PODCAST: The Daily Briefing – Ultra-Orthodox dance at weddings, pray for sick

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 senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur, along with host Amanda Borschel-Dan.

We open today’s show with Israel’s soaring COVID-19 cases and ask why the country is managing so successfully to provide vaccines but consistently failing to contain contagion. With ultra-Orthodox localities suffering the most severe infection rates, the panel ponders the community’s influence on domestic policy and whether its leadership is failing it, and the wider public.

While Israel’s vaccination campaign pushes ahead at breakneck speed, we look at the (not so) parallel efforts to provide Palestinians with vaccines, and ask what role the Jewish state should be playing.

And finally, we discuss the latest on the campaign trail ahead of March’s election with parties from across the political spectrum looking to the US for possible inspiration.

Discussed articles include:

Israel passes 10,000 daily infections for first time since start of pandemic

Netanyahu says Israel may need to extend lockdown, pleads with Haredim to comply

Palestinian shipment of Russian Sputnik vaccine delayed

Born on the 4th: Israeli parties look to US playbook for pandemic-era campaigns

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