Daily Briefing Apr. 17: Riots on Temple Mount as Passover, Ramadan & Easter converge

Editor David Horovitz and military correspondent Emanuel Fabian update us on skirmishes at holy flashpoint, coalition calculations and new Iron Beam anti-missile technology

Welcome to The Times of Israel’s Daily Briefing, your 15-minute audio update on what’s happening in Israel, the Middle East, and the Jewish world, from Sunday through Thursday.

Editor David Horovitz and military correspondent Emanuel Fabian join host Amanda Borschel-Dan.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wished the Jewish community a happy Passover on Saturday. Let’s hear what he said, as well as how — and where — Ukrainian Jews observed the holiday.

Next, we turn to tensions over the past several days on the flashpoint holy site known to Jews as Temple Mount and Muslims as Haram al-Sharif. Fabian rewinds to Friday morning and continues to update us on the skirmishes there.

Horovitz talks about the tightrope balancing act Israel must perform regarding freedom of religion and the status quo on the Temple Mount.

What is happening in terms of the government’s stability? Arab party Ra’am has called for calm in light of the skirmishes on Temple Mount and also indicated it will remain in the coalition. Why is this significant?

Turning back to Fabian, in light of the recent wave of terrorism, Israel’s security barrier is again in the news as holes that had been deliberately left open are now being patched. Fabian explains where.

And finally, we talk about Iron Beam, a laser-based air defense system that can shoot down drones.