The Times of Israel Daily Briefing

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.
Australia correspondent Nomi Kaltmann joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.
Thousands gathered across Australia on Monday to protest the arrival of President Isaac Herzog, who is on a multi-city trip aimed at expressing solidarity with Australia’s Jewish community.
Herzog is visiting Australia this week at the invitation of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in the aftermath of the December 14 shooting at a Hanukkah event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach that killed 15.
The visit has attracted the ire of some people in Australia, who accuse Herzog of being complicit in civilian deaths in Gaza. Pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel groups organized protests in cities and towns across the country on Monday evening.
We hear how the Australian Jewish community is welcoming the president's visit, what Herzog's goals may be in Canberra and whether there could be unintended negative consequences in light of the allegations of police brutality from Monday's explosive anti-Israel protest.
Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.
For further reading:
Will Herzog’s Australia visit and new legislation assuage Jews’ fears after Bondi attack?
Australia urges calm after violent clashes in Sydney over Herzog visit
Protests in Sydney against Herzog’s visit turn violent amid scuffles with police
Arriving in Australia, Herzog pays tribute to Bondi terror victims: ‘We shall overcome’
Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Ari Schlacht.
IMAGE: Pro-Palestinian protesters take part in a demonstration against Israeli President Isaac Herzog's visit to Australia in Sydney on February 9, 2026. (Photo by Saeed KHAN / AFP)
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What happens when Emma Lazarus’s “The New Colossus” is no longer read as a civic creed, but as a provocation about who belongs—and what a democracy owes the vulnerable?
In this episode, Yehuda Kurtzer reflects on what he perceives as the normalization of cruelty toward immigrants in America, the present state violence being carried out in Minneapolis, and the uneasy silence of Jewish institutions when civil rights are clearly under assault. He then turns his lens toward Israel—asking what it means for Jews in both democracies to draw the line not between “us” and “them,” but between cruelty and compassion.
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Subscribe to Identity/Crisis on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you receive your podcasts.
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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.
Military correspondent Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.
The Israel Defense Forces captured a “senior” member of the al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya (Islamic Group) terror organization during an overnight raid in southern Lebanon. We hear how, according to the IDF, the operative was nabbed late Sunday from a building in the Mount Dov area near the border by a special forces unit operating with troops of the 210th “Bashan” Regional Division.
We then turn to a tour of Israel's borders and learn where are the hot spots and where things are (smuggling) business as usual.
In light of Hamas's continued refusal to lay down its arms, the IDF is preparing plans for a larger ground operation. Fabian fills us in.
And to close out the program, we learn about a new, all-female combat intelligence unit and how the IDF is happy for all the woman-power it can get.
Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.
For further reading:
IDF nabs top terror group figure from Lebanon, targets Hezbollah operative
IDF says it hit Hamas arms depot after issuing evacuation warning for Gaza City building
Hamas terrorist who murdered IDF surveillance soldier Noa Marciano killed in strike
Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Ari Schlacht.
IMAGE: Hezbollah supporters raise their group's flags during a protest condemning recent Israeli military actions in Lebanon in Beirut, Lebanon, February 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
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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.
Diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.
We begin the program by speaking about Matti Caspi, a beloved composer, singer, and lyricist who produced some 1,000 songs, who died overnight between Saturday and Sunday. He was 76 and had suffered from cancer in recent years.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will fly to Washington to meet with US President Donald Trump on Wednesday to discuss Iran, his office announced Saturday night, a day after US-Iranian talks were held in Oman. Netanyahu will depart for Washington on Tuesday and depart the US on Thursday, landing back in Israel on Friday morning local time. Berman weighs in on the Oman talks and what is likely on the agenda for DC.
Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.
For further reading:
Matti Caspi, singer and composer who helped mold Israeli culture, dead at 76
PM to meet Trump in DC this week, says Iran talks must deal with missiles, proxies
Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Podwaves and Ari Schlacht.
IMAGE: The presidential seal is seen in the newly renovated Rose Garden of the White House, August 9, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
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Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring key issues currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, with host Jessica Steinberg speaking with Unholy podcast hosts Yonit Levi and Jonathan Freedland.
In this episode, Channel 12 news anchor Levi and Guardian columnist and BBC Radio 4's Jonathan Freedland look back on five years of podcasting together on "Unholy: Two Jews on the News," their weekly show that offers the perspectives of a Jewish Israeli and a Diaspora Jew.
Freedland and Levi discuss their intention to foster dialogue between Israel and the diaspora at a time when those conversations have become increasingly difficult.
They delve into the types of conversations carried out on "Unholy" following the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack, and how the podcast became a lifeline for them as much as their listeners, as the Jewish community worldwide has grappled with the massacre, bereavement, hostage crisis, and the war in Gaza.
The two hosts discuss their own approaches as Levi is a Jewish Israeli who spent a portion of her childhood in the US, and Freedland is a British Jew who views Judaism and Israel through his own lens.
They also chew over the intimacy of the podcast medium for them, particularly given Levi's usual role as a popular news anchor, with her face and voice familiar to most of the Israeli public. The podcast has created a setting that offers a different kind of opportunity for Levi and Freedland, their guests, and their listeners, with the capacity to foment real conversation and debate.
Levi and Freedland reminisce about earlier, favorite episodes and the years when the podcast tackled other subjects, such as musicals or literature, and with different kinds of guests, including Etgar Keret, Howard Jacobson, and Helen Mirren.
They talk about the books they each published this past year, including Freedland's 14th, a non-fiction historical thriller, "The Traitors Circle: The True Story of a Secret Resistance Network in Nazi Germany—and the Spy Who Betrayed Them."
Levi's book, her first, was written with her friend and CNN anchor Bianna Golodryga. "Don't Feed the Lion" is for middle-grade readers and Levi talks about how young people grapple with antisemitism.
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: Jonathan Freedland, left, and Yonit Levi are the hosts of podcast 'Unholy: Two Jews on the News' (Courtesy)
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