Siege warfare? Who'll blink first in tense Iran blockade
The Times of Israel Daily Briefing
The Times of Israel
4.5 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 30 April 2026
⏱️ 27 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.
It's no more Mr. Nice Guy for US President Donald Trump on Iran. At the same time, Trump said on Wednesday that talks with Iran have been taking place over the phone in recent days, after he canceled a trip over the weekend for US negotiators to travel to Pakistan to speak with Iranian officials. Berman brings us up to date on where things -- including the US military assets -- stand as Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and the US blockade of Iran continue.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said during a visit to troops posted in southern Lebanon on Wednesday that there “is no ceasefire,” as Israel and Hezbollah continued to exchange fire despite a truce that’s been in place for almost two weeks. We hear how Israel is even more restrained today than it was prior to the Iran war in terms of its freedom of movement against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The Israeli Navy late Wednesday began intercepting an activist flotilla sailing to the Gaza Strip in a bid to breach Israel’s naval blockade on the Hamas-ruled enclave, according to the activists and Israeli officials. As of Thursday morning, a third of the vessels were intercepted near Crete. How is Israel handling the PR stunt this year?
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar appointed veteran diplomat George Deek to a newly created role as special envoy to the Christian world last week. Berman is cautiously optimistic, but has major reservations.
Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.
For further reading:
After rejecting Iran’s proposal to open Hormuz, Trump says talks ongoing over the phone
IDF chief says there’s ‘no ceasefire’ in south Lebanon amid continued fighting with Hezbollah
Navy begins intercepting Gaza flotilla hundreds of miles from the Strip
Israel appoints first special envoy to Christian world after scandals strain ties
Suspect arrested in attack on nun yesterday in Jerusalem Old City
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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 30th. |
| 0:08.8 | I'm Amanda Borschal Dan in our Jerusalem studio, joined by our diplomatic correspondent, Laser |
| 0:13.6 | Berman. |
| 0:14.6 | Laser, thank you so much for joining me today. |
| 0:16.3 | Happy to be here, as always. |
| 0:17.9 | I am always pleased to speak with you, and I have a lot to ask you about |
| 0:21.6 | what is happening in terms of Iran negotiations since U.S. President Donald Trump said it's no more |
| 0:28.2 | Mr. Nice Guy. We also heard from the IDF Chief of Staff yesterday that there really is no ceasefire |
| 0:34.9 | in Lebanon. We'll talk about the flotilla that about a third of its vessels were intercepted this morning. |
| 0:41.8 | And to end up with, we will revisit the subject of Christianity here in Israel and attacks upon the Christians. |
| 0:50.0 | All of this and more when we're back. |
| 1:00.5 | When were the two of you the closest? |
| 1:03.7 | If you ask her, she was very young. |
| 1:05.8 | Before she could talk. |
| 1:10.5 | The slightly bossy, big sister there is my mother. |
| 1:13.2 | And sitting right beside her... I'm Carol's sister, Mitch's aunt from New York. |
| 1:16.8 | Despite their occasional visits, phone calls, and birthday cards, |
| 1:20.5 | the number of days we've spent together can probably be counted on two hands. |
| 1:24.7 | Keeping the house clean? |
| 1:25.6 | I'm trying. |
| 1:27.2 | Until now. And now we're? I'm trying. Until now. |
... |
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