Ehud Olmert Quotations

I'm not in power, but my ideas are in power. And my ideas will prevail.

There is a Western world. There is America. There is Great Britain and Germany and France and Russia and China and other nations. I doubt that there is one country amongst those I mentioned which has a desire to see Iran, with its fundamentalist, Islamic, extremist government, possessing nuclear weapons.

Political leaders can help change the psychological climate which affects the quality of relationships among people.

I don't know that there is one serious American representative that will advise Israel to sit with a terrorist government and negotiate with them.

I was not born to be prime minister, and I'm not going to stay here until the end of my life. I'm too young for that.

Look, miracles in the Middle East are a reality.

The military operation in Lebanon was the most successful military operation in recent Israeli history. Many in Israel don't recognise that.

When the President of Iran talks about removing Israel from the face of the Earth and is building nuclear bombs with a range of 3000km, you have to be worried.

How are fears born? They are born because of differences in tradition and history; they are born because of differences in emotional, political and national circumstances. Because of such differences, people fear they cannot live together.

It is important that democracy in Lebanon is protected and that Hezbollah will not be supported by outside forces like Syria and Iran.

A prime minister has to keep a certain balance when dealing with sensitive issues.

A prime minister must not promise things that can't be fulfilled.

Israel always has to be in a position to defend itself against any adversary and against any threat of any kind.

Every prime minister ... has the responsibility to provide security for his people.

I think the attempt to draw a comparison between Iran and Syria is false, misleading and dangerous.

In Israel we tend to be carried away by our emotions.

Iran is a major threat to the well-being of Europe and America just as much as it is for the state of Israel.

When you fight for the impossible, sometimes you lose everything.

I am focused on what needs to be done for the people of Israel. Period. I do not pity myself and I do not pat myself on the shoulder. I get up in the morning full of energy to fulfill my mission.

Growing up in Israel, how can I not be an optimist? When you remember what Israel was 50 years ago and you see Israel now, one of the most successful countries in the world, stable, democratic, with an enormously stable economy despite everything that has happened in the global economy in the last few years, how can I not be an optimist?

I never thought that Syria and Israel should engage in a violent confrontation because I don't think that there is any particular interest for any of us to do it.

I sometimes feel tired. But there are so many reasons for being tired.

For me to propose a division of Jerusalem was really terrible. I did it because I reached a conclusion that without which there will not be peace.

I have to think about the possible ramifications of an early retirement.

My doctors say I am very healthy.

Iran is an anti-Semitic, terrorist government.

There is nothing that I'd love to do more than negotiate with Palestinians. This is my desire. This is my dream. This is my mission.

There is no ceasefire. There will not be any ceasefire.

I know the war in Iraq is controversial in the States, but for us in the Middle East it has made a great and significant impact.

Who thinks seriously that if we sit on another hilltop, on another hundred meters, that this is what will make the difference for the state of Israel's basic security?

I love my country more than anything else.

Every prime minister... has the responsibility to provide security for his people.

If the day comes when the two-state solution collapses, and we face a South African-style struggle for equal voting rights (also for the Palestinians in the territories), then, as soon as that happens, the State of Israel is finished,

Israeli lives are worth more than Palestinian ones.

Peace is important for Israel.

Leadership is tested not by one's capacity to survive politically but by the ability to make tough decisions in trying times.

The Palestinians are facing a historic junction at which they will have to decide whether they want to remain stuck in a corner of extreme fundamentalism, which will cut them off from the entire world, or whether they are ready to take the necessary steps. My role is to assist in building this process.

There were certain people who were out to get me. I know who those people were. They exist, believe me. They know that I know. They spent millions of dollars in order to try to get rid of me. I'm happy they lost most of their money.

We are tired of fighting, we are tired of being courageous, we are tired of winning, we are tired of defeating our enemies, we want that we will be able to live in an entirely different environment of relations with our enemies.

Disengagement is a response to certain demographic realities, .. Within a few years, due to the higher Arab birth rate, Jews will become a minority in the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. I don't want [Israel] to be South Africa because we don't believe in apartheid. We simply have to separate from the Palestinians so that we can control our own destinies.

The formula for the parameters of a unilateral solution are: To maximize the number of Jews; to minimize the number of Palestinians; not to withdraw to the 1967 border and not to divide Jerusalem.

I want to arrive at the possibility of peace with the Syrians, and when I believe that the conditions are right, I will not miss the opportunity.

Israel will not tolerate a situation in which Iran has effective control of non-conventional weapons that can be used directly against the state of Israel.

I know I'm unpopular.

We can never totally return to the indefensible pre-1967 borders, ... We simply cannot afford to make Israel 14.48 km (9 miles) wide again at its center. We can't allow the Palestinians to be a couple of [miles] from [Tel Aviv's] Ben-Gurion Airport in the age of shoulder-fire missiles with the capacity to shoot down jumbo jets. But that doesn't mean we must remain in every corner of the West Bank or in Gaza, where fewer than 10,000 Jews, living next to 1.3 million Palestinians, have been protected by twice as many soldiers.

I dont know that there is one serious American representative that will advise Israel to sit with a terrorist government and negotiate with them.

