More Quotes
The US Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications, Ben Rhodes: “The President has said that the use of chemical weapons would change his calculus, and it has. Our decision making has already been guided by the April intelligence assessment and by the regime’s escalation of horrific violence against its citizens… the President has augmented the provision of non-lethal assistance to the civilian opposition, and also authorized the expansion of our assistance to the Supreme Military Council (SMC), and we will be consulting with Congress on these matters in the coming weeks…Put simply, the Assad regime should know that its actions have led us to increase the scope and scale of assistance that we provide to the opposition, including direct support to the SMC. These efforts will increase going forward.”
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “If Hezbollah is not a terrorist organization, I don’t know what a terrorist organization is, but it’s not just an Israeli problem. Hezbollah has murdered innocent civilians on European soil. And Europe cannot, must not, be indifferent to this.”
With Arab and Jewish #Israeli kids in #Jerusalem today to launch football co-existence project. @ukinisrael @FA pic.twitter.com/NhzxXEMBhj
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “The crumbling of the UN force on the Golan Heights underscores the fact that Israel cannot depend on international forces for its security. They can be part of the arrangements. They cannot be the basic foundation of Israel’s security.
I will also discuss this with US Secretary of State Kerry. I have spoken, and will speak, with him about this, and together we will try to advance a way to find an opening for negotiations with the Palestinians with the goal of reaching an agreement. This agreement will be based on a demilitarized Palestinian state that recognizes the Jewish state, and on solid security arrangements based on the IDF.”
US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki: “We’ve been very clear about our concerns over regional instability caused by the crisis in Syria. …We continue to call upon all parties to avoid any action that would jeopardize the long-held ceasefire between Israel and Syria…There are a lot of complicated issues around the Golan Heights … but any effort to take this fight out of Syria into neighboring areas is of concern to us, just as the influx of foreign fighters is of concern to us as well,”
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “We are listening to every initiative – the Arab initiative has been mentioned – and we are prepared to discuss initiatives that are proposals and not edicts.”