PODCAST: Daily Briefing, Feb. 15 — Two pro-Iran deal officers fight for the left

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 Times of Israel editor David Horovitz and our Hebrew sister-site Zman Yisrael diplomatic and political correspondent Tal Schneider, along with host Amanda Borschel-Dan.

Previewing her recent interviews with Meretz’s Yair Golan and Labor’s Omer Barlev, Schneider gives the lowdown on the two former high-ranking IDF officers who each turned to Israel’s peace camp after their military careers, and are now trying to revive it. Beyond the politics, we look at the Israelis’ attitudes to the Iran deal, military pressure on the Islamic Republic and how to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

After a slowdown in Israel’s vaccination drive, the campaign seems to be gaining momentum again, and with the lockdown easing and the airport opening just a little, normalcy seems to be on the horizon. Our panel asks if we are really ready for it.

And finally, as hundreds of judokas land in Israel for a Grand Slam tournament in Tel Aviv, we look at the incredible story of Saeid Mollaei — the Iranian judo champ who fled his home country after being forced to throw a fight in the World Championship in Tokyo in 2019 in order to avoid facing an Israeli competitor — who is now among the athletes visiting the Jewish state.