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.
Political correspondent Ariela Karmel joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.
An overnight Knesset session ended early Tuesday with first readings of a bill that calls for dissolution of the Knesset, as well as of two controversial pieces of legislation that would split and weaken the role of the attorney general, reports Karmel. She puts the latter bills in context of the broader war the government has long waged against the judiciary.
A meeting on aid for the Hezbollah-battered north of Israel was tied to a bill by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich that would increase tax benefits for West Bank settlements, and Karmel notes that the discussion ended once again without the much-needed financial aid for the north being approved. The aid was finally okayed on Tuesday.
Karmel also reviews the harrowing images of far-right lawmakers disrupting a Knesset event on settler violence against Palestinians, with the MKs posting videos of their antics on social media to boost their image with voters.
Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.
For further reading:
Legislation to split and weaken role of attorney general passes first Knesset reading
Funds for war-torn north delayed as Smotrich forges ahead with tax breaks for settlements
Coalition MKs disrupt Knesset event on violence against Palestinians, threaten attendees
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: Political correspondent Ariela Karmel joins host Jessica Steinberg on today's Daily Briefing podcast. (ToI / 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.
US bureau chief Jacob Magid joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.
Israel and Lebanon were set to hold a fresh round of talks between their ambassadors to the US on Tuesday, as Hezbollah continued to target Israeli troops in Lebanon and fresh IDF strikes were reported. The talks come as US President Donald Trump indicated on Monday that Washington had brokered a fresh truce between Israel and Hezbollah, after the one reached in April unraveled in recent days.
Magid weighs in on US-Israeli relations after Trump reportedly fumed at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a Monday call, calling the premier “fucking crazy” and telling him that everyone “hates Israel.” He demanded Israel agree to a ceasefire with the Hezbollah terror group, and US officials were quoted as saying Trump told Netanyahu that he has kept him out of prison, an apparent reference to Trump’s repeated public demand that Israeli President Isaac Herzog pardon the prime minister, who is in the midst of a lengthy corruption trial.
We hear how Gulf states are handling the Iran war after Kuwait’s military said its air defenses responded to an “enemy” attack on Thursday.
Gaza mediators were set to renew disarmament talks with Hamas in Egypt on Thursday and were considering alternatives to US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for ending the Gaza war, two Arab diplomats involved in the process told The Times of Israel.
Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.
For further reading:
Hezbollah and IDF trade fire despite nominal truce as Lebanon-Israel talks to resume
Trump announces fresh Lebanon truce as Netanyahu appears to call off Beirut strikes
Trump said to yell at Netanyahu: ‘You’re f**king crazy. You’d be in prison if not for me’
Ceasefire rattled as Iran targets 4 ships at Hormuz, US fires on Iran, which then targets US base
Gaza mediators to resume Hamas disarmament talks in Egypt looking to unblock impasse
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.
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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.
Israel announced Monday morning that it would renew strikes on Hezbollah’s stronghold in southern Beirut, after significantly curtailing attacks on the Lebanese capital for weeks at the request of US President Donald Trump’s administration.
The joint statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yisrael Katz came as Israel has steadily expanded its ground offensive by capturing more areas in southern Lebanon, including the iconic Beaufort Castle, amid constant Hezbollah drone and rocket attacks on northern Israel and on IDF troops in Lebanon.
We delve into what is actually happening on the ground -- and air -- during this "ceasefire" in Lebanon.
Yesterday evening, two teenage girls were injured, including one seriously, in a car-ramming terror attack in the West Bank just outside of Jerusalem, with the attacker shot dead by IDF troops at the scene. Fabian fills us in.
Netanyahu said Thursday that he ordered the IDF to take control of 70 percent of the Gaza Strip – well beyond the portion of the enclave that Jerusalem was allowed to temporarily continue occupying as part of an October 2025 ceasefire deal with Hamas. We discuss what this new directive means in practice and explore what the IDF is currently doing in the Strip.
Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.
For further reading:
Israel says it will renew strikes on Hezbollah in Beirut after lobbying for US green light
IDF captures strategic Beaufort Castle, as soldier killed in Hezbollah drone strike
IDF soldier killed, 3 hurt, in Hezbollah drone attack near newly seized Beaufort Castle
Israel shuts schools near Lebanon border amid repeated Hezbollah rocket, drone attacks
Two teen girls hurt, one seriously, in car-ramming terror attack at West Bank junction
Netanyahu says he told IDF to seize 70% of Gaza, well beyond terms of truce
‘A jungle’: Reservists speak of permissive open-fire rules along Gaza’s Yellow Line
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.
Political correspondent Tal Schneider joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.
As northern Israel was battered by a barrage of rockets from Hezbollah over the weekend, Schneider discusses ongoing criticism of the government for allowing the situation to continue, while noting that Israel's hands are tied; it can't disrupt US negotiations with Iran, and that regime controls Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Schneider also talks about Beaufort Castle, a strategic fortress in Lebanon last controlled by Israel in 2000 and now taken by the IDF once again.
The Knesset will vote Monday on whether to dissolve this government, and will choose one of several possible dates for elections in September or October, as Schneider reviews the options.
Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.
For further reading:
Soldier killed in Hezbollah drone strike in Lebanon; IDF captures strategic Beaufort Castle
Plurality of far-right voters oppose government with ultra-Orthodox parties — poll
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: Political correspondent Tal Schneider joins host Jessica Steinberg for Daily Briefing podcast (ToI)
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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, we learn that famed actress and chanteuse Barbra Streisand received an honorary Palme D’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Borschel-Dan, who is reading the artist's massive memoir, calls on all podcast fans to send in the names of their favorite Streisand films for a future episode.
We then turn to the monumentally Jewish movie, "A Serious Man," written, produced, edited and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen in 2009.
Set in 1967 Minnesota, the film focuses on the Gopnik family: father Larry, mother Judith, kids Danny and Sarah, and uncle Arthur. On the surface, the middle-class family appears to be merrily rolling along, anticipating Danny's approaching bar mitzvah. And then everything falls apart and it becomes a very funny retelling of the Book of Job.
However, before the movie takes off, the audience is treated to a quote from the great rabbinic sage Rashi and is shown a Yiddish-only shtetl ghost story short -- just... because.
Stay tuned for our duo's thoughts on the much-recommended Coen brothers' film, "A Serious Man."
The Reel Schmooze is produced by Ari Schlacht and can be found wherever you get your podcasts.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.