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 227 of the war with Hamas. Diplomatic reporter Lazar Berman joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Police and anti-government demonstrators clashed this morning near the Sha’ar Hagai Junction on the main Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway as demonstrators from the Brothers in Arms group calling for a hostage release deal tried to block the highway and were dispersed by police. Several groups are heading to Jerusalem to demonstrate outside the Knesset as it resumes today. Berman explains what we know about hostage talks. 

The Iranian Red Crescent said this morning that the bodies of President Ebrahim Raisi and others who died in a helicopter crash have been recovered, and search operations have ended. What happens now for Iran?

Visiting US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan laid out to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday the opportunity currently available for Israel to normalize relations with Saudi Arabia if Jerusalem agrees to a pathway to a future Palestinian state. Berman weighs whether there is a realistic chance for normalization during the ongoing war.

Last week, all eyes were on the Israel-Egypt relationship as the country sounded fury when the IDF continued pinpoint operations in Rafah. What's happening now?

For the latest updates, please see The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Netanyahu said to reject negotiators’ bid to formulate new hostage deal proposal

Iran’s Raisi confirmed dead in helicopter crash near Azerbaijan border

Raisi’s death doesn’t change Iranian policy, but will spark fight for power

Saudi ties in reach but hinge on path to Palestinian state, Sullivan tells reluctant PM

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: A woman reads a newspaper with a front-page report on the crash of the Iranian president's helicopter outside a kiosk in Tehran on May 20, 2024. (Atta Kenare / 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 226 of the war with Hamas. Military reporter Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Last night, the Israel Defense Forces announced that soldiers had recovered the body of an additional hostage from the Gaza Strip, after the announcement the previous day that three slain captives had been returned in a special mission. Fabian describes the mission that brought back the remains of Ron Benjamin, Amit Buskila, Itzhak Gelerenter and Shani Louk.

The IDF announced the deaths of two soldiers killed during fighting in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday. Fabian describes the current battles in Gaza, from the north to the south.

On Friday, the IDF confirmed carrying out an airstrike in eastern Lebanon close to the border with Syria, killing a top al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya operative who worked alongside Hamas. We hear how widespread Hamas is inside Lebanon and how the attacks from Hezbollah are increasingly escalating.

An Israeli airstrike in the West Bank city of Jenin late Friday night targeted a command room belonging to a local terror network and killed a terrorist behind the murder of an Israeli in May 2023. Fabian describes the use of a fighter jet in this strike.

For the latest updates, please see The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

IDF announces recovery of body of Ron Benjamin from Gaza, says he was killed on Oct. 7

IDF says 2 soldiers killed, 4 seriously wounded during fighting in southern Gaza

IDF strike kills Hamas-linked senior operative near Lebanon’s border with Syria

IDF: Terrorist involved in 2023 murder of Israeli killed in rare West Bank airstrike

Trucks carrying 300 pallets of humanitarian aid roll into Gaza across new US pier

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 401st Armored Brigade operate in eastern Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, in a handout image published May 18, 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 225 of the war with Hamas. US bureau chief Jacob Magid joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

The Biden administration is looking into sanctioning the extremist Israelis involved in the recent spate of attacks targeting humanitarian aid convoys for Gaza civilians. Magid tells us about how widespread of a disturbance this is and what these potential sanctions would mean.

On May 13, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan again set out a 10-point list of the Biden Administration’s views on the ongoing war in Gaza. He later announced that he would visit Saudi Arabia and Israel to discuss the long-shot US effort to broker a normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia. What does Magid make of the timing of these events and how realistic is this normalization effort? Magid also speaks about the dissonance between the US's goals of stopping Hamas and ending the war.

Magid explains why we recently saw a flurry of Hamas leaders meeting with Turkey's leadership. He also discusses where, if anywhere, they could be rehoused if truly thrown out from Qatar.

For the latest updates, please see The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

US looking to sanction extremist Israelis for attacks on Gaza aid convoys, officials tell ToI

Top Biden aide Sullivan to visit Israel for talks on Saudi ties, Rafah — official

The US aims to wrap up Gaza war. How does that square with its goal of toppling Hamas?

Qatar briefly kicked out Hamas leaders as hostage talks stalled in April — officials

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. 

ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE: Palestinians carry boxes of humanitarian aid after rushing the trucks transporting the international aid from the US-built Trident Pier near Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on May 18, 2024. (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 224 of the war with Hamas. Political reporter Sam Sokol joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

Sokol discusses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's opposing pressures this week between his coalition and cabinet regarding governance in Gaza after the war, as Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is pushing for some decisions. The disagreement has created another looming coalition crisis, as some far-right politicians call for Gallant's ouster, and not for the first time in this government.

