Prof. Kobi Michael: Not only did human rights organizations and many media outlets base their faulty reports on information published by Gaza’s Ministry of Health, which is run by Hamas, they also did not “take the nature of Hamas seriously.

Hamas is not the most reliable source in the world. he international media and other sources do not consider the interests of Hamas, or its strategy, and they do not seem to acknowledge that Hamas wants a chaotic situation in the Gaza Strip. Hamas wants there to be many casualties among Palestinian civilians, because it serves their interests.

Just to listen to what Hamas leaders have been saying since October 7. They have promised to repeat October 7 again and again, they have called on the Arab world to join the armed resistance against Israel and on the Arab public to pressure their regimes.

They have also said publicly, and loudly, that they have no problem sacrificing another 100,000 Palestinian civilians for the sake of the victory.

Published in Nation 509, August 24, 2025.

Ruth Wasserman Lande: It’s not that every last Hamas member will be eliminated—I don’t believe that is realistic. But there must certainly be an attempt to bring Hamas to its knees. Not for revenge, but in order to create some kind of livable entity, whatever form it takes, next to Israel.

The interview took place on Channel I24 on August 20, 2025.

https://youtu.be/n6rgrPjdqTA

Ruth Wasserman Lande: In this issue there is no right and left. Israel was attacked on October 7th in a horrific and inhumane manner. This transcends politics. It is not about coalition or opposition, but about our very survival as a people. The kidnapping and massacre of civilians — women, children, and the elderly — was not an act of war, but a deliberate, planned onslaught. That is why this moment demands unity and a strong response beyond political divides.

The interview was recorded for Jonathan Sacerdoti’s podcast in the UK, 17 August, 2025.

Prof. Kobi Michael: Israel couldn’t justify the military or economic cost of maintaining the heavily fortified settlements in Gaza. There were around 8,000 Israeli settlers and 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza in 2005.

“There was no chance for these settlements to exist or flourish or become meaningful enough to be a strategic anchor. By contrast, there are more than 500,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank, most living in developed settlement blocs that have generally received more support from Israeli society. Most of the world considers the settlements illegal under international law.

“This contributed to Hamas’ win in the elections in 2006, because they leveraged it and introduced it as a very significant achievement. They saw it as an achievement of the resistance and a justification for the continuation of the armed resistance.

Footage of the violence between Israeli settlers and Israeli soldiers also created an “open wound” in Israeli society.

I don’t think any government will be able to do something like that in the future. That limits any flexibility over settlements in the West Bank if negotiations over a two-state solution with the Palestinians ever resume.

Disengagement will never happen again, this is a price we’re paying as a society, and a price we’re paying politically.

Published on AP and many other websites on August 15, 2025.

Dr. Adi Schwartz: Hamas did not conquer Gaza — its members were born there, elected there, and still enjoy high support, even after October 7. Unfortunately, Hamas represents the Palestinian people, alongside other factions.”

“For over 100 years, the Palestinian national movement has opposed the existence of a Jewish state. The 7th of October was brutal but not extraordinary — it is part of a century-old ideology to eliminate Israel.

The interview took place on Bulgarian Radio, on August 12, 2025.

https://youtu.be/f50Am9872tw

Prof. Kobi Michael:The interest of Qatar is not only that Hamas remains in power in the Gaza Strip, but that Hamas will eventually become the hegemonic factor in the entire Palestinian arena. They are serving Hamas’s agenda and helping Hamas pave the way towards taking over the Palestinian Authority.

This effort is strongly supported by Turkey, which along with Qatar, is one of the biggest patrons of the Muslim Brotherhood movement. Turkey echoes the Hamas narrative, but it adds more layers that are originally Turkish, citing President Erdoğan’s comparisons of Israel to Nazi Germany. There is a well-oiled machine here. Hamas is the driving factor. The amplifying factor is Qatar and Turkey. And then if we go up another level, we see that there is a cognitive effort of the entire axis of resistance led by Iran.

Published in JNS, August 12, 2025.

Prof. Kobi Michael:Israel cannot end the war, in my view, where Hamas remains on its feet as an effective sovereign power or an organized military force in the Gaza Strip. Even if negotiations resume and lead to a limited hostage release and ceasefire, the core gaps between Israel and Hamas are unbridgeable. Without dismantling Hamas entirely, we will inevitably find ourselves back in another violent cycle. The only valid alternative is to occupy the entire Gaza Strip, dismantle Hamas, and establish a temporary military administration until an alternative governance can take control.

The full interview took place on ILTV, on August 10, 2025.

Meir Ben Shabbat: I assume there is a combination of considerations here — some related to foreign policy, others to domestic politics — but the basis is still the naive belief that a Palestinian state is the right way to solve the conflict.

From the perspective of French President Emmanuel Macron, the initiative itself is what matters, not its content or chances of success.
It’s doubtful whether he has considered the consequences this might have, even within the Palestinian camp itself.

Published in Fox News, August 09, 2025.

Prof. Kobi Michael: It looks like the government has already decided. They are going for full occupation of the Gaza Strip. The only real alternative was to go for an agreement on Hamas’s terms, which means to surrender.

Published in The Washington Free Beacon on August 8, 2025.

Prof. Kobi Michael: It might be considered a success but a very partial one, and certainly not a success without risks for the IDF. We must remember that, while service and equal service is an important value that should be shared by all sectors of Israeli society, including the ultra-Orthodox, we are talking here about a very isolated and unique unit, where there is more than one source of authority.

In every other IDF unit, there is a single, ultimate source of authority: the IDF and its commanding officers. Here, in addition to that, there is also a rabbinical source of authority. I think this creates a potential for future conflict.

Secondly, the unique characteristics of this brigade ultimately excluded women. That exclusion stands in contrast to another core value — the value of gender equality — which is not only central to the IDF, but to Israeli society as a whole.

At the end of the day, I am not sure this brigade will truly create a breakthrough in increasing the number of ultra-Orthodox recruits joining the military.

The full interview took place on Channel I24, on August 6, 2025.

https://youtu.be/bQ7cdXhUflE