Nobody does Israel any service by proclaiming its ‘right to exist.’ Israel’s right to exist, like that of the United States, Saudi Arabia and 152 other states, is axiomatic and unreserved.
ABBA EBANIf Algeria introduced a resolution declaring that the earth was flat and that Israel had flattened it, it would pass by a vote of 164 to 13 with 26 abstentions.
More Abba Eban Quotes
-
-
Zionism is nothing more, but also nothing less, than the Jewish People’s sense of origin and destination in the Land linked eternally with its name.
ABBA EBAN -
A nation writes its history in the image of its ideal.
ABBA EBAN -
A statesman who keeps his ear permanently glued to the ground will have neither elegance of posture nor flexibility of movement.
ABBA EBAN -
History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives.
ABBA EBAN -
A consensus means that everyone agrees to say collectively what no one believes individually.
ABBA EBAN -
Science is not a sacred cow. Science is a horse. Don’t worship it. Feed it. [Addressing a group of prospective contributors to an Israeli scientific research program]
ABBA EBAN -
Consensus is what many people say in chorus but do not believe as individuals.
ABBA EBAN -
Human beings act intelligently only after they have exhausted the alternatives
ABBA EBAN -
Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.
ABBA EBAN -
You can’t achieve anything without getting in someone’s way. You can’t be detached and effective.
ABBA EBAN -
If Algeria introduced a resolution declaring that the earth was flat and that Israel had flattened it, it would pass by a vote of 164 to 13 with 26 abstentions.
ABBA EBAN -
It is our experience that political leaders do not always mean the opposite of what they say.
ABBA EBAN -
I think that this is the first war in history that on the morrow the victors sued for peace and the vanquished called for unconditional surrender.
ABBA EBAN -
One of the chief tasks of any dialogue with the Gentile world is to prove that the distinction between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism is not a distinction at all.
ABBA EBAN -
Playing the game I have learned the meaning of humility. It has given me an understanding of futility of the human effort.
ABBA EBAN