Benny Gantz Quotes

How do you negotiate a two state solution with the Palestinians when they do not believe that one of the states has the right to exist?

The truth is that the dream of 'two states for two peoples,' born in the '90s, died in the noughties. The two-state solution, the popular and principled option for so long now, is neither practical nor possible.

This president's committed to taking steps to move the Middle East peace process forward, to bringing the two parties to the table to negotiate a lasting peace. That is the only way that a two-state solution can be achieved that provides the security that Israel deserves and needs and the sovereignty that the Palestinian people seek.

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

Israelis and Palestinians are suspicious of each other and of promises from outside. But the need for a negotiated solution between the parties should not stymie international clarity and consensus about the endgame in terms of borders and other issues.

You can set up whatever negotiations or structure you want, but until the Palestinians are willing to accept the fact, as the majority of Israelis do, that there should be two states between the Jordan and the Mediterranean, we won't have peace.

The most important thing is that Milosevic agreed to sit at the negotiating table with the Kosovo Albanians.

We have to rethink the two-state solution.

No one was talking about a two-state solution until the '90s, then it became an acceptable solution.

What happens in Israel should be decided between Israel and the Palestinians.

The greatest tragedy of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is that everyone knows how it will end. We will divide up the region.

Israel and the Palestinians must resolve their own differences. The United States can play an important role as facilitator and guarantor.

Every administration has this idea to talk tough to Israel and make nice to the Arabs and the Palestinians, and that's the way to bring about peace. It's counter-productive - it's actually the opposite.

You know, I said in the U.N., I said to President Abbas, 'Look, we're in the same city, we're in the same building, for God's sake, the U.N. Let's just sit down and begin to talk peace.'

As they say, one thing led to another, and, ultimately, the British and Irish governments asked me to serve as chairman of the peace negotiations, which ironically began six years ago this week.

The United States is for a two-state solution. The United States wants to see the Israelis and Palestinians come together.

I am deeply concerned that, without peace and a two-state solution, the Jewish and democratic nature of Israel is in danger. That's why I have opposed Israel's settlement policy since 1973, and that's why I have favored a two-state solution since 1967.

We believe that we should come to an agreement with the Palestinians. But we need two to tango.

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.

When a deeply sympathetic American president asks for concessions and compromises and appears able to cajole some from the Palestinians, which was the Clinton/Rabin and Bush/Sharon combination, Israel must respond.

The dissolution of the Oslo Accords would serve as the official act validating what we already know - that this failed framework is totally irrelevant in 2013.

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.

Benjamin Netanyahu has made the official policy of the Israeli government the two-state solution, at a time when he had opposition from many quarters. That is his official position. He remains publicly committed to it, but not just publicly; also in diplomacy, totally committed to moving swiftly toward that solution.

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.

I think that peace will require two states, a Palestinian state that recognizes the Jewish state.