Daily Briefing Aug. 4: Banking on politics — Israel and the Palestinian financial crisis

Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel’s culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center

Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel’s US bureau chief

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.

US bureau chief Jacob Magid joins host Jessica Steinberg for today’s episode.

As Iran rebuffs US President Donald Trump, insisting there are no ongoing talks between the two parties, Magid notes that the regime’s denials have frustrated the US leader, while Iran doesn’t seem deterred by the president’s incendiary language.

Magid discusses the sense of anticipation among Board of Peace members about convincing Hamas to agree to its disarmament proposal. The Israeli government, however, is not on board with the plan. And it has continued to carry out strikes against Hamas, notably including terrorists who invaded on October 7, 2023, and those who abducted hostages — which could sabotage the deal. Israel’s objections, says Magid, has apparently led the board to accept a more gradual withdrawal for Israel from the ceasefire lines in Gaza.

In the second half of the podcast, Magid reviews the ongoing banking crisis in the Palestinian Authority, after Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich signed a last-minute waiver that supports Israeli banks providing services crucial to keeping the West Bank economy afloat.

Check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing liveblog for more updates.

Board of Peace appears to shift terms for IDF pullback after meeting PM; Gaza airstrike reported

Trump: ‘Unbelievably duplicitous’ Iran begged for talks, now denies they’re happening

Israel acts to ease Palestinian banking crisis it helped create, but is it moving too late?

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. Ari Schlacht produced this episode.

The war with Iran has been draining for all of us in Israel. But when I heard about a high casualty incident – ballistic missile impacts in Arad and Dimona that left nearly 200 people wounded – I drank a cup of coffee, packed a bag, and headed south.

There, I spoke with Shilgit, the head of an after-school program for underprivileged youth. Standing outside her destroyed center, Shilgit said it was a miracle that no children were hurt and spoke about the community coming together in the hours since.

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— Stav Levaton, military reporter