Podcasts about IDF

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. Senior officials from the US, France and Saudi Arabia are set to meet in Paris today amid fears that Israel could embark on a new military operation against Hezbollah in Lebanon after a December 31 deadline to disarm the Iran-backed terror group passes, a diplomatic official told The Times of Israel on Tuesday. We have seen an uptick in tensions over the past few weeks. Fabian takes us back to early October to give context for what is currently happening on the ground. In one of his first moves, new Military Advocate General Maj. Gen. Itai Ofir decided today to close a criminal case against a senior reserves officer who was facing charges over his involvement in the circumstances that led to the deaths of a soldier and a civilian researcher in southern Lebanon in November 2024. Fabian was in the area when this occurred and fills us in. Israeli settlers torched a vehicle and sprayed graffiti in a West Bank village near Ramallah overnight, according to Palestinian media. The suspected crime took place in Ein Yabrud. The conflict in the West Bank, always at a low boil, but are appearances deceiving in that it seems to be on a higher flame in the past several weeks? After Palestinian media reported a series of Israeli airstrikes in eastern Gaza City, the IDF said it is conducting routine activity to demolish Hamas infrastructure in the Israeli-controlled area. In addition to the tunnel demolitions, there are almost daily incidents in which Gazans attempt to cross the Yellow Line from the Hamas-ruled side. Fabian gives several scenarios for the attempted crossings. Earlier in the month, Fabian visited Hamas’s “most complex” tunnel network in the Gaza Strip, where, eventually, the remains of Lt. Hadar Goldin were recovered. He was killed and abducted by the terror group in 2014, and it transpires that he was held some two kilometers from the Israeli border. Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates. For further reading: US, French, Saudi officials to meet in Paris about preventing renewed war in Lebanon IDF postpones planned strike on alleged Hezbollah site as Lebanese army searches it IDF drops charges against reserve officer over deadly Lebanon incident last year Settlers said to torch vehicle, spray graffiti in attack on West Bank village Scouring massive labyrinth under Rafah, IDF just missed finding Hadar Goldin’s body Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Podwaves. IMAGE: An officer with the elite Yahalom unit is seen inside a tunnel in the Rafah area of the southern Gaza Strip, where the body of Lt. Hadar Goldin was held, December 8, 2025. (Emanuel Fabian/Times of Israel)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A high-level meeting just took place that could change Israel's future overnight. Under President Donald Trump, the United States convened a conference inviting 70 nations to discuss sending foreign troops into Gaza—supposedly to police Hamas. But leaked details reveal something far more alarming: many of these countries may only deploy troops to Israeli-controlled areas, effectively monitoring the IDF instead of stopping terror. At the same time, the U.S. is reportedly in talks to sell F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and other Middle Eastern nations—moves that could seriously erode Israel's military edge. Israel is furious. Iran is issuing open threats. And foreign forces may soon be operating directly on Israel's borders.

Air Force chief briefs his counterparts in Greece and Cyprus, Shin Bet arrests Israeli Bedouin for pledging allegiance to ISIS, IDF soldier killed by stray bullet in the northSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Michael Moshe Dahan is an Israeli-American scholar, filmmaker, and artist whose work zeroes in on identity, conflict, and how generational trauma is transmitted. He earned his MFA in Studio Art with a Critical Theory Emphasis from UC Irvine in 2012, and his deep dive into critical theory and experimental cinema sets him apart from your usual filmmaker guests. Michael spent a decade as a film executive before academia, gaining hands-on Hollywood experience that now informs his conceptual, genre-pushing films. His latest project, "YES REPEAT NO," released on November 11, 2025 and synthesizes everything he's learned along the way into something bold, urgent, and completely unique in its examination of fractured identity and political history. The film's festival run keeps gaining momentum as it heads into its wider release, with critics calling it a rare, ambitious cinematic work. Michael's earlier experimental film, Two Points of Failure, screened at top international festivals like Rotterdam, Tribeca, Edinburgh, and Melbourne, proof of his ability to bridge avant-garde art and accessible narrative. Yes Repeat No Three actors audition to play the Palestinian-Jewish actor and activist Juliano Mer-Khamis, a former IDF paratrooper who defiantly identified as "100% Palestinian and 100% Jewish."   Want to watch: YouTube MeisterKhan Pod. (Please Subscribe)

In this explosive episode, hosts Matt Agorist, Jason Bassler, and Don Via, Jr. sit down with forensic historian and Grand Theft World host, Richard Grove, to meticulously dissect the war machine's play-by-play. We start by exposing the Trump administration's aggressive seizure of a Venezuelan oil tanker and the geopolitical calculations behind the current push for conflict.  Richard traces the deep state's involvement in the multinational drug trade, tying the current Venezuela narrative directly to the decades-old CIA drug trafficking history. We analyze the sheer hypocrisy of the establishment—including the Trump administration's pardon of a convicted Honduran drug-trafficking president—and reveal how international banking families leverage manufactured conflict to build a global machine for world domination. The conversation even takes a detour down JFK memory hole lane, followed by a look at the psychological tricks the establishment uses to keep the voting base blind, compliant, and consistently backing the very systems that enslave them. The episode pivots to a powerful account of individual agency, detailing the successful, personal campaign Richard and his wife led to free Mohammed Ibrahim, a 16-year-old American citizen who was abandoned by the State Department and held in a torturous IDF prison. Finally, we break down the current status of the political "liberty movement" and end on a solutions-based "White Pill" note, with Richard explaining how true freedom is achieved by claiming self-ownership and mastering practical skills instead of waiting for a political savior. (Length: 1:16:42)  Click Here to Support TFTP. Richard's LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/richardgroveRichard's Twitter: https://twitter.com/tragedyandhopeRichard's Website: https://grandtheftworld.com/Richard's University of Reason: https://www.universityofreason.com/mindset

Subscribe for unfiltered analysis and on-the-ground truth from the Land of Israel. Turkey is signaling it is ready to send troops into Gaza as part of an International Stabilization Force (ISF), a move Israel strongly opposes, even as the United States pressures Ankara to take a leading role. Turkish and Egyptian officials argue the force should “separate” Israel and Hamas, not disarm the terror organization. a position Israeli leaders warn will guarantee failure. In this wide-ranging and urgent episode, the discussion explores: Why foreign troops on Israeli soil threaten Israel's security How Turkey's ambitions intersect with Trump's emerging “Board of Peace” Why the world is being whipped into a frenzy against Israel The return of Hellenism in modern form The spiritual meaning of Hanukkah, sovereignty, and inheritance of the Land And why Israel's survival depends on clarity, strength, and truth Powerful scenes unfolding in Israel today, from Haredi soldiers completing IDF training at the Western Wall to Levitical singing returning to the Temple Mount for the first time in nearly 2,000 years This is not just geopolitics, it's history, faith, and destiny unfolding in real time.

The Israel Democracy Institute has released its 2025 Statistical Report on the ultra-Orthodox. Amongst the key findings : the ultra-Orthodox society is one of the youngest in the world; although 33% of ultra-Orthodox families live below the poverty line, 75% own an apartment—a rate higher than that of the general population; and the majority of those counted as ultra-Orthodox in the IDF are not really ultra-Orthodox or have since left the Haredi community. KAN's Mark Weiss spoke with Dr. Gilad Malach head of the Israel Democracy Institute's Ultra-Orthodox Society in Israel Program. (Photo:Flash90)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 and environmental reporter Sue Surkes join host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode. Following the IDF strike that killed top Hamas commander Raad Saad in Gaza City, Berman reviews the obstacles for Israel and Hamas in moving toward the second phase of the broader ceasefire. He discusses how Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump will need to find a way to agree on the thorny and fundamental issue of how to get Hamas to disarm. As the IDF postponed a planned airstrike on Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanon, Berman reports on the ongoing issue of needing Hezbollah to disarm, the Lebanese Army's efforts to work to accomplish that, and Israel's dissatisfaction with Lebanon's progress. After the Water Authority began channeling desalinated water to the Sea of Galilee, the first ever attempt anywhere in the world to top up a freshwater lake with processed seawater, Surkes reports on hopes that it will raise the level of the sea by half a centimeter a year. Surkes also discusses the new facility for the National Sea Turtle Rescue Center, featuring the world’s only sea turtle breeding program, helping protect and preserve these creatures that have existed on the planet for 330 million years. Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates. For further reading: US State Department said to ask 70 countries to contribute to Gaza stabilization force Report: Israel agrees to US demand to pay for massive Gaza rubble-clearing operation Beirut has been warned of possible Israeli offensive against Hezbollah — Lebanese FM Scientists tracking impact as desalinated water flows into Sea of Galilee for first time Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Podwaves. IMAGE: Palestinians inspect a car belonging to Hamas commander Raad Saad after it was hit in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, on December 13, 2025. (Fathi Ibrahim/Flash90)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gunmen open fire at Jewish event in Sydney, Australia killing 11 and wounding scores, IDF and Shin Bet assassinate top Hamas military commander in Gaza, High Court of Justice rules government dismissal of attorney general invalidSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

La pioggia è arrivata quando tutto era già rotto. A Gaza la tempesta Byron ha trasformato tende e macerie in trappole. Case sventrate dai bombardamenti sono crollate sotto l'acqua, gli accampamenti degli sfollati si sono allagati, il freddo ha fatto il resto. Nelle ultime ventiquattr'ore, secondo le autorità locali citate dalle agenzie, almeno dieci persone sono morte per le conseguenze dirette del maltempo. L'Organizzazione mondiale della sanità segnala decessi di neonati e bambini piccoli per ipotermia. La guerra continua anche quando smette di sparare. Mentre l'acqua invade le tende, l'esercito israeliano rivendica un'operazione “mirata” a Gaza City. Un drone colpisce un veicolo all'incrocio di Nabulsi. L'obiettivo, secondo le Idf, è Raad Saad, indicato come figura chiave nella ricostruzione e fabbricazione di armi per Hamas. Le agenzie parlano di vittime sul posto. È la simultaneità che conta: il raid e la pioggia, il comunicato militare e il fango che inghiotte tutto, nello stesso giorno. Il sistema sanitario resta il contatore più spietato del collasso. L'Oms conferma che solo 18 ospedali su 36 risultano parzialmente funzionanti. I centri di assistenza primaria operano al 43 per cento. Mancano farmaci, reagenti, materiali di base, spesso bloccati perché classificati “a duplice uso”. Quando piove e crolla una casa, la domanda diventa immediata: dove si va con i feriti, dove si muore di freddo. Sul tavolo internazionale, intanto, si disegna un futuro astratto. Le Nazioni Unite lavorano a una forza di stabilizzazione che potrebbe arrivare già dal prossimo mese. Secondo le anticipazioni, non combatterà Hamas. A Doha si tengono consultazioni con Stati Uniti e decine di Paesi per definire numeri, comando, regole d'ingaggio. Documenti, riunioni, promesse. A Gaza, oggi, la distanza tra le parole e il terreno si misura in tende allagate, bambini infreddoliti e ospedali a metà. La tempesta non aspetta i mandati Onu. #LaSveglia per La NotiziaDiventa un supporter di questo podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/la-sveglia-di-giulio-cavalli--3269492/support.

