Israel Insider with Ashley Perry

Description

In this week’s episode of Israel Insider, Middle East Forum senior fellow Ashley Perry breaks down the most consequential question now shaping Israel’s security and regional diplomacy: the uncertain path toward Phase Two of the Trump-brokered Israel to Hamas ceasefire.

As holiday quiet settles over Jerusalem, pressure is building behind the scenes. Perry examines the three unresolved pillars of the next phase , when it begins, what it actually entails, and who will enforce it , and explains why each remains deeply contested. Central to the debate is Hamas’s refusal to disarm, renewed talk of “decommissioning” weapons, and Israel’s insistence that real stability is impossible without the removal of Hamas’s military capabilities.

The episode also explores the growing international role in Gaza’s future, including questions over reconstruction funding, the prospect of foreign forces on the ground, and why Turkey’s ambitions in Gaza have emerged as a red line for Israel. Perry assesses Israel’s recent targeted strike against senior Hamas figure Ra’id Sa’ad, the friction it caused with Washington, and what it reveals about Israel’s operational freedom under the ceasefire.

On the domestic front, Perry analyzes year-end political maneuvering inside Israel’s governing coalition, ultra-Orthodox enlistment tensions, and why budget politics could determine Prime Minister Netanyahu’s political survival in the months ahead.

As always, the episode concludes with live audience questions and real-time analysis from Israel.

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