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.
Military correspondent Emanuel Fabian joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.
Israel announced the arrest of 10 suspected settler extremists on Monday morning, after days of international pressure to take action following weekend attacks on Palestinians, foreign diplomats and Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine in the West Bank. Fabian explains what is the responsibility of the police versus the IDF and Shin Bet is in preventing these attacks.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir on Wednesday warned of a possible security escalation “across all fronts” ahead of the October 27 elections, saying, "The IDF is at a high level of readiness to launch extensive offensive operations against anyone who attempts to harm Israeli civilians.” What does this heightened alert mean in practice?
Israel’s military is set to begin early voting for soldiers, with at least 850 polling stations set to be deployed next week at military bases and outposts across the country and beyond Israel’s borders. Soldiers will begin voting early Tuesday evening, due to “operational considerations.” Fabian unveils this very complicated process.
Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.
For further reading:
Police say 10 suspects arrested for West Bank settler attacks on journalist, EU diplomats
Settlers beat Palestinians, US journalist in West Bank attacks: ‘They kept kicking me and kicking me’
European diplomats attacked amid settler raids on West Bank olive harvest
IDF chief warns of ‘potential for escalation’ across all fronts, decries settler violence
First Knesset election ballots cast as voting opens at Israel’s missions abroad
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.
News editor Ben Sales joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.
With the final barrage of election polls before the October 27 election, Sales notes that the canvassing can't accurately predict who will win, and explains why, including the issue of the smaller parties on both sides of the political spectrum that are hovering around the 3.25% electoral threshold.
Sales also discusses rising tensions among members of Mayor Zohran Mamdani's political base and New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, as they call for her to be fired after police officers clashed with protesters following the shooting of a man in the Bronx by ICE agents.
The shooting, and the NYPD’s response to it, had no direct connection to Israel or antisemitism in the city. But the protest against pro-Israel Tisch relates to her role as a pro-Israel presence in City Hall and the implications if she were no longer in that job.
Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.
For further reading:
3 experts on how you’re reading election polls wrong — and why they can’t predict the result
Threats to NYPD’s pro-Israel commissioner are an inflection point for New York Jews
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: News editor Ben Sales appears on the Daily Briefing with host Jessica Steinberg (Flash 90)
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Welcome to "A Mandatory Listen," a new weekly podcast in which The Times of Israel deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan asks the big questions facing Israel and the Jewish people.
For this fourth episode in the new series, we speak with Prof. Nechumi Yaffe, an ultra-Orthodox woman running for Knesset for the Charedi Public Party (HaTzibur HaCharedi).
A faculty member at Tel Aviv University since 2019, Yaffe is currently a tenured senior lecturer at the School of Public Policy and co-director of the Haredi Research Group at UCLA.
Among other fields of interest, Yaffe delves into the issues of poverty and identity in Haredi society.
We hear how the October 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught on southern Israel made Yaffe rethink the ideas of civil obligations and rights. While she believes that youths who are not fit for yeshiva can -- and should -- be conscripted into the IDF, she is deeply concerned with allowing the ultra-Orthodox community to remain strictly observant.
How can a delicate balance between religious observance and national burden be forged? Only through education, says Yaffe.
Over time, she relates, her friends and neighbors in the ultra-Orthodox world stopped accusing her of airing their dirty laundry in the secular public and began understanding the dire situation their community is in.
But will this increased awareness lead to a gain in the polls? Perhaps through the Haredi world's overlooked weapon -- women.
A Mandatory Listen podcast episodes are available for download 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 Reel Schmooze with ToI film reviewer Jordan Hoffman and host Amanda Borschel-Dan, where we bring you all the entertainment news and film reviews a Jew can use.
This week's featured Schmooze film is "The Apartment," a 1960 iconic work of dark comedy by famed filmmaker Billy Wilder.
Starring Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine and Fred MacMurray, the film takes us to the massive offices of an insurance conglomerate where Lemmon is attempting to climb the corporate ladder. A bit of a "shnook," he finds himself lending out his Upper West Side apartment to a group of four adulterous bosses for their flings.
At the same time, a quiet, amiable connection is made between Lemmon and MacLaine, an elevator girl, who, it turns out, is also one of the bosses' girls.
The movie was nominated for 10 Academy Awards and won five Oscars. Its resonance lingers and comedian Chris Rock recently gave it a nod in a lengthy The New York Times interview.
Let’s hear who gave this film an “oy,” “meh” or the prized “not bad” this week on The Reel Schmooze.
The Reel Schmooze is produced by Ari Schlacht and can be found wherever you get your podcasts.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We recorded a live Daily Briefing podcast in Jerusalem on Wednesday, October 14, joined by an exclusive ToI Community audience.
Deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan hosted military correspondent Emanuel Fabian, diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman, and political correspondent Ariela Karmel for a night of interactive polls and audience questions, followed by light refreshments.
This event was exclusively for members of The Times of Israel Community, our reader support group.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.