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.
Editor David Horovitz joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.
Israel’s Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter's son, Neria, is hospitalized in serious condition after a car-ramming attack mowed down the reservist soldier at a checkpoint in the central West Bank yesterday. This morning, Leiter updated reporters that doctors have stabilized Neria’s condition overnight. Horovitz tells us about the groundswell of support for the ambassador, who suffered the death of his son Moshe during the war in Gaza.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to address the United Nations General Assembly today at 9 pm Israel time. Horovitz describes the secrecy surrounding the premier's travel arrangements and what he is likely to focus on during his address. We also hear a sampling of the anti-Israel rhetoric and allegations from world leaders this week so far.
The Central Elections Committee voted Wednesday in favor of petitions to disqualify the Joint List slate — made up of Balad, Hadash, and Ta’al — altogether as well as Mansour Abbas’s Ra’am party from running in the October 27 election, effectively barring all majority Arab parties from running in the election. Horovitz weighs in on whether any of these disqualifications could be upheld by the High Court of Justice next week upon appeal.
It's only five weeks until the elections and Horovitz wonders: Why hasn't the Gadi Eisenkot campaign moved into high gear?
Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.
For further reading:
Son of Israel’s US envoy, a soldier, seriously hurt in car-ramming attack in West Bank; assailant shot dead
Election panel disqualifies all Arab parties, in move likely to be overturned; Balad leader also barred
Eisenkot does not have this election sewn up. So why is he barely campaigning?
Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Yitzchak Ledee.
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.
Legal correspondent Jeremy Sharon joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.
After Bezalel Smotrich's far-right Religious Zionism party published a campaign platform calling for further, radical constraints on the judicial system, Sharon discusses the history and aspects of the finance minister's plans and his use of an AI-generated video to advertise the overhaul plan, depicting Supreme Court justices and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara getting dragged away from a protest rally.
Following the approval of the purchase of Channel 13 by a philanthropic group, funded by a group of entrepreneurs headed by anti-government tech titan Assaf Rapaport, Sharon reports on Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi's reaction, after months of attempting to circumvent the sale that he deemed "unlawful," given Rapaport’s outspoken criticism of the government.
Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.
For further reading:
Religious Zionism launches plans for more radical judicial overhaul after election
Coalition scored successes in judicial overhaul, but High Court, elections, will decide its fate
Sale of Channel 13 to government critic approved; minister calls decision ‘unlawful’
Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Yitzchak Ledee.
IMAGE: Legal correspondent Jeremy Sharon appears on the Daily Briefing podcast with host Jessica Steinberg (Flash 90)
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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.
News editor Ben Sales joins host Gabriella Jacobs for today’s episode.
On Sunday afternoon, a terrorist opened fire near Neve Tzuf in the West Bank, resulting in the death of Netanel Shukrun, father of six, who was buried on Monday night. On the other side of the globe, an assailant opened fire outside an Ontario synagogue during prayers on Yom Kippur eve, leaving a police officer in critical condition. Sales updates us on these two recent attacks.
The fallout from the cancellation of the pro-Palestinian rapper Macklemore from Ed Sheeran’s tour continues. Sales highlights that the amplification of Macklemore’s message following his removal exemplifies a puzzle that advocates for Israel are still struggling to figure out: how to quash anti-Israel invective without drawing even more attention to their opponents.
Finally, what’s on the minds of Israeli voters and politicians? Sales notes that, though a recent poll put economics and the cost of living at the top of voters’ priorities, a cursory look at the candidates’ heated rhetoric makes it seem like the economy barely exists. We discuss why economic issues are rarely at the forefront of the political agenda in Israel and what politicians are doing to address them away from the political spotlight.
Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Yitzchak Ledee.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As we at The Times of Israel prepared for the Jewish Day of Repentance, we were reminded of an episode that aired last year on Israel Story, our partner podcast. The outfit kindly allowed us to run the Yom Kippur episode in full.
