Day 571 - Fake news may be muddying hostage talks
The Times of Israel Daily Briefing
The Times of Israel
4.4 • 864 Ratings
🗓️ 29 April 2025
⏱️ 29 minutes
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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.
US bureau chief Jacob Magid and political correspondent Sam Sokol join host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.
As an Israeli official states that Qatar isn't being helpful in the hostage talks and an Arab official tells The Times of Israel that reports are being manufactured by Israeli officials looking to harm the negotiations, Magid offers a deeper look. We hear about the last few days of the talks and the government's desire for victory in Gaza, which could lead Israel into a deeper, more extensive battle against Hamas.
Magid reports on a conversation he had with Republican lawmaker Rep. Marlin Stutzman, one of the first US lawmakers to meet Syria's new Islamist leader, President Ahmed al-Sharaa. Stutzman cautions against Israel's interest in dividing the fledgling government into several autonomous regions and the Syrian president's vehement opposition to that idea.
Several top aides to former US president Joe Biden commented in a TV interview on several aspects of Israeli relations with the US during the Biden administration, including a missed opportunity to reach a normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia last year. Magid fills us in.
Sokol speaks about a demonstration of Haredi protestors outside one of two IDF recruitment centers on Monday, where ultra-Orthodox men harassed conscripts to the new ultra-Orthodox brigade.
He discusses the IDF's inability to recruit 4,8000 Haredi men during the 2024-2025 draft cycle, given the lack of consensus in the ultra-Orthodox community, while Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Likud MK Yuli Edelstein is determined to finalize the draft of a law regulating ultra-Orthodox enlistment.
Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.
For further reading:
Arab source: To shield Netanyahu, Israel leaking false claim Qatar sabotaged talks
GOP lawmaker cautions Israel against ‘dividing’ Syria, after meeting with Sharaa
Biden officials vent frustrations in dealing with Netanyahu, decry missed chance of Saudi deal
‘Zionists are not Jews’: Haredi extremists harass recruits from their community at IDF centers
IDF won’t meet 2024-2025 Haredi conscription targets, official tells Knesset defense committee
Edelstein says Knesset close to drafting new enlistment law, won’t accept ultimatums
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, welcome to the Times of Israel's Daily Briefing. |
| 0:08.6 | It is Tuesday, April 29th, and I'm Jessica Steinberg. |
| 0:11.9 | I'm speaking today with U.S. Bureau Chief Jacob Maghid and political correspondent Sam Sokol. |
| 0:18.1 | Hi there, to you both. How are you? |
| 0:20.3 | Hi, Jessica. |
| 0:25.6 | Hey, Jessica. Hi, Sam. Hi, there. It is day 571 of the war. |
| 0:33.9 | A series of freed hostages made statements on Monday afternoon and Monday evening about the nature of captivity. Freed hostage Keith Siegel spoke about the, quote, medieval torture, end quote, |
| 0:39.9 | of captivity in Gaza. Omer Shemtov asked U.S. President Donald Trump to apply pressure and save the |
| 0:46.8 | captives once again. And that was all against the background of a government, Israeli government |
| 0:52.2 | officials saying that Israel will not accept the five-year |
| 0:55.0 | truce that is being offered. We will talk with Jacob about what actually seems to be happening |
| 1:00.4 | with the hostage talks, as well as expectations for Israel regarding Syria, and comments about |
| 1:07.6 | Israel and Saudi Arabia, according to an aid for former U.S. President Joe Biden. |
| 1:13.7 | We'll also take a deeper look at the latest with the Kharedi draft, as Sam covered today |
| 1:20.0 | Kharedi extremists harassing ultra-Orthodox recruits and the draft of a law regulating ultra-orthodox recruitment and what are the numbers |
| 1:30.5 | right now. So stay with us for all of that. |
| 1:38.8 | A child, a soldier, a farmer, a grandparent. In Our Those We Have Lost Project, the Times of Israel tells the stories of individuals |
| 1:48.0 | slain in Hamas' brutal attack on October 7, 2023. With 1,100 individual entries covering almost |
| 1:57.1 | every single person killed by Hamas, Our Those We Have Lost Project paints a picture of each of their lives and the ongoing ripple effects of their deaths. |
| 2:08.0 | The Those We Have Lost Project works to ensure that despite the massive scale of the loss, no one is forgotten. |
| 2:15.4 | A teacher. A tourist. A farmer. |
| 2:18.2 | A grandfather. |
... |
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