Israeli Quotes

On traveling through Morocco with a guide and sleeping in tents: "They knew that I am Israeli, and yet they still opened the doors of their houses for me, offering me tea. They all were nice and hospitable."

- Natalie Portman

Israel is a democracy; everyone can say what they would like to. But they are a very very small minority in Israeli public opinion.

- Silvan Shalom

I am an American Jew and aware of the sensitivities involved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

- Steven Spielberg

During an interview with Roger Ebert regarding his film Munich (2005) and the response from Jewish critics that claim it depicts Israeli and Palestinian causes as morally equivalent: Frankly, I think that`s a stupid charge. The people who attack the movie based on `moral equivalence` are some of the same people who say diplomacy itself is an exercise in `moral equivalence` and that war is the only answer. That the only way to fight terrorism is to dehumanize the terrorists by asking no questions about who they are and where they come from. What I believe is, every act of terrorism requires a strong response, but we must also pay attention to the causes. That`s why we have brains and the power to think passionately. Understanding does not require approval. Understanding is not the same as inaction. Understanding is a very muscular act. If I`m endorsing understanding and being attacked for that, then I am almost flattered.

- Steven Spielberg

It was about six months of brutal training, twice a day at the gym, a Navy Seal guy would come over to my house and take me to the firing range, firing live rounds down the range, primary and secondary weapons. Learning edge weapons training, one man military incursions, hand to hand combat, Filipino martial arts as well as Israeli martial arts. It was brutal. - On his physical training for The Punisher (2004).

- Thomas Jane

Extol Jewish virtue, modern Zionism and the Israeli Defense Forces.

- Geraldo Rivera

Perhaps areas of Israel where current large Palestinian populations and demographic realities exist could be exchanged for Israeli expansion into the West Bank to include most of East Jerusalem.

- Geraldo Rivera

My friends, there is no Palestinian-Israeli conflict. There is only the global war on terrorism.

- Tom DeLay

I believe that in the long run, separation between Israel and the Palestinians is the best solution for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

- Yitzhak Rabin

Noam was in the US back in the 80s as part of the Israeli consular delegation and he was a big mover and shaker.

- Tovah Feldshuh

Noam`s no fool. He is wonderfully creative and entrepreneurial for his theater... He has that wonderfully typical Israeli nature that anything is possible it just takes diligence and fortitude and brains and he`s got it all.

- Tovah Feldshuh

(The Palestinian National Authority, in a statement, accused Israeli forces of committing) another brutal crime, ... targeted and killed in cold blood, by the fire of the Israeli tanks.

- James Miller

I vow that if I was just an Israeli civilian and I met a Palestinian I would burn him and I would make him suffer before killing him.

- Ariel Sharon

Most recently, terrorist forces have captured Israeli soldiers and fired rockets into Israeli cities - both unprovoked. These acts of aggression deserve the rapid and decisive response they received.

- John Boehner

It doesn`t serve an American interest. It really doesn`t really serve Israeli interests - it serves the interests of the political party that`s getting the votes of the settlers on the West Bank.

- Chris Matthews

Tomorrow, Monday, September 12, 2005, the Israeli army`s 38-year presence in the Gaza Strip will come to an end, ... We are leaving with our heads high.

- Dan Williams

Iran has long sponsored terrorists who carry out homicide bombings in Israeli cities. However, it is a mistake to believe the danger Iran poses is directed at Israel alone.

- John Doolittle

Many of the Europeans who want Israel to go away don`t even know why they do. Nearly a third of those interviewed concede they have no idea what the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is all about. It`s enough to know that Israelis are Jews.

- Suzanne Fields

Hezbollah`s contempt for human suffering is total, as it showed once again this morning when its rockets murdered two Israeli Arab children in Nazareth.

- Tom Lantos

I have seen for the first time in 100 years of conflict, the two peoples - the Israeli people and the Palestinian people - are ahead of their leaderships.

- Amos Oz

And in this respect, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been a tragedy, a clash between one very powerful, very convincing, very painful claim over this land and another no less powerful, no less convincing claim.

- Amos Oz

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

The Arab-Israeli conflict is also in many ways a conflict about status: it`s a war between two peoples who feel deeply humiliated by the other, who want the other to respect them. Battles over status can be even more intractable than those over land or water or oil.

