Devoted NYC protesters hold final hostage rally
The Times of Israel Daily Briefing
The Times of Israel
4.5 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 2 February 2026
⏱️ 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.
US reporter Luke Tress joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.
WATCH the full episode here:
Following reports of an anti-Zionist protest in Philadelphia's Rittenhouse Square, Tress discusses concerns that the rhetoric at such gatherings has become more violent.
After the final grassroots rally for hostages held at New York City's Central Park, Tress reports on the weekly gatherings, which continued until the body of the last hostage, fallen police officer Ran Gvili, was brought home for burial.
More details have emerged on the perpetrator of the car ramming last week at the Chabad headquarters in Brooklyn, reports Tress, although the full story remains murky.
Finally, Tress reviews the formation of an antisemitism task force in the New York City Council, whose speaker, Julie Menin, offers a more centrist Democratic approach than that of Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.
For further reading:
‘All these people are so devoted’: Hostage advocates bid farewell at last NYC rally
Suspect in Chabad HQ ramming charged with hate crimes; had previously attended event there
NYC Council launches antisemitism task force; new bill would limit synagogue protests
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IMAGE; The last rally for Israeli hostages, in Central Park, New York City, February 1, 2026. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, welcome to the Times of Israel's Daily Briefing. It's Monday, February 2nd, and I'm Jessica Steinberg. |
| 0:09.1 | Quick note before we get going here, people are planning their summers, so there's something that you could consider one of our Times of Israel tours of Israel, where our journalists, including people like me here on the Israel side, |
| 0:23.5 | take you on our beats for a special unique experience. We have one coming up in July. We'd |
| 0:29.0 | love for you to join. For more info, just go to Times of Israel.com slash join. That's J-O-I-N. |
| 0:41.8 | Okay, back to our podcast today. I'm speaking today with New York correspondent Luke, good morning, or good morning for me, good evening for you. Yeah, hey, Jessica, good to |
| 0:50.5 | see you. Good to see you too. In this morning's headlines, there is discussion of U.S. and Iranian mediators organizing talks in Ankara, Turkey, Israeli basketball player. |
| 1:03.3 | Deni Avdia is as the first Israeli selected for the NBA All-Star Game. And something that we'll talk a little bit about |
| 1:12.2 | just in the news today, |
| 1:13.6 | an anti-Israel protest in Philadelphia's |
| 1:16.3 | Writtenhouse Square, |
| 1:17.8 | that reportedly included support for terror groups. |
| 1:21.1 | We'll talk about that. |
| 1:22.7 | We'll talk about the last hostage rally |
| 1:24.6 | in New York City's Central Park. |
| 1:26.8 | What's the latest on the Qabad headquarters, ramming, |
| 1:31.6 | and the latest in the New York City Council |
| 1:34.2 | and the Mamjani administration in New York. |
| 1:38.0 | Stay with us. |
| 1:42.7 | This is Israel's story. |
| 1:45.7 | He could feel the ticking of the clock. |
| 1:48.8 | On their nightly debrief calls, General Segev, the military at Dishay, was sounding increasingly anxious. |
| 1:55.8 | Both men knew that with each passing day, the window of opportunity was closing. |
... |
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