Quotes from Yitzhak Rabin

I don't believe that in the name of the holiness of the city you have to put barbed wires, machine gun nests, mine pins and everything of that, in the name of the holiness of Jerusalem.

As prime minister, I changed Israel's position on peace negotiations. I made it clear that we are ready to go along with Resolution 242 of the U.N. Security Council, which specifies withdrawal to secure and recognized boundaries in the context of peace.

If you have the same problem for a long time, maybe it's not a problem. Maybe it's a fact.

Only the change on the international scene, the crisis in the gulf, and the strong, firm position of the United States against aggression between two Arab countries created realities that led to the Madrid Peace Conference.

I admire King Hussein his courage in leading his country for a long time.

Regardless of some disagreements in the past with Dr. Kissinger, I personally had a very good relationship with the secretary when I served as ambassador to the United States and later on as premier.

I don't want to be the policeman of Lebanon. It's not the business of Israel. Israel was not created to serve as a policeman of the region.

As far as Israel, I am not worried about the relations between Israel and the United States.

I enter negotiations with Chairman Arafat, the leader of the PLO, the representative of the Palestinian people, with the purpose to have coexistence between our two entities, Israel as a Jewish state and Palestinian state, entity, next to us, living in peace.

A diplomatic peace is not yet the real peace. It is an essential step in the peace process leading towards a real peace.

In the Jewish tradition, there is at the same time Jerusalem in the heavens and Jerusalem on the ground. Jerusalem is a living city, but also the heart, the soul of the Jewish people and the state of Israel.

Jerusalem is united, will never be divided again.

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

In the midst of fighting there is no place for public debate.

Syria doesn't want to talk with us on a bilateral basis, only under the auspices of the United States.

I considered the prevention of war as the test of our security policy; in addition to being able to rapidly and forcefully end any war forced upon us.

I'm trying to learn the lessons of the past, but not to make speeches about the past.

It is our duty, to ourselves and to our children, to see the new world as it is now.

I believe that it is my responsibility as the prime minister of Israel to do whatever can be done to exploit the unique opportunities that lie ahead of us to move towards peace. Not everything can be done by one act.

There's nothing harder than defining oneself.

Israel is no longer a people that dwells alone, and has to join the global journey toward peace, reconciliation and international cooperation.

Although it is true that Hizballah is organized, inspired, financed, and armed by Iran, its main bases in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley are under Syrian military control.

You don't make peace with friends. You make it with very unsavory enemies.

We must think differently, look at things in a different way. Peace requires a world of new concepts, new definitions.