Trump, Netanyahu Share Vision for Iran and Gaza, July 2025
Before a White House dinner, President Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talk about Gaza, Iran, Syria and Middle East peace.
Assembled here are key sources that have shaped the modern Middle East, Zionism and Israel. We have included items that give texture, perspective and opinion to historical context. Many of these sources are mentioned in the Era summaries and contain explanatory introductions.
President Trump’s Speech on U.S. Airstrikes on Iranian Nuclear Facilities
President Trump announces precision U.S. airstrikes on Iran’s key nuclear sites, citing Iran’s four-decade-long hatred of the U.S. and killing of Americans and others. He thanks the U.S. military, the Israeli military and Prime Minister Netanyahu, warning Iran to pursue peace because more targets remain.
“We Will Always Be Friends” — President Trump in Saudi Arabia, May 2025
May 13, 2025 President Donald Trump’s address laying out a vision for Middle East peace and prosperity and ending sanctions on Syria at the 2025 Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, https://www.youtube.com/live/wj1QOz3iuCE?si=qQRR2GcqZhtt1F5o Well, thank…
President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu Meet in Washington, April 2025
April 7, 2025 Source: Press conference during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the White House and President Donald Trump, as broadcast by C-SPAN, April 7, 2025. U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan for new tariffs…
Emergency Arab League Communique — Declaration on Gaza and the Palestinians, March 2025
Meeting in Cairo in early March 2025, the Arab League of States endorsed an Egyptian plan for the reconstruction of Gaza that was, above all else, a cleverly worded statement. The contents did not break new diplomatic ground and made no mention of Hamas or its political future. As a consensus document, it aimed at satisfying as many Arab interests and foreign ears as possible.
Jordan’s Abdullah Sees Middle East “Finish Line” From Trump White House, 2025
Abdullah II remains studiously noncommittal in support of Donald Trump’s idea for the U.S. to take over the Gaza Strip, rebuild it and relocate its Palestinian residents to other countries. With Jordan’s strong economic, strategic and defense ties to Washington, no one expected the king to be effusive for Trump’s suggestions for Gaza’s future. Jordan lacks the economic and demographic absorptive capacities and the political interest to take another wave of Palestinians into its territory.
Remarks by President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu, White House, February 2025
February 4, 2025 Trump Unveils Plan for U.S. Takeover of Gaza In President Donald Trump’s first meeting at the White House with a foreign leader in his second term, he welcomed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin…
Hamas-Israel January 2025 Cease-Fire — Commentary and Implications
The details of the three-stage Hamas-Israel cease-fire that went into effect January 19, 2025, along with unanswered questions, insightful analyses and the relevant U.N. resolution from June 2024.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Speech to the U.N. General Assembly, September 2024
The essence of Netanyahu’s speech was to eliminate Hezbollah as a fighting force in Lebanon. He intoned, “Don’t let Nasrallah drag Lebanon into the abyss. We’re not at war with you. We’re at war with Hezbollah, which has hijacked your country and threatens to…”
Prime Minister Netanyahu Addresses Congress on Hamas War, 2024
In a 52 minute speech, Netanyahu explained Israel’s absolute need for total victory in the Gaza war because Hamas and Iran were both enemies of the United States and Israel. With bi-partisan emphasis, he thanked Presidents Biden and Trump for their unwavering current and past support. Dozens of congressional members did not attend his speech, noting disagreements with the Prime Minister’s policies.
IDF Inquiry Determines Military Failed in Mission at Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7
The inquiry team determined that the IDF failed in its mission to protect the residents of Kibbutz Be’eri; the bravery of the Be’eri residents and the members of the kibbutz’s civilian rapid response team are commended for preventing the attack from spreading. In the October 7, 2024 Hamas attack on the kibbutz, 101 civilians were killed, and 30 hostages from Kibbutz Be’eri and two additional hostages were abducted and taken into Gaza.
Schumer Identifies 4 Obstacles to Ending Hamas-Israel War
In presenting four obstacles in the way of ending the Hamas-Israel War, Schumer omits six basic obstacles that remain in the negotiating pathway to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Netanyahu Government’s Administrative Horizon for Postwar Gaza, February 2024
Israeli Prime minister provides minimal detail for the Gaza Strip’s post war civilian restructuring, focusing entirely on immediate and long term Israeli security needs with no imposed Palestinian state nor international negotiating intervention acceptable.
