The Times of Israel Daily Briefing

Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring key issues currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, with host Amanda Borschel-Dan speaking with author and public intellectual Micah Goodman.
In the sixth day of the United States and Israel's joint war against the Iranian Islamic Republic, Goodman takes stock and allows himself to wonder: What if we actually won this war against the evil regime?
We discuss the trickle effect on the Iranian people, the Mideast region and the world at large.
At this historic juncture, Goodman is hopeful that not only will World War III be averted, but peace may come to the region as Israel's existential threats are neutralized.
And so this week, we ask Micah Goodman, 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 Eli Katzoff and edited by Ari Schlacht.
IMAGE: Dr. Micah Goodman/ A billboard showing a portrait of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran, Iran, March 5, 2026. (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.
Political correspondent Sam Sokol and police reporter Charlie Summers join host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.
Following the deadly strike on Sunday that killed nine people in Beit Shemesh, Sokol and Summers discuss the shock and mourning in the centrally located city with a strong Haredi enclave.
Purim celebrations and revelry continued in some parts of Beit Shemesh, report the pair, as some synagogues flouted the Home Front Command directives regarding gatherings, while others reflected a somber, cautious mood.
Sokol takes a moment to update us on matters in the Knesset, where most committee meetings were canceled due to the hostilities, and speculates on whether war with Iran will boost Netanyahu at the ballot box in the upcoming elections.
Finally, Summers reports on an end-of-Purim street party in Jerusalem, where police kept a hands-off approach, and the scene of a missile strike in the capital earlier in the week.
Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.
For further reading:
9 killed as Iranian missile destroys synagogue, smashes bomb shelter in Beit Shemesh
‘Everything is gone’: Deadly Iranian strike on Beit Shemesh leaves residents reeling
After deadly missile impact, Beit Shemesh struggles to maintain Purim cheer
Will the war with Iran boost Netanyahu’s prospects at the ballot box?
Israeli opposition leaders rally behind government as Israel and US strike Iran
Flouting wartime restrictions, revelers party in Jerusalem streets for Purim’s final hours
Three wounded in Iranian missile strike on highway outside Jerusalem
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: Ultra-Orthodox Jews celebrate the Jewish holiday of Purim in the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak amid the war with Iran and ongoing missile fire toward Israel, March 3, 2026 (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.
Editor David Horovitz joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday denied that Israel dragged the US into war with Iran, insisting that if anything, the opposite could be true and that he felt Iran was going to attack first. These remarks come as politicians and media influencers on both sides of the US aisle condemn "Israel's war" and point their fingers at the Jewish state.
In the first half of the program, we take a deep dive into Iran's greater existential threat to the Mideast -- and the world at large. Which nations appear to start internalizing that the extremist Islamist nation may actually do what it threatens it will?
In the second half, we talk about the opportunity afforded at this time for Iranians to rise up and change their regime. It would be, posits Horovitz, more possible to see some form of "total victory" against the terror regime, as opposed to wiping out Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.
Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.
For further reading:
Trump says he may have forced Israel’s hand into war with Iranian ‘lunatics’
Isolationist US right-wing commentators decry Iran war; Trump says he doesn’t care
US officials say diplomatic path was at dead end when Trump approved Iran strikes
Iran and its proxies pose ongoing threat to US after Khamenei killing, US intel warns
Hoping to pressure end to war, Iran aims fire at Arab neighbors. It hasn’t worked, yet
Israel okays plan to slowly reopen airspace from Wednesday night for repatriation flights
Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Gabriella Jacobs and edited by Ari Schlacht.
IMAGE: A boy waves an Iranian flag in front of a police facility struck during the US–Israeli military campaign in Tehran, Iran, March 4, 2026. (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.
US bureau chief Jacob Magid joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.
As the US tells American citizens to evacuate the Middle East in a warning posted on X, Magid discusses the mixed messaging about the war with Iran from Trump administration officials across a range of statements and press conferences on Monday.
US President Donald Trump spoke about the need to rid the Iranian regime of its nuclear capabilities, to destroy its missiles and navy, and then bring about regime change, reports Magid, as well as mentioning possible negotiations with the successors to leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed Saturday in a strike.
Trump's stated goals were followed by comments made by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance, each of whom offered their own takes on the goals of the war, says Magid.
During Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's interview with Fox News, the premier laughed off the idea of Washington being dragged into the war, reports Magid, insisting that Trump believed the US needed to strike Iran to address the threat posed by the regime.
Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.
For further reading:
‘Depart now’: US tells its citizens to urgently leave almost all Mideast countries, including Israel
As war widens, Trump says US has yet to launch largest strikes on Iran
Rubio cites planned Israeli attack as a key reason US launched strikes against Iran
Netanyahu: Iran’s nuclear program would have been ‘immune within months’ absent war
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: President Donald Trump speaks at the Port of Corpus Christi in Corpus Christi, Texas, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Gonzalez)
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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.
Rockets and drones launched from Lebanon set sirens blaring across northern Israel in the early hours of Monday, as the Hezbollah terror group entered the fray to assist its backer, Iran, after the killing of the supreme leader. Fabian describes how this strike from the terror group has allowed the IDF to add Hezbollah heads to an ongoing campaign to decapitate the leadership of Iran.
Nine people were killed and more than 40 were injured when a missile destroyed a Beit Shemesh synagogue and caused extensive damage to a public bomb shelter beneath it, as well as surrounding homes. Fabian explains what we know about the failure to down this missile and why the impact was so deadly.
Three American soldiers have been killed, and five have been seriously wounded in the ongoing conflict with Iran, the US Central Command said Sunday, announcing the first US casualties in the conflict. We also learn how a strike on a UK base in Cyprus has potentially changed its willingness to aid the effort against Iran.
Fabian turns back to 8:10 a.m. on Saturday and explores how the conflict began. Israeli Air Force fighter jets have dropped over 2,000 bombs in strikes against hundreds of Iranian regime targets and military sites since the start of the war with the Islamic Republic on Saturday morning. How does this compare with the June 12-day war?
And finally, as Purim is set to begin this evening for most of the Jewish world, are Israelis allowed to gather for the reading of the Book of Esther?
Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.
For further reading:
IDF strikes in Beirut after Hezbollah enters fray and fires rockets, drones at north
Four of the 9 victims of Iranian missile strike on Beit Shemesh named by authorities
9 killed as Iranian missile destroys synagogue, smashes bomb shelter in Beit Shemesh
‘Everything is gone’: Deadly Iranian strike on Beit Shemesh leaves residents reeling
3 American soldiers killed, 5 seriously injured in war with Iran — US military
Drone hit British military base in Cyprus, local and UK officials say
IDF: Over 2,000 bombs dropped on Iran in 30 hours, air supremacy achieved on 1st day
Trump says he’s agreed to talk to Iran’s leaders, but estimates operation will take weeks
Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Adina Karpuj.
IMAGE: Hezbollah supporters wave their group's flags and an Iranian national flag during a protest in Beirut, Lebanon, February 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
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