Day 692 - White House meeting on Gaza hosts heavy hitters
The Times of Israel Daily Briefing
The Times of Israel
4.4 • 864 Ratings
🗓️ 28 August 2025
⏱️ 23 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 joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.
A reportedly routine policy meeting in the White House made headlines, says Magid, as it included two senior figures, Jared Kushner, son-in-law and former adviser to US President Donald Trump, and former UK prime minister Tony Blair.
Magid discusses how Kushner and Blair have been working behind the scenes on a postwar Gaza management plan. He also notes that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's strategic adviser, Ron Dermer, was at the meeting as well, pointing to the closeness between the US and Israel on this issue.
Magid talks about an interview with a former State Department spokesman for Palestinian-Israeli affairs who was recently fired for perceived missteps regarding Trump administration policies concerning Israel.
Finally, he takes a look at recent IDF activity in the West Bank, examining whether that region is destabilizing as pressure points reach urban areas such as Ramallah and Nablus.
Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.
For further reading:
Blair and Kushner join Trump’s Gaza meet; official calls it ‘a simple policy’ session
Trump to hold White House meeting on ‘comprehensive plan’ for managing postwar Gaza
Fired State Dept. press officer claims Huckabee, aide usurping Trump’s ‘America First’ policy
IDF troops raid Ramallah money changer accused of funding Hamas activities
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IMAGE: White House special envoy Steve Witkoff, right, and Jared Kushner wait for the arrival of President Donald Trump at Teterboro Airport in Teterboro, N.J. on July 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, welcome to the Times of Visual's Daily Briefing. It is Thursday, August 28th, and I'm Jessica Steinberg. I'm speaking today with U.S. Bureau Chief Jacob Magid. Hi, Jacob. How you doing? Hi, Jessica. Good to be with you again. |
| 0:15.9 | Good to be back with you again on the daily briefing. It is day 692 of the war. As the White House hosted |
| 0:24.1 | U.S. President Donald Trump's meeting on Gaza, we'll discuss who was at the so-called policy |
| 0:29.4 | session and what was discussed. We'll also hear from Jacob about his sit down with a fired |
| 0:35.1 | State Department press officer and take a brief look at what's |
| 0:39.2 | been happening in the West Bank over the last week. Stay with us. |
| 0:47.4 | In this episode of Jewish Crossroads, I speak with Elon Goldenberg, one of the few policymakers |
| 0:52.8 | who has shaped U.S. policy on Israel |
| 0:55.0 | across both the Obama and Biden administrations. He reflects on the good decisions and the |
| 1:00.4 | mistakes of the Biden administration during the war, and he argues that 2026 Israeli elections |
| 1:06.5 | could be a tipping point for the relationship between Israel and American jury. |
| 1:11.8 | If you get a different government, there is a real opportunity to turn the page. |
| 1:17.2 | It's not going to mean American Jews and Israelis, Jews completely align on everything. |
| 1:22.9 | Like, if it's like a Bennett-led government, like, you know, you're still going to have challenges, obviously. |
| 1:27.3 | But, you know, when the people who are playing the role of Vitamar, Ben-Gavir, and, like, Smotrich, Belizalzumetrij, are Yer-Lapid and your-Ir-Golan, like, that's a different Israeli government. |
| 1:40.0 | That can start to move things to a better place. |
| 1:47.2 | Okay. Okay. Why don't we start with the White House meeting, how it came about? I discussed a little bit |
| 1:54.6 | with Tal yesterday, how Steve Whitkoff, Mid-East in Envoy, Steve Whitkoff mentioned it first |
| 1:59.9 | in a Fox News interview. I know you had |
| 2:03.2 | some thoughts about that as well. So maybe let's start with the pre-discussion of this meeting and |
| 2:09.1 | then what we know about it for the moment. Sure. So as you mentioned, Steve Whitkoff previewed |
| 2:15.8 | that this is going to be happening, this comprehensive |
... |
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