Daily Briefing June 18: Day 256 – How intel of a mass Hamas hostage-taking was ignored
Diplomatic reporter Lazar Berman on what happens after the break up of the war cabinet, stalled hostage release talks, and if Iran is a hydra, which head should IDF cut off first?
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 reporter Lazar Berman joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today’s episode.
After last week’s escalation along the northern border, US special envoy Amos Hochstein is in the country to try to head off a war with Hezbollah and advance efforts to rein in hostilities along the “Blue Line” between Israel and Lebanon. What are his chances?
An unnamed senior Israeli negotiator told AFP yesterday that dozens of hostages are still alive and that the Israeli negotiating team had green-lit the Biden plan and is waiting for Hamas’s answer. Berman brings up an idea that is slowly gaining support, that Israel must change the paradigm of the war in Gaza and consider it as just a first step in taking on all the Iranian proxies that make up the hydra-like monster that is Iran.
A document by the IDF’s Gaza Division warning of a potential attack by Hamas and en masse hostage-taking that was internally circulated on September 19 and reportedly brought to the attention of at least some senior intelligence officials, was ignored. Berman explores the report and discusses some reasons why — tragically — this intel wasn’t acted upon.
For more updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.
Discussed articles include:
Top Biden aide in Israel to try to head off war with Hezbollah
Gantz tells visiting US envoy ‘time is running out’ for deal to calm northern border
Dozens of hostages are alive ‘with certainty’ — top Israeli negotiator
Netanyahu officially disbands war cabinet after Gantz’s departure from government
3 weeks before Oct. 7, IDF Gaza Division warned of Hamas plan to attack, take 250 hostages
THOSE WE HAVE LOST: Civilians and soldiers killed in Hamas’s onslaught on Israel
THOSE WE ARE MISSING: The hostages and victims whose fate is still unknown
Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Ben Wallick.