The Teacher and the Preacher is a weekly radio program--hosted by Dave McGarrah, Senior Pastor at Deer Flat Church in Caldwell, Idaho, and Aaron Lipkin from Israel--that airs each Sunday at 10:30 am and 7:30 pm here 94.5 FM and 790 AM on KSPD Boise's Solid Talk. They are a unique phenomenon on the airwaves – a Christian and a Jew in an ongoing dialogue – celebrating the many commonalities but never shying away from the differences. They offer their listeners insights into each other's faiths that don't come up much elsewhere, that can only come through sincere conversation. The weekly discussion is more than a program about a topic; it's a demonstration of how God can bring two people together from 9,000 miles away to bridge the differences, learn from each other, and strengthen their own faiths. If you would like to learn more about this fantastic radio ministry, please visit their website at theteacherandthepreacher.com.Podcast Website: https://www.790kspd.com/the-teacher-and-the-preacher/

On October 6, 2023, Rabbi Meir Soloveichik sat at his desk facing a deadline for his monthly column. Israel's citizens were then furiously debating judicial reform, but he'd already had his say on that matter. He decided to write about something else instead: a Jeopardy episode where three educated contestants stared blankly when asked to identify the source of this line: "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death." This, among the most famous images in all of Western literature, comes of course from Psalm 23. And none of the contestants knew it.   Rabbi Soloveichik submitted the piece on October 6, hours before the festival of Shemini Atzeret. The next morning, October 7, the Jewish people would be thrust into the valley of the shadow of death. T'hillim, as the Psalm are known in Hebrew, would, over the following weeks and months, accompany the Jewish people's every thought. Their distress could be articulated in David's very own words, linking their pain to his pain, their redemptive dreams to his redemptive dreams, their future to his future.   In his new podcast, "Poetry and Prayer: A Daily Journey Through the Psalms," Soloveichik walks listeners through all 150 psalms, one by one. For today's episode, he sits down with Jonathan Silver, the editor of Mosaic, to discuss this ambitious project. He puts forward a striking claim in the course of the conversation: the Psalms represent something unprecedented in ancient literature. While Homer or Gilgamesh depict external action—heroic deeds, cosmic battles—the Psalms take their reader (or reciter) inside someone else's soul. The Psalmist explores the full range of human emotion—doubt and faith, despair and joy, rage and delight—all while maintaining an awareness of God's presence. It's the first example in world literature of what the critic Edward Cahill calls "the eye of interiority."   When Iranian missiles fell on their cities at 2:00 am one night, Israelis immediately Googled "T'hillim" on their iPhones. An IDF soldier named Yossi Hershkovitz composed a new melody to Psalm 23 while serving in Gaza, and was killed days later—his tune surviving because a comrade taught it to his children. In America, the Psalms shaped the country's founding, from the First Continental Congress reading Psalm 35 to Lincoln quoting from the book in his Second Inaugural. More recently, Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered a speech in Jerusalem's City of David connecting American exceptionalism to the very site where the Psalms were written.   This episode of the Tikvah Podcast is sponsored by Samuel and Malka Harris Susswein in honor of Sam Susswein's birthday. If you are interested in sponsoring an episode of this podcast, or of any other in Tikvah's growing podcast network, we invite you to join the Tikvah Ideas Circle.  