- Alain de Botton

Moreover, resolving the mother of all problems - the Israeli-Palestinian question - requires cooperation between Europe and the U.S.

- Romano Prodi

Unprovoked attacks on Israel`s borders, murdering Israeli soldiers, taking Israeli hostages and showering rockets targeting and killing Israeli civilians are not furthering any legitimate goal.

- Aiko Uemura

Though public pronouncements of Israeli officials emphasize peace and mutuality, unilateralism actually drives Israeli actions.

- Alasdair Haynes

But with regards to Hezbollah, we are in a state of confrontation with Israeli occupiers and the battle is not over yet. It is still going on.

- Alexander Liberman

You can look at the West Bank. Cities are like prisons. They can be closed quickly by the Israeli forces, and everything stops in these cities. This is the result of Oslo.

- Alexander Liberman

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

- Alexandre Vasarhelyi

Israeli Arabs have more political rights than any other Arabs in the Middle East, including their compatriots in the Palestinian Authority.

- Alfred Chan

When Arab apologists wring their hands over an Israeli military incursion, they never mention what the Israelis are reacting to, or else diminish and distort it.

- Alfred Chan

For decades, the violence in the Middle East has claimed a multitude of innocent civilian victims: Men, women and children, Arab and Israeli.

- Alireza Jafarzadeh

For example, in my own State of Arizona, an Israeli scientist is working with an Arizona company on a demonstration project involving a very fast-growing algae which can be used to power a biomass energy plan.

- Allan Collins

Public interest in most of the Middle East was slight at that time; the Arab-Israeli conflict was all that people were interested in and that was not my specialty.

- Allen Alley

And on the other hand, we see that the Israeli government is attacking that part of the Palestinian leader.

- Amy McConnell

On the other hand, we have in Israel, an Israeli government which has been elected by the Israeli people. Their political agenda is not for peace. They are from the camp anti-peace.

- Amy McConnell

It is obvious that putting the Arab-Israeli dispute on a resolution track would be an important element of overcoming the confidence problem in the region.

- Amy Popp

Hamas is responsible for countless homicide bombings that have killed hundreds of Israeli citizens. They have waged a terror war with the sole intent of murdering innocent people.

- Andrew Jarvis

Jonathan more than qualifies on all levels for Prisoner of Zion status. It`s time for the Israeli government to actually do something positive to bring my husband home.

- Andy Landers

If they don`t give my husband, who is recognized as a bona fide Israeli agent, special status now and fight for his release, they will be sending a clear message to all who are working in Israeli intelligence that if you get caught, you`re on your own.

- Andy Landers

We don`t want them to leave behind anything that will remind of us of the Israeli occupation,

- Angela Walter

The president has said for quite a while now that we support European diplomacy, and we`ve been giving full backing to that effort. In the interview with Israeli radio, he was merely reiterating the government`s position. Our policy hasn`t changed.

- Ann Fisher

The escalation that has occurred is because (Palestinian Authority President Yasser) Arafat gave a green light to a variety of Palestinian organizations ... to attack Israeli targets.

- Antoine Rivarol

I think today`s the day of tremendous national anguish. Many people thought this whole process would polarize Israeli society because that seemed to be the environment here leading up to the national disengagement effort.

- Antoine Rivarol

He indicated it was a very difficult decision and stressed the pragmatic nature of what the Israeli army is trying to do by consolidating its resources. I don`t think there was any unrealistic sense of optimism because the Palestinians have done nothing to combat terrorism.

- Antonio Gonzalez

Among the really difficult problems of the world, (the Arab-Israeli conflict is) one of the simplest and most manageable.

- Barron Boyd

"For the time being, I`m not leaving the United States, but in recent years there`s been an emergence of the Israeli voice in art after years of attempts to imitate the American and British method. Not only is it interesting, it`s the only way it will be successful, because Los Angeles draws talent from other places in the world. In this sense, Israel is more intriguing than Los Angeles. Movies like `Beaufort` and `Waltz with Bashir` have a language that`s unique to the place they come from, and I`m certain that if the filmmakers so desire, they`ll get offers from Los Angeles."

- Jonah Lotan