"The reality is that your government has made the situation very difficult for anyone who asks questions. And that's a very dangerous thing. For any society is is very dangerous."
--Actor Richard Gere explains in an interview with Yedioth why he won't be visiting Israel anytime soon.*

Quote of the Day #2:
"...What we saw in the Knesset on Wednesday night launched a new chapter in the disintegration of Israeli democracy. The newborn Knesset chose to commit suicide solely because of one man's personal caprice. On the one hand, this is utterly shocking; on the other, it is spectacular. The man is fighting for his power, his position, his freedom. Like a fly that refuses to drown in cream, Netanyahu kicked his legs more and more until the cream became butter."
--Yedioth's top political commentator, Nahum Barnea, on Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's desperate attempts to form a coalition before Wednesday night's deadline and what he did when he failed.**

"Which democracy exactly are you fighting for? A democracy in which five million people are being held under military rule? One where almost no new Arab communities have been built in 70 years and where there is an ongoing attempt to prevent the representation of 20% of its citizens? Perhaps it is a democracy in which lands are divided according to ethnic criteria and after 70 years of dispossession, where senior citizens are thrown out of their homes without an alternative and without compensation?"
--Yedioth reporter Tamar Kaplansky blasts the people who demonstrated Saturday night against the 'end of democracy.'*

“I have to ask: What has changed during this period?"
--Israeli Chief Justice Esther Hayut said after quoting Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who said in 2017: “One thing that does not change — and should not change — is the need for a strong, independent, honest and impartial court. That has not changed, and it will not change either.”*

“I will tell them about myself, I’ll listen to them, and I’ll tell them - let’s live together in peace.”
--Mika Cohen, 15, from a moshav near the Gaza Strip, has hopes for her meeting with Arab youth at an international leadership conference in New York.*

"Everyone (almost) thinks Israel needn’t seek a peace accord in the foreseeable future; everyone (almost) is sure there’s no partner. Everyone (almost) supports hawkishness toward Iran and harsh blows in Gaza, believes Europe is anti-Semitic and admires Donald Trump."
--Commentator Rami Livni writes that in contrast to the popular belief that Israeli society is divided, the differences between Israelis are actually shrinking.*

"It's called poetic justice."
--Commentator Ron Kahlili writes that he has no empathy for senior Likud MK Gideon Saar, whose daughter is being derided for dating an Arab-Israeli, because Saar never condemned the years of incitement against Arabs from the government and leader of his party.*

You Must Be Kidding: 
Settlers were filmed Friday throwing rocks at Palestinians near Asira al-Qibliya, a West Bank village close to the settlement of Yitzhar, as Israeli troops watched without intervening.**

“In Israel, we do science the way we drive…A stop sign for us is hardly a recommendation. Also a red light. On the road, that’s dangerous. In the laboratory, it's fantastic. That's exactly what you want as a scientist. Let there be no limits. Everything is possible. That you can do it. You know best. Most of the time it fails. But in the moment that it works, it does not look like anything seen before. That amazing moment in the lab, when you know you did something that nobody did before, is worth it. So we probably won’t build a Mercedes, but we will invent Waze and Mobileye and Copaxone and the disk-on-key and sell them. It’s a matter of personality.”
-- Prof. Daniel Zajfman, the outgoing president of the Weizmann Institute, in a fascinating interview.*

“To be a sucker is the worst affront an Israeli can experience, and because the state’s attitude toward its citizens renders them suckers by definition – the security situation is fraught, government corruption is rampant, taxes are high and the quid pro quo is low – in interpersonal relations we are in no way willing to be suckers.”
--Israeli culinary anthropologist, Prof. Nir Avieli, speaks about how Israeli society can be understood through its preference for larger meals over quality ones at restaurants.*

“The safeguarding of...judges’ independence is therefore one of the cornerstones of every democratic regime.”
--High Court Justice Esther Hayut broke her silence and responded to the reported plans by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to curtail the authority of the High Court.*