Join host Manya Brachear Pashman for a powerful conversation about Red Alert, the Critics Choice Award-nominated Paramount+ docu-series that confronts the October 7 Hamas massacre with unflinching honesty. Producer Lawrence Bender (Pulp Fiction, Good Will Hunting) shares why this project couldn't wait—launched in real time to push back against denial, disinformation, and a world struggling to absorb the scale of the tragedy. Bender reflects on the courage and trauma of the ordinary Israelis whose stories anchor the series, including survivors like Batsheva Olami, whose resilience changed the production team forever. Hear how filming during an active war shaped the storytelling, the emotional toll on everyone involved, and why capturing these true accounts is essential to ensuring October 7 is neither minimized nor forgotten. Key Resources: AJC.org/Donate: Please consider supporting AJC's work with a year-end gift today. Right now, your gift will be matched, dollar-for-dollar, making double the impact. Every gift matters. Every dollar makes a difference in the fight for a strong and secure Jewish future. Listen – AJC Podcasts: Architects of Peace The Forgotten Exodus People of the Pod Follow People of the Pod on your favorite podcast app, and learn more at AJC.org/PeopleofthePod You can reach us at: peopleofthepod@ajc.org If you've appreciated this episode, please be sure to tell your friends, and rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Transcript of the Interview: [Clip from Red Alert] Manya Brachear Pashman:   Academy Award nominated film producer Lawrence Bender has quite a repertoire for both feature films and documentaries: Pulp Fiction, Inglorious Bastards, Good Will Hunting and Inconvenient Truth. In fact, his works have earned 36 Academy Award nominations.  His most recent TV miniseries is a more personal project on the second anniversary of the October 7 Hamas terror attacks on Israel, Paramount Plus began streaming a four episode series called red alert about the attack on festival goers, innocent passers by and families waking up to terrorists inside their Israeli homes that day, a tragedy that many of us, either on this podcast or listening have watched with overwhelming grief for the last two years. Lawrence is with us now to talk about how he grappled with this attack on Israel and the rise of antisemitism that followed.  Lawrence, welcome to People of the Pod. Lawrence Bender:   Thank you, Manya, it's good to be here.  Manya Brachear Pashman:   So that clip that we played at the top of this episode, it's one of the few clips in English. Most of the dialog in this show is in Hebrew with subtitles. But that scene is a woman, Bathsheba and her two daughters. They're walking across a field trying to return home, and her son has been taken. Her husband is gone. This series weaves together her story and three or four other ordinary civilians fighting for their lives on October 7, 2023. You know, as someone personally who's been immersed in this subject matter for two years, to be honest, I had to muster the energy to watch this, and I'm so glad that I did. But why are, I mean, as we're still waiting for the last hostage to be returned, why was it important for this show to air now? Lawrence Bender:   Well, thank you so much for doing this with me, and thank you for playing that clip. I have to tell you first, I love that clip. I love that scene because one of the things about the show and the stories that we portrayed is that even with the horrific things that happened on that day, people still were able to fight back. People were still able to be strong. A mother with her daughter and her infant stood in the face of a terrorist and stood him down in real life, this happened.  Now, not everybody was so fortunate, and her husband Ohad was not fortunate, and her son was taken hostage, as you mentioned, but it does show her personal power in this horrific situation. And I just thought, you know, this woman is a real hero. I've spent a lot of time with her, Batsheva Olami, she's really an extraordinary human in all ways. So thank you for playing that clip.  So in terms of the show, I felt on October 8, it's just amazing how quickly, before Israel did anything, the entire world quickly turned against the very people who were the victims and having spent subsequently, a lot of time with people on the set, because, as you mentioned, this show was about real people, and those real people spent a lot of time on the set with us. And the very people that were traumatized, felt isolated, they felt alone, and they're the very ones that need to be loved, that need to be hugged, they need to be supported. Anyway, I just felt like I needed to do something fast to try to show the world what really happened. AndRed Alert is the result of that. Manya Brachear Pashman:   Do you fear that the world has already moved on? Lawrence Bender:   Oh, that's a good question. It feels like we've passed a tipping point, actually, in terms of Jew hatred and anti-Israel and antisemitism. Even as we are now trying to have a peace process, right, that somehow we are stumbling forward, and if that's going to happen, people need to understand why we're here and why we're here happened on October 7. And if you watch the show, hopefully you're pulled into the show, and you have a, you know, you have an emotional journey, and then you understand, oh, this really happened. And you understand that's the truth. And only when you really understand the truth of October 7 do I really think that you can really get some sort of peace. Manya Brachear Pashman:   So is this different from other historical events? You know, a lot of movies and television shows commemorate historical events, like the Holocaust, for example, but they happen years later. They're made years later. I kind of call it the never forget genre. But is October 7 unique in that it's not a question of whether people will forget or move on. It's a question of whether they believe that this present is actually true. Lawrence Bender:   That's right, there's the deniers. There's people that just don't know. There's people that forgot, maybe you know, there are people who I know that I had to explain. Like, you know, it's interesting. As an example, when you see the show and you see all these Hamas terrorists invading the kibbutz, and Ohad says to her, his wife, Bathsheva, he whispers in her ear, I just saw about 20 terrorists, and someone said to me, who's not unintelligent, I didn't realize there are that many. I didn't realize that. And if you're not really paying attention, maybe you don't really know. And look, they're the haters, haters which are never going to change. But I think there's a large group of people that just don't really understand, and they're the ones that I feel we have a shot at showing this to and having a conversation with. Manya Brachear Pashman:   In fact, are you actually introducing or experimenting with a new genre of truth or facts in the face of fiction. Lawrence Bender:   I guess that's true. I mean, this just happened. And some people ask over this last, you know, when I released, and we were paramount, released the show. You know, I've been asked a question, is it too soon? And my answer is, I feel like it's not soon enough. And I felt like immediately I needed to work on something, and this is the result of that. For me, personally, there are many collaborators of people on this show that incredible Israeli partners, my American partners. I mean, there's a lot of amazing people that came together to work on this, to make this show, but we really felt like time was of the essence, because the world was shifting so quickly, we wanted this to get out there, to show the world what really happened. Manya Brachear Pashman:   One of the reasons I'm pressing you on this, this was not a fiction film. This was based in reality. You said you met Bathsheba, the actors prepared for their roles by meeting with the very real people who they were portraying in this show whose stories they were recreating. I'm curious what some of the takeaways were for you, for your colleagues, from your encounters with these victims, with these survivors, and did anything about the production ever change after they got involved? Lawrence Bender:   It was truly a life changing experience for myself, but really for everyone involved, of course, myself and my partner, Kevin Brown and Jordana Rubin, and we were basically the only non Israelis that were full time producing the show. And everyone else was a citizen of the country. Everyone else, you know, was affected dramatically, everything but from like our key grips brother ran the kibbutz Raim, where we filmed that area that was a kibbutz overrun by terrorists, right? His brother survived. So it was really like every single person at some point, you know, we call it triggered, but it really happened quite often where you have a scene and people just have to stop for a second and take a moment, whether it's an actor finishing a scene or a crew member, you know, partaking in the making of the scene. But lots of things happen. I'll tell you one story which was, you know, quite interesting. We're working at the Nova festival scene, and one of the actors, Moran, her niece, was on vacation in Greece, and her niece told her, if a red headed police woman shows up on the set, she's the one who saved my life. And indeed, her name was Bat, she showed up, and we said, we need you to meet somebody. And we FaceTimed Moran's niece with Bat, and the young lady she's like in her early 20s, said, You're the one who saved my life. You're the one I was hiding by your feet while you were firing. And we asked, Did you remember the people that you saved? And she said, I really only remember the people I didn't save. You really felt the pain that she is still at that point a year and a half later, this is. In April, May, suffering from what she went through. RPG hit nearby her. She went flying through the air. She had had half reconstructive surgery, on and on and on. It was obviously an extremely traumatic day for her to you know, a moment where there's a woman on the set whose daughter was murdered, and someone on my crew, actually, Mya Fisher, has said, you know, there's someone here I want to introduce you to. It's after lunch. And I spent some time with her, and I asked her, you know, like, how do you go? Fine, I can't, you know, I can't imagine losing my son in this way. It's just unimaginable. And I asked her, do you have a rabbi? What do you do to survive?  And it was a very difficult emotional exchange. And sometime later, she had sort of retold that encounter to somebody else on the set who came to me and said, you know that woman you're talking to. She told me what happened, you know this conversation? And she said, You know this Hollywood producer came all the way from California, she doesn't know me, from Adam, and sat down with me for an hour to hear my story, and it clearly meant a lot to her. And again, you realize that the very people who are traumatized directly are not getting the love, are so isolated and people are against them, and it made me feel even more determined to tell these stories for the world to understand.  Every day we had these type of difficult, emotional and to be honest, I was extremely honored every time I met someone. I spent every Saturday night at Hostage Square because we were making the show, I got to spend time backstage with all the families who had loved ones in the tunnels. There was a deep dive into this. Now, I have to tell you, on the other hand, the filming while a war is still going on is quite it's like things you don't have to think about normally, right? So, as an example, we were in a town and we're shooting a shootout. We're filming a shootout between the IDF actors and the Hamas actor. They're actors. I keep saying they're actors, right? Because they are actors. But the mayor and the chief of police in the town were extremely worried, because they look real, right? They look like real people. And unfortunately, the cemetery is littered with people who have been murdered and killed by the Hamas. And all the other men who are there, they have guns, they carry, and if something's happening, they're going to run towards the problem. So he's worried, what if someone walks by, or someone's up in a building. He looks down and they see an actor who looks like Hamas, they are going to shoot him. So we literally had speakers every 10 yards, like all up and down the street, and every like 15-20 minutes, saying, don't worry, in Hebrew, of course, this is a movie, everything's okay. We had a drone up in the air, never coming down, on a tether with a police officer. They're a full big screen watching case someone walks down the street.  We dressed up the Hamas actors as they're walking from the holding area to the area where they're filming, we put them in these kind of white hazmat-like suits so that they couldn't confuse them, and when they got done filming, we put them right back in these hazmat white suits and brought them back to the holding area. We all had to dress up, and we had to wear these very, very light blue shirts the entire crew, so nobody looked like anything but a crew member. It was something, right?  Manya Brachear Pashman:   I did not even think about that. I mean, I knew that you had filmed on location in Israel, and I knew you had filmed during the war. In fact, I was going to explain to listeners who don't know Red Alert is what Israelis call the sirens and the phone alerts when there are rockets being fired upon Israel and they have time to seek shelter. I was going to ask you if you had been there during a red alert and had to seek shelter, but I didn't even think about the possibility of people confusing the filming with actual war activity. I imagine you were there during a red alert, and did have to seek shelter, yes? Lawrence Bender:   so there's different types of alerts in the south. We did shoot in the guys called the Gaza envelope. We shot within less than a mile away from the Gaza border. So a scene that comes soon after the one that you showed. They're resting under a tree, and we are in the Gaza envelope. And this is a scene where they're running from the Hamas. They're running, they're bare feet, and they're out of breath, and they stop under this tree that's hot, and so forth. And you can hear, just a mile away, the war going on in Gaza. Hear the bombs and everything, and we weren't worried about we're going to be attacked, but it was eerie hearing a war go on, and we're filming a scene where they're running from that war, right?  So it was dramatic every week or so still at that point, the Hamas would lob a missile bomb into southern Israel and an alert would go off. You have 15 seconds to. Get into. So we had to bring these portable concrete safe rooms with us so that crew, at any given moment can run quickly into one of these concrete things. We couldn't always do it. So there's always this conversation, and by the way, it costs a lot of money, so everything you're always carrying these things. There's a lot of planning that went on. But I have to tell you, as an American showing up in Israel for the first time after October 7, I wasn't used to these alarms going off, so we were fortunate that while we were filming in the south, no missiles were lobbed at us. However, my first day there, I'm in a meeting on the eighth floor. It was a Friday morning. I got in there on a Thursday evening, 10 o'clock in the morning, the alarm goes up. I mean, just like that, right? And it's loud.  And you have these buzzers. Everyone's phone is buzzing, not like the Amber Alerts we have, like, really buzzing loud. And everyone stops and looks at me, and they apologize to me. They apologize and they go, Oh, we're really sorry, but it's an alert. We have to go into a safe room. Oh, don't worry, it's just from the Houthis. It takes eight minutes to get here. Now it's an intercontinental ballistic missile. These are real big missiles. They can really do bad damage. Don't worry, the Iron Dome usually gets them. It's really okay. So we go, you know, we go into and they pick up their danish and their coffee, and of course, I take out my cell phone and I'm videotaping. And then we go in there, and when it's off, we go back to the meeting. The meeting starts as if it never happened. And then they stop, and they go, Oh, how was that for you? And then I just didn't realize, what with the emotion that was going on because we're not used to having missiles shot at us. It's not normal. And I started to bubble up with emotion, and I had to, like, stop myself, I didn't want to cry in front of all these people that I barely knew. So I had to suppress my feelings. Like, don't worry, it's okay. You're having a normal reaction, right? And that happened quite often while I was there.  Now, you do get used to it. And the last night I was there, I was having dinner outside, tables outside, you know, in restaurants everywhere. So we're having a typical outside dinner, and they're handing the fish, and the alarm goes off, and we go, let's eat. And we don't go into the restaurant where they're called maamads. You don't go into the safe room. So that's kind of the quote, unquote normal life. Now you imagine here in the United States we get a missile from Mexico or Canada or wherever. No one's going to put up with that. That's just insane. It's insane what people in Israel have to go through. Manya Brachear Pashman:   it really is. But it's interesting that you've kind of adopted the nonchalance that your colleagues had at the very beginning of the trip, and wow, certainly no apologies. I want to know if there's a missile headed my way. Thank you. It does sound like October 7 changed you personally. And I'd like to know as a progressive Jew, on what level did it change you as a human being. I mean, how did it change you the most? Lawrence Bender:   I've been an active Jewish person for maybe 20, somewhere, 2025, years. I went to Israel My first time. I was ready. As far as I'm concerned. I was too old already to go for the first time. It was like 2003 I went with the Israeli policy forum, and we met with a lot of people there, and we ended up going to Ramallah, met with Abu Mazen, we went to Cairo and met with the president there, Barak, and met with a lot of people in Israel and so forth. And I've been involved one way or another for quite a while. But of course, October 7 was dramatic. Of course, I was safe in my house in Los Angeles, but I still watched in horror. And of course, October 8, it's just hard to understand what happened. It was the latent antisemitism, Jew hatred, that sits there. I still don't quite understand that.  It feels like antisemitism never went away, but it was underneath, and it just gave a good excuse to come out, and now the world is where it is. So yeah, for me, I became much more active than I was before. It became much more important to me, my Jewishness, my relationship to Israel. I want to protect Israel as much as I have that power to you know, whatever my ability is, like a lot of people, I know it's become a really important part of my existence, and it's like a new chapter in my life. I'm absolutely looking for more Jewish or Israeli projects. You know, I'm looking to do as much as possible in this area. Manya Brachear Pashman:   A number of your colleagues in Hollywood have proposed boycotting Israeli film festivals, institutions, projects, they're going the opposite direction that you are. And I'm curious if you had difficulty finding an American network to air this series, and what do you say when you confront colleagues who do want to boycott and are hostile toward Israel? Lawrence Bender:   You know, there's different groups of people. They're the true haters. I don't think that you can ever even have a conversation with them. There are people who just don't understand, and there's people you can and there are people who you know they're trying to be good people. They're trying to understand, like, What don't you understand about women being brutally raped and murdered? It's a little hard for me to understand that, actually. But there are a lot of good people who just are either confused or got too much of the wrong message.  But the one thing I would say straight up is, let's take an analogy. You know, there's very few people that I know that you see on TV, on any news show, that is very empathetic with the regime in Iran as an example, right? That means a brutal regime. If you're a liberal or if you're a conservative, there's very few people who support that regime here in this country, right? But they don't boycott their filmmakers, right? They actually give their filmmakers Academy Awards. So why is that with Israel? I feel like there's something very misguided here in Hollywood. Now, we got really lucky when it came to distribution. I just have to say, because we were supposed to go out to sell the show like it was fully financed from equity and from Keshet, who's the local Israeli. This is the biggest network in Israel, by the way. It's the biggest drama in Israel in the last decade. It really performed well there. But now we're going to go sell it here in the United States and the rest of the world, and it's early September, which is our deadline to do that, and Israel bombs Qatar, and then this boycott letter is signed. And I have to tell the investors. You know, it's like, this is not a good time. We cannot go sell. We're just gonna fail, and there's no second chances.  And you know, I was getting into dramatic arguments with my investors because they really felt strong. You got to be like that character in your show, the police officer is going to save his wife and you know, nothing's going to stop you. And I said, Yes, I'm with you. I developed that character I know in the Middle East arguments. I was at Skip Brittenham's memorial. Skip is like this beautiful man who was like the Mount Rushmore of lawyers here in LA. He's just a great human and one of those guys that wants to make deals, not just take everything and have the other guy get nothing. He was just like a he's just a real mensch, right? And well, loved anyway. Unfortunately, he passed, but I was at his memorial, and I ran into David Ellison. Now, I know David a little bit, not well, but I know him a little bit, and I also know that, you know, he loves Israel, from what I've read and so forth. And so I went up to him and said, Hey, man, we talked. I said, you got to know what I'm doing. And it probably got three words out of my mouth, and you can see him go, I'd love to see this. This sounds amazing, and sounds like it's exactly the timing we need.  And we sent him the material, and he watched every episode himself, and then he gave it to Cindy Holland, who runs paramount, plus his main person. And you know, they said, we do this. We want this. It would be an honor to be your partner in this is actually quite humbling. And it was an incredible moment for us to have David Ellison, Cindy Holland, say, hey. You know, we want this now. Then they said, We need to drop it. We want to drop all the episodes on October 7? Well, by the time they got those episodes, it was like two weeks to go before October 7, or a couple days before, because we couldn't give it to them in the midnight before October 7, obviously. And they had pretty much final picture edit, but we had temporary sound, temporary music, temporary effects, and so we had to work double triple shifts to get it done. But of course, we did. Manya Brachear Pashman:   This actually reminds me of a conversation I had with playwright, screenwriter, Oren softy for the Forgotten Exodus, which is a podcast series we did about Jews from the Middle East. He spoke about his father's side of the family, which hails from Aleppo, Syria, and he shared a lot of his frustrations with the modern anti Israel movement and sentiments in Hollywood, the protests which he's been trying to combat in theater and on the stage. And he actually said that investors had pulled out of a film project about Israel when tensions flared. So it's interesting to hear your investors took the opposite approach, but he told me in our conversations, he told me that being Jewish is about stepping up. That's how he sees it. It's about stepping up. And I'm curious if that rings true to you, and do you feel like this series and your plans to do more, is that your way of stepping up? Lawrence Bender:   Hmm, that's beautiful, and I'm so glad to hear you recount that story with him. I'd love to talk to him about that I feel like, without really understanding that it's built into me genetically, right? My grandparents, far as you go back, my family is Jewish, right? From Romania, from Hungary, from Minsk Belarus. So it's the way that you're brought up as a Jew. It's just always been a part of our lives, and we're pretty much taught that that's part of being Jewish, right? So, you know, I've always felt like it's important for me.  Now I tell you, you know, it's interesting, and I think about as we're talking so in the 90s, when I was getting started, and I was actually doing pretty well this one year, I had Good Will Hunting and Jackie Brown and a price above Rubens, those three movies, and things were going well, but I felt like something was missing in my life. And then we screened Good Will Hunting and Camp David in 1998 and it was an amazing moment. And that was like one of these light bulb moments for me. You know, I met the President and Mrs. Clinton and Madeleine Albright, Secretary of State, and Secretary of Defense, Sandy Berger and the Chief of Staff and Senate Majority Leader, and on and on, right? They're all there.    And it was Matt Damon, Ban Affleck, Gus Van Zant, Robin Williams, et cetera, et cetera, right? And I felt like these guys are making a difference, and that's what was missing in my life. And so since 1998 I've been always looking for ways that I'm and that's that's that becomes like a more of a fulfilling way of living right for myself. So yes, I would answer that. That's a long way to get to yes. Manya Brachear Pashman:   Wow, Camp David, that's awesome. Lawrence, thank you so much for joining us and for talking about the impetus behind this series. I encourage everyone to take some time, brace yourself emotionally, but do sit down and watch Red Alert. It is really quite worthwhile. Thank you so much. Lawrence Bender: Thank you. Manya Brachear Pashman:   If you missed last week's episode, be sure to tune in for my conversation with AJC colleague, Dr Alexandra Herzog, the granddaughter of Chaim Herzog, Israel's Irish born sixth president. She shared how an attempt by Dublin officials to strip her grandfather's name from a community park illustrates how criticism of Israel can veer into an effort to erase Jewish memory. As I mentioned in my conversation with Lawrence, it took some degree of wherewithal to watch Red Alert, as we've spent the last two years on this podcast speaking with the families of hostages, former hostages themselves, and survivors of the October 7 massacre. I've wanted nothing more than to make sure their voices are heard. We end this week's episode with the voice of Orna Neutra, the mother of Omer Neutra. Orna recently spoke at the AJC Long Island meeting, shortly after the return of her son's remains more than two years after his death, followed by a word from AJC Long Island Director Eric Post. Orna Neutra: When Omer was taken, our world collapsed. But something else happened too. People stood up. People showed up. And many of you here showed up. This community, the broader Long Island Jewish community, AJC, our friends, colleagues, neighbors, complete strangers, carried us. You wrote, you marched, you advocated, you pressured you called you consoled and refused to let the world look away. To our personal friends and honorees here tonight, Veronica, Laurie, and Michael, your leadership has not been symbolic. It has been practical, steady and deeply felt by our family.  Like you said, Veronica, on the first days when we were barely understanding what was going on, you connected us to Senator Schumer's office, and Michael, you helped us write a letter to the White House on October 8, and that was the first sign from hostage families that the White House received. We know that Secretary Blinken had the letter in his hands on October 8, indicating that Omer was probably a hostage.  And AJC as an organization, beyond your many actions and advocacy, I want to specifically acknowledge your DC team. It was mentioned here tonight, throughout our many, many, many visits to Capitol Hill, AJC professionals were instrumental. They arranged meetings, they walked us through endless hallways, opened doors, prepared us and stood beside us, and they're still doing that for us, and we will see them this week. Always professional, with purpose and humanity, and we will never forget that. Over these two years, we learned something essential: that when Jewish families are in danger, the responsibility belongs to all of us, across movements, across generations, across continents. This work is the work that AJC does every day. This is the work that everyone here in this room understands. Eric Post:  Since the horrors of October 7, AJC has been empowering leaders around the world to take action against antisemitism and stand with Israel. But we cannot succeed alone. Please consider supporting AJC's work with a year-end gift today. Right now, your gift will be matched, dollar-for-dollar, making double the impact.  Every gift matters. Every dollar makes a difference in the fight for a strong and secure Jewish future. Donate at AJC.org/donate – that's www - dot - AJC - dot org  slash donate.

