Why Trump still doesn't want to go back to war
The Times of Israel Daily Briefing
The Times of Israel
4.5 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 5 May 2026
⏱️ 26 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.
Iran fired over a dozen missiles and several drones at the United Arab Emirates on Monday, renewing attacks on the Gulf state for the first time since a fragile ceasefire took hold last month. Berman explains how US President Donald Trump really doesn't want to go back to war. But, at the same time, he might.
Lebanon’s parliament speaker said on Monday there could be no negotiations with Israel without a halt to the war that has raged on in southern Lebanon in spite of a ceasefire. Since the Iran negotiations are so intrinsically tied to the conflict in Lebanon, Berman speaks about Israel's difficult position.
In the final half of the program, we turn to the concept of "strategic independence." We hear how European leaders on Monday said that Trump’s snap decision to pull thousands of US troops out of Germany is a fresh sign that Europe must take care of its own security. And earlier this week, we heard from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that future defense procurement will focus on expanding Israel’s capabilities and its independence. Berman weighs in.
Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.
For further reading:
Iran restarts attacks on Emirates as US fights to restore traffic in Strait of Hormuz
Lebanon’s Hezbollah-allied parliament speaker: No talks with Israel until war ends
Europe seeks to ‘take charge’ of its own defense as US to cut presence of troops
Netanyahu says project to counter drone threat underway, but ‘will take time’
Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. Yitzhak Ledee filmed and edited this episode.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Times of Israel's daily briefing. Today's Tuesday, May 5th. I'm Amanda Borchelle |
| 0:09.5 | Dan here in our Jerusalem studio with diplomatic correspondent, Laser Bearman. |
| 0:13.8 | Laser, thank you so much for joining me today. Good for be here. |
| 0:16.5 | It is always a pleasure to speak with you. And yesterday, after Project Freedom was launched by U.S. President Donald Trump to release |
| 0:24.2 | the vessels trapped in the Strait of Hormuz, we saw some 15 missiles flown from Iran |
| 0:31.6 | to the United Arab Emirates and several drones. |
| 0:35.2 | So laser will discuss, is this truly an escalation of the war? |
| 0:38.7 | What are the next steps? |
| 0:40.2 | We'll turn to Lebanon after we heard that talks are not at all in the offing |
| 0:44.2 | until aggressions are ceased in the country. |
| 0:47.3 | And to end up with, we'll discuss the concept of strategic independence. |
| 0:52.2 | So all of this and more when we're back. |
| 1:02.4 | Israel wins wars, but keeps losing the story. How can that be changed? |
| 1:08.2 | Scott Galloway, NYU professor, best-selling author, and one of the most |
| 1:12.6 | influential voices in the world, believes storytelling isn't just a skill. It's a survival |
| 1:18.2 | strategy. And right now, the Jewish people aren't winning that fight. In a special episode |
| 1:23.6 | of unpacking Israeli history recorded live in London, Galloway joins Noam Weissman to explore |
| 1:29.4 | how October 7th re-shaped his thinking, why the narrative war matters as much as any military one, |
| 1:35.9 | and what it will actually take to change the story. Search and subscribe to Unpacking Israeli History, |
| 1:42.2 | wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back. I'm Amanda Borchelle, Don, here in the Jerusalem studio with Laser |
| 1:58.9 | Bearman, our diplomatic correspondent. |
| 2:01.5 | Laser, of course, all eyes are still on the Strait of Hormuz and on the reactions to the 15 |
... |
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