Day 690 - Hostages’ families lead another nationwide protest

The Times of Israel Daily Briefing

The Times of Israel

News

4.4 • 864 Ratings

🗓️ 26 August 2025

⏱️ 19 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ 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.

ToI founding editor David Horovitz joins host Jessica Steinberg for today’s episode.

As protesters blocked major highways Tuesday and demonstrated in front of cabinet ministers’ homes in an effort to pressure the government to try to finalize a deal to bring home the 50 hostages remaining in Gaza, Horovitz discusses the despair of the hostages’ families, the price of an agreement, and the complexities surrounding the government’s stated goals of bringing home all the hostages, destroying Hamas and demilitarizing Gaza.

Horovitz points out that the US seems to be taking a back seat lately in hostage negotiations, but could and should play a vital role in arranging talks between Israel and neighboring countries that have normalized ties with it regarding a mechanism for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s stated goal of having non-Hamas and non-Palestinian Authority “Arab forces” governing a postwar Gaza.

Following the IDF attack Monday on Gaza’s Nasser Hospital that reportedly killed 20 people, including several journalists, Horovitz notes that the army is still investigating the incident. He highlights that numerous released hostages have detailed the hospital’s functioning as a facility under Hamas oversight.

Horovitz also talks about his recent visit to Kibbutz Nir Oz, a community of barely 400 people, a quarter of whom were killed or taken hostage by hundreds of Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, 2023. He discusses the ongoing trauma within the community adjacent to the Gaza border and its debate on how to memorialize its tragedies, as well as how to move forward.

Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

Thousands demonstrate, block roads at start of nationwide day of protests for hostages

Trump claims Gaza war to reach ‘conclusive ending’ in two to three weeks

IDF strike on south Gaza hospital said to kill 20, including rescuers and journalists

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

IMAGE: Protestors block Route One on August 26, 2025 at Shapirim Interchange (Credit: Barak Dor/Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hi, welcome to the Times of Israel's daily briefing. It is Tuesday, August 26, and I'm Jessica Steinberg.
0:12.0	I'm speaking today with Times of Israel founding editor, David Horowitz. David, hi. How are you?
0:17.0	I'm good, Jessica. Thank you.
0:19.0	It is day 690 of the war. Protesters blocked
0:23.7	major highways across Israel this morning as another nationwide set of massive demonstrations
0:28.8	for the remaining hostages began in the early hours of the day. U.S. President Donald Trump
0:35.0	said the war in Gaza will reach a conclusive end in two to three weeks,
0:39.4	while the IDF is currently looking into the Monday attack on Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunus,
0:45.2	which killed at least 20 people, including five journalists, according to media reports.
0:51.3	We'll talk about all of that, as well as David's trip down to Kiputs-Near O's on
0:55.8	Friday. Stay with us.
1:01.0	In this episode of Jewish Crossroads, I speak with Elon Goldenberg, one of the few
1:05.6	policymakers who has shaped U.S. policy on Israel across both the Obama and Biden administrations.
1:11.9	He reflects on the good decisions and the mistakes of the Biden administration during the war,
1:16.9	and he argues that 2026 Israeli elections could be a tipping point for the relationship between Israel and American jury.
1:25.2	If you get a different government, there is a real opportunity to turn the page.
1:30.6	It's not going to mean American Jews and Israelis, Jews completely align on everything.
1:36.4	Like, if it's like a Bennett-led government, like, you know, you're still going to have challenges, obviously.
1:40.8	But, you know, when the people who are playing the role of Vitamar,
1:44.7	Ben-Govir and, like, Smotrich, Belizal Smotrich are Yerlipid and Yer Golan, like,
1:51.6	that's a different Israeli government. That can start to move things to a better place.
1:58.6	Okay, David, let's start with the demos, which are ongoing most massively in Tel Aviv's
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 21 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Times of Israel, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Times of Israel and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.