Rabbi Ysoscher Katz on Open Orthodoxy, Satmar Roots, Queer Inclusion, Mysticism vs. Maimonides, and the Haredi IDF Draft Crisis.In this episode, Daniel sits down with Rabbi Ysoscher Katz — a leading voice in Open Orthodoxy with deep Satmar Hasidic roots — to explore the future of Orthodox Judaism in the 21st century. They discuss why Rabbi Katz sees contemporary Orthodoxy as being in crisis, the obsession with labels (“ultra-Orthodox,” “modern Orthodox,” “open Orthodox”), and how to build a Judaism that feels spiritually exciting, morally serious, and genuinely inclusive.Rabbi Katz shares his journey from growing up in Williamsburg's Satmar community — with no secular education and an intensely anti-Zionist worldview — to becoming a passionate, liberal Zionist who still treasures the gifts of his Hasidic upbringing. He reflects on living with the tension between egalitarian modern values and halakhic hierarchy, and why he believes we must make observant life so meaningful that people are willing to live with its unresolved dissonances.The conversation dives into halakhic change and halakhic evolution, including Rabbi Katz's responsa on women's participation in the synagogue, LGBTQ / queer inclusion, and how close re-readings of classic sources can reveal possibilities earlier poskim never needed to see. From nursing in shul to bris and pidyon haben in same-sex families, he shows how fidelity to halakha can coexist with radical hospitality.Daniel and Rabbi Katz also contrast Maimonides' rationalism with Kabbalah and Hasidut, asking whether a purely rational Judaism “sucks out” too much of the mysticism and passion that biblical and rabbinic Judaism took for granted — and why a mystical, non-Maimonidean frame might better serve modern religious seekers.Finally, they tackle the explosive debate over Haredi exemption from the IDF draft, the social and spiritual cost of non-participation in Israel's defense, and how religious anti-Zionism collides with the lived reality of soldiers — including Rabbi Katz's own children — serving in Gaza.If you're interested in Orthodox sociology, Jewish theology, Kabbalah, Zionism, or the future of halakhic communities, this wide-ranging conversation is for you.#RabbiYsoscherKatz #lgbtq #orthodoxjudaism #OpenOrthodoxy #ModernOrthodox #halakha #QueerInclusion #JewishMysticism #maimonides #kabbalah #hasidut #Zionism #haredi #idf #jewishthought #jewishpodcast #jewishtradition

2536 - The Bearded Bible Brothers and crew are escorted by IDF soldiers to the infamous Mount Ebal in the West Bank, where they inspect the original altar built by Biblical Joshua. What consequences does the vow of Blessings and Curses have on Israel today? Afterward, Joshua and Caleb return to Jordan, to the ruined Roman city of Jerash.

HEADLINE 1: After taking a beating during the 12-day war, Iran is back to building up its ballistic missile arsenal.HEADLINE 2: Israeli authorities raided a vacant United Nations Relief and Works Agency facility in East Jerusalem.HEADLINE 3: The IDF discovered three crude rockets in the West Bank city of Tulkarem.--FDD Executive Director Jon Schanzer provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with activist, actress, and New York Times bestselling author Noa Tishby.Learn more at: https://www.fdd.org/fddmorningbrief--Featured FDD Pieces:"The Widening Gulf Between Iran and the Gulf" - Behnam Ben Taleblu and Norman T. Roule, FDD's Foreign Podicy"Al Jazeera's Academic Arm Platforms Hamas Denialism and Anti-Israel Propaganda" - Toby Dershowitz, FDD Insight"Anti-Israeli Countries' Attempt To Ban Israel From Eurovision Song Contest Falls Flat — With Help From Germany, Austria" - David May, New York Sun

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A new Reporters Without Borders report warns of escalating danger for journalists globally, and highlights that deaths in Gaza at the hands of the Israeli military accounted for nearly half of all reporter deaths this year. The NGO's chief Thibaud Bruttin told RFI that Palestinian journalists were deliberately targeted, and also spoke about the violence spreading across Latin America and how hundreds of reporters remain imprisoned worldwide. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has warned that journalists are facing increasing dangers worldwide, with Israel emerging as the most lethal country for media workers for the third year running. In its annual report, the Paris-based watchdog says 67 journalists were killed over the past 12 months – and almost half of them died in Gaza at the hands of Israeli forces. Twenty-nine Palestinian journalists were killed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) during the reporting period, alongside what RSF calls "a whole strategy" by Israeli authorities that has severely restricted reporting on the conflict. The NGO's director Thibaud Bruttin told RFI that the pattern of deaths in Gaza cannot be dismissed as the tragic fallout of war. "There has been a whole strategy that has been put in place since October 2023," he explained. "First, there has been the decision to block the entry of Gaza to international journalists. Second, there has been a unit set up within the Israel Defence Forces to smear Palestinian journalists… and then we've seen massive strikes against journalists, which have been actually claimed as targeted strikes by the IDF." RSF says nearly 220 journalists have been killed since the Gaza war began in late 2023. Of those, the organisation believes 56 have been deliberately targeted. Bruttin stressed that RSF is not including people loosely associated with Hamas in that count, as some Israeli officials have claimed. “We're talking about journalists – reporters who have been working, some of them for years, with respected international outlets – and these independent reporters have been deliberately targeted by the IDF." The report also highlights one of the deadliest attacks on media workers this year – a so-called ‘double-tap' strike on a hospital in south Gaza on 25 August, which killed five journalists, including contributors to news agencies Reuters and the Associated Press. French unions take Israel to court for restricting media access to Gaza Information blackout A key concern for RSF is the ongoing block on independent media access to Gaza. Foreign reporters can only enter on tightly controlled military tours, despite sustained calls from media groups and press freedom organisations. The Foreign Press Association in Israel has taken the matter to court, challenging the IDF's decision to deny access. Bruttin said the case has reached a critical point. "There has been an intermediary decision by the Supreme Court... and we're expecting any time in the coming weeks a decision which should, we hope, enable the press to enter." He added that a combination of the restrictions and IDF smear campaigns has cooled global solidarity with Palestinian journalists. "The smear campaign … has had an impact on the solidarity among the profession," he said. "It has been very hard to attract the attention of news media globally, and these news media outlets have been very timid in voicing concern over the fate of Palestinian journalists." But the scale of the recent strikes appears to have shifted sentiment. According to Bruttin, the deadly attacks of 10 and 25 August prompted “an uptick in the interest of media around this”, allowing RSF to launch a major drive on 1 September that “blew away the smear campaign of the IDF”. With a fragile ceasefire now in place, he hopes momentum will grow around reopening access to Gaza and restoring independent reporting. 'Nowhere in Gaza is safe' says RFI correspondent amid call for global media access Beyond the Middle East While Gaza dominates the headlines, RSF's report shows that the risks for journalists are a global concern. Mexico remains one of the world's most perilous environments for reporters, despite government pledges of greater protection. Nine journalists were killed there in 2025 – the deadliest year in at least three years. Bruttin warns that the danger is spreading across Latin America. “The phenomenon has extended beyond the borders of Mexico,” he said. “We've seen journalists killed in Honduras, in Guatemala, in Peru, in Ecuador, in Colombia.” Around a quarter of all journalists killed this year were in Latin America, with many targeted by cartels, narco-traffickers and armed groups. This trend, he said, is “very concerning” and presents a serious challenge for governments attempting to safeguard reporters. Sudan and Ukraine also continue to be among the most dangerous places from which to report, with conflict making journalists prime targets on all sides. Global press freedom at 'tipping point', media watchdog RSF warns Journalists detained Alongside killings, RSF's report documents a surge in the number of journalists imprisoned for their work. As of early December, 503 journalists were behind bars in 47 countries. China tops the list with 121 detained, followed by Russia with 48 and Myanmar with 47. Bruttin believes the international community can do far more to secure the release of detained reporters. “We need to effectively, deliberately campaign for the release of journalists,” he said. He pointed to the case of Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich, who was released as part of a prisoner swap with Russia. “If governments prioritise the release of journalists, they can meet success.” He expressed particular concern for the 26 Ukrainian journalists detained by Russia, many “outside of any legal framework”. He told RFI that Ukraine has the ability to prioritise their release through prisoner exchanges, citing a recent precedent in which RSF helped confirm proof of life for a detained Ukrainian reporter, forcing Russia to acknowledge holding him. “He was part of one of the latest prisoner swaps,” Bruttin noted. Although the overall number of journalist deaths remains below the highs of the early 2010s, RSF says the deliberate targeting of reporters and the erosion of access to information are becoming worryingly entrenched.

