"Burning holy places of worship is terror and it needs to be taken care of like terror, regardless of whether it was perpetrated for nationalistic, racial or religious motives. In order to deal with this problem – we must first acknowledge the seriousness of the problem."
--President Ruvi Rivlin reacts to the torching of a West Bank mosque by Jewish vandals.**

"...if we went in there, we would get stuck there."
--Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon explains why Israel chose not to topple Hamas.**

“From that day onward I have dedicated my life to this one and this only. To go from person to person and shout in the ears of everyone who will listen, and also those whose ears remain shut, that this situation is not an unchangeable decree of fate. Nowhere is it written that we have to go on dying and sacrificing our children eternally in this holy and hard land.”
--Rami Elhanan recalls the results of his first encounter with the Parents Circle Families Forum – Palestinian and Israeli Bereaved Families for Peace. **

“For a young Israeli man looking to express his manhood and maturity the path is open for combat service (in the IDF). There he can prove his courage and abilities and gain social recognition. For the young Muslim man, whether he is in Israel, Belgium or Yemen, this possibility does not exist.”
--Maariv military affairs analyst Alon Ben-David explains why a highly talented Muslim Israeli doctor, who was liked and appreciated by his colleagues, joined ISIS.**

 “Listen, Abu Mazen, you (Palestinians) aren’t a people and therefore there’s no genocide...To annihilate you as a rabble is a mitzvah, and it will ultimately be carried out..."
-- Facebook post by Prof. Hillel Weiss, a professor emeritus as Bar-Ilan University and also a teacher at Orot Israel College of Education. The university responded: “A call to kill people is un-Jewish and immoral.” **

“It's time to make it clear to the prime minister and his ministers: This is not a reality show, this is a reality. In reality, you have to show results."
-- Labor leader and Opposition Chairman Isaac Herzog slammed the new alliance between Ministers Yair Lapid and Tzipi Livni to advance the peace process with the Palestinians.**

“(President) Reuven Rivlin is lucky he’s a politician in Israel. Were he a politician in the United States, he’d be labelled an anti-Semite and likely forced from his job.”
--After Rivlin called Jewish Israeli society ‘sick’ earlier this week, Haaretz+ commentator Peter Beinart notes the double-standard allowing Jewish Israeli politicians to make criticism of Israel but not American politicians.**

"Instead of showing that it is attentive to the concerns of its allies, the government has actually chosen to accelerate construction and is ignoring the damage this move will cause Israel."

--Israeli NGO Ir Amim responds to the Israeli government plans to advance the construction of 1,600 new East Jerusalem housing units.**

"To enter Palestinian ghettos and get into conflicts with women and children is a recipe for killing women and children."
--Maariv commentator Ran Adelist blames the government for inciting E. Jerusalem to violence.**

"The crisis that erupted last week over the conversion bill demonstrated that the primary glue holding the coalition parties together is the fear of elections..."
--Haaretz Knesset reporter Jonathan Lis comments on the cabinet and the opening of the Knesset's Winter Session today.**