Netanyahu to urgently jet to DC to reset Iran talks agenda
The Times of Israel Daily Briefing
The Times of Israel
4.5 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 8 February 2026
⏱️ 19 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.
Diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.
We begin the program by speaking about Matti Caspi, a beloved composer, singer, and lyricist who produced some 1,000 songs, who died overnight between Saturday and Sunday. He was 76 and had suffered from cancer in recent years.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will fly to Washington to meet with US President Donald Trump on Wednesday to discuss Iran, his office announced Saturday night, a day after US-Iranian talks were held in Oman. Netanyahu will depart for Washington on Tuesday and depart the US on Thursday, landing back in Israel on Friday morning local time. Berman weighs in on the Oman talks and what is likely on the agenda for DC.
Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.
For further reading:
Matti Caspi, singer and composer who helped mold Israeli culture, dead at 76
PM to meet Trump in DC this week, says Iran talks must deal with missiles, proxies
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: The presidential seal is seen in the newly renovated Rose Garden of the White House, August 9, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Times of Israel's daily briefing. |
| 0:06.3 | Today is Sunday, February 8th. |
| 0:08.4 | I'm Amanda Borchelle Dan here in our Jerusalem studio |
| 0:11.5 | with diplomatic correspondent Laser Behrman. |
| 0:15.2 | Laser, thank you so much for joining me again today. |
| 0:17.4 | Good to be here, as always, Chavua Tov. |
| 0:19.0 | Chavua Tov, and tonight is a faithful night for Laser Bearman, because his New England |
| 0:24.9 | Patriots, I get there, right? |
| 0:26.9 | That's right. |
| 0:27.3 | Are playing against the Seattle Seahawks. |
| 0:30.8 | So far so good. |
| 0:31.7 | All right. And so I had to have him on the daily briefing today because we just don't know |
| 0:36.8 | what the mood will be tomorrow. |
| 0:38.7 | So, Laser, truly, thank you so much for joining me today. |
| 0:42.0 | Good to be here. My mind is a little bit elsewhere, but we're going to lock in, we're going to |
| 0:45.4 | focus, and then we'll get back to more important things. Fantastic. So today we're going to |
| 0:49.6 | talk about our prime minister's newly announced trip to Washington, D.C., set for Wednesday. |
| 0:56.6 | We'll also hear updates from Friday's talks between the U.S. and Iran, and we'll also weigh in a little bit on what is happening in Gaza right now. |
| 1:06.4 | So all of this and more when we're back. |
| 1:10.2 | This is Israel's story. |
| 1:13.3 | He could feel the ticking of the clock. |
| 1:16.3 | On their nightly debrief calls, General Segev, the military at Dishay, was sounding |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Times of Israel, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The Times of Israel and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.