Day 495 – With ceasefire stalling, Israel scrambles to respond
The Times of Israel Daily Briefing
The Times of Israel
4.5 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 12 February 2025
⏱️ 26 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
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.
US bureau chief Jacob Magid joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.
Magid discusses how Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flip-flopped Tuesday night with a series of statements regarding the current ceasefire and the number of hostages to be released on Saturday. Magid suggests it could be part of an ongoing effort to back US President Donald Trump's demands and to also keep Hamas guessing.
As the IDF prepares to move enlisted soldiers down south to the Gaza border and called on reservists to ready themselves, Magid says there may be more legitimacy from the US toward Israel to battle Hamas again in order to achieve the broader goals of the region.
Magid reviews Trump's meeting with Jordanian King Abdullah and Abdullah's offer to take in 2,000 sick Palestinian children, although it appears that Jordan is not interested in taking in mass amounts of Gazan refugees, and sees it as exporting the conflict.
He also talks about the Palestinian Authority agreement to review legislation regarding welfare payments for Palestinian prisoners and families of slain attackers who killed Israelis in terrorist attacks.
Please see today's ongoing live blog for more updates.
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.
For further reading:
Netanyahu: ‘Intense fighting’ to resume in Gaza if hostages not released by Saturday
Trump urges ending Gaza ceasefire if all hostages not released by noon Saturday
Abdullah says Jordan will take in 2,000 sick Gazan kids as Trump pushes relocation plan
Architect of US law against PA ‘pay-to-slay’ skeptical of Ramallah effort to end it
IMAGE: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a plenum session at the Knesset on February 10, 2025 (Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, welcome to the Times of Israel's Daily briefing. It's Wednesday, February 12th, and I'm Jessica Steinberg. I'm speaking today with U.S. Bureau Chief Jacob Magid. Hi, Jacob. Good morning. |
| 0:15.1 | Hi, Jessica. Good to be with you. Good to have you here. It is day 495 of the war. After a lengthy cabinet meeting Tuesday to discuss |
| 0:24.4 | the next steps in the stalled ceasefire with Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said |
| 0:30.1 | that intense fighting would resume in Gaza if hostages were not released by Saturday. |
| 0:36.0 | We'll discuss the latest in the ongoing ceasefire, |
| 0:38.4 | President Donald Trump's role in all of it, and how Israel is scrambling to respond. We'll also |
| 0:43.1 | discuss the White House hosting Jordan's King Abdullah and a few other headlines from yesterday. |
| 0:48.1 | Stay with us. |
| 1:01.8 | We understand the public sentiment. We don't refute it. We live within those communities where we operate. |
| 1:08.9 | But at the same time, we always have to balance what's at stake. And that's our ability to provide assistance to people. On the most recent episode of identity crisis, |
| 1:11.4 | Yehuda Kurtzer speaks with Noah Schroier, legal advisor for the International Committee of the Red Cross, |
| 1:16.2 | about the pragmatic applications of neutrality and the challenges that the ICRC faces during |
| 1:20.9 | times of conflict. |
| 1:22.2 | Neutrality is by no means an objective. |
| 1:25.8 | We use neutrality as an instrument that enables us to be in those places where no one else can. |
| 1:33.0 | It allows us to be the go-between with the trust of not only the parties to the conflict, |
| 1:39.1 | but also of the populations within which we operate. |
| 1:42.7 | Join us as we take on the issues facing contemporary Jewish life on identity crisis, wherever you get your podcasts. |
| 1:51.3 | Okay, Jacob, let's try and update the latest on the hostage talks and the ceasefire, really all of it in the |
| 2:03.0 | last 24 hours since President Trump gave this deadline of Saturday. And then the Israeli cabinet |
| 2:10.0 | spent hours yesterday at the prime minister's office trying to decide how to respond. And then it |
| 2:16.1 | gave a sort of response that was as vague as possible. |
... |
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