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. Maj. Gen. (res.) Nitzan Alon, who served as the IDF’s point man on hostage negotiations since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, onslaught, says that Hamas has “objective” difficulties in finding the body of Ran Gvili, the last deceased hostage in Gaza. We learn what is happening in Gaza and the potential power vacuum left in the southern anti-Hamas militia following the death of its leader Yasser Abu Shabab. The IDF confirmed carrying out a wave of airstrikes in southern Lebanon overnight, saying it targeted Hezbollah sites, including a training facility used by the terror group’s elite Radwan Force. Fabian describes how the IDF strikes generally come after the mechanism put in place following the November 2024 ceasefire doesn't act. A year following the fall of the Assad regime, Fabian explains how the buffer zone was immediately taken by the IDF, which will be very hesitant to release at least two strategic points. We are then updated on a widespread operation that took place in the West Bank over the past couple weeks and an uptick in attacks against soldiers there. And our final stops on our tour are Egypt and Jordan, both relatively quiet borders, but with their own particular challenges. Fabian weighs in. Since the outbreak of the war on October 7, 2023, 922 soldiers, officers, and reservists, including several dozen local security officers, have been killed across its various arenas. Today, we focus on those who were wounded -- physically and emotionally -- and how the army is moving forward. To finish the program, we learn about a pilot program integrating female recruits into the Combat Engineering Corps’ elite Yahalom unit and why it is deemed a success, paving the way for women combat engineers to become a permanent role in the military. Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates. For further reading: Trump to host Netanyahu on December 29 for talks on advancing Gaza plan Anti-Hamas militia leader Yasser Abu Shabab killed in ‘internal clash’ in Gaza Palestinian who sped car toward troops in Hebron killed, as is passerby; soldier lightly hurt Over half of soldiers treated in rehab centers have mental health issues, stats show IDF declares trial of women combat engineers in elite Yahalom unit a success Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Pod-Waves. IMAGE: A military helicopter evacuates the injured from the Ziv Medical center in Tzfat wounded by a missile fired by the terrorist organization Hezbollah, February 14, 2024. (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Knesset is gearing up for a crucial vote on a new Haredi draft bill that could reshape Israel's military and social fabric for years to come. The proposal seeks to significantly increase ultra-Orthodox enlistment in the IDF — a move supporters call long overdue and opponents warn could clash with deeply rooted religious lifestyle and belief issues. Our legal analyst Benyamin Moalem joins us for a deep dive into the history, the stakes, and what this bill could mean for Israel's future.Israel Daily News website: https://israeldailynews.orgYOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/@israeldailynews?si=UFQjC_iuL13V7tyQIsrael Daily News Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/shannafuldSupport our Wartime News Coverage: https://www.gofundme.com/f/independent-journalist-covering-israels-warLinks to all things IDN:⁠ https://linktr.ee/israeldailynews⁠

This morning I share part of an interview Daniel Gordis did recently with Dr. Dan Turner. Born in Jerusalem, educated in Israel and Toronto, Dr. Turner is a pediatric gastroenterologist at Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem. He works with a program there that brings Arab doctors from the West Bank, trains them in a needed specialty, then they return to serve their communities, supported by Shaarei Zedek. Since October 7, 2023, when many Israeli doctors were called up for reserve duty in the IDF, many of these doctors worked the missing shifts at Shaare Zedek Hospital. Dr. Turner shares his perspective on relations between Israelis and Palestinians, and what it would take to improve them. Michael Whitman is the senior rabbi of ADATH Congregation in Hampstead, Quebec, and an adjunct professor at McGill University Faculty of Law. ADATH is a modern orthodox synagogue community in suburban Montreal, providing Judaism for the next generation. We take great pleasure in welcoming everyone with a warm smile, while sharing inspiration through prayer, study, and friendship. Rabbi Whitman shares his thoughts and inspirations through online lectures and shiurim, which are available on: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5FLcsC6xz5TmkirT1qObkA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adathmichael/ Podcast - Mining the Riches of the Parsha: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/mining-the-riches-of-the-parsha/id1479615142?fbclid=IwAR1c6YygRR6pvAKFvEmMGCcs0Y6hpmK8tXzPinbum8drqw2zLIo7c9SR-jc Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3hWYhCG5GR8zygw4ZNsSmO Please contact Rabbi Whitman (rabbi@adath.ca) with any questions or feedback, or to receive a daily email, "Study with Rabbi Whitman Today," with current and past insights for that day, video, and audio, all in one short email sent directly to your inbox.

On Wednesday, November 5, IDF reservist Jonathan Karten planned to speak with a small group of Jewish students from Toronto Metropolitan University about the reality of the war in Gaza. Within moments of his arrival at the secret location for this meeting, he was attacked violently and injured. The students were terrified, taking cover under tables. What began as a small group of masked “protesters” yelling anti-Israel and antisemitic threats grew to dozens. In the first episode of this two-part series, we dive into the detail of what happened and how Toronto police handled the crisis. One week after the confrontation, STLV sat down with Jonathan Karten in Tel Aviv to discuss what went down that day. But we also place the antisemitic violence - that has become normalized in Toronto in the last two years - into a broader context. Home to the fourth largest Jewish community in the world - after Israel, the U.S. and France - Canada's 360,000 Jews are often overlooked. No longer. Toronto has established itself as an Islamist's paradise. Police have taken to telling Jews that their mere presence is a “provocation,” The Police Chief, Myron Demkiw, says he is just trying to “keep the peace.” His tactics are highly questionable. In this episode, we speak with Jonathan Karten and his friend who attended the November 5 event with him. We rely extensively in this documentary report upon video footage taken that day, much of which went viral globally.In Part II, coming later this week, we get into arrests made in this case, and the very laissez fair approach of law enforcement in Toronto to what has become chronic incitement of hatred and violence targeting Jews in the city.This episode has been generously sponsored by Andrea Marcus, a Toronto resident and artist who shares our profound concern over what has become of the once vibrant city, known for tolerance and family-friendly living.Show your support for STLV at buymeacoffee.com/stateoftelavivWatch on YoutubeState of Tel Aviv is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.stateoftelaviv.com/subscribe

This FIDF Live briefing features Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani, the international spokesperson for the IDF, who shares personal reflections on the war and the role of the IDF. Shoshani describes the emotional toll of the conflict and the intense responsibility of speaking to international media while soldiers and commanders fight on the ground. He emphasizes that many soldiers ask if the world still supports them, and he reassures them with stories of global Jewish solidarity, especially from American communities and FIDF supporters. He reflects on the difficult moments when soldiers are killed and the burden of conveying truth while the enemy uses manipulative tactics and hides among civilians. Shoshani also speaks about the moral and ethical challenges the IDF faces while operating in densely populated areas, and how maintaining the IDF's values is a core part of its mission. Despite the exhaustion and grief, he expresses deep pride in Israeli society and in the soldiers who have risen to the moment. He concludes by thanking listeners for their unwavering support, saying that every message, donation, and prayer makes a difference in both spirit and strength.

Howie Danao grew up in an affluent Tel Aviv home as the adopted son of a secular Israeli family, alongside his Filipino mother who worked as a caretaker. A gifted singer fluent in Hebrew, he rose to the semi-finals of a major Israeli reality competition and later served in the IDF even before he gained citizenship. A transformative Jewish-identity program pushed him to confront his past and his purpose, sending him on a spiritual journey that led to conversion, religious life, and using his music to share his story of faith, belonging, and love for Israel.Howie's music: https://bit.ly/4pjRew6IG: https://www.instagram.com/imjusthowie/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HowieDanaoHoodie: https://www.makeyourmarkculture.com/IG: https://www.instagram.com/makeyourmarkculture/✬ SPONSORS OF THE EPISODE ✬ ► Twillory: 50% OFF NowGo online for the season's BEST Deals!→ https://bit.ly/4eBHeKb► Wheels To Lease: #1 Car Company For over 35 years, Wheels To Lease has offered stress-free car buying with upfront pricing, no hidden fees, and door-to-door delivery. → CALL/TEXT: 718-871-8715 → EMAIL: inspire@wheelstolease.com → WEB: https://bit.ly/41lnzYU → WHATSAPP: https://wa.link/0w46ce ► Feldheim: 20% OFF A Lot!NEW Kichels, NEW Amoraim books and more! Chanukah gifts live here.Get here→ https://bit.ly/3MIHiOj► Kol Eched: Powerful and Free E-MagazineThe OU's latest issue is here. See Yaakov's article too!See here→ https://go.ou.org/KolEchad_____________________________________✬ IN MEMORY OF ✬ This episode is in memory of: • Miram Sarah bas Yaakov Moshe • Shimon Dovid ben Yaakov Shloima This episode is for the speedy recovery of: • Yosef Chaim ben Devorah Chaya Golda#iftn Lchaim.

The Teacher and the Preacher is a weekly radio program--hosted by Dave McGarrah, Senior Pastor at Deer Flat Church in Caldwell, Idaho, and Aaron Lipkin from Israel--that airs each Sunday at 10:30 am and 7:30 pm here 94.5 FM and 790 AM on KSPD Boise's Solid Talk. They are a unique phenomenon on the airwaves – a Christian and a Jew in an ongoing dialogue – celebrating the many commonalities but never shying away from the differences. They offer their listeners insights into each other's faiths that don't come up much elsewhere, that can only come through sincere conversation. The weekly discussion is more than a program about a topic; it's a demonstration of how God can bring two people together from 9,000 miles away to bridge the differences, learn from each other, and strengthen their own faiths. If you would like to learn more about this fantastic radio ministry, please visit their website at theteacherandthepreacher.com.Podcast Website: https://www.790kspd.com/the-teacher-and-the-preacher/

Subscribe now to skip the ads and get more content. Don't forget to download our Chinese Prestige miniseries, currently on sale for $5. Annual subscribers get the series free!  Despite sitting on a large surplus of Labubus, Danny and Derek work hard to bring you the news. This week: in Russia-Ukraine, new US diplomacy goes nowhere (1:08), Ukraine is now attacking Russian commercial ships (5:55), and the EU moves to phase out Russian natural gas (8:35); in the DRC-Rwanda conflict, Trump hosts a peace deal signing as fighting resumes with M23 in the eastern DRC (11:17); new fighting erupts in southern Yemen (14:19); Lebanon and Israel hold ceasefire talks as the IDF resumes strikes (17:08); in Gaza, new clashes leave a gang leader dead (19:45), the ceasefire implementation sees minimal progress (23:48), and Israel reopens the the Rafah checkpoint (26:24); Sudan's RSF claims a new advance in the Kordofan region (28:40); a bizarre coup unfolds in Guinea-Bissau (30:40); Trump moves closer to military action against Venezuela (36:55); Honduras heads toward a contentious election (40:17); the US pauses entry from 19 countries after the DC National Guard shooting (43:46); and a double-tap strike on a boat in the Caribbean raises new legal questions (45:43). Join the Discord (subscribers get access to all channels).

It's now December, and thus a natural time to look back and think about all that's changed in 2024. What did the Middle East and the world look like at this time a year ago? President Biden was in the Oval Office and President Trump was both the former president and the president-elect. Hamas still held hostages taken on October 7. Iran's regional proxies, though weakened, still threatened both Israel and American interests across the Middle East. Fast forward to today, and the landscape looks dramatically different. Israel has achieved stunning military victories. The United States Air Force bombed nuclear sites in Iran. New diplomatic possibilities have opened up. The balance of power in the region has shifted in ways that seemed unimaginable just twelve months ago. And yet, like the laws of physics, the iron laws of politics have asserted themselves: there are unintended consequences even, and especially, of those very stunning military victories. Despite wounding their shared adversary, the Israelis and Saudis have not normalized relations and in fact may be further from rapprochement than when the threat from Iran was at its height. Israel's victory has come at a cost of political and popular support in the United States. The Trump administration's management of the hostages' homecoming, and the terms of the cease-fire, have left Hamas in place, with no external peacekeeping force other than the IDF itself willing to restore order. To help us understand these developments, we're rebroadcasting a conversation Mosaic's editor, Jonathan Silver, had at the 2025 Jewish Leadership Conference with Walter Russell Mead and Elliott Abrams—two of America's leading voices on Middle East strategy. They discussed the new regional order, the opportunities and vulnerabilities it presents for America and Israel, and how all of this fits into the broader competition between the United States and China.

