The Times of Israel Daily Briefing

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Day 521 - Israeli banks gain in war, El Al's competition on NY route
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. Tech Israel editor Sharon Wrobel and health editor Diana Bletter join host Jessica Steinberg for today's Daily Briefing. As Israel's two largest banks, Bank Hapoalim and Discount Bank, posted massive financial gains for 2023, Wrobel discusses how Israel's banks achieved increases during months of war. She notes that Israelis may have ignored banking issues and statements while serving prolonged reserve duty and dealing with more heightened personal issues during the height of the war. Bletter delves into her investigative piece of the allegations pointed at Israel, regarding whether IDF troops targeted Gazan children during the war. She looks in particular at the allegations made in two essays printed in The New York Times and The Guardian, discussing her interview with an American urban warfare expert, the lack of forensic evidence and the long history of Hamas of exploiting and harming minors and adult civilians to advance its political goals. As Israir becomes the third Israeli airline to join the Tel Aviv-New York route, offering more competition to carriers El Al and Arkia, Wrobel discusses what it will take for Israir to gain customers, as travelers seek better deals. Wrobel also talks about Israelis booking cruises, as they seek some relief from war and October 7 trauma, and a secure vacation given anti-Israel sentiment worldwide and the high prices of airline tickets. With thousands of residents of the Western Galilee heading home last week, Bletter visited Arab al-Aramshe — the only non-Jewish community evacuated in Israel for the war, a Bedouin village whose residents were holed up in hotels and other communities for the last months. Please see today's ongoing liveblog for more updates. For further reading: Israeli banks rake in record profits as their war-battered customers drown in debt After doctors accuse Israel of shooting Gazan kids, experts see need for a second opinion Israir set to become third Israeli carrier serving New York route, with lower airfare As war brings spikes in airfare and antisemitism, cruise ships see a new wave of Israelis Bedouin and Jewish residents who evacuated from north return home to mourn and rebuild 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: Illustrative: Parked airplanes belonging to Israir and El Al at the Ben Gurion International Airport, August 8, 2020. (Olivier Fitoussi/FLASH90)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Day 520 - As Gaza ceasefire reaches day 50, no sign of IDF pullout
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 reporter Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's Daily Briefing. Tomorrow marks day 50 of the ceasefire agreement. Fabian explains where the IDF is currently operating in the Gaza Strip and how quickly it could reassemble into war footing. A Syria war monitor reported on Saturday that over 745 civilians from the Alawite minority had been killed in recent days by security forces and their allies, as authorities clash with militants loyal to the former government of Bashar al-Assad. Coincidentally or not, the IDF said troops captured and destroyed numerous weapons during missions in southern Syria. Is this publication of the IDF's Syria mission a message to the new government there? Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jews were escorted by the military on Friday to the traditionally considered burial place of a Babylonian scholar on the Lebanon border, after weeks of illegal attempts to reach the site. Later on Friday, the IDF carried out airstrikes in southern Lebanon, saying it targeted Hezbollah military sites. We learn about the IDF's current operations in Lebanon during the ceasefire. The Israel Defense Force’s chief spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, is to end his role in the coming weeks and retire from the military, the IDF announced on Friday. Many have seen this step as a de facto dismissal, as Hagari was not given a promotion for his work as IDF spokesman during the war. Fabian weighs in. Marking International Women's Day, Fabian and Borschel-Dan have a brief conversation about the role of women in IDF leadership. As women are slowly rising in the ranks in combat roles, could we see a female chief of staff in the next 20 years? Please see today's ongoing liveblog for more updates. For further reading: 745 civilians killed in clashes between Syrian regime and pro-Assad forces, says watchdog IDF says it seized, destroyed weapons in ‘targeted raids’ in southern Syria IDF says it struck terror targets in Lebanon and Gaza amid ceasefires IDF escorts hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jews to pray at tomb straddling Lebanon border IDF spokesman Hagari to retire from military, in move widely seen as dismissal 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: Israeli soldiers operating inside the northern Gaza Strip, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, on February 9, 2025. