Netanyahu's campaign enters high gear at state ceremonies
The Times of Israel Daily Briefing
The Times of Israel
4.5 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 23 April 2026
⏱️ 35 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.
Editor David Horovitz joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.
Lebanese and Israeli representatives are set to meet in Washington, DC, today. It was reported yesterday that Lebanon was hoping to extend the shaky ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel by a month. At the same time, Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar openly considered the notion of peace between the two nations at an Independence Day speech on Wednesday. Horovitz weighs in.
Has the Iran conflict become a shipping war? According to reports on Wednesday, the US military has intercepted at least three Iranian-flagged tankers in Asian waters and is redirecting them away from their positions near India, Malaysia and Sri Lanka. At the same time, Iranian forces seized two container ships on Wednesday, according to global security monitors and the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Horovitz unravels the stalled negotiations even as the double US and Iranian blockades at the Strait of Hormuz may lead to a military escalation.
In the second half of the program, we turn to the observation of two national days this week and share a glimpse of Israel today. Horovitz notes the overt politicization of state ceremonies, a phenomenon that began in 2018 and reached a crescendo this week.
Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.
For further reading:
From grief to trepidation: This year’s fateful transition from Memorial Day to Independence Day
Lebanon said to seek one-month truce extension; Hezbollah again targets troops with drone
US intercepts Iran oil tankers in Asian waters as demining of Hormuz expected to take months
Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Gabriella Jacobs and edited by Yitzhak Ledee.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Times of Israel's daily briefing. |
| 0:06.5 | Today is Thursday, April 23rd. |
| 0:08.7 | I'm Amanda Borchelle, Dan here in a Jerusalem studio with editor David Horowitz. |
| 0:13.1 | David, thank you so much for joining me today. |
| 0:15.2 | How you doing, Amanda? |
| 0:16.3 | I'm okay. |
| 0:17.0 | And we just had two days of holiday, and we are going to discuss the holiday after the break. |
| 0:22.2 | But in the meantime, we're going to hear about what is happening in terms of talks between Israel and Lebanon, |
| 0:28.1 | and also are there talks with Iran? |
| 0:30.8 | So all of this and more when we're back. |
| 0:40.6 | When were the two of you the closest? If you asked her, she was very young. |
| 0:44.8 | Before she could talk. |
| 0:47.0 | The slightly bossy, big sister there is my mother. |
| 0:51.2 | And sitting right beside her. |
| 0:53.4 | I'm Carol's sister, Mitch's aunt from New York. |
| 0:56.8 | Despite their occasional visits, phone calls, and birthday cards, |
| 1:00.4 | the number of days we've spent together can probably be counted on two hands. |
| 1:04.8 | Keeping the house quit? |
| 1:05.7 | I'm trying. Until now. |
| 1:08.2 | And now we're kind of stranded here. |
| 1:10.1 | Until this war. I worry about her. It's always been the of stranded here. Until this war. |
| 1:11.2 | I worry about her. |
... |
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