Israel’s Ambassador to Japan Expresses Expectations for Trump, Including Ceasefire; Says Israel is Monitoring Syria Situation

By Tomoo Furuta / Japan News Staff Writer

21:00 JST, January 8, 2025

Israeli Ambassador to Japan Gilad Cohen expressed his expectations for U.S President-elect Donald Trump and said the incoming administration would advance efforts to achieve a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and bring peace to the Middle East, during an interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun and The Japan News, on Wednesday.

“I believe that President Trump will advance the efforts to have a ceasefire to end the war and to bring peace to the Middle East. I hope that he’s going to bring to the world more defending or more standing for democracy,” Cohen said at The Yomiuri Shimbun’s headquarters in Tokyo.

Cohen also said that Trump would work to isolate the “terrorists and the supporters of terrorists like Iran,” instead standing against “the desires of Iran to become a nuclear power and to send terrorists long range missiles and destabilize the Middle East.”

The ambassador also highlighted the importance of improving the humanitarian situation in Gaza, saying, “Israel is doing everything we can in order to make sure that the people of Gaza do not starve [and] have their food, medicine, whatever.” On the other hand, he emphasized that Israel would call on the international community for alternatives to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) so that the country would be able to work with international aid agencies that are not “infiltrated by terrorism.”

On Syria, Cohen said that the Israeli government would continue to carefully monitor the situation following the fall of the Assad regime, as Syria’s new leadership had a history of connections to al-Qaida.

Regarding Japan, the ambassador said: “You can contribute to peace by investing in the Palestinian economy. There is no problem to invest in industry, in good things, in water purification, in monitoring education for peace.”