Inside Abbas's call for unprecedented PLO elections
The Times of Israel Daily Briefing
The Times of Israel
4.5 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 5 February 2026
⏱️ 22 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 Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.
In the wake of reports that suggested that planned nuclear talks set for the end of the week were unravelling, US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei "should be very worried." Magid describes the media storm and what may be in store on Friday in Oman -- if the talks do indeed take place.
Last week, Magid was able to get his hands on a draft resolution laying out the powers of various bodies tasked with managing postwar Gaza under US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace initiative. We hear how it appears to limit the significance of a panel, including Turkey and Qatar, that had sparked worries in Israel. We also learn about the current activities of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, or NCAG, which is still sitting in Cairo.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Monday that elections will be held on November 1 for the Palestinian National Council, the parliament of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Magid explains why this may not be the big deal it appears to be.
Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.
For further reading:
US-Iran talks back on track after Trump warns Khamenei ‘should be very worried’
Board of Peace proposal appears to relegate Gaza panel with Turkey, Qatar to ‘advisory’ role
Palestinian Authority’s Abbas calls first-ever direct PLO parliament elections
Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Podwaves and Ari Schlacht.
IMAGE: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah, December 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser, Pool)
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Times of Israel's Daily Briefing. Today is Thursday, February 5th, and I'm Amanda Barschelle |
| 0:10.1 | Don here with our U.S. Bureau Chief Jacob Magid. Jacob, thank you so much for joining me from Chicago |
| 0:16.6 | in our Jerusalem studio. Thanks for having me, Amanda, and congratulations on the new studio. |
| 0:23.0 | Thank you so much. |
| 0:23.9 | And I just want to remind our listeners that you can also be watchers. |
| 0:28.1 | We load our programs to YouTube and other channels every single day, so please check us out. |
| 0:33.4 | Now, Jacob, we have a lot to discuss today. |
| 0:35.4 | We, of course, want to unravel the almost unraveled |
| 0:38.7 | Iran nuclear talks that are still, at least at recording time, set for this Friday. We also |
| 0:44.4 | want to discuss developments in the Gaza Board of Peace. And finally, we're going to discuss |
| 0:50.0 | elections in the Palestinian Authority for the first time that are set for November 1st. |
| 0:56.2 | So all of this and more when we're back. |
| 1:03.2 | When war is erupting, how do Israeli families and communities live with constant loss? |
| 1:09.4 | When you think about the many sacrifices made in these two, two and a half years, |
| 1:14.6 | how do you make sense of sacrifice? |
| 1:17.6 | On the latest episode of texting IRL, Alana Steinhain and Hartman Research Fellow David |
| 1:22.7 | Dishon turned to the book of Vajikra and to David's experience as a bereaved grandparent of a soldier killed in the Israel-Kamas war. |
| 1:31.3 | Together they discuss sacrifice, grief, and spiritual resilience. |
| 1:35.7 | Everybody who's risking their life is risking their life for something that they believe is greater than their own life. |
| 1:43.4 | Listen to Vaikra, living with sacrifice and closeness in the shadow of war, |
| 1:47.9 | on texting IRL from the Shalom Harman Institute, wherever you get your podcasts. |
| 1:58.6 | I'm Amanda Borsel, Dan, here with our U.S. Beartief, Jacob Magid. |
... |
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