Subscribe now to skip the ads and get more content.Don't forget to download our Chinese Prestige miniseries, currently on sale for $5. Annual subscribers get the series free! Despite sitting on a large surplus of Labubus, Danny and Derek work hard to bring you the news. This week: in Russia-Ukraine, new US diplomacy goes nowhere (1:08), Ukraine is now attacking Russian commercial ships (5:55), and the EU moves to phase out Russian natural gas (8:35); in the DRC-Rwanda conflict, Trump hosts a peace deal signing as fighting resumes with M23 in the eastern DRC (11:17); new fighting erupts in southern Yemen (14:19); Lebanon and Israel hold ceasefire talks as the IDF resumes strikes (17:08); in Gaza, new clashes leave a gang leader dead (19:45), the ceasefire implementation sees minimal progress (23:48), and Israel reopens the the Rafah checkpoint (26:24); Sudan's RSF claims a new advance in the Kordofan region (28:40); a bizarre coup unfolds in Guinea-Bissau (30:40); Trump moves closer to military action against Venezuela (36:55); Honduras heads toward a contentious election (40:17); the US pauses entry from 19 countries after the DC National Guard shooting (43:46); and a double-tap strike on a boat in the Caribbean raises new legal questions (45:43).Join the Discord (subscribers get access to all channels).Our Sponsors:* Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Israel deploys Iron Beam defense, Gaza hostages returned, Trump pushes peace plan amid rising tensions.0:00 – Introduction Monte Judah opens the broadcast and sets the stage for the week's update.1:15 – Human Remains Returned from Gaza Bodies and body parts returned, including the Thai worker; one hostage remains.3:40 – IDF Hero Ran Gvili Story of Staff Sergeant Ran Gvili, his bravery, and sacrifice.6:20 – Haredi Exemption Bill Delayed Division within Haredi community; IDF recruitment challenges.8:45 – Iron Beam Deployment New laser defense system explained; cost savings and effectiveness vs. Iron Dome.12:10 – Iran's Drone Production & U.S. Scorpion Strike Unit Iran's drone exports, U.S. reverse-engineering, and new drone warfare strategies.15:30 – AI in Drone & Cyber Warfare Israel restructuring cyber/electronic warfare with AI integration.18:00 – Trump's Gaza Peace Plan Phase Two Ceasefire violations, disarmament issues, and Trump's optimistic statements.21:15 – Rafah Crossing & Northern Border Concerns Israel considers opening Rafah; tensions with Lebanon and Hezbollah.24:00 – Syria Developments New Syrian leader meets Trump; IDF operations against militants in southern Syria.27:30 – Netanyahu Invited to White House Fifth invitation; controversy over New York mayor-elect's arrest threat.30:00 – Escalating Threats Across Multiple Fronts Hamas rearming, Hezbollah regrouping, Iran's missile threats, Palestinian attacks.33:15 – Prophetic Perspective & Closing Thoughts Monte Judah reflects on Israel's situation and calls for prayer.35:00 – Closing & Shabbat Shalom Final blessings, subscription reminders, and encouragement for viewers.Tune in today at 4:00 pm CT for the latest Messianic World Update with Monte Judah on LionandLamb.tv! Stay informed, stay watchful. ✡️

Miriam and Noah talk about (1) the Prime Minister's request that the President pardon him, to put an end to our long, national downer, and (2) what to make of the movie, The Sea, which took all the important Israeli prizes this year, for its depiction of a kid living under occupation, trying to get a glimpse of the sea. For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: It's not easy being Peter Beinart. All that and a farewell to the general in charge of IDF intelligence who did not foresee the Yom Kippur War, a train ride to Bat Yam, and a celebration of America that says more still about Israel.

In his first interview since his release, former hostage Alon Ohel called the International Committee of the Red Cross a “disgraceful organization.” His anger reflects a general bitterness among Israelis who believe ICRC failed to ensure the Israeli hostages’ received humanitarian treatment in captivity and their silence in the face of Hamas’ refusal to grant them access. On the Haaretz Podcast, the head of ICRC’s Israel sub-delegation, Yuval Arie Nevo, admitted in an interview that the hostility on the part of the Israeli public was “totally understandable” given the group’s persistent but ultimately “unsuccessful” efforts to gain access to the hostages to assess their condition and offer medical and humanitarian assistance. While acknowledging the failures, “we are very proud of our work,” said Nevo, referring to the implementation of the transfer of the hostages from Hamas to Israel under the cease-fire agreement in October, coordinated with the release and exchange of Palestinian prisoners – and ICRC’s role in returning the remains of slain hostages as well. The “reputation crisis” the ICRC is suffering in Israel, he said, is due in large part to the constraints of the organization’s commitment to “impartiality” and the use of “bilateral confidential dialogue,” or refraining from taking sides in public statements. Without such a policy, he argued, ICRC would not be able to effectively conduct humanitarian operations and return prisoners and hostages anywhere in the world. Still, “I know it is a source of great frustration in the Israeli public,” he said. “Neutrality is not a sexy choice to make.” Read more: Sexual Assault, Starvation, Stitches Without Anesthesia: Alon Ohel Details Hamas Captivity Opinion | For the Hostages in Gaza, the Red Cross Is Neutral. But We Are Not Bystanders Far-right MKs Cite Classified Report on Red Cross Visits to Israeli Prisons, Refuse to Share It With Arab Lawmaker Israeli Defense Ministry Renews Its Ban on Red Cross Visits to Palestinian Security Prisoners Before High Court Israel Allows Hamas to Join Red Cross in IDF-held Gaza Areas to Recover Hostage BodiesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

True crime historian Rachel McCarthy James joins to talk about Whack Job: A History of Axe Murder, tracing humanity's relationship between axe and skull, where questions about Axe-related word play are axed and answered. Then the show pivots to how algorithms elevate the most loathed spokespeople on every hot-button issue, from Riley Gaines to Jasmine Crockett and Greta Thunberg, and why our brains can't easily separate "the person" from "the cause." Finally in the Spiel Mike discusses Marjorie Taylor Greene, Zohran Mamdani, and whether renouncing past rhetoric—be it "Jewish space lasers" or NYPD boots laced by the IDF—should earn politicians anything more than a provisional, closely watched second chance. Produced by Corey Wara Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist Youtube Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist Instagram Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠GIST INSTAGRAM⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow The Gist List at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pesca⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack

Israel's northern border heats up as Hezbollah ignores the deadline to disarm, prompting the IDF to prepare for decisive action. Amir and Barry unpack breaking developments in the Middle East, including Netanyahu's legal battle, the Iranian Ring of Fire strategy, and shocking AI propaganda from Hamas. Plus, what's behind Israel's nationwide drill for mass Jewish immigration and what it says about rising global antisemitism.Connect with us on social:Telegram: @beholdisraelchannelInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/amir.tsarfati/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beholdisrael/X: https://x.com/beholdisraelYouTube: https://youtube.com/@beholdisrael

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. Yesterday, two soldiers were lightly injured in a stabbing attack near the northern West Bank settlement of Ateret. The attack came hours after a soldier was lightly hurt in a car-ramming near the city of Hebron. Both attackers were killed. Are we seeing an uptick in attacks on soldiers in the West Bank? At recording time, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, the Al Quds Brigades, said it was searching for the body of a hostage in northern Gaza with a team from the Red Cross. It has since been announced that remains will be handed over to Israel this evening. These announcements came a day after Hamas handed over remains to Israel via the Red Cross, which Israel said today did not belong to either of the two remaining hostages. Regardless of the full return of the deceased hostages, this morning Israel stated it will reopen the Rafah Crossing in the coming days for the exit of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Egypt. We learn about the significance of this step. Yesterday evening, the IDF’s new Hasmonean Brigade for ultra-Orthodox troops completed its first-ever squad commanders’ course, which the military says lays the groundwork for “the future generation of Haredi commanders in the army.” We learn more about the bridgade and whether it can overcome the strife surrounding the lack of Haredi enlistment. However, Fabian adds, according to Channel 12 news, the IDF is short of about 1,300 officers at the ranks of lieutenant and captain, and another 300 majors. The military on Tuesday completed a reorganization of its C4I and Cyber Defense Directorate, with a new artificial intelligence unit and an expanded electronic warfare array that will further enhance Israel’s defensive cyber capabilities, including countering drone attacks. We hear about the new units and learn about some practical applications for their work. Israel’s high-powered laser interception system, dubbed “Iron Beam,” will be delivered to the military at the end of the month, the head of the Defense Ministry’s Directorate of Defense Research and Development said Monday. Fabian explains where it could be used -- almost immediately. Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates. For further reading: Israel says remains handed over by Hamas are not of Ran Gvili or Sudthisak Rinthalak Three soldiers injured in West Bank stabbing, ramming attacks; assailants killed IDF’s Haredi brigade graduates its first squad commanders’ course IDF faces manpower crisis as fewer soldiers keen on military career, new data shows Focusing on AI and electronic warfare, IDF restructures computer service directorate IDF to receive ‘Iron Beam’ laser interceptors at the end of the month Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Podwaves. Image: Signals officers of the C4I and Cyber Defense Directorate are seen in an undated photo published by the army on December 2, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chaya Leah is back from Vegas, and boy does she have some stories to tell (not the kind you think, though. They are much, much worse). Also, are orthodox Jews allowed to celebrate Thanksgiving? Was Yael disappointed when she met hostages in real life? And what did Chaya Leah say to make an Uber driver pull over because he was laughing so hard? If you love our show, please consider becoming a subscriber on askajew.substack.com. It's free! For now...EMBARRASSING - I confuse Chaim Herzog and Chaim Weizmann I guess, so ignore everything I said about him. Ireland still sucks though, that part has been fact-checked.We cover:* Slot machines are life.* Looking for a Minyan at The Venetian,* Chaya Leah loved the Michael Jackson Cirque du Soleil show, especially the part about Israel.* Two very special guests for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.* These hostages have some dark humor, and we're here for it.* The antisemites are sometimes right.* Netanyahu is asking for a pardon. We have nothing to add.* Ireland still sucks, but our listeners from there are the best.* I gets Chaim Herzog and Chaim Weizmann confused, SORRY.* The truth about the Hannibal Directive is that you're all idiots.* The IDF killed everyone on October 7th and also it was a good thing.* What's the most normal country?* The Australian World War 1 memorial in Israel.* Normalize Normalization.* Who is worse, Peter Beinart or Mandy Patinkin?* How do we fix Israel's image? By doing nothing.* Mamdani's transition team is just as bad as you think it is.Questions? Concerns? Want to tell Chaya Leah she is “lanky”? Email us at askajewpod@gmail.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit askajew.substack.com/subscribe

TURKEY plays a key role in the events unfolding in the Middle East.  Avi Lipkin (BiblicalAlliance.com) spoke to our tour group in Jerusalem in October, explaining why he sees Turkey as a key player in a war that will involve the entire Middle East. Of course, conflict involving Israel always has prophetic significance.  Avi also explains why the Israeli military appeared to be caught off guard by the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. It wasn't—but senior officers in the IDF withheld intelligence and first reports of the attack from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in hopes that he'd be blamed and forced to resign. In other words, Israel's deep state hates Netanyahu just as much as America's deep state hates Donald Trump—and the deep state would gladly see their countries burn if it forced Trump or Netanyahu out of office. 

