Yasser Arafat Quotes

I feel that we don't have the luxury of asking whether or not the Palestinians and Israelis can achieve peace. I think we have to just ask the question of when and how.

It is the hope of the European Union that Ariel Sharon will keep the peace process alive and continue the dialogue according to the wishes of all the parties involved.

Debating the peace process to most Israelis is the equivalent of debating the color of the shirt you were going to wear when landing on Mars.

As Prime Minister of Israel, I will introduce a bill into the Knesset that will simply pay the Arabs not to shoot at the Jews.

Prime Minister Sharon, Prime Minister Abbas, I urge you today to end the designs of those who seek destruction, annihilation and occupation, and I urge you to have the will and the courage to begin to realize our dreams of peace, prosperity and coexistence.

I'm on the board of directors for Peace Now, which works tirelessly between the Palestinians and the Israelis to create peace in the Middle East and we've never been closer.

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.

I hope that France - and all of Europe - we would take an initiative for the year 2012 to be the year of peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Success is not assured, but America is resolute: this is the best chance for peace we are likely to see for some years to come - and we are acting to help Israelis and Palestinians seize this chance.

My colleagues and I have gone in the footsteps of our predecessors since the very first day we were called by our people to care for their future. We went any place, we looked for any avenue, we made any effort to bring about negotiations between Israel and its neighbors, negotiations without which peace remains an abstract desire.

We now should hope and pray for a peace process. We've had good negotiations with both sides. Those are going to continue; those are going to be a commitment by the president and something that we're going to work hard on. And we all hope, for the sake of Israeli children and Palestinian children, that we do have peace.

One of the great barriers to peace in the Middle East is that both sides, both Israel and the Palestinians, do not understand that they share a collective destiny.

Needless to say, if the Arab-Israeli conflict is about interstate disputes and the need to resolve the future of the West Bank and Gaza, it can be solved; if it is a religious conflict, nothing but violence is ahead.

Blowing up buses will not induce the Israelis to move forward, and neither will the killing of Palestinians or the demolition of their homes and their future. All this needs to stop. And we pledge that Jordan will do its utmost to help achieve it.

I believe however that peace is attainable regardless of the Arabs mentality, society or government.

Intervention only works when the people concerned seem to be keen for peace.

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

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

Our response has been, 'Well, let's then make an effort to get the Israelis and the Palestinians to sit around the table.' That hasn't happened. So we only have ourselves to blame for this crisis.

How will decent people in the region ever believe in peace if Arab terrorists interpret every gesture of peace as a display of weakness and then act accordingly?

The security and the future of Jordan is hand-in-hand with the future of the Palestinians and the Israelis.

There is not going to be a peace process unless there is talks involving Israel, Hezbollah and Hamas, and I think everyone knows that.

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.

My constant prayer, my number one foreign goal, is to bring peace to Israel. And in the process to Israel's neighbours.

Peace cannot be unilateral.