Who can guarantee that if we allow the Palestinians to establish a state, we won't find rockets there as well, half a mile from the airport or 10 miles from Tel Aviv?
— Ehud Barak
They say in the Middle East a pessimist is simply an optimist with experience.
I have acquired - some would say deservedly - quite a few rivals: former Israeli politicians, some of whom at their height were stars beloved by large parts of the public. But today, they aren't in politics, and when they sit alone in their room, they say to themselves that Barak is the one who showed them out the door.
I don't hate people. I just accept missions.
I think first of all that Iran is a problem for the whole world.
Assad wanted Israel to capitulate in advance to all his demands. Only then would he agree to enter into substantive negotiations. I couldn't agree to this.
In Israel, there is a peace camp that can convene 200,000 people in central square of this city, on very short notice, and there is a major movement among academics, politicians, thinkers, and public leaders for peace, even at a painful price. On the Palestinian side, you can find them individually here and there, but there is no public movement.
History never repeats itself in the same way.
The red line must be drawn on Iran's nuclear enrichment program because these enrichment facilities are the only nuclear installations that we can definitely see and credibly target.
I delivered lectures, and I was also a consultant for international companies in finance, both private equity and big venture capital funds.
I don't do anything to impress anyone, quite successfully I can tell you.
Since the Six-Day War, the whole world, which is the real arena of battle between us and the Palestinians, believes that Israel is right in regard to procedure, namely problems and disputes should be solved around the negotiating table.
If I were a Palestinian of the right age, I'd eventually join one of the terrorist organizations.
I think that Jordan is strong. I think that they will hold on. I believe that they've already opened their parliament and their system, the press and others, to many voices... And I hope and wish that they will remain stable for a long time.
I'm not a tycoon or anything like that. Does my property amount to several million dollars? Of course it does.
The Labor party under my leadership is working to bring the Israeli people together from all nationalities in the spirit of the scroll of independence.
I fought against Palestinians. I saw them.
Israel fits into the zeitgeist of our era. It is true that there are demographic threats to its existence. That is why a separation from the Palestinians is a compelling imperative.
I became a prime minister within four-and-a-half years, the shortest kind of career ever in Israeli political history.
Israel is much more effective when the Israelis are convinced that we are on the moral high ground: that we are acting not just out of might, but also out of right.
I'm in the government to make sure that if there's an opportunity to make peace, it won't be missed.
Ladies and gentlemen, the relevant question is not when Iran will get the bomb. The relevant question is at what stage can we no longer stop Iran from getting the bomb.
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.
In Israel, generally speaking, politics is much more familiar than any other place. We all know each other.
We want peace, but not at any price.
Israel cannot afford to be duped.
I know that I am absolutely reliable. Absolutely.
An independent, strong, thriving and peaceful State of Israel is the vengeance of the dead.
Try to think for your own why the Russians and the Chinese do not like the idea that whoever takes aggressive steps to keep order within his sovereign borders should not accept others to intervene physically.
I am the Israeli leader who met most with Arafat.
The first intifada, I was then commander of Central Command, commanding the West Bank, basically. And I know to what extent the first intifada was a popular uprising.
You can easily justify to anyone about the need to keep supporting Israel. We get very generous support. We need it.
Yes, the world is short of perfect.
I don't feel opportunistic ever, in anything.
I'm such a failed politician that all of my rivals have disappeared, on both sides.
There is a thin line between peace of the brave and peace of the hostage... between compromise - even calculated risk - and irresponsibility and capitulation.
Iran poses the most serious long-term threat to regional stability.
