#israeli

Peace should provide security. It should be durable. I'm ready to go far in making painful concessions. But there is one thing I will never make any concessions on and that's the security of the Israeli citizens and the very existence of the state of Israel. The Palestinians are losing time. ↗

— Ariel Sharon

#citizens #concessions #durable #existence #far

Israel of the coastal plain, where eight out of ten Israeli Jews live far removed from the occupied territories, from the fiery Jerusalem, from the religious and nationalistic conflicts, is unknown to the outside world, almost unknown to itself. ↗

— Amos Oz

#coastal #conflicts #eight #far #fiery

Goldstone has done terrible damage to the cause of truth and justice and the rule of law. He has poisoned Jewish-Palestinian relations, undermined the courageous work of Israeli dissenters and—most unforgivably—increased the risk of another merciless IDF assault. ↗

— Norman G. Finkelstein

#dissent #gaza-war #goldstone-commission #human-rights #israel

All questions of right to one side, I have never been able to banish the queasy inner suspicion that Israel just did not look, or feel, either permanent or sustainable. I felt this when sitting in the old Ottoman courtyards of Jerusalem, and I felt it even more when I saw the hideous 'Fort Condo' settlements that had been thrown up around the city in order to give the opposite impression. If the statelet was only based on a narrow strip of the Mediterranean littoral (god having apparently ordered Moses to lead the Jews to one of the very few parts of the region with absolutely no oil at all), that would be bad enough. But in addition, it involved roosting on top of an ever-growing population that did not welcome the newcomers. ↗

— Christopher Hitchens

#israel #israeli-palestinian-conflict #jerusalem #jews #mediterranean-basin

We will stand up for our friends in the world. And one of the most important friends is the State of Israel. My administration will be steadfast in support Israel against terrorism and violence, and in seeking the peace for which all Israelis pray. ↗

— George W. Bush

#against #friends #important #israel #israelis

The State of Israel has faced obstacles and challenges to its very survival, with conventional military attacks leading the way to suicide bombers who have killed innocent Israeli men, women, and children. ↗

— Jerry Costello

#bombers #challenges #children #conventional #faced

I heard an Israeli speaking on Palestinian human rights issues, an interesting guy, and he said "There's no military solution to terrorism. If there were, Israel would be the safest place in the world. But there's no military solution." ↗

— Bradley Whitford

#heard #human #human rights #i #interesting

We must see what in the Israeli identity - in the Israeli - we can give to other people rather than speaking so often of taking, expanding territory. ↗

— A. B. Yehoshua

#give #identity #israeli #must #often

It's necessary for Israelis and Palestinians to make the compromises that are required to get the direct talks back on track. ↗

— William Hague

#compromises #direct #get #israelis #make

It is wrong to say the U.S. should "not take sides" in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. ↗

— Howard Berman

#israeli-palestinian #say #should #sides #take