Israel

Professor of Sociology at Mount Royal University

17 Jan 2025 10 3

Marc Lynch

Inserted 2 days ago

“It's going to be very difficult [to maintain the agreement between Israel and Hamas]. My sense, unfortunately, is that it is very unlikely we move past Phase One and toward a permanent peace. There are endless openings for spoilers on both sides, and serious disagreements remain about the details of the agreement's next steps. In Israel, there are many people who would like to see this war prosecuted indefinitely. Maybe they want to keep northern Gaza as a permanent buffer zone. Maybe they want to depopulate it and resettle it completely. Maybe they want to try to completely destroy Hamas, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu originally promised. Or maybe they want perpetual war as cover for aggressive actions elsewhere, such as in the West Bank. On the Palestinian side, there are plenty of opportunities for spoiler violence by hard-liners, by militant factions who don't like the way things are going, and by people who just want revenge for all the horrible things that have been done to them. If such violence occurs, the Israelis won't respond in a positive fashion.”

Foreignaffairs

Professor of political science at George Washington University and the director of its Middle East Studies program

17 Jan 2025 10 2

Josep Borrell

Inserted 3 days ago

“Cherrypicking in applying the Rome Statute is incomprehensible. How can we expect third countries to enforce the ICC arrest warrant against Putin (which they should!) and then say we won't enforce it against Netanyahu? Our credibility as a community of law is eroding.”

Aje

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy

17 Jan 2025 5 1

Hugh Lovatt

Inserted 3 days ago

“Everyone sees Netanyahu as a dominant force in Israeli politics, but it is remarkable how much Smotrich and Ben-Gvir have been able to exploit his political fears to pursue their own agendas. The Netanyahu today is not the one of the past. He's more fearful and he's unable to make decisions, which has led to strategic paralysis.”

Expert on Israel-Palestine for the European Council on Foreign Relations

17 Jan 2025 5 1

Diana Buttu

Inserted 3 days ago

“The agreement is very vague and there are a lot of places where Israel can - and will - manoeuvre its way out of it.”

Palestinian legal scholar and a former negotiator with the Palestinian Liberation Organization

17 Jan 2025 2 1

Mairav Zonszein

Inserted 3 days ago

“Israel is very good at breaking ceasefires and making it appear that it wasn't its fault. This [deal] will provide immediate relief by getting humanitarian aid in and to provide for a release of hostages and prisoners. The [deal] is more of an immediate pause than a long-term solution.”

Expert on Israel-Palestine with the International Crisis Group

17 Jan 2025 4 1

Yohanan Plesner

Inserted 4 days ago

“In any event, the government is likely to survive until the end of the first phase of the deal. But Mr. Netanyahu may have to decide between his parliamentary majority and his relationship with the incoming administration in Washington, with Mr. Trump and Saudi Arabia perhaps offering him the opportunity to burnish his legacy. I think his mind is already in the next big move. If he has to choose between an intimate relationship with the Trump administration and Smotrich and Ben-Gvir, he'll opt for Trump.”

President of the Israel Democracy Institute, a nonpartisan research group in Jerusalem

16 Jan 2025 7 3

Gayil Talshir

Inserted 4 days ago

“Netanyahu wants to stay in power. It doesn't make any sense for him to go to elections that he might not win. He wants another two years leading the government.”

Political scientist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

16 Jan 2025 1 2

Michael Koplow

Inserted 4 days ago

“Trump is going to be the critical variable when it comes to the Israeli side. If Trump is happy with having orchestrated the first phase and then moves on to other issues, it will be harder to keep the cease-fire in place. If Mr. Trump retains his focus, it will be tougher for Netanyahu not to find ways to extend the cease-fire deal and figure out other ways to appease his disgruntled coalition members.”

Analyst at Israel Policy Forum, a New York-based research group

16 Jan 2025 8 1

Antony Blinken

Inserted 6 days ago

“The timing of Hamas's attack was no accident. Israel's growing integration in the region, the prospect of normalisation with Saudi Arabia, posed an existential threat to Hamas's power, its ambitions to dominate the Palestinian political landscape, its raison d'etre - which is the rejection of two states and the destruction of Israel.”

Aje

U.S. Secretary of State

14 Jan 2025 4 3

Rami Abdulrahman

Inserted 1 week ago

“The Israeli military is operating in the border area now similarly to the West Bank, in that it can go in and go out anywhere it wants and arrest whomever it wants.”

Director of the Syrian Observatory

11 Jan 2025 4 2

Alon Liel

Inserted 2 weeks ago

“In Israel, people are frustrated that captives remain in Gaza and surprised that, in recent weeks, Israeli military activity there has intensified. Generally speaking, Israelis are quite surprised that the intensity of the military activity is growing. I think the general feeling here was a month or two ago that [the war] will fade away and slow down, but it is not. Netanyahu, meanwhile, still faces the problems of looking like he has no victory in the war, and that any prisoner exchange with Hamas could topple him. Any exchange will involve the release of many prisoners we have in our jails, and might - and probably will - topple his government. So he's trying to manoeuvre and trying to find the point in time in which we will not be seeing the Hamas people and their supporters dancing in Gaza when they get the prisoners back and describing the result as a victory.”

