Daily Briefing Oct. 26 – Tale of 2 presidents: Herzog visits DC as Abbas decries US

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.

United States correspondent Jacob Magid and legal reporter Jeremy Sharon join host Amanda Borschel-Dan in this episode.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog is currently in the US. It’s, as he says, “a politically sensitive time” for both countries. What are we hearing so far from the trip?

For many Israelis, the November 1 election is about two main issues — yes or no to former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and whether or not the country needs radical judicial reform. On October 18, Religious Zionism party leader Bezalel Smotrich combined the two issues. Sharon explains the interesting situation in which two right-wing politicians — Religious Zionism MK Simcha Rothman and Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar of the National Unity Party — are on different sides.

The next Negev Forum is coming up in the UAE and behind the scenes, the countries involved are trying to rope in Jordan for the session. What are the pluses and minuses for Jordan?

And finally, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is not holding back his disdain for the current US government and is using inflammatory rhetoric. Is this a strategic tactic to cozy up to Russia?

Discussed articles include:

Herzog invited to address US Congress, 1st Israeli to get honor since Netanyahu

In US, Herzog says elections shouldn’t affect ties amid tensions over far-right

Two right-wing camps seek to reform Israel’s judiciary, in opposite ways

As Israeli-Arab Negev Forum prepares to reconvene, members try to bring in Jordan

While not cutting ties, Abbas increasingly talks of Biden as if he is Trump

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Check out yesterday’s Daily Briefing episode: