Day 678 - Surrealism -- or censorship -- at Toronto film fest?
The Times of Israel Daily Briefing
The Times of Israel
4.4 • 864 Ratings
🗓️ 14 August 2025
⏱️ 23 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.
Editor David Horovitz joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.
Hamas negotiators arrived in Egypt this week for talks aimed at getting moribund ceasefire and hostage release negotiations back on track, with Israel having reportedly sent a team to Doha. Horovitz updates us on the status of negotiations.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir yesterday approved the general outline for the military’s upcoming major offensive to conquer Gaza City. This comes after a highly charged conflict with Defense Minister Israel Katz earlier this week. Horovitz takes us through this unusual public spat and what we know so far about the plan to take Gaza City.
Yesterday, Spain signaled support for French President Emmanuel Macron’s proposal of an international coalition under a United Nations mandate to stabilize Gaza -- including deploying the controversial UNRWA agency -- calling it “one of the tools” that could bring peace to the region. Horovitz briefly comments.
Even as much of the western world is pushing for a two-state solution, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed in a rare Hebrew-language interview that he felt a connection to the vision of “Greater Israel.” We learn more about the bizarre interaction during an i24 interview, which has spurred international condemnation.
Horovitz sat down with US Ambassador Mike Huckabee this week for an in-depth interview. Horovitz brings highlights, including Huckabee's stalwart support and the Baptist minister's impressions of how Gazans see the US and the IDF.
The CEO of the Toronto International Film Festival said overnight that he is working to get "The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue," a documentary about the October 7 massacre, back on the big screen, apologizing after the movie was pulled from the festival schedule, which sparked a large outcry. Horovitz describes the surreal request by the festival's organizers to obtain permission for use of the Hamas October 7 footage.
Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.
For further reading:
IDF chief greenlights general outline of planned conquest of Gaza City
Israel may dispatch negotiators to Doha for talks on freeing all hostages, ending war
Arab nations fume after Netanyahu says he feels connection to vision of Greater Israel
Huckabee: With Palestine state move, UK and France have joined forces with Israel’s enemies
After outcry, Toronto film fest says it wants to reinstate pulled October 7 documentary
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IMAGE: Retired Israeli general Noam Tibon in the documentary 'The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue' (Courtesy)
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Times of Israel's daily briefing. |
| 0:06.0 | Today is Thursday, August 14th, day 678 of the war. |
| 0:11.0 | Amanda Borchelle Dan here with our editor, David Horowitz, in our Jerusalem office. |
| 0:15.0 | Thanks for joining me, David. |
| 0:17.0 | Hey, Amanda. |
| 0:18.0 | In the record heat of August, all in Israel wonder how our 20 living hostages are faring in Gaza, |
| 0:24.7 | and David will give us an update on the hostage-release ceasefire negotiations. We'll speak about the |
| 0:30.8 | increasingly growing dissonances between Israel and most of the world, as well as conflict within the |
| 0:36.9 | top echelons tasked with the fighting |
| 0:39.1 | this ongoing war. We'll hear about David's in-depth interview with U.S. ambassador to Israel, |
| 0:45.0 | Mike Hacobie, and a censorship claim out of the Toronto Film Festival. All this and more |
| 0:51.7 | when we're back. |
| 0:57.8 | Thank you. all this and more when we're back. Is settler violence exaggerated or dangerously under addressed? |
| 1:02.9 | And how do we talk about these issues honestly without handing ammunition to Israel's |
| 1:07.3 | fiercest critics? |
| 1:09.1 | In one of the most candid episodes of unpacking Israeli history to date, |
| 1:13.7 | host Noam Weissman sits down with Chaviv Reti Gore |
| 1:17.0 | to unpack the history of the settler movement, |
| 1:19.7 | the rise of the hilltop youth, |
| 1:21.3 | and the tough moral questions that can't be ignored. |
| 1:24.3 | This conversation is not easy. |
| 1:26.5 | It's not soundbites. It's history. Layered, human, and real. |
... |
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