killed in Hamas's onslaught on Israel

THOSE WE ARE MISSING: The hostages and victims whose fate is still unknown

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 Givati Brigade operate in southern Gaza's Rafah, in a handout photo published June 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.

It is day 244 of the war with Hamas. Editor David Horovitz joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan in our Jerusalem offices for today's episode.

A Saudi outlet reported this morning that Hamas officials rejected the Israeli-driven proposal for a hostage-ceasefire deal, claiming it was fundamentally different from the deal presented by US President Joe Biden. How credible should we consider this Saudi report?

An Israel Defense Forces reserve soldier was killed and 10 other people were wounded in a Hezbollah-claimed attack with explosive-laden drones on northern Israel on Wednesday. The IDF announced the death of the soldier on Thursday morning, naming him as Staff Sgt. (res.) Refael Kauders, 39, a father of five young children from Tzur Hadassah, just outside Jerusalem. Is the IDF prepared for an all-out war in the north?

Police arrested 18 suspects for violent offenses on Wednesday as clashes broke out during the Jerusalem Day Flag March, in which tens of thousands of mostly national religious Israelis marched through the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City to celebrate the capital’s reunification in 1967. Horovitz addresses incendiary statements made by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and describes the scene at the march.

Yesterday a report by the FakeReporter organization and The New York Times was published alleging that the Israeli government has been waging a months-long campaign to covertly influence American lawmakers through AI-generated social media posts by fake users with the help of a $2million contract with an Israeli firm called Stoic. Horovitz weighs in on several of the disturbing aspects of this report.

For more updates, please check out The Times of Israel's ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Saudi report: Hamas rejects hostage-ceasefire deal proposal without clear guarantee war will end

Why Israel needs the hostage-ceasefire deal, and must be wary if Sinwar takes it

Reserve soldier killed, 10 hurt, in Hezbollah drone attack on northern town

Far-right violence, chants of ‘Death to Arabs,’ at Jerusalem Day Flag March in Old City

Ben Gvir boasts of letting Jews pray on Temple Mount; Netanyahu: Status quo unchanged

Diaspora Ministry funded fake social media posts to spread pro-Israel content — NYT

THOSE WE HAVE LOST: Civilians and soldiers killed in Hamas's onslaught on Israel

THOSE WE ARE MISSING: The hostages and victims whose fate is still unknown

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: Jewish men hold Israeli flags as they dance at Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City, during Jerusalem Day celebrations, June 5, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/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.

It is day 243 of the war with Hamas. Diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman and political reporter Sam Sokol join host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

Berman discusses the diplomatic discussions between the various counterparts in the push for a hostage agreement, as the Biden administration pushes for a first phase of a deal, and waits for the first stages of agreement from Hamas via Qatar.

He notes that Israel has agreed to move forward on the deal, and that the government is doing more than he expected to get the hostages out. That said, Israel is insisting on toppling Hamas militarily, getting all hostages out and ensuring that Gaza will not be a future platform for terrorist attacks.

Berman also discusses Netanyahu's conversation with French prime minister Emmanuel Macron who reemphasized French support for Israel and the hostages.

Sokol looks at the reactions of far-right ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich to the hostage talks, as they have threatened to bring down the government if Netanyahu signs what they consider a reckless deal.

He also notes that the ultra-Orthodox are in favor of the deal, given their long-time support of Netanyahu. The Haredi parties generally don't weigh in on security issues, given that their communities don't serve in the army.

Finally, Sokol offers a quick preview of the upcoming Jerusalem Day flag march into the Old City, an often controversial event particularly given the presence of Ben Gvir at the march.

For more updates, please check out The Times of Israel's ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

PM says Biden version of deal ‘incomplete’; US: It accurately reflects Israeli offer

Macron tells Netanyahu Gaza war must end, is mum on freeing hostages as condition

Biden’s ‘Israeli’ proposal for a hostage deal leaves key questions unanswered

Far-right ministers accuse Netanyahu of ‘whitewashing’ hostage deal, hiding details

THOSE WE HAVE LOST: Civilians and soldiers killed in Hamas's onslaught on Israel

THOSE WE ARE MISSING: The hostages and victims whose fate is still unknown

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: Demonstrators call for the release of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip outside Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, June 4, 2024. (Photo by Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
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