You can make peace with an enemy, if the enemy abandons the idea of destroying you. That is the critical test. Democracies fail to understand what I just said.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHUThe seal was found right next to the Western Wall, and it dates back 2,700 years, to the time of King Hezekiah. Now, there’s a name of the Jewish official inscribed on the ring in Hebrew. His name was Netanyahu.
More Benjamin Netanyahu Quotes
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The Israeli government has proved over the past year its commitment to peace, both in words and deeds. By contrast, the Palestinians are posing preconditions for renewing the diplomatic process in a way they have not done over the course of 16 years.
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If Iran wants to be treated like a normal country, let it act like a normal country.
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So for Europeans we are like Belgiums in the Congo, or the French in Alger, or the British in India. Strange interlopers in somebody else’s land. But in fact, we [Israeli] have been here for 4,000 years. This is our ancestral homeland.
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Why are we talking about talking? Why negotiating about negotiating? It’s very simple. If you want to get to peace, put all your preconditions on the side, sit down opposite a table, not in a studio, by the way.
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There is a structural difference between the way that Europe views Israel, and America views Israel. The European view is informed by the importance of colonialism in Europe’s past.
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I often hear them accuse Israel of Judaizing Jerusalem. That’s like accusing America of Americanizing Washington, or the British of Anglicizing London. You know why we’re called ‘Jews’? Because we come from Judea.
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I want to tell you that Israel is a democracy and every citizen is automatically registered to vote. There’s a commitment in our declaration of independence, guaranteed under Israel’s law, that all our citizens, Arab and Jews, alike, have the right to vote.
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They’re trying to basically detour around peace negotiations by going to the U.N. and have the automatic majority in the U.N. General Assembly give them, give them a state.
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If diplomacy has any chance to work, it must be coupled with a credible military threat.
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I would say we want to stop the firing of rockets, for sure. But we also want to dismantle the terror – the tunnel – the terror tunnel networks that we have uncovered.
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The instability in the region is not a result of Israel and the Palestinians. That was never the cause of this instability. Instead, the disfunctionality of many of these societies that have failed to modernize.
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The entire world is focusing on the compromises that are necessary from Israel’s side. But people [in the world] are not focusing on the fact that the Palestinians refuse to make the necessary compromises that are required on their side for peace.
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Those in the international community that refuse to put red lines before Iran don’t have a moral right to place a red light before Israel.
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They’re in the red zone. They’re in the last 20 yards, and you can’t let them cross that goal line. You can’t let them score a touchdown, because that would have unbelievable consequences, grievous consequences for the peace and security of us all, of the world really.
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Hamas is firing at our cities, at our people, firing from these areas, from these homes, from these schools, from mosques, from hospitals. They are actually using them as weapon storage, as command posts and as firing positions, or right next to them.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU