Benjamin Netanyahu Quotes & Sayings

We will respond with a heavy hand to the brutal murder of Jews who came to pray and were killed by lowly murderers. — Benjamin Netanyahu

We are using missile defense to protect our civilians, and they're using their civilians to protect their missiles. — Benjamin Netanyahu

Hamas is ISIS, and ISIS is Hamas. They're branches of the same tree. People who wantonly rocket our cities and want to conduct mass killings. And when they can, they murder children, teenagers, shoot them in the head. Throw people from the sixth floor, their own people ... They're the enemies of peace, they're the enemies of Israel, they're the enemies of all civilized countries. And I believe they're the enemies of the Palestinians themselves. — Benjamin Netanyahu

In my office in Jerusalem, there's an ancient seal. It's a signet ring of a Jewish official from the time of the Bible. The seal was found right next to the Western Wall, and it dates back 2,700 years, to the time of King Hezekiah. Now, there's a name of the Jewish official inscribed on the ring in Hebrew. His name was Netanyahu. — Benjamin Netanyahu

I don't think you can rely on Iran. I don't think you can rely on other radicals like the Taliban. They dispatched Al Qaida to bomb New York and Washington. What were they thinking? Were they that stupid? They weren't stupid. There is an irrationality there, and there is madness in this method. — Benjamin Netanyahu

I don't want a one-state solution. I want a sustainable, peaceful two-state solution. But for that, circumstances have to change. — Benjamin Netanyahu

President Abbas, you've dedicated your life to advancing the Palestinian cause. Must this conflict continue for generations, or will we enable our children and our grandchildren to speak in years ahead of how we found a way to end it? That's what we should aim for, and that's what I believe we can achieve. — Benjamin Netanyahu

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.' — Benjamin Netanyahu

The greatest threat facing humanity is a radical Islamist regime meeting up with nuclear weapons. — Benjamin Netanyahu

[S]aving lives is more important than preserving the quality of life. Quality of life is always amenable to improvement. Death is permanent. — Benjamin Netanyahu

The Obama presidency has two great missions: fixing the economy, and preventing Iran from gaining nuclear weapons. — Benjamin Netanyahu

I say that to my colleagues, by the way, in the internal Cabinet meetings, I say, 'Look, I want to be very clear about what I want.' I just - I don't want a peace process, I want a peace result. — Benjamin Netanyahu

I'm not naturally manipulative. — Benjamin Netanyahu

There is a structural difference between the way that Europe views Israel, and America views Israel. The European view is informed by the importance of colonialism in Europe's past. So for Europeans we are like Belgiums in the Congo, or the French in Alger, or the British in India. Strange interlopers in somebody else's land. But in fact, we [Israeli] have been here for 4,000 years. This is our ancestral homeland. — Benjamin Netanyahu

The Palestinian society is split into two - those who are openly calling for Israel's destruction like Hamas, and those who are not calling openly for Israel's destruction but refuse to confront those who do. They're timid, they're afraid to actually stand up to these killers. They're afraid, maybe for their own sake, for their own political hides, sometimes for their own physical safety. And they don't take that necessary plunge. — Benjamin Netanyahu

We want to end this misery of the Palestinian people in order for us really to live with dignity as human beings in an independent state side by side with the Israeli state. — Benjamin Netanyahu

The application of military force, or the prospect of such application, inhibits terrorist violence. — Benjamin Netanyahu

I don't know of any army that does more than an Israeli army does to avoid civilian casualties. But incidental and unintended casualties accompany every war. — Benjamin Netanyahu

No one yet knows what awaits the Jews in the twenty-first century, but we must make every effort to ensure that it is better than what befell them in the twentieth, the century of the Holocaust. — Benjamin Netanyahu

Most of the approaches to peace between Israel and the Palestinians, have been directed at trying to resolve the most complex problems, like refugees and Jerusalem, which is akin to building the pyramid from the top down. — Benjamin Netanyahu

