Daily Briefing May 1: Will history repeat after PM gets McCarthy 'invite' to DC?

Diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman on US Speaker McCarthy in Israel, confab of Arab nations’ FMs; military reporter Emanuel Fabian on horrific Taibe murder, IDF ops in Jericho

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.

Diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman and military correspondent Emanuel Fabian join host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today’s episode.

Israel awoke to news of another murdered woman, this one alongside two of her very young children, in the northern town of Taibe. Fabian explains what we know so far and puts these murders into context with the troubling increase of murders in Israel’s Arab community.

Speaker of the US House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy is in Israel and even before his planned Knesset plenum session and press conference, he’s grabbing headlines with an “invitation” to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak in Congress. Berman breaks this down.

Over the past week and a half, amid a rise in intelligence surrounding the potential of violent terrorist attacks, the Israel has imposed heavy restrictions on movement in and out of the West Bank city of Jericho. Fabian explains what happened there early this morning.

Arab foreign ministers from Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Syria will gather in Jordan today to discuss Syria’s long-running conflict. This will effectively end Damascus’s diplomatic isolation in the region. Looking at it from Israel’s standpoint, is this a positive step?

At Thursday’s protest in support of the judicial overhaul, an IDF officer with the rank of major was filmed taking part. Fabian discusses why his subsequent punishment is somewhat controversial.