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

Reports about a potential hostage release deal are, as ever, a rollercoaster of emotions: Yesterday, headlines were filled with positive signs, but today we’re hearing that Israel has decided it will not be sending a delegation to Cairo for hostage talks yet. Berman gives us a sense of where things stand now.

US Congress members from both parties have reportedly warned of retaliation from Washington, amid fears that the International Criminal Court may issue warrants against Israelis, concerned that the move could sink the hostages-for-truce agreement in the works between Israel and Hamas. We hear why the court may suddenly issue these warrants for alleged war crimes perpetrated by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi -- or at least, why the issue is suddenly in the news again.

Several European member states are expected to recognize Palestinian statehood by the end of May, the European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Monday at the sidelines of a World Economic Forum special meeting in Riyadh. Which states and what could this mean for Israel on the international stage?

An overwhelming majority of Americans believe Israel should go ahead with an offensive in Rafah to end the war against Hamas, according to a new Harvard CAPS Harris poll. Berman shares his experience of overwhelming support for Israel while he was recently in the US.

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

Discussed articles include:

Blinken hopes Hamas takes Israel’s ‘extraordinarily generous’ truce offer

US lawmakers threaten retaliation against UN court over potential Israel arrest warrants

What is the International Criminal Court and why does it worry Israeli leaders?

Israel working to block feared ICC arrest warrants against PM, others over Gaza war

EU top diplomat: At least 5 countries expected to recognize Palestinian state in May

Over 70% of US voters back Israeli offensive in Rafah to defeat Hamas — poll

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. 

IMAGE: A protester with a zipper over her mouth holds a poster showing pictures of Israeli hostages taken captive by Hamas and other terrorists in Gaza during the October 7 attacks, during a demonstration calling for their release in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv on April 27, 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 206 of the war with Hamas. Senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

In today's in-depth discussion, we step away from Israeli domestic news and delve into the spate of campus protests taking place across the United States.

How seriously should we be taking them? What could be their lingering effects? And should be the lessons learned for Israel?

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

Discussed articles include:

Anti-Israel protesters dig in as some US schools clamp down on encampments

Newsweek: Message From a Gazan to Campus Protesters: You're Hurting the Palestinian Cause

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. 

IMAGE: Students demand their university divests from Israel at George Washington University in Washington, April 27, 2024 (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
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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 205 of the war with Hamas. Military reporter Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

In the past several days, Hamas has released two disturbing videos with Israeli hostages. Israelis await Hamas’s response to the government’s latest proposal for an accord following intense Egyptian mediation but the government has said it won’t wait too long before the expected Rafah operation commences. Fabian puts the pieces together.

We hear about the spread of IDF troops throughout the country and in the West Bank and Gaza as an indication of current hotspots in the ongoing conflict against Hamas and Hezbollah.

Hezbollah’s Deputy Secretary-General Naim Qassem warned Saturday that full-scale war will not bring residents of northern Israel home, but rather end their presence there “once and for all,” as Hezbollah attacks on the north and Israel strikes in Lebanon continued. Fabian explains what are some of Hezbollah’s capabilities and how Israel can counter them.

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

Discussed articles include:

Hamas airs clip of 2 hostages, as FM says Israel would delay Rafah op for a deal

Hezbollah warns full-scale war may end Israeli presence in north ‘once and for all’

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. 

IMAGE: Illustrative: An Iranian domestically built missile is displayed in front of the portrait of the Lebanese Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah during a rally of Iran's Basij paramilitary force in support of the Palestinians in Tehran, Iran, November 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
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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 204 of the war with Hamas. US bureau chief Jacob Magid joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

Hamas said Saturday it was reviewing a new Israeli proposal for a truce and hostage deal, amid intensified efforts to broker an agreement. At the same time, Israel told a top-level Egyptian delegation that it will give Hamas "once last chance" before launching the Rafah operation. Magid updates us on what we know so far.US troops have begun constructing a maritime pier off the coast of Gaza with the aim of speeding up the flow of humanitarian aid into the enclave when it becomes operational in May. With the pier already suffering mortar fire, where will the troops be housed? 

On Thursday, Magid paid a visit to the Northwestern University campus in Evanston, Illinois, and was witness to the set-up of its ongoing pro-Palestine protests. He reports back. 

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

Discussed articles include:

Avigail Idan’s meeting with Biden was ‘something special,’ family says

Hamas says it will study Israel’s latest response in truce, hostage deal negotiations

Israel tells Egypt it’s giving hostage deal ‘last chance’ before launching Rafah op

US troops begin constructing Gaza pier, aiming to have it operational by early May

Gaza ‘solidarity encampment’ shakes up Northwestern campus but leaves no clear winners

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. 

IMAGE: People rally on the campus of Northwestern University demanding the school divest from Israel, on April 25, 2024 in Evanston, Illinois. (Scott Olson/ GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via 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 203 of the war with Hamas. Yeshiva University president Rabbi Ari Berman joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's special in-depth interview episode.

Berman was in Israel when Hamas invaded Israel's south on October 7, slaughtering 1,200 and taking 253 individuals hostage to Gaza. He told The Times of Israel this week that he felt called to return to New York, where he heads Modern Orthodoxy's flagship institution, and began immediately call on his university head peers to form a broad coalition to condemn the massacre and ensuing suffering.

More than 100 institutions of higher education, including public and private, faith-based, and historically Black colleges and universities, signed onto a a statement saying that they stood "with Israel, the Palestinians who suffer under Hamas' cruel rule in Gaza and all people of moral conscience."

Today, as violent anti-Israel protests are erupting on campuses throughout the United States, Berman shares his insights into the failings of the educators who allowed them to proliferate.

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

Discussed articles include:

Hundreds arrested across US campuses as police clamp down on anti-Israel protests

US Catholic universities offer campuses as refuge for ‘harassed’ Jewish students

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. 

IMAGE: Yeshiva University head Rabbi Ari Berman (Yeshiva University)
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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 202 of the war with Hamas. Editor David Horovitz joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

So-called pro-Palestinian rallies have sprouted up on US campuses, from Columbia University in New York -- where in-person classes have been canceled -- to the University of Southern California on Wednesday, just hours after police at a Texas university aggressively detained dozens of protesters. Horovitz describes what he believes are the protesters’ goals.

A senior Israeli defense official said Wednesday that the Israel Defense Forces has conducted all necessary preparations to take Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah and can launch an operation the moment it gets government approval. But will the IDF also wait for US approval?

Thirty years after the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, Argentina has asked Pakistan and Sri Lanka to arrest Iran’s interior minister Ahmad Vahidi who is a lead suspect in planning the attacks. Why is Argentina again interested in seeking justice for the bombing?

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

Discussed articles include:

The goal of the campus Jew-haters: To render Israel indefensible, in both senses of the word

At heart of protests sweeping US universities is demand they divest from Israel

Dozens arrested at U of Texas, USC as anti-Israel protests spread to more US campuses

As anti-Israel encampment at Columbia endures, Jewish students lament ‘Judenrein’ campus

IDF ready to conquer Gaza’s Rafah, awaiting government okay, says senior official

Argentina asks host countries to arrest visiting Iranian minister over 1994 bombing

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. 

IMAGE: Students attend a pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel rally against the Israel-Hamas war on the campus of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, on April 24, 2024. (Frederic J. Brown / AFP)
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