Daily Briefing Apr. 27: Why the Jewish state still denies the Armenian genocide

Tune in Sunday through Thursday to hear ToI editors and reporters quickly catch you up on what’s important today

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.

Today’s panel comprises diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman and United States correspondent Jacob Magid, along with host Amanda Borschel-Dan.

To start the episode, Berman explains the nuances behind why Israel won’t follow Biden’s lead and recognize the 106-year-old Armenian genocide, in which some 1.5 million civilians were slaughtered in 1915-1917.

Mossad head Yossi Cohen is currently in Washington, DC, with several Israeli security officials to discuss the US’s return to the Iran nuclear deal. Could they actually influence Biden policy, or is this just a political pose by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu?

Domestically, two far-right Israeli politicians have raised eyebrows and ire recently after picking up the mic and spouting extremist statements. Yesterday, freshman MK Itamar Ben Gvir used his debut Knesset speech to air his longstanding grievances and Bezalel Smotrich, the head of the Religious Zionism party, appeared to ask whether Arab Israelis will continue to be citizens of the Jewish state. Magid dives in.

And finally, Berman reviews the tragic case of French Jew Sarah Halimi, murdered in April 2017 by an Islamist neighbor who is now deemed unfit to stand trial due to marijuana use during the murder. Will Israel take up the gauntlet?