Aje

Former director of Israel’s foreign ministry

06 Jan 2025 7 5

Stephen Zunes

Inserted 2 weeks ago

“Israel is using up these weapons at a very fast pace, as made obvious by the enormous death and destruction that's ongoing, and Biden is ready to resupply them. If he didn't do it, I'm sure the incoming Trump administration would do so. Not a single arms transfer has ever been blocked by Congress. So, there is unfortunately very little to stop it. At this point, the arms transfers will continue unabated. Outside the White House and Congress, there is far less support for arming Israel. [Biden] is doing this in the face of widespread opposition, not just in the international community, not just from human rights groups, but according to polls, a large majority of the American people.”

Aje

Politics professor and Middle East expert at the University of San Francisco

04 Jan 2025 8 2

Dan Perry

Inserted 2 weeks ago

“Israel's leaders are waiting for Donald Trump to take office because they think they'll have greater leeway … to put more pressure on Gaza to finally get Hamas to relent. I'm not so sure this is going to a happy place soon. While Trump has indicated he wants the war on Gaza to end that doesn't mean a negotiated settlement that halts the bloodshed.”

Aje

Former chairman of the Foreign Press Association of Israel

04 Jan 2025 3 2

Volker Türk

Inserted 2 weeks ago

“The UN has recorded 136 Israeli attacks on 27 health facilities in Gaza, which have caused significant death and destruction. While Israel often states that Palestinian armed groups use such facilities for military purposes, Israel has not backed up those claims with evidence. Israel has not provided sufficient information to substantiate many of these claims, which are often vague and broad. In some cases they appear to be contradicted by publicly available information.”

Aje

UN high commissioner for human rights

03 Jan 2025 6 2

Israel Katz

Inserted 2 weeks ago

“If Hamas does not soon allow the release of the Israeli hostages and does not stop firing at Israel, it will receive blows with a force not seen in Gaza for a long time.”

Aje

Israeli Defence Minister

01 Jan 2025 4 2

Dan Perry

Inserted 3 weeks ago

“At least half of Israelis want a return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza and the beginning of a process on Palestinian independence. A significant proportion of Israeli's believe that Netanyahu calculated on 7 October that the debacle he oversaw was so profound and spectacular that … we can't do the political accounting until the war is over, which incentives a forever war. If [Netanyahu] ends the war and pulls out of Gaza, while leaving Hamas in power… then his government would collapse. And all the polls show he would lose the [next] election.”

Aje

Former chairman of the Foreign Press Association of Israel

30 Dec 2024 8 4

Benjamin Netanyahu

Inserted 3 weeks ago

“A short time ago, the Air Force attacked targets of the Houthi terrorist organization in Yemen, both on the coastline and in Sana'a. We are determined to cut off this terror arm of the Iranian axis of evil. We will persist in this until we complete the job.”

Prime Minister of Israel

Read the Background

26 Dec 2024 5 3

Israel Katz

Inserted 3 weeks ago

“We saw precise action by the Israeli Air Force, hitting strategic Houthi targets in Yemen, at the airport and at the port. As we said, whoever strikes Israel, we will strike them. We will also hunt down all the Houthi leaders, hit them as we have done elsewhere. No one will be able to evade Israel's long arm.”

Israeli Defence Minister

Read the Background

26 Dec 2024 4 3

Stephane Dujarric

Inserted 1 month ago

“The presence of the Israeli Defense Forces in the buffer zone is a violation of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement. The agreement needs to be respected, and occupation is occupation - whether it lasts a week, a month or a year, it remains occupation.”

Apnews

Spokesperson for the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres

17 Dec 2024 5 4

Nour Odeh

Inserted 1 month ago

“There's a flurry of diplomatic activity, and a lot of people from all corners of the world are on the phone. Israeli media report that the optimism is unprecedented right now in Israel - not necessarily because this is going to be a comprehensive 'end the war' kind of deal - it won't be - but certainly because this is the closest the discussions have gotten to a deal. The deal would be temporary. It would be a ceasefire, not an end to the war, but the details that the sides are discussing are quite specific - namely how many captives will be released, how many of them will be alive, what Hamas wants in return. All of these details are now on the table, and that is a new development, certainly one we haven't seen in some time.”

Aje

Al Jazeera’s journalist

17 Dec 2024 5 1

Benjamin Netanyahu

Inserted 1 month ago

“We have no interest in confronting Syria. We will determine Israel's policy towards Syria according to the emerging reality on the ground. I remind you that for decades Syria was an active enemy state to Israel. It attacked us again and again, it allowed others to attack us from its territory, it allowed Iran to arm Hezbollah through its territory.”

Euronews

Prime Minister of Israel

15 Dec 2024 4 2

Nour Odeh

Inserted 1 month ago

“What Israel has done in the Golan Heights is to restrict the ability of Syrians to build in their own communities, while it has conducted land grabs, built settlements, and now, wants to double those settlements. Why? Because Trump is coming back to office and Netanyahu wants to expand control over the Golan Heights and make it permanent. He was also encouraged by the Biden administration, which didn't change Trump's policy on the Golan Heights.”