Here's how Israel Story described the episode last year:
Exactly two years ago, in September 2023, we were in the final stages of working on an episode that we planned to release for Yom Kippur. A bunch of production hiccups made us decide to postpone publication by a week or two. Then came October 7th.
Fast forward to today. Yom Kippur is, once again, upon us, and we decided to dust off that never-aired 2023 episode. Since we bring it to you as it was, the episode feels a bit like a fossil -- like a relic of a distant, saner time. But because it was recorded and edited in an entirely different reality, hearing it now somehow only accentuates the craziness of our times.
First up: It's the season to reflect and repent, forgive and forget. As part of that, millions of Jews all around the world send and receive conciliatory messages. These humble pleas are usually an intimate exchange, something that happens between two people and them alone. However, one former high-school teacher from Jerusalem chose a completely different path in pursuit of forgiveness. Adina Karpuj brings us the tale of Channa Pinchasi's unusual search for absolution.
In act two, we revisit the weeks leading up to Yom Kippur of 2023, when we converted two old train cars in Jerusalem’s First Station into confession booths. One was labeled “Sorry,” and the other “Not Sorry.” Hundreds of passersby stepped into one, or both, of these booths and anonymously shared their regrets and secrets. Zev Levi created a mashup of the confessions we collected.
To close the episode, we explore Etgar Keret's story about his not-yet-four-year-old son Lev getting on an easily-irritable taxi driver's wrong side. Lev learned an important and difficult lesson: that saying you're sorry is a very hard thing to do. The short story, voice acted by Ofer Carmel, first appeared in Etgar's award-winning nonfiction collection, 'The Seven Good Years.'
Our end song is Lu Yehi ("Let It Be") performed by HaGashash HaHiver.
Produced in partnership with The Times of Israel.
Subscribe to Israel Story on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get 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 Israeli military said on Friday that it was ramping up its forces on all fronts ahead of Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, which starts on Sunday evening and ends on Monday night. Fabian explains what this means in practice.
A Hamas commander who invaded Israel during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, onslaught was killed in an airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip last week, the Israel Defense Forces announced Saturday, as Palestinian media reported several people killed in separate Israeli strikes across the enclave. We learn of additional targeted killings and reports of civilian fatalities alongside these strikes.
Southern Lebanon saw renewed tensions over the weekend, with two IDF soldiers wounded by a Hezbollah roadside bomb and Israeli and Lebanese troops facing off near the military’s buffer zone. Fabian compares the activity in Lebanon and Gaza.
Iran is rapidly advancing the reconstruction of a nuclear facility that was previously bombed by Israel, according to satellite images cited in a report Thursday by the Institute for Science and International Security. We hear Fabian's assessment of the likelihood of a third Israeli strike on the site.
A senior intelligence officer who is believed to have played a key role in the failures that led to the Hamas terror group’s October 7, 2023, onslaught was formally dismissed from the military on Thursday, following months of deliberations over the matter. We hear why this still isn't exactly the end of the saga that includes pooh-poohing intel that could have prevented the massacre.
President Isaac Herzog said Saturday evening that he had granted a pardon to Elor Azaria, a former IDF soldier convicted of killing an incapacitated Palestinian attacker in the West Bank city of Hebron in 2016, after the military opposed giving the pardon. Fabian reminds us of the controversial case and explains how the IDF opposes the presidential pardon that expunges Azaria's criminal record.
Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.
For further reading:
Ahead of Yom Kippur, IDF bolsters forces on all fronts; Gaza crossing to close Sun-Mon
IDF says Oct. 7 invader killed in Gaza; strikes across Strip reportedly leave 5 dead
IDF says it struck Hezbollah sites after terror group’s bomb wounded 2 troops
Satellite images show Iran rapidly working to rebuild nuclear site bombed by Israel
Gaza Division intel officer on October 7 formally dismissed from the IDF
Herzog pardons soldier who killed incapacitated Palestinian stabber in 2016, against IDF position
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.