Quotes & Sayings About Netanyahu

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

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

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

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. — Ehud Barak

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

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

But when a Saudi owned media company is prepared to both publicly praise the words of Benjamin Netanyahu tells you just how bad a nuclear deal between the United States and Iran would be. — Anonymous

We'll attack anyone who tries to harm our citizens — 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

History has shown us time and again that what is right is not what is popular. — Benjamin Netanyahu

Every time an Arab leader truly wanted peace, they got it. If the Palestinians truly want peace, we will make peace. — 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

As far as a nuclear weapons-free zone, you know, when the lion lies down with the lamb, and you don't need a new lamb every day to satisfy the lion, then we might have this kind of transformation in the Middle East. — 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

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

The US-Israel partnership transcends politics and it always will — Benjamin Netanyahu

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

The Israeli government has proved over the past year its commitment to peace, both in words and deeds. By contrast, the Palestinians are posing preconditions for renewing the diplomatic process in a way they have not done over the course of 16 years. — 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

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

I've been right more than I've been wrong. — 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

I'm a proud member of the rabble. — 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

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

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

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

Israel is very much endangering. — Benjamin Netanyahu

Despite Netanyahu's willingness to make concessions, Clinton and his advisers felt that he was not committed enough to the peace process. As a consequence, Clinton sent his senior election advisers to Israel to run Ehud Barak's campaign.13 The American contribution to Barak's election was so enormous that Israelis widely recognized that Barak owed his office to the Clinton administration. — Caroline B. Glick

My first name, Benjamin, dates back a thousand years earlier to Benjamin - Binyamin - the son of Jacob, who was also known as Israel. Jacob and his 12 sons roamed these same hills of Judea and Sumeria 4,000 years ago, and there's been a continuous Jewish presence in the land ever since. — Benjamin Netanyahu

If there were an election today, Netanyahu would win. Yet, his standing in the polls is also a reflection of the weakness of Ehud Olmert, the current prime minister - who stands at 2 percent in a recent poll - and the enduring weaknesses of the Labor Party. — Dennis Ross

Israel is a country of six million people. They need the U.S. It used to be bipartisan on Israeli politics. You never messed with that relationship. The fact that [ Benjamin] Netanyahu is willing to do that, I thought would horrify voters more than it turned out it did. — David Brooks

Netanyahu is partnering up with Boehner to kick Obama in the teeth and sabotage one of the president's top diplomatic priorities. He is essentially telling American Jews to get lost: 'I have no regard for the president you support and no regard for your own political needs and desires.' — David Corn

We could have made peace with Syrian dictator Bashar Assad a long time ago. It didn't happen, because Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doesn't want to give up the Golan (Heights). — Tom Segev

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

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

They're in the red zone. They're in the last 20 yards, and you can't let them cross that goal line. You can't let them score a touchdown, because that would have unbelievable consequences, grievous consequences for the peace and security of us all, of the world really. — 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

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

I am certain that I speak on behalf of my entire nation when I say: September 11th we are all Americans - in grief, as in defiance. — Benjamin Netanyahu

Our Jewish friends are no more responsible for the actions of Israel or the Netanyahu Government than our Muslim friends are for those of various self-styled Islamic states or organisations. — Jeremy Corbyn

The majority of Israelis want change, the Netanyahu era is coming to an end. That's not because security issues don't matter but because social and economic issues are dominating the agenda. — Yair Lapid

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

We will take whatever action is necessary to protect our people,including against the terror tunnels that they are trying to dig against us. — 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

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 is extraordinary blessed to have [Benjamin Netanyahu] as prime minister at this pivotal time in history and so is the United States of America to hear his voice against this deal. — Lou Dobbs

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

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has denounced negotiation with Iran as a 'historic mistake' that is making the world 'a more dangerous place.' His partners in Washington vigorously echo that view. — Stephen Kinzer

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

I met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel, visited our allies in the Arab Gulf, traveled to Tunisia and Iraq, met with President Petro Poroshenko in Ukraine, and visited our allies in Germany, France, and the United Kingdom. — Kevin McCarthy

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

As the crisis in Syria grows and the humanitarian tragedy becomes more clear, I appreciated Prime Minister Netanyahu's perspective on the changes and volatility in the region. — Rob Portman

My level of intervention in the press, trying to control stories, is zero. Subzero. — 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

We are benefiting from one thing, and that is the attacks on the twin towers and the pentagon and the American struggle in Iraq. These events swung American public opinion in our favor — Benjamin Netanyahu

If diplomacy has any chance to work, it must be coupled with a credible military threat. — 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 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

In order to restore security for Israeli citizens, every home, mother and child in Israel, and to establish a stable and strong government that will unite the nation ... I hereby declare my candidacy for the Likud party leadership and premiership of Israel. — 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

In the frameworks of a peace agreement, a government under my leadership would agree to make real territorial concessions but will not compromise our security borders. We want there to be less friction. We want to remove outposts to help the Palestinian population. We will not reoccupy the Palestinian population. — Benjamin Netanyahu

Netanyahu made all sorts of claims. This was going to be a terrible deal. This was going to result in Iran getting 50 billion dollars worth of relief. Iran would not abide by the agreement. None of that has come true — Barack Obama

You know, I'm just not going to get into American politics. — Benjamin Netanyahu

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

There's no one in Israel who appreciates more than me the importance of American support for Israel. — Benjamin Netanyahu

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

Benjamin Netanyahu is no Winston Churchill. Whatever else he, is he's not a Winston Churchill. He basically violated the great rule, which is it's better to mislead the people and to lose an election than to mislead the people and win an election. — Mark Shields

The truth is that if Israel were to put down its arms there would be no more Israel. If the Arabs were to put down their arms there would be no more war. — Benjamin Netanyahu

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

History of warfare has not yet enabled any army, any civilized army, the army of a democracy like Israel, to be able to deal with a ruthless terrorist enemy that uses civilians as a human shield without having some incidental civilian casualties. — Benjamin Netanyahu

He [Erdogan] has crept up to the edge talking about mistakes by pilots. But he also knows that with leaders like himself and Vladimir Putin, apologies may not be the answer. Just look at Israel. Prime Minister Netanyahu apologized years ago to Erdogan over this incident off the coast of Gaza in which Turkish people died onboard an aid ship. And only just now is that relationship at least in talks to be improved. — Peter Kenyon

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

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

That combination, perhaps, deterred me from telling Netanyahu the most difficult truth of all. Simply: that he had much in common with Obama. Both men were left-handed, both believed in the power of oratory and that they were the smartest men in the room. Both were loners, adverse to hasty decision making and susceptible to a strong woman's advice. And both saw themselves in transformative historical roles. Their similarities, perhaps as much as their differences, heightened the chances for friction between the president and Netanyahu, I could have told him. But I did not. Rather, as the prime minister descended the stairs to the tarmac that early May 20 morning, I merely said, "Welcome to Washington, sir," and extended my hand. This he gripped and pulled me toward him. With his eyes still flaring, he recalled the cable I sent him months back predicting the president's speech. "You called it right," he whispered. — Michael B. Oren

Prime Minister Netanyahu has, as Minister Livni knows, has been my friend for over 30 years. We drive each other crazy. But he has truly been a personal friend for well over 30 years. He acknowledged this. — Joe Biden

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

The uncritically admiring supporters and friends of the prime minister [Benjamin Netanyahu], in whose ranks I certainly don't include David [Brooks], but include Charles Krauthammer, the columnist, and Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, insist on comparing him to the incomparable leader of the British forces in country in part of - during World War II. — Mark Shields

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