Benjamin Netanyahu Quotes (1949-)

“I am certain that I speak on behalf of my entire nation when I say, today we are all Americans. In grief, as in defiance.”

“This is part of our strategy – to isolate the Palestinians in Gaza from the Palestinians in the West Bank.”

“I am certain that I speak on behalf of my entire nation when I say, today we are all Americans. In grief, as in defiance.”

“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.”

“As dangerous as a nuclear-armed North Korea is, it pales in comparison to the danger of a nuclear-armed Iran. A nuclear-armed Iran in the Middle East wouldn't be another North Korea. It would be another 50 North Koreas.”

“We will not allow any extremist element to undermine the quiet in Jerusalem. We will uphold law and order – vigorously and responsibly. We will continue to guard freedom of worship for all faiths but we will not allow violent disturbances. In the same breath, I say to the terrorist organizations: Israel will respond powerfully to any act of aggression from the Gaza Strip.”

“In the Israeli democracy, we will continue to protect the rights of both the individual and the group, this is guaranteed. But the majority have rights too, and the majority rules, the vast majority of people want to preserve the Jewish character of our country for generations to come, this combination of individual rights and group rights are the definition of a Jewish and democratic state.”

“Nuclear know-how without nuclear infrastructure doesn't get you very much. A racecar driver without a car can't drive. A pilot without a plane can't fly.”

“To say that Iran doesn't practice terrorism is like saying Derek Jeter never played shortstop for the New York Yankees.”

“[She was] a great leader, a great woman of principles and determination. She inspired a generation of political leaders.”

“I didn't always agree with Arik, and he didn't always agree with me. But he was one of the big warriors for the nation of Israel.”

““Some have even said that Iran with nuclear weapons would stabilize the Middle East, I think people who say this have set a new standard for human stupidity.””

“She represented Britain with nobility and warmth and she captured the imagination of millions throughout the world with her dedication to her children and to innumerable worthy causes. Her untimely death is a shock to all who admired her and who will cherish her memory”

“Hitler didn't want to exterminate the Jews at the time [of the meeting between the mufti and the Nazi leader]. He wanted to expel the Jews... And Haj Amin al-Husseini went to Hitler and said, "If you expel them, they'll all come here [to mandatory Palestine],"... "So what should I do with them?" He [Hitler] asked. He [Husseini] said, "Burn them."”

“The difference is that ISIS is armed with butcher knives, captured weapons and YouTube, whereas Iran could soon be armed with intercontinental ballistic missiles and nuclear bombs. We must always remember. I'll say it one more time; the greatest dangers facing our world is the marriage of militant Islam with nuclear weapons. To defeat ISIS and let Iran get nuclear weapons would be to win the battle, but lose the war. We can't let that happen.”

“Thirty years later, she resigned from her position in the Palestinian Authority, explaining that "it's not a question of peace,. It's a question of democratization. It's a question of good governance." Complaining that there had been no Palestinian elections for more than fifteen years, she vowed, "I won't be part of it anymore". The Palestinian Authority was a morally bankrupt tyranny, but at the time she spoke passionately of its sincere desire to advance peace, as opposed to Israel, represented by me, which obstructed peace.”

“The people of Iran are very talented people. They're heirs to one of the world's great civilizations. But in 1979, they were hijacked by religious zealots; religious zealots who imposed on them immediately a dark and brutal dictatorship. That year, the zealots drafted a constitution, a new one for Iran. It directed the revolutionary guards not only to protect Iran's borders, but also to fulfill the ideological mission of jihad. The regime's founder, Ayatollah Khomeini, exhorted his followers to "export the revolution throughout the world." I'm standing here in Washington, D.C. and the difference is so stark. America's founding document promises life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Iran's founding document pledges death, tyranny, and the pursuit of jihad. And as states are collapsing across the Middle East, Iran is charging into the void to do just that.”

“As Hamas's charter makes clear, Hamas's immediate goal is to destroy Israel. But Hamas has a broader objective. They also want a caliphate. Hamas shares the global ambitions of its fellow militant Islamists. That’s why its supporters wildly cheered in the streets of Gaza as thousands of Americans were murdered on 9/11. And that's why its leaders condemned the United States for killing Osama bin Laden, whom they praised as a holy warrior. So when it comes to their ultimate goals, Hamas is ISIS and ISIS is Hamas. And what they share in common, all militant Islamists share in common. Boko Haram in Nigeria; Ash-Shabab in Somalia; Hezbollah in Lebanon; An-Nusrah in Syria; The Mahdi Army in Iraq; And the Al-Qaeda branches in Yemen, Libya, the Philippines, India and elsewhere. Some are radical Sunnis, some are radical Shi'ites. Some want to restore a pre-medieval caliphate from the 7th century. Others want to trigger the apocalyptic return of an imam from the 9th century. They operate in different lands, they target different victims and they even kill each other in their quest for supremacy. But they all share a fanatic ideology. They all seek to create ever expanding enclaves of militant Islam where there is no freedom and no tolerance – Where women are treated as chattel, Christians are decimated, and minorities are subjugated, sometimes given the stark choice: convert or die. For them, anyone can be an infidel, including fellow Muslims. Ladies and Gentlemen, Militant Islam's ambition to dominate the world seems mad. But so too did the global ambitions of another fanatic ideology that swept to power eight decades ago. The Nazis believed in a master race. The militant Islamists believe in a master faith. They just disagree about who among them will be the master... of the master faith. That's what they truly disagree about. Therefore, the question before us is whether militant Islam will have the power to realize its unbridled ambitions.”