I don't want to block every contact with the Palestinians, I think that would be a mistake, and I think that Abu Mazen has an independent status as democratically elected head of the Palestinian people, and it's important if I will talk with him.

For thousands of years, we Jews have been nourished and sustained by a yearning for our historic land. I, like many others, was raised with a deep conviction that the day would never come when we would have to relinquish parts of the land of our forefathers. I believed and to this day still believe in our people's eternal and historic right to this entire land.

One should judge the deeds and not the declarations. We have to wait and see if the new Cabinet will, in fact, be sworn in and how it will act, taking into account Arafat's staunch resistance to it and his capacity to undermine any process of reform.

Of course it is very nice that she wants to help. But given that it does correspond to the law on aid during an election period, there is a question that must be checked as to whether this is the period,

I have faith in his judgment and in his sense of responsibility.

If after a reasonable time passes it becomes clear that the PA (Palestinian Authority) is not willing to accept these principles, we will need to begin to act.

Today, Israeli democracy has spoken its piece, in a loud and clear voice.

History has proven that when the people of Israel unite under a serious and responsible leadership, we know how to overcome all challenges and overcome all obstacles.

He's fighting for his life, and we are fighting for his way. We are carrying his flag, the one he carried in his political life, and we'll carry it forward to victory!

We must go forward as quickly as possible. The decisions which we are taking will enable us to complete the security barrier as quickly as possible so that we can best prevent terrorist attacks.

I think there is an opportunity now that never existed before. This is due to a combination of public opinion in Israel, my commitment and the understanding and hopefully future support of President George W. Bush.

I think there was a decision to freeze it,

Otherwise there can be no progress with an administration in which there are terrorist organizations as members.

I will very much try to ensure the formation process is calm.

We clarified that without a clear abandonment of the path of terror, a recognition of Israel's right to exist in security and peace ... Israel won't have any contact with the Palestinians.

We had hoped to celebrate the Israeli democracy today in a different atmosphere, and now we are again forced to cope with murderous terror. The government of Israel will do what must be done in order to deal with the terrorists and those who dispatch them.

We are happy to announce that immediately after the president empowers me to put together a government we will start coalition talks ... to establish as quickly a possible a government with the Labor Party as the senior partner.

We're under pressure because we haven't reached the point where we can form a stable government yet.

The question of who will win the elections has already been decided. The test now is whether we will be strong enough to do what we want and for this we need as many seats as possible.

We cannot continue to control areas of the territories where most of the Palestinians live.

We will use an iron fist against any attempt to renew terrorist action. We will use drastic measures on all the roads, in all sensitive areas.

We will use an iron fist against any attempt to renew terror activity anywhere.

We do not take it lightly. We are powerful and able to defend ourselves.

Bibi wants to destroy everything for his own personal interests.

Bibi Netanyahu has set himself up as the head of the extreme right wing,

And there was a soldier with a gun that just caught him in time to kill him before he was continuing his shooting.

First of all I will talk to (U.S.) President (George W.) Bush.

Israel's strength will allow it to face the situation. We will carry on running the country and pray for good news from the hospital.

There won't remain a single Jew that we will need to defend beyond the fence.

I very much hope that today's decision will be in effect for just a short period. I hope ... we will be able to bring a new government to parliament for approval as quickly as possible.

put Israel back into international isolation ... and cause friction with the United States -- our great friend -- and hostility with Europe.

This is a difficult situation that we are not accustomed to.

There will be no reverse in this decision, ... The Orient House has become a symbol of provocations, of almost endless activities against the law of Israel and against the status of Israel in the united city of Jerusalem and as such it had to be closed.

It was a terrorist with a gun shooting at the clients of the garages in this section of town, wounding some,

It is time for the Palestinians to take measures to stop terror,

It's right that in certain polls there has been a little downturn, but I am sure that no one doubts who will form the next government.

The new government will face complex challenges ... I believe it will be sworn in.

Anyone involved in planning terror attacks will be a legitimate target for liquidation.

The fence will continue being built and we will go on taking care of the security of Israel's citizens,

I'm saying those things here and now out of a belief in the State of Israel's immense power and the immeasurable courage of its soldiers, military leaders, and security forces to hit any enemy and defeat any terrorist. Out of this sense of strength we must act with all our power in order to create hope for a different life for our young generation and that of our Palestinian neighbors.

I had the feeling that as a soldier I didn't do what I thought I had it in me to do, and wanted to do.

If the Palestinians agree to act soon, we will sit at the negotiating table in order to create a new reality ... . If they do not, Israel will take its fate into its own hands.

If our expected partners in the negotiations in the framework of the road map do not uphold their commitments, we will preserve the Israeli interest in every way.

In the coming period, we will move to set the final borders of the state of Israel, a Jewish state with a Jewish majority. We will try to achieve this in an agreement with the Palestinians.

The importance is the court made it legal for a fence beyond the Green Line and decided the World Court ruling is not binding,

The direction is clear: We are headed toward a separation from the Palestinians. We are headed toward the determination of a permanent border for the state of Israel. We will protect Jerusalem's unity. We will hold onto the main settlement blocs. But the borders we have in mind are not those Israel has today.

The main challenge is still ahead for him, ... Will he fight against the terrorists? Will he try to stop this bloody, violent war against the state of Israel? This is the main question. This is what interests us.