“Iranian leaders hold deeply offensive views of Jews, but any look at the history of the Islamic Republic doesn’t show that they are willing to risk national suicide to achieve the destruction of Israel,” writes FMEP President Matthew Duss.

“It’s time for Clinton to clarify her positions on Israel and Palestine,” writes Gershom Gorenberg.

From his spartan room in the Maghazi refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, 18-year-old Abdalla al-Haddad could glimpse a narrow chance at a better life: it was less than a mile and a 3-1/2-metre fence away. So on a chilly night in February, he and a friend made a dash for it, scrambling over the heavily secured steel and wire barrier that separates Gaza from Israel.

“There is no doubt that Operation Protective Edge created effective deterrence, but Israel must also create a positive incentive for Hamas to maintain a long-term calm,” writes Israeli major-general Giora Eiland.

A spokesperson for several military wings of Palestinian factions in Gaza said Friday that the armed groups “will not allow” the continuation of Israel’s policy of avoiding its duties following the ceasefire agreement.

“France has long understood that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejects its UN initiative, but has only recently realized that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is no longer a part of the solution, but part of the problem,” writes Akiva Eldar.

The Palestinian Authority on Thursday recalled its ambassador to Chile over a speech in which the diplomat cited from a notorious anti-Semitic text.

Only a third of the Israeli general public are interested in a unity government between Likud and the ‘Zionist Union.’

Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom, who is responsible for peace negotiations with the Palestinians, on Thursday rejected outright the peace initiative drafted by Saudi Arabia and backed by the Arab League as a blueprint for a possible agreement.

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan says network not allowed to broadcast anywhere within Israel for 6 months.

“By sentencing Palestinians convicted of murder to death, the Israeli Right will only bring the mutual cruelty between Jews and Palestinians to another level,” writes Noam Sheizaf.