The Times of Israel Daily Briefing

Available Episodes

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Day 758 - Scandal rocks IDF even as Hamas reroots in Gaza
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. As pressure mounts for the Hamas terror group to lay down its arms, we take a minute to focus on the terrorists' military capabilities and current activities. Hamas has still not returned all the bodies of the hostages. Before the weekend, Israel returned the bodies of 30 more Palestinians to Gaza as part of an ongoing exchange deal after Hamas handed over the bodies of two hostages, 84-year-old Amiram Cooper and 25-year-old Sahar Baruch. The subsequent Hamas transfer, however, did not proceed smoothly. Fabian fills us in. Four members of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force were killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon on Saturday night, a day after Lebanese President Joseph Aoun accused Israel of responding to its offer to negotiate by intensifying its airstrikes. Fabian weighs in on whether his accusations hold water. The military’s top lawyer, Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, announced her resignation from the Israel Defense Forces on Friday, acknowledging that she had approved the leaking of a surveillance video from the Sde Teiman detention facility, which purported to show soldiers severely abusing a Palestinian detainee last year. We go through the timeline of this complicated scandal that is shaking the IDF to its core. Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates. For further reading: Partial remains handed over by Hamas are not of hostages, Israeli authorities assess US military publishes drone video of Hamas looting aid truck in Gaza IDF says strike in south Lebanon killed four elite Hezbollah operatives Lebanon accuses Israel of responding to negotiation offer by ‘intensifying’ attacks US envoy: Lebanon a ‘failed state,’ is unlikely to be able to forcibly disarm Hezbollah IDF’s top lawyer quits; says she approved leak of detainee abuse video Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Pod-Waves. IMAGE: Members of the Qassam Brigades control crowds in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, October 28, 2025. (Ali Hassan/Flash90)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Day 757 - Eli Sharabi on living with trauma and mourning
Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring key issues currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, with host Jessica Steinberg speaking with former hostage Eli Sharabi. Sharabi, whose bestselling book, "Hostage," was recently translated into English, spoke to What Matters Now a few days before burying his brother, Yossi Sharabi, whose body was recently released home to Israel after he was taken hostage on October 7 from Kibbutz Bee'eri, the community where both brothers lived with their families. Sharabi speaks about reuniting with recently released hostage Alon Ohel, his fellow captive from months in a Gaza tunnel, and the joy of realizing that reunion. He talks about how work, the book, and public speaking have been therapeutic acts for him, after his wife and daughters were killed on October 7. Sharabi speaks about Kibbutz Be’eri, where he lived for 35 years, his chosen community that can no longer be a home for him, but that he hopes will be rehabilitated and rebuilt. And so this week, we ask Eli Sharabi, 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 the Pod-Waves. IMAGE: At the October 27, 2025 Kibbutz Be'eri burial for Yossi Sharabi, whose body was brought back from Gaza captivity, with his brother, former hostage Eli Sharabi, center, eulogizing him (Paulina Patimer/Hostages Forum)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Day 756 - Lazar Berman: New hope for Catholic-Jewish ties
Welcome to The Times of Israel's newest podcast series, Friday Focus. Each Friday, join host deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan and diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman for a deep dive into what's behind the news that spins the globe. This week, amid pomp and circumstance at the Vatican, the Catholic Church marked 60 years to the Nostra Aetate, a document that — among other things — attempts to redefine the two-thousand-year-old relationship between the Catholic Church and the Jewish people. Berman delves into the Nostra Aetate's long-standing significance, especially as the relationship between Israel and the Vatican has frayed during the two-year war in Gaza launched by Hamas's murderous onslaught on southern Israel. We learn of the history behind the creation of the landmark document and the push-pull concerns from the Catholic communities in Mideast countries. We hear of the Jewish French historian Jules Isaac, who compiled Catholic anti-Jewish teachings and delivered them to Pope John XXIII, confirming the need to chart out a new path in the Church. Friday Focus can be found on all podcast platforms. This episode was produced by the Pod-Waves. IMAGE: Pope Leo XIV attends a commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Vatican 1965 declaration Nostra Aetate (In Our Time) in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, October 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Day 755 - Law and politics clash in Haredi anti-draft rally
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 and legal reporter Jeremy Sharon join host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode. With hundreds of thousands of ultra-Orthodox men expected to rally at the entrance to Jerusalem Thursday afternoon, a protest originally scheduled to coincide with the revised Haredi conscription bill, Sokol discusses the significance of all ultra-Orthodox sects and factions uniting to protest conscription. The event will follow Wednesday's Supreme Court criticism of the government for its failure to take effective enforcement measures against Haredi draft evaders, says Sharon. Sharon discusses the timing of the legal and political processes in the Haredi conscription bill, noting the number of Supreme Court justices from the religious Zionist world, a community with a significant rate of combat service, which may be reflected in the court's orders to the government. Sokol also talks about the political significance of removing Likud MK Yuli Edelstein, the former Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman, from the committee, and being replaced by controversial lawmaker Tally Gotliv. Following Wednesday's announcement of a criminal investigation into the leaking of surveillance video from the Sde Teiman detention facility that purported to show soldiers severely abusing a Palestinian detainee last year, Sharon discusses the significance of the announcement as some right-wing government ministers see the investigation as a vindication of the accused soldiers. IMAGE: Ultra-Orthodox Jews gather around an Israeli soldier playing the piano at the Yitzhak Navon train station in Jerusalem, on their way to attend the Haredi protest against IDF conscription on October 30, 2025 (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Day 754 - Faking 'discovery' of a body, depraved Hamas plays to type
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 IDF announced this morning that the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip is now once again in effect, following “a series of significant strikes” targeting dozens of Hamas targets and operatives. The strikes came after Palestinian operatives carried out an attack on troops stationed in the Rafah area of the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, killing soldier Master Sgt. (res.) Yona Efraim Feldbaum. This strike on IDF soldiers, along with Hamas’s failure to return the deceased Israeli hostages -- even faking the recovery of one slain hostage -- led to Israel's retaliation, which, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, killed over 100. Horovitz weighs in on the nature of Hamas and the White House's recognition of Israel's right to retaliate. We hear how Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed the US of his intention to strike, and today appears bent on continuing with the Trump-brokered ceasefire. The Haredi community in Israel is planning a massive protest at the entrance of Jerusalem tomorrow, while the High Court is hearing petitions that the IDF draft tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox young men, and at the same time, the Knesset is working to draft a bill that will allow most of the Haredi young men to continue to avoid conscription. We learn some details of the leaked bill being discussed by the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and hear about some of the Likud MKs who are speaking out against it. Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates. For further reading: IDF reservist killed in Tuesday attack in Rafah; Israel says ceasefire restored Hamas fakes ‘unearthing’ partial remains of hostage whose body IDF recovered in 2023, Israel says Trump: ‘Nothing’ will jeopardize Gaza ceasefire, Israel ‘should hit back’ if troops killed Revised ultra-Orthodox military draft bill said to reduce penalties for dodgers Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Pod-Waves. Illustrative image: Hamas terrorists carry a white bag believed to contain a body, after retrieving it from a tunnel during a search for the remains of hostages in Hamad City, Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, October 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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