Day 733 - Critical moment as major players arrive for talks in Egypt
The Times of Israel Daily Briefing
The Times of Israel
4.5 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 8 October 2025
⏱️ 29 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.
As negotiating heavyweights White House special envoy Steve Witkoff, Middle East envoy and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner and Israel's Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer arrive for talks in Egypt, Magid surmises that it's crunch time for the potential Gaza deal. He expects discussions to revolve around thornier issues, such as disarming Hamas, and which Palestinian prisoners the terrorist group is demanding in exchange for the remaining hostages.
Following the Kumu (Rise Again) ceremony held to mark October 7 in Tel Aviv on Tuesday night, Steinberg discusses the speakers, singers and audience at the event, which is run by bereaved and hostage family members, and is not an official government event.
Steinberg also talks about "Red Alert," the new October 7 drama series about four intertwined stories of survivors from that day.
Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.
For further reading:
PM’s office reports progress in talks on Gaza deal as top negotiators set to join
Trump ‘pretty sure’ there will be a Gaza deal, denies telling PM to not be ‘f*cking negative’
As negotiators head to Egypt, Trump aims for ‘first phase’ of Gaza deal this week
‘We will rise’: Grief, defiance and hope as 30,000 gather in Tel Aviv two years after Oct. 7
Oct. 7 series ‘Red Alert’ a harrowing global reminder of what unfolded in Hamas massacre
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IMAGE: At the end of the Kumu (Rise Again) October 7 ceremony in Tel Aviv, on October 7, 2025 (Courtesy Eclipse Media)
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, welcome to the Times of Israel's Daily Briefing. It is Wednesday, October 8th, and I'm Jessica Steinberg. |
| 0:09.2 | I'm speaking today with U.S. Bureau Chief Jacob Magid. Hey, Jacob. How you doing? |
| 0:13.3 | Hey, Jessica. Good to be with you. Good to have you here. We are in the intermediate days of Sukkot, |
| 0:18.5 | and it is day 733 of the war. Jacob and I will talk about the latest in the intermediate days of Sukkot, and it is day 733 of the war. |
| 0:21.9 | Jacob and I will talk about the latest in the ongoing hostage negotiations in Charmelshech in Egypt. |
| 0:28.7 | We'll also talk about last night's gathering of some 30,000 people in Tel Aviv's Yarkod Park to mark two years since October 7th. So stay with us. |
| 0:44.3 | Nothing has given me such delight as the proposal to establish a Hebrew university in Jerusalem. |
| 0:52.3 | More than a century has passed since Albert Einstein wrote this in his diary. |
| 0:57.2 | A century of cutting-edge research and innovation at Israel's leading academic institution |
| 1:02.1 | that Einstein, alongside many other luminaries, helped establish. |
| 1:07.1 | Join me, Gilad Halpern, for The View from Mount Scopus, a podcast series exploring the past, present, and future of the Hebrew University. |
| 1:15.4 | The View from Mount Scopus. Available wherever you get your podcasts. |
| 1:26.5 | Okay, Jacob. Beyond the headlines of Trump meeting with released hostage, Edan Alexander, |
| 1:33.2 | and the family of murdered captive Omer Nutra, we have these ongoing talks, and people are definitely, |
| 1:42.4 | certainly the hostages families are waiting with bated breath to see |
| 1:45.8 | what that yields and if their loved ones will be coming home in theory any day. |
| 1:52.9 | Steve Whitkoff, Jared Kushner, Ron Dermer, what are we hearing from Charmel Shehech from the Egyptian Red Sea resort? |
| 2:03.9 | What do we think is in the offing for the next day or so? |
| 2:07.4 | Yeah, I like that you started by mentioning these meetings at the White House. |
| 2:12.2 | Edan Alexander, the former American Israeli hostage, who was released, I believe, in May, and Omer Nutra's family, |
| 2:19.6 | Omer Nutra is still being held, his body is still being held in Gaza. They visited the White |
| 2:23.5 | House on Tuesday, and I think what the White House has tried to do with the Trump administration |
... |
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