President Joe Biden’s Recommitment to Israel and Ukraine, November 2023
President Biden reaffirmed the iron-clad US commitment to Israel’s security and to eradicate the murderous nihilism of Hamas. He advocated for two states for two peoples; he committed his administration to facilitate that outcome.
International Voices Urging the Recognition of Hamas as a Legitimate Political Actor, 2003-2018
These remarks by public figures, writers, scholars, authors, and former diplomats are a partial list covering the period, 2003 – 2018. No Arab or Israeli sources are cited. A separate blog that focuses only on former President Jimmy Carter may be found here.
Jimmy Carter’s Hamas Decade of Embrace
Former US President Jimmy Carter embraced Hamas as a legitimate voice of the Palestinian people. His motivations possibly stretched from intentional to misguided to malevolent. Hamas leaders who were engaged in inter-Palestinian struggles remained pleased with the recognition he gave them. American officials and Israelis were keenly perturbed by the courtship he gave them.
President Biden Unequivocally Condemns Hamas, Supports Israel, October-November 2023
In the aftermath of the horrific Hamas attack on Israelis where Hamas terrorists murdered more than a thousand Israelis and more than two dozen Americans, and others in southern Israel, in half a dozen speeches, President Biden unequivocally categorizes Hamas’s brutality as ‘pure unadulterated evil.’ He reiterates that the US will “stand with Israel.” He punctuates his support of Israel by sending two aircraft carrier groups to the Middle East, and his administration provides Israel with needed military supplies.
Yahya Sinwar, Hamas Leader in Gaza, Seeks Israel’s Eradication, Thanks Iran — His Own Words
“We support the eradication of Israel through armed Jihad and struggle. This is our doctrine. The occupation must be swept [away] from all our land.” May 26, 2021, speech on Al Jazeera, https://www.memri.org/tv/hamas-leader-gaza-yahya-sinwar-we-have-500-km-of-tunnels-in-gaza “Our complete…
Hamas: A Document of General Principles and Policies, 2017
The general principles are restated as they are in the 1988 founding Hamas Charter, jihad is the means to liberate Palestine, with an important notable addition, that these principles include ‘no recognition of the Zionist entity,’ for their point of view a terrible PLO recognition in September 1993. This document also restated the Palestinian right of return to all of Palestine defined as from the Jordan River on the east to the Mediterranean Sea.
U.N. Security Council Resolution 1860 on Gaza Fighting, 2009
Following two weeks of Israeli-Hamas fighting, it calls for a cease-fire, and for a “lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by peaceful means.” The Hamas-Israeli war occurs again in 2013-2014.
Hamas Doctrine: Detest Israel, Part 3 — Hamas Principles for the Liberation of Palestine and Jihad Against Zionism
Just as al-Qaeda seeks the total destruction of western democracies, Hamas seeks Israel’s total demise. Since its inception in 1988, Hamas has been crystal clear about its opposition to Zionism and Israel.
Hamas Doctrine: Detest Israel, Part 2 — On Israel and Israel’s Illegitimacy
As it has in the past Hamas may accept a tahdi’a or calming down of tensions, or even a temporary truce or hudna, negotiated by a third party, but for it to accept Israel as a reality is totally contrary to its ideological outlook.
Hamas Doctrine: Detest Israel, Part 1
Hamas has opposed all agreements and cooperation which either the PLO or the Palestinian Authority have signed with Israel. “Hamas will never recognize Israel. This is a red line that cannot be crossed.
Hamas’ Political Thought in Light of the Arab Spring, 2012
In a major speech, Khalid Mishaal, the Chief of the Political Bureau of Hamas presents the organization’s vision for liberation of all of Palestine, stating that it is national duty through Jihad and armed resistance. “Palestine, from its river to its sea, from its north to its south, is the land of the Palestinians; their homeland, and their legitimate right. We will not, in any way, recognize the legitimacy of the occupation. We do not recognize the legitimacy of the Israeli occupation of Palestine, in any way.
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