Asher Fredman discusses the complex geopolitical situation involving Saudi Arabia, Gaza, and other regional actors. He asserts that the Saudis are unhappy with the Qatari role in Gaza, understand Hamas’s true nature well, and want a new U.S.-led strategy to prevent Hamas from once again destabilizing the region.
The full interview took place on Channel I24, on October 23, 2025.
https://youtu.be/tZrIThP_SwE
prof. Kobi Michael: When you have a broad variety of countries participating in a peacekeeping force with different organizational cultures, different military doctrines and different interests, then it is almost impossible for the force to operate as a coherent unit.
There was little chance that ISF would be able to take on Hamas in any serious way. If the ISF operates in areas with no Hamas presence, they have a higher probability of succeeding. If they operate in areas where Hamas is present, they will fail immediately. They do not even have a slight chance to succeed.
The success of the ISF will largely be dependent on their collaboration with the IDF. Broad and consistent cooperation with the IDF will significantly ease the functioning of the ISF. If the cooperation is obstructed, then it will be very difficult for the ISF to do its mission because there will constantly be tension that will be exploited by Hamas to rebuild.
Published in JNS, October 23, 2025.
Prof. Kobi Michael acknowledged the American optimism and good will driving efforts to establish a “new regional architecture,” but emphasized that the idea of achieving peace with Hamas “does not necessarily correspond with reality.” He argued that Israelis “cannot” feel secure relying on the proposed International Stabilization Force (ISF), since “most peacekeeping operations have failed” worldwide and “not even a single peacekeeping operation here” has succeeded since the 1950s. Moreover, he described the ISF’s composition as “very problematic,” highlighting “an inherent tension between two axes”—the Turkish-Qatarian axis and the Egyptian-Saudi-American axis—which undermines cohesion and raises doubts about whether the force “might [not] be too effective.”
The full interview took place on Channel I24 on October 22, 2025.
Prof. Kobi Michael analyzes the highly fragile ceasefire situation, noting that Hamas has repeatedly violated the truce and rejected the full scope of the proposed peace plan, agreeing only to the initial stage of hostage release while refusing to disarm or leave the Gaza Strip. He argues that Israel must secure the continued commitment of President Trump and implement the plan’s stabilization measures in southern Gaza to build legitimacy for continuing the fight to dismantle Hamas in the north, while countering the adverse influence of supporters like Turkey and Qatar.
The full interview took place on Chai FM on October 21, 2025.
Prof. Kobi Michael described the situation as very fragile, noting that Israel must balance its desire for aggressive, heavy retaliation against Hamas violations with the need for restraint to secure the remaining hostages and implement President Trump’s peace plan.
He asserted that Hamas’s actions reflect its DNA, as they only agreed to the plan’s first phase and do not intend to demilitarize or dismantle, posing significant challenges for the implementation of the second and third phases. To succeed, Israel must combine military and diplomatic paths and focus on keeping President Trump supportive and focused on his plan through intimate channels, rather than taking his often incoherent public declarations too seriously.
The full interview took place on Channel I24 on October 20, 2025.
https://youtu.be/GKG1muerDH0
Prof. Kobi Michael:The plan can still work if political and security tracks advance together, anchored in the agreement’s enforcement tools. He points to Article 17—authorizing an International Stabilization Force and a transitional technocratic authority to administer areas without Hamas. Israel has to push in this direction. First to assure that President Trump remains in the picture, and second to establish the required legitimacy to resume the war against Hamas in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.”
At present, the legitimacy to escalate is brittle. “Hamas intends to remain there. They say very clearly that they will not dismantle themselves until a Palestinian state is established, and they will transfer their weapons only to that state’s army. What can be clearer than that?
The full interview will be published on Media Line on October 20, 2025.
Prof. Kobi Michael: All the manipulation that they are doing plays on the nerves of Israeli society, saying the terror group is making themselves as if they are not able… to find the bodies where everybody knows that they can.
They continue reconstituting themselves and attacking the IDF by using the tunnels, using the shafts going out, because they now feel much freer, because the IDF left the populated area.
The full interview took place on Fox News on October 19, 2025.
Noa Lazimi: The importance of this step must be understood against the backdrop of Qatar’s considerable investment in recent years in the modernization of its air force, as part of a comprehensive policy to strengthen its military capabilities.
“According to an in-depth monitoring report by MEMRI [Middle East Media Research Institute], about a decade ago, Doha’s air fleet consisted of only 12 fighter jets in total (of which 9 were operational). Today, following an accelerated strategy of armament, the fleet has been dramatically expanded due to purchases from the U.S. and a number of European countries.”
This expansion is not just in hardware but also in operational know-how, with Qatar gaining experience through multinational joint exercises, including air training with hostile countries like Turkey and Pakistan.
“This raises the fear that Qatar will serve as a bridge for transferring advanced Western technologies and tactics to elements hostile to Israel, such as Iran, Turkey, Pakistan, and others.
The full interview was published in JNS on October 17, 2025.
Prof. Kobi Michael discusses the severe challenges Israel faces in recovering the bodies of dead hostages, arguing that difficulties arise from geographical changes in Gaza and the manipulative actions of Hamas, which admitted access to bodies but uses them to create psychological pressure on Israeli society. He believes Israel possesses good intelligence regarding Hamas’s capacity and will use leverages and pressure from mediators to hold the organization accountable for the unrecovered bodies. Michael asserts that the war is still only in Phase One, expressing skepticism that Phase Two (disarming Hamas) will succeed because Hamas is actively reconstituting itself, recruiting thousands of militants, and demonstrating no intention to move towards demilitarization.
The full interview took place on ILTV on October 15, 2025.
Asher Fredman said that a visit of Indonesia’s president to Israel would be highly significant, highlighting Indonesia’s importance as a major Muslim and Asian power and U.S. ally, with great potential for cooperation in technology, agriculture, and critical minerals. He urged expanding the Abraham Accords amid current diplomatic momentum. Fredman warned that Hamas is regaining control in Gaza and that the Palestinian Authority is unlikely to meet the peace plan’s conditions. He stressed that any Gaza reconstruction efforts must be closely coordinated with Israel.
The interview took place on Channel I24 on October 13, 2025.
https://youtu.be/yjy4ObtHG-0