WHAT'S HAPPENING IN SOUTHERN YEMEN?HEADLINE 1: Saudi Arabia is providing the Palestinian Authority with a $90 million grant.HEADLINE 2: Three Israeli soldiers were wounded in two separate attacks yesterday.HEADLINE 3: The IDF raided the offices in Ramallah and Hebron of an organization called the Union of Agricultural Work Committees.---FDD Senior Research Analyst Natalie Ecanow, filling in for Jonathan Schanzer, provides timely situational updates and analysis, followed by a conversation with Southern Transition Council Special Representative Amr Al-Bidh.Learn more at: fdd.org/fddmorningbrief---Featured FDD Pieces: "Trump is right to crack down on the Muslim Brotherhood" - Edmund Fitton-Brown, The Spectator"Japan Has Changed How the World Must Think About Taiwan" - Craig Singleton, The New York Times"Africa 2025: Things Fall Apart" - Clifford D. May, Foreign Podicy

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 Jessica Steinberg for today's episode. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu receives his fifth invitation to visit US President Donald Trump at the White House, discusses Berman, an important opportunity given the Gaza ceasefire that is stuck in its first phase. Berman notes that Trump wants to further Israel's security agreements with Syria, where there were clashes last week between IDF troops and Islamist Syrians. He says that conversation will be the centerpiece of the Trump-Netanyahu meetup, if it takes place. After the US signed major agreements with Saudi Arabia during the recent White House meeting between Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Berman notes that Trump's focus is on other conflicts right now, and not necessarily on Israel and Saudi relations. Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates. For further reading: Trump speaks to Netanyahu, invites him to visit, warns Israel not to ‘interfere’ in Syria As Trump and Saudi prince heat up ties, Israel normalization left out in the cold Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Podwaves. IMAGE: President Donald Trump talks with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, Israel's parliament, Monday, Oct. 13, 2025, in Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In four powerful reminders from Orchos Tzaddikim, Rabbi Wolbe teaches us how to live every single day with awe, humility, and unstoppable growth:Stay in your lane of wonder Remember you are lower than the angels yet infinitely higher than animals. Hashem made you master of the entire physical world — fruit, fish, birds, beasts — and then revealed His deepest secrets to you in the Torah. The only proper response is to walk through life like a humbled servant who has just been crowned king: “How grateful one must be for all of this!”Grow so slowly the Yetzer Hara doesn't even notice The secret to permanent change is tiny, tiny habits. Rabbi Wolbe shares his grandfather's Yom Kippur War story: the IDF flew the plane just inches above the sand to stay under Egyptian radar. “That's how we grow,” he says. If you announce “I'll never speak lashon hara again!” the yetzer hara shoots you down instantly. But if you quietly commit to never switching on one unnecessary light on Shabbos — a tiny blip — the yetzer hara thinks it's just a bird. Once that tiny mitzvah becomes part of your DNA, the ground beneath you rises, the radar rises with it, and suddenly you're flying high without ever having triggered the alarm. “Small step → habit → new you → higher radar → next small step.” Quotable gem: “The yetzer hara has perfect radar for big declarations… but it completely misses the guy crawling under the fence with one tiny improvement.”Invest in real friends (without an agenda) Always do good for others exactly the way you wish they would do good for you — but do it because it's right, not because you'll have a side benefit that they love you back. Rabbi Wolbe contrasts this with a famous self-help book on “how to win friends” that left him disgusted: “That book teaches how to kiss up so people will kiss up to you. That's networking, not friendship.” True brotherhood is loving them for their sake, not yours. “Reveal your deepest secrets only to one in a thousand… but give your kindness to everyone.”Fall in love with the world every single morning Because we see sunrises, rain, flowers, and stars every day, we stop being amazed — and that is the greatest tragedy. Orchos Tzaddikim demands we live as if we were blind from birth and today, for the first time, our eyes opened. “Pretend you just landed from Mars and you've never seen a tulip, a thunderstorm, or a Texas sunset — then look!” Rabbi Wolbe confesses he was “a little selfish” this Shabbos and bought his wife tulips because he personally finds them breathtaking. His plea: “Pull over on the side of the road when you see that sunset. It's Hashem's personal love note to you right now. Don't get used to miracles.”Recorded at TORCH Centre in the Levin Family Studios (B) to a live audience on April 28, 2025, in Houston, Texas.Released as Podcast on December 2, 2025_____________This series on Orchos Tzadikim/Ways of the Righteous is produced in partnership with Hachzek.Join the revolution of daily Mussar study at hachzek.com.We are using the Treasure of Life edition of the Orchos Tzadikkim (Published by Feldheim)_____________Listen, Subscribe & Share: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jewish-inspiration-podcast-rabbi-aryeh-wolbe/id1476610783Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4r0KfjMzmCNQbiNaZBCSU7) to stay inspired! Share your questions at aw@torchweb.org or visit torchweb.org for more Torah content.  _____________About the Host:Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe, Director of TORCH in Houston, brings decades of Torah scholarship to guide listeners in applying Jewish wisdom to daily life.  To directly send your questions, comments, and feedback, please email: awolbe@torchweb.org_____________Support Our Mission:Our Mission is Connecting Jews & Judaism. Help us spread Judaism globally by sponsoring an episode at torchweb.org.Your support makes a HUGE difference!_____________Listen MoreOther podcasts by Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe: NEW!! Prayer Podcast: https://prayerpodcast.transistor.fm/episodesJewish Inspiration Podcast: https://inspiration.transistor.fm/episodesParsha Review Podcast: https://parsha.transistor.fm/episodesLiving Jewishly Podcast: https://jewishly.transistor.fm/episodesThinking Talmudist Podcast: https://talmud.transistor.fm/episodesUnboxing Judaism Podcast: https://unboxing.transistor.fm/episodesRabbi Aryeh Wolbe Podcast Collection: https://collection.transistor.fm/episodesFor a full listing of podcasts available by TORCH at http://podcast.torchweb.org_____________Keywords:#JewishInspiration, #Mussar, #MasterClass, #Remembrance, #Spiritual, #Journey, #Hashem, #Humility, #Gratitude, #Creation, #Genuine, #Friendships, #Brotherhood, #Awe, #DivineArtistry, #SmallSteps, #PersonalGrowth, #Mitzvahs, #Yetzirah, #EvilInclination, #DailyRoutine, #EverydayMiracles, #Familiarity, #DivineLove, #Magnificence, #Gratitude, #KingDavid, #Psalms, #Wonder ★ Support this podcast ★

In four powerful reminders from Orchos Tzaddikim, Rabbi Wolbe teaches us how to live every single day with awe, humility, and unstoppable growth:Stay in your lane of wonder Remember you are lower than the angels yet infinitely higher than animals. Hashem made you master of the entire physical world — fruit, fish, birds, beasts — and then revealed His deepest secrets to you in the Torah. The only proper response is to walk through life like a humbled servant who has just been crowned king: “How grateful one must be for all of this!”Grow so slowly the Yetzer Hara doesn't even notice The secret to permanent change is tiny, tiny habits. Rabbi Wolbe shares his grandfather's Yom Kippur War story: the IDF flew the plane just inches above the sand to stay under Egyptian radar. “That's how we grow,” he says. If you announce “I'll never speak lashon hara again!” the yetzer hara shoots you down instantly. But if you quietly commit to never switching on one unnecessary light on Shabbos — a tiny blip — the yetzer hara thinks it's just a bird. Once that tiny mitzvah becomes part of your DNA, the ground beneath you rises, the radar rises with it, and suddenly you're flying high without ever having triggered the alarm. “Small step → habit → new you → higher radar → next small step.” Quotable gem: “The yetzer hara has perfect radar for big declarations… but it completely misses the guy crawling under the fence with one tiny improvement.”Invest in real friends (without an agenda) Always do good for others exactly the way you wish they would do good for you — but do it because it's right, not because you'll have a side benefit that they love you back. Rabbi Wolbe contrasts this with a famous self-help book on “how to win friends” that left him disgusted: “That book teaches how to kiss up so people will kiss up to you. That's networking, not friendship.” True brotherhood is loving them for their sake, not yours. “Reveal your deepest secrets only to one in a thousand… but give your kindness to everyone.”Fall in love with the world every single morning Because we see sunrises, rain, flowers, and stars every day, we stop being amazed — and that is the greatest tragedy. Orchos Tzaddikim demands we live as if we were blind from birth and today, for the first time, our eyes opened. “Pretend you just landed from Mars and you've never seen a tulip, a thunderstorm, or a Texas sunset — then look!” Rabbi Wolbe confesses he was “a little selfish” this Shabbos and bought his wife tulips because he personally finds them breathtaking. His plea: “Pull over on the side of the road when you see that sunset. It's Hashem's personal love note to you right now. Don't get used to miracles.”Recorded at TORCH Centre in the Levin Family Studios (B) to a live audience on April 28, 2025, in Houston, Texas.Released as Podcast on December 2, 2025_____________This series on Orchos Tzadikim/Ways of the Righteous is produced in partnership with Hachzek.Join the revolution of daily Mussar study at hachzek.com.We are using the Treasure of Life edition of the Orchos Tzadikkim (Published by Feldheim)_____________Listen, Subscribe & Share: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jewish-inspiration-podcast-rabbi-aryeh-wolbe/id1476610783Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4r0KfjMzmCNQbiNaZBCSU7) to stay inspired! Share your questions at aw@torchweb.org or visit torchweb.org for more Torah content.  _____________About the Host:Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe, Director of TORCH in Houston, brings decades of Torah scholarship to guide listeners in applying Jewish wisdom to daily life.  To directly send your questions, comments, and feedback, please email: awolbe@torchweb.org_____________Support Our Mission:Our Mission is Connecting Jews & Judaism. Help us spread Judaism globally by sponsoring an episode at torchweb.org.Your support makes a HUGE difference!_____________Listen MoreOther podcasts by Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe: NEW!! Prayer Podcast: https://prayerpodcast.transistor.fm/episodesJewish Inspiration Podcast: https://inspiration.transistor.fm/episodesParsha Review Podcast: https://parsha.transistor.fm/episodesLiving Jewishly Podcast: https://jewishly.transistor.fm/episodesThinking Talmudist Podcast: https://talmud.transistor.fm/episodesUnboxing Judaism Podcast: https://unboxing.transistor.fm/episodesRabbi Aryeh Wolbe Podcast Collection: https://collection.transistor.fm/episodesFor a full listing of podcasts available by TORCH at http://podcast.torchweb.org_____________Keywords:#JewishInspiration, #Mussar, #MasterClass, #Remembrance, #Spiritual, #Journey, #Hashem, #Humility, #Gratitude, #Creation, #Genuine, #Friendships, #Brotherhood, #Awe, #DivineArtistry, #SmallSteps, #PersonalGrowth, #Mitzvahs, #Yetzirah, #EvilInclination, #DailyRoutine, #EverydayMiracles, #Familiarity, #DivineLove, #Magnificence, #Gratitude, #KingDavid, #Psalms, #Wonder ★ Support this podcast ★

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 Dr. Gilad Malach, a research fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute. Malach's research focuses on public policy related to Israel's ultra-Orthodox community, including issues critical to its integration into Israel's economy and society. This week, the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee is debating a new bill aimed at regulating Haredi draft exemptions. Starting with the foundation of the state in 1948, Malach takes us through the evolution of the ultra-Orthodox community's refusal to serve in the IDF. We hear of previous efforts to entice the population to join the army and how badly they failed. Malach takes us through the unique make-up of the ultra-Orthodox household, in which women generally are more educated and go out to work, while men form a "community of learners." As this new legislation is being debated, we learn what is at stake for the community, as well as the frustrations from the majority of Israelis who are shouldering the national burden. And so this week, we ask Dr. Gilad Malach, 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 the Pod-Waves. IMAGE: Ultra-Orthodox Jews from the two rival factions of the Ponevezh Yeshiva stand outside the yeshiva following a mediation session held at the place, in Bnei Brak, November 19, 2025. (Erik Marmor/Flash90)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Israel is under fire, but not just from rockets. As global media races to condemn IDF soldiers over split-second decisions in war zones, this week's episode of The Quad tears through the lies. From Hamas's use of human shields finally caught on camera, to the tragic deaths of two children in Gaza, the team dives into the brutal truth of urban warfare—and the hypocrisy of the West. Plus: Netanyahu's shocking pardon request, Trump's move against the Muslim Brotherhood, and the influencer sellouts being flown to Qatar while Hamas digs deeper tunnels.