“He did superbly, He was very bright. Organized. Strong. Powerful. He knew what he wanted to do and how to get it done. He's not the flippant, superficial person I keep reading about in the newspapers. He was organized and committed.”

“The fact is he's working against the principles of the Likud. He has no principles at all. I don't see any principles.”

“Netanyahu's Eurocentric discourse (he often speaks of and in the name of the "civilized world," i.e., Israel and the West as opposed to the uncivilized Arab East) perfectly enacts the American professional manner with very little accent, presumably offering a reasonable outlook. Netanyahu represents precisely the dominant Israeli fantasy of Americanization, and reinforces the image of Israel as a Western outpost on an Eastern frontier.”

“There’s a war criminal coming to this country. ... The occupation and expansion … building of settlements, of occupied territory, this is according to the Rome Statute, which is… the setup… the statute on which the international criminal court is based, in so many words, a war crime. ... So why should we receive someone who continues with such things, we could have sent him right away to the international criminal court, that would have been better”

“Netanyahu has become a character witness for right-wingers accused of anti-Semitism. When asked at a press conference in February why he hadn’t been more vocal in condemning anti-Semitic attacks, Trump responded, “You heard Netanyahu yesterday….he said, forget it.” After Glenn Beck repeatedly called Soros a “puppet master,” In 2010, Netanyahu defended Beck for his “courage and integrity” in “defending Israel against the slanders that are hurled against it”...This isn’t surprising. In Netanyahu, men like Orban and Trump see a leader who builds border walls, disdains international institutions and takes a hard line against Muslims. They see the very nationalism that they think liberal Diaspora Jews like Soros lack. And Netanyahu returns the admiration because he’s pursuing the same authoritarian agenda in Israel that they are pursuing in Europe and the United States. Netanyahu, like Orban, has pushed legislation to cripple NGOs that criticize his government. Netanyahu’s government, like Orban’s, has tried to limit academic freedom. And the more Orban and Trump undermine the European Union and the United Nations, the happier Netanyahu will be. Because those institutions champion international law, which Israel massively violates by holding millions of Palestinians as stateless non-citizens, without free movement, due process or the right to vote, in the West Bank.”

“The Israelis always wanted two things that once it turned out they had, it didn't seem so appealing to Mr. Netanyahu. … The real cynics believe that the Netanyahu's government's continued call for negotiations over borders and such means that he's just not going to give up the West Bank.”

“A war crimes complaint has been filed against President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump adviser Jared Kushner in the International Criminal Court (ICC).... The complaint, filed by Middlesex University law professor William Schabas on June 30 on behalf of four Palestinians who live in the West Bank, states “there is credible evidence” that Trump, Netanyahu and Kushner “are complicit in acts that may amount to war crimes relating to the transfer of populations into occupied territory and the annexation of the sovereign territory of the State of Palestine.” ...Schabas’ complaint comes on the heels of unusual moves last month from the Trump administration, which declared a “national emergency” in June in an effort to shield U.S. and Israeli officials from ICC accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

“We are dealing with terrorists, but you are not, because you are a terror state...You are also a terrorist; history is recording what you have done to all those oppressed Palestinians. We are not guilty of any act of occupation.”

“A law-abiding state? Laws can be broken, bent or ridiculed. Dozens of laws which were subject the daunting legislation process under the previous government – his government! – met their early demise in the passed year, just because they were passed by parties who were later exiled to the opposition. ... Concurrently, he initiates, or enables, various wacos in his party to initiate laws which are of clear and immediate threat, amongst them laws that put to ridicule the very foundations of democracy, laws that undermine the principles of social equality, laws which bruise Israel's reputation, laws that make a mockery of war against corruption, laws that destroy secular education. And the list goes on. ... The Messiah King Netanyahu, in his view, can't make do with a mere fence protecting us against the deadly animals of the Middle East in order to salvage the State of Israel. The prime minister wishes to weaken the political system, and while doing so, dwarf his ministers as well. On the second tier, he is trying to undermine trust in holders of public positions and eliminate their ability to stand in his way. On the third tier he is doing all he can, literally all he can, to kill the free press. ... It has not been worded by a Leftist from the state of Tel Aviv, but by right wing folk who are closely acquainted with the prime minister. They speak of him in awe, some even admire him, and they undoubtedly support his political views and his macro-economical perceptions. But, none the less, Netanyahu's "big plan" – to destroy democracy in order to save the state – scares them. They shared their fears with the writer of this column, out of true and utter anxiety.”