Both peoples, both nations, deserve a nation-state of their own. Palestinians, if they wish so, will go to the Palestinian state; Jews, if they so wish, can go to the Jewish state. And we'll have to have security and demilitarization agreements between us. — Benjamin Netanyahu

The purpose of the Jewish state is to secure the Jewish future. That is why Israel must always have the ability to defend itself, against any threat. — Benjamin Netanyahu

Certainly the international community is putting a lot of pressure on Iran and making clear that its nuclear program must stop. If it stops with the sanctions, the combinations of sanctions, diplomacy, other pressures, I, as the prime minister of Israel, will be the happiest person in the world. — Benjamin Netanyahu

Israel has always been pro-American. Israel will always be pro-American. — Benjamin Netanyahu

We want Israel as a democratic and Jewish state. So you have to maintain a Jewish majority, and you want to do that by legal means, by democratic means. — Benjamin Netanyahu

Israel does not target civilians. It targets the terrorists. — Benjamin Netanyahu

You can make peace with an enemy, if the enemy abandons the idea of destroying you. That is the critical test. Democracies fail to understand that. — Benjamin Netanyahu

You don't have people chanting 'Death to America' in Israel. — Benjamin Netanyahu

The Israelis wanted to sabotage the Palestinian - Palestinian reconciliation. — Benjamin Netanyahu

If the Palestinians do their part, we shall do our part and we shall have an agreement. — Benjamin Netanyahu

I think the Israeli people understand now what I always say: that there cannot be a situation, under any agreement, in which we relinquish security control of the territory west of the River Jordan. — Benjamin Netanyahu

Our policy is very simple. The Jewish state was set up to defend Jewish lives, and we always reserve the right to defend ourselves. — Benjamin Netanyahu

I would say we want to stop the firing of rockets, for sure. But we also want to dismantle the terror - the tunnel - the terror tunnel networks that we have uncovered. — Benjamin Netanyahu

I think that a strong Israel is the only Israel that will bring the Arabs to the peace table. — Benjamin Netanyahu

To defeat ISIS and let Iran get nuclear weapons would be to win the battle and lose the war, — Benjamin Netanyahu

You can't end negotiations unless you begin them. And you can't begin them if you continually negotiate about the terms to begin negotiations. — Benjamin Netanyahu

Don't be fooled. The battle between Iran and ISIS doesn't turn Iran into a friend of America. — Benjamin Netanyahu

So I think we should stay focused on the real problem in the Middle East. It's not Israel. It's these dictatorships that are developing nuclear weapons with the specific goal of wiping Israel away. — Benjamin Netanyahu

Anyone who is going to establish a Palestinian state, anyone who is going to evacuate territories today, is simply giving a base for attacks to radical Islam. — Benjamin Netanyahu

Israel has no better friend that America. And America has not better friend than Israel. We stand together to defend democracy. We stand together to advance peace. We stand together to fight terrorism. — Benjamin Netanyahu

Everything should be done to prevent Iran, the world's most dangerous regime, from developing the world's most dangerous weapons. — Benjamin Netanyahu

But so far, you know who's been violating the nuclear nonproliferation pact day and night? Those who signed it. Iran, Iraq, Libya and Iran violates it while calling for Israel's destruction and racing to develop atomic weapons to that end. — Benjamin Netanyahu

I think placing preconditions before negotiations is the quickest way to undermine peace. — Benjamin Netanyahu

Israel is doing what any other country would do, and certainly the U.S. would do. If 80 percent of your population were under fire and you had 60 seconds or 90 seconds to get into bomb shelters, if terror tunnels were dug underneath your border in order to come in and explode your kindergartens and massacre your people and kidnap American citizens. — Benjamin Netanyahu

The idea of imposing peace from the outside doesn't work. — Benjamin Netanyahu

The Iranian acquisition of nuclear weapons would be infinitely more costly than any scenario you can imagine to stop it. — Benjamin Netanyahu

I don't think that anyone should doubt Israel's determination to defend itself against terror and destruction. — Benjamin Netanyahu

The people of Israel have come home never to be uprooted again, — Benjamin Netanyahu