He then looks at the other pressure playing out for the prime minister, as Netanyahu attempted this week to revive an older piece of legislation regarding the ultra-Orthodox draft, in a political scramble to find some degree of enlistment while keeping his coalition intact. 

For the latest updates, please see The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Far-right politicians demand Gallant be fired for challenging PM on Gaza’s future

Gallant to PM: Reject Israeli military, civil rule of Gaza after Hamas; I won’t allow it

Netanyahu says he’ll advance Haredi IDF enlistment bill that lowers exemption age

Ministerial pushback may have nixed cabinet discussion on Haredi enlistment bill

Diverse backgrounds give way to shared fate as Gaza friendly-fire victims eulogized

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: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a state memorial ceremony for victims of terror at Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem, May 13, 2024 (Photo by 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 223 of the war with Hamas. Editor David Horovitz joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan in our Jerusalem offices for today's episode.

Five Israeli soldiers were killed and another seven were wounded, including three seriously, in an incident of so-called friendly fire in northern Gaza’s Jabaliya on Wednesday evening, the military announced today. Prior to the official announcement of the soldiers' deaths, last night Defense Minister Yoav Gallant sounded the alarm to force the hand of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take steps and promote a reasonable option for governance of the strip -- in part to prevent more soldiers’ and civilians’ deaths. Horovitz puts the speech into perspective.

Yesterday, Netanyahu revived a 2022 proposal by cabinet minister Benny Gantz to lower yeshiva students’ age of exemption from military service from 26 to 21. Today, the Attorney General weighed in and stated the Gantz bill is based on outdated data and therefore opposes it because it doesn’t reflect today’s reality. The bill has since been approved by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation this morning. But are there really any winners if this bill moves forward?

The official date for the next elections are October 2026. Horovitz explains why Netanyahu must move the date forward and call for a new democratically validated mandate of his leadership -- or cede the throne.

For the latest updates, please see The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

5 soldiers killed, 7 hurt in ‘friendly fire’ incident in northern Gaza’s Jabaliya

Gallant to PM: Reject Israeli military, civil rule of Gaza after Hamas; I won’t allow it

Full text: Gallant demands PM rule out Israeli military, civil control of post-Hamas Gaza

Netanyahu says he’ll advance Haredi IDF enlistment bill that lowers exemption age

To save and heal Israel, Netanyahu must quit or at least face the electorate

ICJ’s urgent hearings over IDF’s Rafah operation spell more trouble for Israel

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: This handout picture released by the Israeli army on May 7, 2024 shows Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant standing with soldiers by a self-propelled artillery howitzer during a visit to a position along the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel near Rafah. (Israeli Army / 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 222 of the war with Hamas. Military correspondent Emanuel Fabian and Diaspora and Jewish world reporter Canaan Lidor join host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

Fabian discusses the latest updates in the Gaza Strip, as more IDF tanks move into Rafah and the first IDF fatality was announced Tuesday. He describes the different areas where the IDF is currently operating in Gaza and the larger number of troops involved once again in the region.

He also talks about the Hezbollah attack in the north on Tuesday, when a civilian was killed and several IDF soldiers injured as three separate rocket attacks targeted a surveillance balloon. The IDF appears to have retaliated with a drone attack on a Hezbollah commander who was killed in the operation.

Lidor discusses the alternative Yom Ha'atzmaut Independence Day ceremony held in the northern suburb of Binyamina on Monday night, during which bereaved parents, hostage family members and evacuees doused torches rather than lighting them, as they spoke about the failures and losses of the last seven months.

He also speaks about an antisemitic incident at the University of Amsterdam, emblematic of the ongoing protests and attacks that are taking place across European campuses.

For the latest updates, please see The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

Soldier killed in south Gaza fighting, in first Israeli fatality of Rafah offensive

Israeli tanks move deeper into Rafah, Palestinians say, as 450,000 flee

Civilian killed, 5 troops hurt by Hezbollah missile; northern residents protest inaction

Top Hezbollah field commander killed in IDF drone strike in south Lebanon

In foil to official state event, those hit hardest by Oct. 7 lead torch-dousing ceremony

On Europe’s campuses, explosions of violent antisemitism have become de rigueur

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: At the alternative Independence Day ceremony held by hostage family members in Binyamina on the eve of Israel's 76th Independence Day, May 13, 2024 (Photo by Flash90)
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