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.

Legal correspondent Jeremy Sharon joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

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After the Public Defender’s Office of the Justice Ministry was forced to reveal reports about visits to four prisons in 2024, showing systematic violence and unsanitary conditions for Palestinian detainees, Sharon discusses the disturbing findings and the yearlong battle by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel to get ahold of the report and make it public.

Sharon also reports on a rally last week’s at which protesters demanded the enlistment of ultra-Orthodox Jews. He describes the sense of solidarity at the Jerusalem gathering, where thousands of people from the secular and national religious camps spoke out against government-backed legislation seeking to reinstate blanket military service exemptions for ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students.

Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

Palestinians in Israeli jails face ‘conditions unfit for human beings,’ state agency says

Thousands rally in Jerusalem to demand ultra-Orthodox IDF enlistment

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.

IMAGE: Handcuffed Hamas terrorists sit next to a picture of Palestinians walking past destroyed buildings in the Gaza Strip and an Israeli flag, in a prison in central Israel, May 6, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

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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.

Military correspondent Emanuel Fabian joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.

Following Iran's foreign minister's direct threat against the US, Fabian reports on the buildup of potential US offensive and defensive firepower in the region, including an aircraft carrier and fighter jet squadrons.

As the IDF continues its nearly daily strikes against Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon, Fabian discusses Israel's tacit agreement with the US that allows it to act against anything it considers an immediate threat, and the Lebanese government's ongoing efforts to disarm Hezbollah.

The IDF reported a 27% rise in settler violence in the West Bank in 2025, says Fabian, who breaks down elements of the report, including the rise in the severity of the settler attacks alongside the decrease in Palestinian terrorism, attributed to the army's sustained offensive activity against terror cells.

Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

US Central Command announces arrival of F-15 squadron in Mideast amid tensions with Iran

IDF: Settler violence rose by 27% in 2025, severe attacks spiked by over 50%

IDF targets Hezbollah tunnels, rocket launch sites in Lebanon

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.

IMAGE: In this Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2019, photo made available by U.S. Navy, a helicopter lifts off of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln as it transits the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln sent to the Mideast in May over tensions with Iran transited the narrow Strait of Hormuz for the first time on Tuesday. The ship previously had been in the Arabian Sea outside of the Persian Gulf. (Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Stephanie Contreras/U.S. Navy via AP)

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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.

Dozens of world leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin, received an invitation over the past week to sit on US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace. The US is aiming to hold the board’s first meeting on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday. In the meantime, various countries have reacted to their invitations to Thursday’s signing ceremony in Davos, including France’s President Emmanuel Macron. Horovitz fills us in on international responses, including shades of daylight between Netanyahu and Trump.

In the hours after two babies lost their lives in an unlicensed and massively overcrowded daycare in the ultra-Orthodox Romema neighborhood of Jerusalem on Monday, Haredi leaders blamed the tragedy on the state and the legislative efforts to draft young men of the community. Two infants died and 53 babies and toddlers were injured to varying degrees in the incident. We speak about the avoidable nature of the tragedy, which, because of the prevalence of unsupervised daycare, could occur in any Israeli community at any time.

And finally, regular listeners of The Daily Briefing will have missed their weekly dose of David Horovitz, who is just back from a three-week trip in Japan. We hear observations.

Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

Trump to hold Board of Peace signing ceremony in Davos, but participants may be limited

PM vows no Qatari, Turkish troops in Gaza after countries given role on oversight body

Smotrich calls to shutter US-led Gaza coordination center, resettle Strip

Netanyahu invited to Trump’s Gaza Board of Peace alongside European, Mideast leaders

Haredi leaders blame babies’ deaths on state’s push to draft ultra-Orthodox men

2 babies die in incident at unlicensed Jerusalem daycare; 3 caregivers detained

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.

IMAGE: Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men block a road and clash with police during a protest sparked by the deaths of two babies in an unauthorized daycare in Jerusalem, January 19, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.