PREVIEW — David Daoud — Escalation in Israeli Policing Activity Against Hezbollah. John Batchelor and Daouddiscuss heightened Israeli security operations against Hezbollah along Israel's northern border, indicating Hezbollah'srapid organizational regeneration. While the IDF rarely provides operational commentary, Daoud has documented a significant escalation in recent operations—transitioning from drone reconnaissance strikes to sustained, intensive air strikes designed to ensure target destruction and elimination of leadership cadres. 1900 BEIRUT

Alex Traiman, CEO of Jewish News Syndicate, joins the show to discuss the current volatile situation in Israel. Despite a temporary ceasefire, there are concerns about potential renewed conflicts involving Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran. Traiman discusses the strategic military actions by the IDF and the challenges of disarming adversaries without international intervention. He also touches upon Benjamin Netanyahu's ongoing corruption trial and the prevalent criticism of his government, drawing comparisons to anti-Semitic sentiments disguised as political critiques. The conversation highlights the complexities of the geopolitical and domestic issues Israel faces. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wednesday, November 29th, 2023In the Hot Notes: Hunter Biden agrees to appear before the House Oversight Committee but only publicly; the conservative Ohio Supreme Court dismisses challenges to the Republican gerrymandered maps; the Trump appointed judge assigned to Elon Musk's lawsuit has recused himself from the case; Mike Pence told special counsel some harrowing details about January 6th; Senate Democrats meet with the IDF on Capitol Hill; another resolution to expel George Santos is brought to the House floor; plus Allison delivers your good news. Dana is out and about.Our GuestGlenn Kirschnerhttps://twitter.com/glennkirschner2https://glennkirschner.com/#justice-mattershttps://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-trial-dates-classified-documents-delay-rcna126803 Our Donation LinksNational Security Counselors - DonateMSW Media, Blue Wave California Victory Fund | ActBlueWhistleblowerAid.org/beansFederal workers - feel free to email AG at fedoath@pm.me and let me know what you're going to do, or just vent. I'm always here to listen. Find Upcoming Actions 50501 Movement, No Kings.org, Indivisible.orgDr. Allison Gill - Substack, BlueSky , TikTok, IG, TwitterDana Goldberg - BlueSky, Twitter, IG, facebook, danagoldberg.comCheck out more from MSW Media - Shows - MSW Media, Cleanup On Aisle 45 pod, The Breakdown | SubstackShare your Good News or Good TroubleMSW Good News and Good TroubleHave some good news; a confession; or a correction to share?Good News & Confessions - The Daily Beanshttps://www.dailybeanspod.com/confessional/ Listener Survey:http://survey.podtrac.com/start-survey.aspx?pubid=BffJOlI7qQcF&ver=shortFollow the Podcast on Apple:The Daily Beans on Apple PodcastsWant to support the show and get it ad-free and early?The Daily Beans | SupercastThe Daily Beans & Mueller, She Wrote | PatreonThe Daily Beans | Apple Podcasts Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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 commander of Hamas’s East Rafah Battalion, his deputy, and two other terror operatives were confirmed by the military to have been killed early this morning after attempting to flee a tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip. The soldiers there recovered the weapon of a slain IDF soldier, Staff Sgt. Or Mizrahi, a Nahal fighter who was killed while battling terrorists on the Gaza border during the October 7, 2023, onslaught. Fabian updates on the Hamas operatives trapped in the tunnels. The IDF said it killed three Palestinians who crossed the Gaza ceasefire line in two separate incidents in the Strip’s south on Saturday, with two of them identified as young children. Fabian was in the Gaza Strip last week: We learn how the IDF is operating along the Yellow Line and whether Gazans are aware of the demarcation. Six Israeli soldiers were wounded, including three seriously, after coming under fire by gunmen during an arrest operation in southern Syria early Friday morning. While arrest operations in Syria are no longer unusual, they rarely are accompanied by gunfights. Fabian unravels what we know about the ambush. Officers of the police’s elite Yamam unit detained a cell of five terror operatives in the northern West Bank that was planning an “imminent” attack, security forces said this morning. The arrest comes as the military is continuing to carry out a major counterterrorism operation in several northern West Bank towns. We hear about Hamas smuggling attempts into the West Bank and a much-examined incident in which Border Police officers are now under investigation over the fatal shooting on Thursday of two unarmed Palestinian terror suspects in the West Bank’s Jenin. We end the program learning about Maj. Gen. (ret.) Dan Tolkowsky, the fifth commander of the Israeli Air Force and later a key figure in the development of Israel’s high-tech and venture capital sectors. He died overnight Friday in his home in Tel Aviv at the age of 104. Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates. For further reading: IDF vows to hunt down dozens of Hamas fighters still holed up in Rafah Brothers, 8 and 11, killed in south Gaza strike; IDF: ‘Suspects’ crossed Yellow Line Six soldiers hurt in gun battle as IDF detains terror suspects in southern Syria Attacker killed, IDF says, 60 reportedly detained in northern West Bank operation Shin Bet says it foiled Hamas plot to smuggle arms into West Bank using Israelis Border cops who killed unarmed terror suspects after surrender say they feared harm Dan Tolkowsky, former air force commander and Israeli tech pioneer, dies at 104 Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Podwaves. ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE: This picture taken on June 8, 2025, shows a tunnel at the European Hospital during a controlled embed organized by the Israeli military, in Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip. (AFP)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Interview Date: July 14th, 2025Episode Summary:Eden Shabtai shares how a kid from a tiny Israeli kibbutz—obsessed with MTV and training in ballet and modern—willed her way into New York's scene and eventually L.A.'s major stages. She opens up about the unglamorous decade of artist development, underpaid gigs, and nonstop outreach that built the foundation for her “overnight” break assisting on Chris Brown's Loyal, leading to major award shows and TV. A six-month backpacking trip through India reshaped her idea of success, while the O-1 visa process taught ruthless persistence. Eden also speaks candidly about receiving an aggressive breast-cancer diagnosis while five months pregnant, undergoing chemo with cold-cap treatments, and protecting her peace by avoiding toxic workrooms.Creatively, Eden explains why she builds choreography live in the studio—feeding off dancers and music—and why energy, individuality, and attitude matter more than stacked résumés. Listeners will gain insight into using social media strategically, differences between NYC training and L.A. work volume, how to stand out in auditions (presence, styling, quick adjustments), and the mindset that sustains a career: humility, resilience, and community.Shownotes:(0:00) – Welcome and guest introduction(8:20) – Early roots: ballet, modern, MTV influence(13:53) – India trip reframes success and happiness(15:24) – Visa grind: persistence, evidence, good lawyer(18:53) – Moving to L.A.: training vs. booking realities(21:08) – Breakthrough: assisting on “Loyal”(26:44) – Favorite projects: BET 2014, Fleur East(29:31) – Cancer while pregnant: resilience and boundaries(42:05) – Creative process: energy-first choreography(51:19) – What makes dancers stand outBiography:Originally from a kibbutz in northern Israel, Eden began training in ballet and modern at age 7. With no formal hip-hop classes available at the time, she learned by watching MTV. Determined to pursue dance professionally, she left home at 16 to study at a specialized dance school. After serving in the IDF, she spent six transformative months traveling India before moving to New York City to chase her dream.In NYC, Eden trained at Broadway Dance Center and quickly became a sought-after teacher for over 150 young students while choreographing for up-and-coming artists. Realizing her long-term goals required a move west, she relocated to Los Angeles in 2010.Since then, Eden has worked across NBC, ABC, BET, FOX, CBS, VH1, CW, and MTV. Her credits include the VMAs, Grammys, Billboard Awards, Dancing with the Stars, iHeart Radio Awards, BET Awards, Soul Train Awards, X Factor, The Ellen Show, James Corden, American Idol, Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, and more. She has choreographed campaigns for Hasbro, Office Max, Office Depot, HEB, and Clark's.Eden has worked with artists including Chris Brown, Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato, Pitbull, Ava Max, Jason Derulo, Enrique Iglesias, Jamie Foxx, Ne-Yo, Lil Wayne, Marc Anthony, Flo-Rida, Brandy, Omarion, Miguel, Pia Mia, Little Mix, Sevyn Streeter, No Doubt, Snoop Dogg, Kehlani, Janelle Monáe, Fleur East, Priyanka Chopra, Machine Gun Kelly, Tinashe, WizKid, Serayah, DJ Snake, Hardwell, YungBlud, Jack & Jack, and many more.In 2017 Eden served as a Judge/Mentor on a new Israeli dance competition series, where she became the winning mentor. Today she works as a choreographer, artistic director, artist developer, and consultant—living by her belief that with hard work, mental strength, and determination, anything is possible.Connect:Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/theedengarden/Website – https://edenshabtai.com/

Yehuda Sabiner grew up in Har Nof, in the heart of Jerusalem, within a Ger chasidish community where his childhood doctor made a powerful impact on him. That early influence set him on a remarkable path, and he went on to become the first fully chasidish, Israel born doctor. After October 7th, he joined the IDF's search and rescue efforts, bringing his medical skills into some of the most difficult moments the country has faced. In this interview, he reflects on his journey and shares how he manages to balance the different worlds of family, chasidus, medicine, and national service.You can reach Dr. Sabiner here:Email: DrSabiner@apexcreatives.coPhone: 848-238-6704✬ SPONSORS OF THE EPISODE ✬ ► Unite To Heal: 36-Hours-of-AwesomeAmudim's super powerful stream that you don't want to miss!→ https://unitetoheal.com/inspire► The Dream Raffle: Win a $1.2 Million Apartment in JerusalemHelp beautiful causes and also walk away with keys to a gorgeous - fully furnished - apartment in Jerusalem (if you win!)BONUS: Buy now and get entered into a $15,000 giveaway as wellUse PROMO code: INSPIRE for $10 OFF + DOUBLE Tickets→ https://bit.ly/4iqmwPn► Wheels To Lease: #1 Car Company For over 35 years, Wheels To Lease has offered stress-free car buying with upfront pricing, no hidden fees, and door-to-door delivery. → CALL/TEXT: 718-871-8715 → EMAIL: inspire@wheelstolease.com → WEB: https://bit.ly/41lnzYU → WHATSAPP: https://wa.link/0w46ce ► Iyun Halacha: Revolutionary Learning ProgramLooking to learn Hilchos Muktzeh, Aveilus, or Mekach Taus on your own schedule with a real structured program? Yeshivas Iyun Halacha gives you clear written shiurim, supportive Rabbanim, review materials, and new sections starting now, including Shabbos this week and Aveilus and Mekach Taus coming soon.See more here:→ https://iyunhalacha.org/► Simchonim: The Best Black Friday Judaica Deals. Get 18% OFF the entire site December 1-3.Website→ https://simchonim.comWhatsapp→ https://wa.link/2d1tfs_____________________________________✬ IN MEMORY OF ✬ This episode is in memory of: • Miram Sarah bas Yaakov Moshe • Shimon Dovid ben Yaakov Shloima This episode is for the speedy recovery of: • Yosef Chaim ben Devorah Chaya GoldaLchaim. 

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. New York correspondent Luke Tress joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode. Last Wednesday, roughly 200 rowdy protesters disrupted an Israel-immigration event outside the Park East Synagogue. Tress was there and paints a picture of the events and the evolving responses from Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani. Days after US pro-Palestinian protesters shouted chants including “Globalize the Intifada” and “Death to the IDF” outside the Upper East Side synagogue, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who is Jewish, apologized to the congregation during Shabbat services. Is this allaying the community's fears? We then dive into the question several lawfare groups are now asking: Can a US law protecting abortion clinics push back against protests at synagogues? This week, anti-Zionist activist groups in New York City backed a Muslim leader who led a walkout from a college interfaith event last week after decrying a fellow panelist as “Zionist.” We learn how the mass exodus was basically shrugged off by those in attendance -- but why it is important to illuminate this and other similar events. Jewish groups at the University of Pennsylvania have expressed concern after federal authorities pressed the university in recent days to provide personal information about Jewish staffers in an investigation meant to combat antisemitism on campus. Tress untangles this saga. Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates. For further reading: Anti-Zionist protesters chant ‘Death to the IDF’ at New York City synagogue ‘We need to make them scared’: NYC synagogue protest crosses new red lines NYPD chief apologizes for allowing ‘turmoil’ outside synagogue Can a US law protecting abortion clinics push back against protests at synagogues? Imam at NYC college interfaith event blames Jewish speaker for Gaza, leads walkout NYC anti-Zionist groups back walkout from interfaith campus event to protest Hillel leader Penn Jewish groups ‘concerned’ as feds seek info on Jews for antisemitism probe Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Podwaves. IMAGE: The entrance to Park East Synagogue, with dueling protesters on each side, separated by police, in New York City, November 19, 2025. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.