Yossi Beilin Quotations

What we need right now, urgently, is a coalition of sanity.

When there's a will by both sides, the final five weeks might be sufficient, ... I hope Palestinians and Israelis will be strong enough to get to the moment of truth, to the permanent solution, which is around the corner.

I wouldn't say that this was the main reason but if elections weren't happening, maybe the decision would have been different.

I believe we solve the whole question of the permanent agreement, and we are very close to it; it is actually around the corner.

But the room for maneuver for both leaderships is bigger than what they really think, and I think once they take brave decisions then they can convince their peoples to go along and to support them,

If anyone really wants to get prisoners released, the last thing he should do to encourage it is to continue with this process, because not one of us will countenance release of prisoners on the background of columns of smoke in the territories,

It is a golden opportunity when the American administration is ready to be so much involved and has invested so much in the peace process, ... I am still optimistic about getting the solution in the very near future.

I think if both of us, Palestinians and Israelis, cannot find our own solutions, nobody will help us.

We have no terms for dialogue, but we do have terms for negotiations.

What we have to do is leave Lebanon, and what the world has to do is threaten the Syrians. If they are behind any violent activity against us, they will be treated as a pariah state.

This time of bickering should be over, ... return immediately to the negotiating table without preconditions.

Two very important and delicate functions, swearing in judges and granting clemency, should not be fulfilled by the president himself in the near future, while he is under investigation by the police,

Today, when we're approaching the moment of truth, when courageous people have to make courageous decisions, ... it is a must that they will talk to each other and see whether it is possible to get to the permanent solutions and to touch all the delicate issues.

We want to form the widest government possible.

brings us closer to making peace within a time frame that is not long.

First of all, we did not sign any agreement. I think that we are patriots who are trying to save ourselves. This is more than legitimate.

There should never, ever be deadlines which become dead ends.

It would be possible to lead the opposition toward support of the government if it goes this way.

They are dangerous men and releasing them would be a big mistake,

I'm not sure if this is still realistic.

If there is no permanent settlement before May 1999, the Palestinians will have to declare unilaterally their own state because, otherwise, politically they are doomed.

close on everything: on the settlements, on the borders, on the refugees, and on Jerusalem.

But it doesn't mean if, God forbid, this opportunity is missed that we have to turn our backs to each other and say, 'Alas, there's no peace between us,'

How do I know that? He told me that. He said to me: 'You believe in peace, I don't believe we can have peace. For sure not in the foreseeable future, so I will go very very slowly'.