Day 432 - ToI reports from a Druze village on Syria's border

The Times of Israel Daily Briefing

The Times of Israel

News

4.4 • 864 Ratings

🗓️ 11 December 2024

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world.

Legal reporter Jeremy Sharon and reporter Diana Bletter join host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's Daily Briefing podcast.

Part of Israel’s strategy to deter the Syrian rebel forces from expanding into Israel is the decision to fill the vacuum in the buffer zone between Israel and Syria with IDF forces. Bletter reports back from a trip to a Druze town within shouting distance of Syria -- Majdal Shamas, which saw 12 youths killed in July when a Hezbollah bomb struck a soccer pitch. We hear how the residents, many who have relatives living on the other side of the border, view the fall of the Assad regime.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finally took to the witness stand on Tuesday in his criminal trial on corruption charges, the first time in Israeli history that a serving prime minister has appeared in court to testify as a defendant. Sharon was there and discusses the festive circus-like atmosphere in the courtroom as well as some choice Netanyahu anecdotes.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Discussed articles include:

In war-struck Majdal Shams, Assad’s fall sparks hope for Israel’s Druze

In historic campaign across Syria, IDF says it destroyed 80% of Assad regime’s military

Netanyahu, 1st PM to testify as criminal defendant, ridicules charges, denies illicit media ties

Netanyahu regales court with story of John Kerry’s invitation to visit Afghanistan

Coalition MKs, ministers line up at court to back Netanyahu as trial testimony kicks off

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by the Pod-Waves.

IMAGE: Residents in the Israeli Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights celebrate on December 9, 2024, after Islamist-led rebels declared that they had taken the Syrian capital in a lightning offensive, sending President Bashar al-Assad fleeing and ending five decades of Baath rule in Syria. (Menahem Kahana / AFP)

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Times of Israel's daily briefing.
0:08.0	Today is Wednesday, December 11th, day 432 of the war.
0:13.2	Amanda Borchelle Dan here with our legal reporter Jeremy Sharon and Northern reporter Diana
0:17.8	Bleder. Thank you both for joining me today.
0:20.5	Thank you, Amanda.
0:21.8	Good morning, Amanda. Yesterday, Jeremy was in the courtroom where it happened. Prime Minister
0:26.9	Benjamin Netanyahu's first day of testimony in three corruption cases. We'll hear all about the
0:32.5	scene and the projected contours of the testimony in the second half of the program. But first, we'll learn what
0:39.1	Diana saw earlier this week when visiting the Drews Town of Majdal-Shams and how its residents
0:44.9	are responding to the fall of the Assad regime just a stone's throw away. All this and much, much more
0:52.9	when we're back.
1:02.9	This episode of the Times of Israel podcast is brought to you by the Jewish communal fund, helping individuals and families amplify their impact through smart,
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1:47.6	That's J-C-F-N-Y.org.
1:56.9	For some headlines.
2:06.4	At recording time, a rare four rockets were launched at Israel from Gaza, two landed in open areas and two were intercepted by the IDF.
2:18.6	In Sydney this morning, vandals dobed, misspelled anti-Israel graffiti in a suburb, sparking outrage from Australia's government days after a Melbourne synagogue was set ablaze.
	...

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