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.
Diplomatic reporter Nava Freiberg joins host Gabriella Jacobs for today's episode.
Following an 11th consecutive night of US strikes on Iran and Iranian strikes on its Gulf and Arab neighbors, Freiberg offers possible paths forward in the war.
Freiberg analyzes US President Donald Trump's claim Tuesday that the US will be striking Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain “probably pretty soon,” amid reports that Tehran has moved nuclear centrifuges, and possibly even enriched uranium, to the secretive underground enrichment site. Is this bombastic threat just part of Trump's strategy to keep Iran guessing or could the US be prepping a ground invasion?
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met with US President Donald Trump in Washington on Tuesday, where Aoun declared that his country will permanently end hostilities with Israel. Freiberg comments on Trump's remark at the meeting that he is open to speaking directly with the Iran-backed terror group -- if Beirut asked -- after Aoun requested backing in his efforts to disarm Hezbollah.
In the second half, we move on to discuss Trump’s Gaza peace plan, which nine months ago was hailed as an end to the war in the Strip and the beginning of Gaza's reconstruction. Freiberg explains why the framework is only moving forward in “baby steps.”
The episode closes with a special visitor, Sarah Tuttle-Singer, curator of the Peoples of Israel project, who introduces us to her work and the project's goals.
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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.
Israeli intelligence has reportedly assessed that Iran has moved thousands of nuclear centrifuges into a site in the Natanz area known as Pickaxe Mountain, burying them deep underground and making them harder to target in aerial strikes. We hear from Fabian about the IDF's current assessment of Iran's capabilities.
Lebanese army troops began deploying in the southern Lebanese town of Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh this morning after Israeli forces withdrew from the area, the Lebanese Armed Forces said in a statement, in line with a US-brokered plan for “pilot zones” in the south. We learn which areas are in the pilot program and the IDF's readiness to step back into the vacuum.
Hezbollah launched over 400 rockets from the Beaufort Ridge toward northern Israel during the current round of fighting, mainly at the border community of Metula, according to the IDF. Fabian visited a massive warren inside the mountain that the terrorists carved out over more than a decade. We get a sense of the scope of the underground base.
An analysis by Fabian has found that, despite the ceasefire, the IDF has in the past few months stepped up a large-scale retribution campaign with the avowed aim of hunting down and eliminating every single terrorist who took part in the October 7 massacre. Fabian unwinds the competing narratives surrounding these targeted killings.
After the Knesset voted to extend the mandatory military service period for males to 32 months, the chief of the IDF’s Personnel Directorate said Friday that the move did not replace the army’s immediate need for more troops. Fabian explains why.
Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.
For further reading:
Iran says it’s in ‘full-scale war’ with US as mediators said to proffer 10-day truce
Israeli intel said to show Iran has moved centrifuges to Natanz’s Pickaxe Mountain
US indicates Lebanese army deploying to ‘pilot zones,’ including one IDF will withdraw from
Beneath Beaufort’s strategic bulwark, a Hezbollah lair built to attack Israel is unearthed
Israel steps up campaign to kill all 5,000 Oct. 7 terrorists; 1,200 were killed on the day, 1,500 so far since
IDF says it killed terrorist who attacked Nova festival, abducted Inbar Haiman on Oct. 7
IDF manpower chief: Extension of service period doesn’t replace need for more troops
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.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.
US forces struck Iran for a ninth consecutive day on Monday as the number of confirmed American military deaths in the renewed fighting rose to three, and concerns grew over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which the Trump administration accused the Islamic Republic of seeking to control “as leverage against the world.”
Yesterday, Israel launched interceptors after fragments from Iranian missiles fired at Jordan’s southern city of Aqaba potentially threatened the nearby city of Eilat. We discuss why the Iranians are trying to keep Israel out of the fray and why US President Donald Trump has not asked the Jewish state to join in the fight.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun is in Washington, DC, this week in the first trip to the US capital by a Lebanese head of state since Michel Sleiman was received by Barack Obama in 2009. Aoun is slated to meet with US President Donald Trump on Tuesday. We learn what is on the agenda and why Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not invited.
Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.
For further reading:
US strikes Iran for 9th night, confirms American servicemember killed in Iraq
IDF fires interceptors over Eilat as Iranian missiles target nearby Aqaba in Jordan
At meeting in DC, Rubio lauds Lebanon president’s ongoing push to disarm Hezbollah
Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. Yitzhak Ledee filmed and edited this episode.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Tal Schneider joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.
The Knesset voted early Friday morning to disband itself ahead of the October 27 election, heading into a recess after the coalition’s last-ditch blitz succeeded in passing a spate of controversial legislation into law.
Addressing the plenum, Knesset Speaker MK Amir Ohana, of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, called the 25th Knesset the “most challenging” in Israeli history, encompassing Israel's longest war and widespread social upheaval.
Schneider takes us back to the beginning of the Knesset session and explains which aspects of the judicial overhaul package have passed -- and what moves the Supreme Court has made to counter some of them.
Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.
For further reading:
Knesset officially disperses, after coalition completes its drastic legislative blitz
Coalition passes media overhaul law, giving government greater regulatory control
Coalition’s ‘legislative blitz’ is designed to shore-up, unshackle right-wing power
Coalition passes law gutting attorney general’s powers, removing key check on government
Iran said to tell Hezbollah, allies to prepare for wider conflict, which could rope in Israel
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.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 The Times of Israel's senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur.
With the sudden death of US Sen. Lindsey Graham this week, Rettig Gur is asked to expound on the loss of this staunchly pro-Israel politician who was able to rally both sides of the aisle.
We then turn to the recent visits of two Democratic wannabe presidential candidates -- Rahm Emanuel, most recently the US ambassador to Japan, and US Rep. Ro Khanna.
We hear how both politicians came with distinct messages and very different goals.
And finally, as America turns 250, we learn about Anglo Jewry's inability to foresee the new phenomenon of antisemitism hitting the US's teeming shores. Does the vilification of Israel change their hypothetical plans for escape?
And so this week, we ask Haviv Rettig Gur 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 Ari Schlacht.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.