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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