They say in the Middle East a pessimist is simply an optimist with experience.
Ehud Barak
History never repeats itself in the same way.
I delivered lectures, and I was also a consultant for international companies in finance, both private equity and big venture capital funds.
The Syrian rebels, weakened by infighting, have also been victims of the growing rift between the U.S. and its closest Arab allies.
I hope any government formed in Egypt will understand there is no choice but to maintain the framework of international agreements, which include the peace agreement with Israel.
Since the Six-Day War, the whole world, which is the real arena of battle between us and the Palestinians, believes that Israel is right in regard to procedure, namely problems and disputes should be solved around the negotiating table.
I cannot penetrate the soul of Arafat. I cannot know in advance whether, behind all the masks, he's the kind of leader who can reach an agreement or whether he wants to be the Moses of the Palestinians, staying in front of the river and not crossing into the promised land.
When an army doesn't want to fight, you don't need much experience to win.
ISIS has never fought a real battle.
I'm no wealthier than Bibi Netanyahu or Arik Sharon. I don't feel that I'm more hedonistic than Ehud Olmert, or Yitzhak Rabin or Shimon Peres.
As long as in this territory west of the Jordan river there is only one political entity called Israel, it is going to be either non-Jewish or non-democratic. If this bloc of millions of Palestinians cannot vote, that will be an apartheid state.
I believe President Obama means everything he says about sticking to the unprecedented backing of Israel and keeping all options on the table against Tehran, as well as countering its adventures in Syria, Yemen, and Iraq.
I am confident the Obama administration will work professionally with any Israeli government.
It's the role of a government to defend its soldiers and its citizens.
There is a need to accept a limited disruption of civil liberties in order to penetrate terror.
There is no entity in the world that will dare attack Israel with chemical weapons.
I'm in the government to make sure that if there's an opportunity to make peace, it won't be missed.
I do not believe the efforts of the international community to stop Iran's nuclear program will bear fruit.
War is no picnic. Wars should be prevented, and if you can't prevent them, you have to put them off.
Either we destroy world terror or world terror will destroy us.
I'm such a failed politician that all of my rivals have disappeared, on both sides.
There is a thin line between peace of the brave and peace of the hostage... between compromise - even calculated risk - and irresponsibility and capitulation.
If Israel does not find the way to disengage from the Palestinians, its future might resemble the experience of Belfast or Bosnia - two communities bleeding each other to death for generations.
I have acquired - some would say deservedly - quite a few rivals: former Israeli politicians, some of whom at their height were stars beloved by large parts of the public. But today, they aren't in politics, and when they sit alone in their room, they say to themselves that Barak is the one who showed them out the door.
I think first of all that Iran is a problem for the whole world.
Israel fits into the zeitgeist of our era. It is true that there are demographic threats to its existence. That is why a separation from the Palestinians is a compelling imperative.
With the globalization, it's difficult for governments to impose decisions on private companies.
I'm not afraid of elections. I've won every election I've fought in.
Saddam Hussein has set an example of defiance, especially against the first President Bush, that other Arab leaders cannot and should not emulate; the example leads only to empty gestures and developmental stagnation, both of which the Arab nations have had enough of already.
I don't think that the Iranians, even if they got the bomb, they're going to drop it immediately on some neighbor. They fully understand what might follow. They're radical, but not total mishuginas.
The first intifada, I was then commander of Central Command, commanding the West Bank, basically. And I know to what extent the first intifada was a popular uprising.
As prime minister, I was the Israeli leader who walked the greatest distance in his offers to the Palestinians.
Once Iraq becomes a nuclear power, the very decision to go to war against it would become a totally different ball game.
The aim of the Palestinian terror is not just to kill Israelis but also to break the will of Israeli society in order to dictate a political solution. Israel should never yield to this terror campaign.
Israel cannot afford to be duped.
International legitimacy is a fundamental source of power for Israel nowadays.
Unfortunately, you cannot let your neck be kind of cut as a gesture for your neighbor, even if it's a good neighbor.
Israel is the strongest nation in the Middle East, but we have to apply our strength wisely.
If I were a Palestinian of the right age, I'd eventually join one of the terrorist organizations.
In Israel, generally speaking, politics is much more familiar than any other place. We all know each other.
I became a prime minister within four-and-a-half years, the shortest kind of career ever in Israeli political history.
If you establish a right unity government, you create an effective platform to make... decisions because you have wider support of your own party.
In Israel, there is a peace camp that can convene 200,000 people in central square of this city, on very short notice, and there is a major movement among academics, politicians, thinkers, and public leaders for peace, even at a painful price. On the Palestinian side, you can find them individually here and there, but there is no public movement.
Iran poses the most serious long-term threat to regional stability.
We want peace, but not at any price.
I don't do anything to impress anyone, quite successfully I can tell you.
I don't feel opportunistic ever, in anything.
Ladies and gentlemen, the relevant question is not when Iran will get the bomb. The relevant question is at what stage can we no longer stop Iran from getting the bomb.
The red line must be drawn on Iran's nuclear enrichment program because these enrichment facilities are the only nuclear installations that we can definitely see and credibly target.
Yes, the world is short of perfect.