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Day 519 - Haviv Rettig Gur on Egypt’s 'silly' plan for postwar 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. Senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's Daily Briefing, which is a bonus episode of our weekly What Matters Now podcast series. At a Cairo summit of Arab leaders on Tuesday, a consensus of states adopted an Egyptian reconstruction plan for Gaza that would cost $53 billion and avoid displacing Palestinians from the enclave -- in contrast to US President Donald Trump’s “Middle East Riviera” vision. The over 100-page “Early Recovery, Reconstruction, Development of Gaza” plan envisions a Gaza Administration Committee, made up of independent technocrats, to manage an initial six-month transitional phase. It also urges elections in all Palestinian areas within a year, if conditions support such a move. The rub? The plan doesn’t explicitly tackle the issue of Hamas and how the terror group will be disarmed -- if at all. It also pushes for a Palestinian state before addressing any of the armed Palestinian factions. Rettig Gur dissects elements of the plan and weighs in on its seriousness. 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: In this photo provided by Egypt's presidency media office, Arab leaders pose during the emergency Arab summit at Egypt's New Administrative Capital, just outside Cairo, March 4, 2025. (Egyptian Presidency Media Office via AP)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Day 518 - Witkoff encourages Hamas to release US citizen as 'goodwill'
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 Daily Briefing, which is followed by a full episode of The Times of Israel's newest podcast series, Friday Focus with Lazar Berman. Magid focuses on some of the major developments in the hostage release-ceasefire negotiations, including Wednesday's revelation that the US has been conducting direct talks with Hamas to get hostages out. The US designated Hamas as a terrorist organization in 1997. Does speaking directly with Hamas contravene some kind of protocol for dealing with terrorist entities? US envoy to the Mideast Steve Witkoff is pressing Hamas for an act of "goodwill" to release the final living US-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander. How has Israel reacted to this? We learn how Magid believes the new direct negotiations with Hamas will reshape the contours of the mediated ceasefire deal and whether they will help them transition into phase two. Please see today's ongoing liveblog for more updates. For further reading: Trump defends direct US-Hamas talks as Israel seethes, attempts to sabotage them US talks with Hamas said to hit snag after media leak; PM unhappy they’re taking place Analysts: Direct US-Hamas talks reflect ‘dysfunction’ in ceasefire negotiations 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: President Donald Trump poses for photos with family members of Edan Alexander, a hostage held by Hamas, after visiting the gravesite of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, October 7, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Day 517 - Who will be on the squad that fires the attorney general?
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. Legal reporter Jeremy Sharon joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today’s Daily Briefing. Justice Minister Yariv Levin initiated proceedings to remove Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara from office. He has accused her of having politicized her office to thwart the will of the government and has long threatened to take action against her. We learn what steps were taken. A law dramatically changing how the state ombudsman for judges is chosen passed its third and final reading in the Knesset plenum early on Tuesday morning, following a full night of debate. We hear why this is such a potential game-changer. A new report by the Palestinian human rights organization Physicians for Human Rights Israel has alleged that Gazan medical personnel detained by Israeli forces and held in Israeli detention facilities during the war with Hamas were subjected to widespread and severe abuse, including beatings, various forms of torture, psychological abuse, medical neglect and the provision of insufficient rations. Sharon weighs in on how credible the report is. The UK Lawyers for Israel organization recently reviewed the allegations against Israel regarding widespread famine in the Gaza Strip during the war. In a report published last week, the group found that there was no famine in Gaza during the war, as defined by IPC standards — a UN-developed scale — and that even levels of acute malnutrition were only marginally higher than prewar figures. Please see today's ongoing liveblog for more updates. For further reading: Levin initiates process of firing AG; opposition says he’s destroying democracy, unity Coalition passes judicial overhaul law taking over appointment of judges’ ombudsman Gazan medical worker detainees ‘subjected to torture, beatings, medical neglect’ – report New study: There was no famine in Gaza… according to famine review groups’ own data 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: Israeli Attorney-General Gali Baharav Miara and Justice Minister Yariv Levin at a farewell ceremony for retiring acting Supreme Court President Uzi Vogelman, at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem on October 1, 2024. (Oren Ben Hakoon/POOL)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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