Aje

Al Jazeera’s journalist

15 Dec 2024 6 2

Israel Katz

Inserted 1 month ago

“Due to what is happening in Syria, there is a huge security importance to our holding of the Hermon peak and everything must be done to ensure the IDF's preparations in the area, to allow the troops to stay there in the difficult weather conditions.”

Israeli Defence Minister

13 Dec 2024 4 3

Stephen Zunes

Inserted 1 month ago

“Israeli military's push into Syrian territory is a clear case of further expansionism by an opportunistic Israel. One can argue about whether Israel should bomb weapons facilities that could get into 'the wrong hands', as they say. But the ground invasion has no logic to it whatsoever, no strategic rationale. This is clearly taking advantage of the fact that Syria is not in a position to defend itself any more. With most of their navy and air force destroyed, with the leadership in flux and the government trying to desperately hold things together. This seemed to be the perfect opportunity for further expansionism. Already there are tweets from Israelis looking forward to building a ski resort on Mount Hermon and talking about holding on to this area for an extended period. I mean, they clearly feel they can get away with this.”

Politics professor and Middle East expert at the University of San Francisco

12 Dec 2024 5 4

Asher Kaufman

Inserted 1 month ago

“Israel's prime minister is seeking to construct a favourable narrative by deploying the military in the occupied Golan Heights. The Hermon mountain range is a soft spot for the Israeli public [due to biblical references]. Netanyahu has been playing on that, using cultural elements that are very strong among the Israeli society to generate support. Netanyahu is creating a narrative that serves him very well domestically among his base and the right-wing circles.”

Aje

Director of the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame

11 Dec 2024 5 3

Resul Serdar

Inserted 1 month ago

“Israel's attacks on Syria are systematic. They are aiming to destroy Syria's defence bases. Israel's latest raids targeted three major airports - in Homs, Qamishli and Damascus - as well as weapons depots and other strategic military sites. Israel claims it is doing this because it is concerned that these strategic facilities and military equipment could fall into the hands of the opposition.”

Al Jazeera’s journalist reporting from Damascus, Syria

10 Dec 2024 6 2

Marwan Bishara

Inserted 1 month ago

“Israel believes that it can get away with the assaults it is carrying out in the region. Many of the Israeli ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government perceive parts of Syria, Jordan and Lebanon as being parts of the 'greater Israel' that they were promised. They take advantage of each and every pretext, of each and every opportunity in order to expand that territory. It is something that they have their eye on, and they will continually expand, and take advantage of weaknesses around them.”

Aje

Senior political analyst at Al Jazeera

10 Dec 2024 5 5

Benjamin Netanyahu

Inserted 1 month ago

“If this regime allows Iran to re-establish itself in Syria, or permits the transfer of Iranian weapons or any other weapons to Hezbollah, or if it attacks us - we will respond forcefully, and we will exact a heavy price. What happened to the previous regime will happen to this one.”

Aje

Prime Minister of Israel

10 Dec 2024 4 3

Benjamin Netanyahu

Inserted 1 month ago

“Hamas is more isolated than ever after the fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria. It expected help from Hezbollah - we took that away. It expected help from Iran - we took that as well. It expected help from the Assad regime - okay, that won't happen anymore. The isolation of Hamas opens another opening to making progress on a deal that will bring our hostages back.”

Prime Minister of Israel

09 Dec 2024 6 3

Israel Katz

Inserted 1 month ago

“The fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria has dealt a severe blow to the Iranian axis of evil. The octopus tentacles are being cut off one by one.”

Israeli Defence Minister

08 Dec 2024 4 2

Gideon Sa'ar

Inserted 1 month ago

“We may have an opportunity now for a hostage deal. Israel is serious about reaching a hostage deal and I hope we can do this - and do it as soon as possible.”

Aje

Foreign Affairs Minister of Israel

05 Dec 2024 2 1

Israel Katz

Inserted 1 month ago

“The most important thing today in the war is to bring the hostages home. This is the supreme goal that stands before us, and we are working in every way to make this happen. The intensity of the pressure on this monstrous organisation called Hamas is increasing and there is a chance that this time we can really advance a hostage deal.”

Aje

Israeli Defence Minister

04 Dec 2024 2 1

Benjamin Netanyahu

Inserted 1 month ago

“It is a very strong statement, which makes it clear that there is one party responsible for this situation - and that is Hamas. Hamas must release the hostages. Trump put the emphasis in the right place - on Hamas, and not on the Israeli government, as is customary in some places.”

Prime Minister of Israel

03 Dec 2024 3 1

Herzi Halevi

Inserted 1 month ago

“The military will attack strongly in the face of Hezbollah's grave violations, and we will continue to do so. We have plans and goals ready to be activated at any moment.”

Israeli armed forces chief

02 Dec 2024 2 1

Benjamin Netanyahu

Inserted 1 month ago

“Hezbollah's firing at Mount Dov constitutes a serious violation of the ceasefire, and Israel will respond forcefully. We are determined to continue enforcing the ceasefire, and to respond to any violation by Hezbollah - a minor one will be treated like a major one.”