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.

It is day 250 of the war with Hamas. Political psychologist Nimrod Nir joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's special episode.

Since mere days after the October 7 Hamas onslaught on southern Israel, in which some 1,200 were killed, mostly civilians, and 250 taken hostage to Gaza, Nir has been consistently taking the temperature of Israelis’ feelings about the ensuing war. Working with a massive pool of some 5,000 people, Nimrod has collected vast amounts of data and published some of it in a War Omnibus.

Nir is a fellow at The Hebrew University’s Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace and also the CEO of Agam Labs, a multi-disciplinary research facility that aims to aid decision-makers in understanding the Israeli psyche.

The findings from the past eight months of war include how people view the zero-sum equation of hostages or war, how conspiracy theories affect public opinion and whether or not the Israeli people will be “together” in victory.

For more updates, please check out The Times of Israel's ongoing live blog.

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by the Pod-Waves. 

IMAGE: Nimrod Nir, a fellow at The Hebrew University’s Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace and the CEO of Agam Labs, a multi-disciplinary research facility. (courtesy)