I don't want to govern the Palestinians. I don't want them as subjects of Israel or as citizens of Israel. I want them to have their own independent state but a demilitarized state. — Benjamin Netanyahu

You can only end a negotiation for peace if you begin it. — Benjamin Netanyahu

Peace is purchased from strength. It's not purchased from weakness or unilateral retreats. — Benjamin Netanyahu

Israel should have exploited the repression of the demonstrations in China, when world attention focused on that country, to carry out mass expulsions among the Arabs of the territories. — Benjamin Netanyahu

The prime minister of Israel is welcome to speak in the United States, obviously. But we don't want to see this turned into some great political football — Benjamin Netanyahu

Israel can make peace with an organization that seeks its destruction. That's Hamas. But Israel can make peace with the Palestinian Authority. It requires a lot of courage from both sides including President Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority. — Benjamin Netanyahu

You know, I think, I think the Palestinians are trying to get away without negotiating. They're trying to get a state to continue the conflict with Israel rather than to end it. They're trying to basically detour around peace negotiations by going to the U.N. and have the automatic majority in the U.N. General Assembly give them, give them a state. — Benjamin Netanyahu

I can tell you one thing, Iran is closer to developing nuclear weapons today than it was a week ago, or a month ago or a year ago. It's just moving on with its efforts. — Benjamin Netanyahu

If there is willingness on the Palestinian side to reach an agreement, it is possible. We are conducting the negotiations with goodwill. — Benjamin Netanyahu

I'm not consumed with political machinations. — Benjamin Netanyahu

Israel is so tiny. It's, you know, a little less than the length of Manhattan, without the West Bank, without Judea and Samaria. — Benjamin Netanyahu

[The decision to travel to Washington and deliver the speech] has injected a degree of partisanship, which is not only unfortunate, I think it's destructive of the fabric of the relationship — Benjamin Netanyahu

I often hear them accuse Israel of Judaizing Jerusalem. That's like accusing America of Americanizing Washington, or the British of Anglicizing London. You know why we're called 'Jews'? Because we come from Judea. — Benjamin Netanyahu

Our friendship will weather the current disagreement as well, to grow even stronger in the future. — Benjamin Netanyahu

The Nazis believed in a master race. The militant Islamists believe in a master faith. — Benjamin Netanyahu

The only peace that can endure is a peace that can be defended, — Benjamin Netanyahu

Well, this is an unfortunate part of the UN institution. It's the - the theater of the absurd. It doesn't only cast Israel as the villain; it often casts real villains in leading roles: Gadhafi's Libya chaired the UN Commission on Human Rights; Saddam's Iraq headed the UN Committee on Disarmament. — Benjamin Netanyahu

I think that anyone who moves to establish a Palestinian state and evacuate territory gives territory away to radical Islamist attacks against Israel. — Benjamin Netanyahu

There's an abiding interest by the United States, by the American people, and by anybody with his eyes set in his head, to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. — Benjamin Netanyahu

Israel produces more conceptual products than any other country. — Benjamin Netanyahu

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

The world should be very clear about making sure that Iran does not get nuclear weapons, period. — Benjamin Netanyahu

Leaders must see reality as it is, not as it ought to be. — Benjamin Netanyahu

First of all, Arafat is wrong. Jerusalem is Israel's capital, will never be divided, and will remain the capital of the State of Israel, the capital of the Jewish people, for ever and ever. — Benjamin Netanyahu

If Iran wants to be treated like a normal country, let it act like a normal country. — Benjamin Netanyahu

The rules of engagement have become so rigid that governments often straightjacket themselves in the face of unambiguous aggression. — Benjamin Netanyahu

If Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone. — Benjamin Netanyahu

The Romans used to say that courage is not the only virtue, but it's the only one that makes the other virtues possible. — Benjamin Netanyahu

The relationship between Israel and the United States is a bond of - it's just a very powerful bond. It was, it is, and will be and will continue to be. — Benjamin Netanyahu

Israel has to accommodate the Palestinian demands and aspirations for ending occupation and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. That is the only answer. The Israeli aggression on Gaza does not bring peace to Israel. We know that. We want end of occupation. — Benjamin Netanyahu

Terrorism is carried out purposefully, in a cold-blooded, calculated fashion. The declared goals of the terrorist may change from place to place. He supposedly fights to remedy wrongs
social, religious, national, racial. But for all these problems his only solution is the demolition of the whole structure of society. No partial solution, not even the total redressing of the grievance he complains of, will satisfy him
until our social system is destroyed or delivered into his hands. — Benjamin Netanyahu

When I say that terrorism is war against civilization, I may be met by the objection that terrorists are often idealists pursuing worthy ultimate aims
national or regional independence, and so forth. I do not accept this argument. I cannot agree that a terrorist can ever be an idealist, or that the objects sought can ever justify terrorism. The impact of terrorism, not merely on individual nations, but on humanity as a whole, is intrinsically evil, necessarily evil and wholly evil. — Benjamin Netanyahu

The enemy of your enemy is your enemy! — Benjamin Netanyahu

Populism is dangerous. — Benjamin Netanyahu

I always lose the election in the polls, and I always win it on election day. — Benjamin Netanyahu

If the world powers are not prepared to insist that Iran change its behavior before a deal is signed, they should at the very least be prepared to insist that Iran changes its behavior before the deal expires. — Benjamin Netanyahu

Hamas is firing at our cities, at our people, firing from these areas, from these homes, from these schools, from mosques, from hospitals. They are actually using them as weapon storage, as command posts and as firing positions, or right next to them. — Benjamin Netanyahu

Peace is something very dear. If you've been through wars and operations and battles, you want peace. — Benjamin Netanyahu

Those in the international community that refuse to put red lines before Iran don't have a moral right to place a red light before Israel. — Benjamin Netanyahu

I will say that I think Israel enjoys strong bipartisan support in the United States. It's really above and beyond American politics. — Benjamin Netanyahu

The right combination is between a free economy and social policy that addresses the needs of society and creates equal opportunity. — Benjamin Netanyahu

While Israel is prepared to make generous compromises for peace, it cannot go back to the 1967 lines. — Benjamin Netanyahu

A legitimate democracy cannot act against a terror organization because it is using civilians as a human shield, and therefore it should absorb attacks on its own civilians. — Benjamin Netanyahu

Israel is very much endangering. — Benjamin Netanyahu

This is why, as a prime minister of Israel, I can promise you one more thing. Even if Israel has to stand alone, Israel will stand. But I know that Israel does not stand alone. I know that America stands with Israel. — Benjamin Netanyahu

We [Israel people] always blame Moses, that he was our greatest leader and one of the most gifted people in the world. He brought us the moral code and so on, belief in one God, but then he was a bad navigator. He brought us to the only part of the Middle East without any gas, without any oil. — Benjamin Netanyahu

Now, when we say we want peace, what we want is really for our Palestinian neighbours to have a demilitarized state next to us that recognizes the Jewish State. We're willing to recognize their state, the Palestinian state. But we ask them to recognize the Jewish state. — Benjamin Netanyahu

I'm a proud member of the rabble. — Benjamin Netanyahu

Hezbollah-controlled Lebanon now presides over the UN Security Council. This means, in effect, that a terror organization presides over the body entrusted with guaranteeing the world's security. You couldn't make this thing up. — Benjamin Netanyahu

It doesn't matter if justice is on your side. You have to depict your position as just. — Benjamin Netanyahu

The Palestinians want a state, but they have to give peace in return. What they're trying to do in the United Nations is to get a state without giving Israel peace or giving Israel peace and security. And I think that's, that's wrong. That should not succeed. That should, that should fail. — Benjamin Netanyahu

Iran is a country that talks about, denies the Holocaust, promises to wipe out Israel, is engaged in terror throughout the world. This is a regime that is giving vent to the worst impulses that you see right now in the Middle East. They deny the rights of women, deny democracy, brutalize their own people, don't give freedom of religion. — Benjamin Netanyahu